The overuse of MAKE in Estonian learner language

Abstract

High frequency verbs in learner language have received considerable attention in previous research, but little research has been done about the Estonian EFL learners and comparing the latter to native speakers’ speech. This thesis investigates the use of the high frequency verb make by Estonian EFL speakers and native speakers of English. The motivation for writing this paper is due to little research done about the Estonian EFL learners and comparing the latter to native speakers’ speech. The research questions that this paper aims to answer are a) how much is make used by EFL speakers compared to native speakers, b) in which situations does the overuse of make take place most often, c) how is the use of make different between EFL learners and native speakers. To find answers to these questions, a corpus study has been conducted.