Abstract: Evaluation is an important aspect of the abilities for students' cognitive and thinking development. This corpus-based study of 20 frequently used evaluative verbs within Attitudinal System in Chinese college students' English writing indicated that compared with their American counterparts, Chinese college students were found problematic in using some of these evaluative verbs in their writing, they over-used some while under-used others, which could be attributed to inadequate input from college English textbooks and students' insensitivity to stylistic difference.

Key words: evaluative verb, writing, English learners, corpus