scholarly journals The linguistic disadvantage of scholars who write in English as an additional language: Myth or reality

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (02) ◽  
pp. 249-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Flowerdew
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Academic Publishing ◽  
Recent Book ◽  
Writing For Publication ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
Academic Writer ◽  
Deliberate Learning

Academics are coming under increasing pressure to publish internationally. Given the global dominance of English, this very likely means publishing in English-medium journals and with publishers which publish in English. This raises the important question of the possible disadvantage of those scholars whose first language is not English and who therefore have the additional burden of having to develop adequate proficiency in an additional language, English. As a student of modern languages to university level and of other languages to rather lower levels of proficiency and as a teacher of English for academic purposes (EAP) and of English for research and publication purposes (ERPP), since I became aware of this issue, I have always believed this extra burden on the English as an additional language (EAL) academic writer to be a self-evident truth. Ken Hyland, however, in a recent book (Hyland, 2015) and an article titled ‘Academic publishing and the myth of linguistic injustice’ (Hyland, 2016a), has taken it upon himself to argue that such an assumption is ill-founded. Hyland argues that native-speakers (NSs) of English encounter the same difficulties as non-native speakers (NNSs) when it comes to academic writing, that ‘academic English is no one's first language’, and that it requires ‘deliberate learning’ by both NSs and NSs (p. 57). Native and non-native writers, Hyland implies, are on a level playing field when it comes to writing for publication, both groups having to jump the same hurdles.

scholarly journals What we talk about when we talk about writing: exploring how English for Academic Purposes teachers and learning developers conceptualise academic writing

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon McCulloch ◽  
Tania Horak
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Teacher Identity ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Academic Literacies ◽  
Professional Identities ◽  
High Ranking ◽  
Academic Writer ◽  
Sense Of Identity

Two main groups of staff currently provide writing support to students in British universities. These staff typically enter their roles from a range of professional backgrounds and, consequently, may hold different professional identities and understandings of what academic writing is. Although there is a body of research on teacher identity and on lecturers’ conceptualisations of writing, few studies have compared the views and identities of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) teachers and learning developers. The current study set out to investigate whether these two groups perceive academic writing in similar or different ways, and why. We undertook a small-scale study, interviewing eight participants at two universities, half from a post-1992 institution and the others from a research-intensive, high-ranking university. While participants varied in their definitions of writing, common themes emerged, lying on a spectrum from an autonomous, text-based, to an academic literacies perspective on writing. To establish the influences on these perspectives, we investigated the participants’ sense of identity as an academic writer, how they learned writing themselves and any influences on them from theory. Neither the EAP teachers nor the learning developers identified strongly as academic writers, despite all holding postgraduate qualifications and some having published their writing. Most reported little to no training in how to write academically themselves, and few mentioned any theoretical stance in their approach to helping students. Although some clustering around particular conceptualisations of writing was observed, we did not find strong evidence that the participants belong to two different ‘tribes’.

Becoming a proficient academic writer: shifting lexical preferences in the use of the progressive

Corpora ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie Wulff ◽  
Ute Römer
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Text Type ◽  
Learner Corpus ◽  
Verb Aspect ◽  
Academic Writer ◽  
Upper Level ◽  
The One

Recent corpus studies have shown that learners of English are aware of systematic associations between verbs and their preferred argument structures to an extent that is similar to that of a native speaker of English (e.g., Gries and Wulff, 2005 ). Given evidence for similarly systematic associations in native speaker data at the lexis–morphology interface (e.g., Römer, 2005a ), the question arises whether, and to what extent, learners of English are also sensitive to lexical dependencies at the level of morphology, and how their verb-aspect associations compare with those of native speakers. In order to address this question, this study focusses on the potential associations between verbs and progressive aspect in German learners' academic writing. On the basis of the German component of the International Corpus of Learner English and the Cologne–Hanover Advanced Learner Corpus, learners' significantly preferred verb-aspect pairs are identified using an adaptation of collostructional analysis ( Stefanowitsch and Gries, 2003 ). The results are complemented with corresponding analyses of a subset of the Michigan Corpus of Upper-level Student Papers on the one hand and published research articles from the Hyland Corpus on the other hand. The findings indicate that upper-intermediate and advanced German learners of English exhibit clear lexical preferences in the use of progressives. Furthermore, comparative analyses suggest that verb-aspect preferences shift as a function of writers' mastery of text type-specific conventions rather than language proficiency at large.

scholarly journals Editorial: Joining the Conversation

2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 197-201
Author(s):  
PAUL RAE
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
International Federation ◽  
Academic Publishing ◽  
Annual Conference ◽  
Academic Journals ◽  
Contemporary Theatre ◽  
Academic Knowledge ◽  
Native Speakers Of English

In my previous editorial, I made reference to what Theresa Lillis and Mary Jane Curry call ‘literacy brokering’ amongst non-native speakers of English who seek to publish in anglophone academic journals. The term ‘literacy’ makes sense in the context, and, as I noted, the practice is hardly exclusive to those whose first language is not English. However, as Aoife Monks of Contemporary Theatre Review and I planned a New Scholars session on academic publishing for this year's annual conference of the International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR, with which this journal is affiliated), a supplementary way of thinking about academic knowledge production came to mind: as conversation. And it is a conversational mode that wends its way through the articles presented in this issue of Theatre Research International.

scholarly journals ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES: KEEPING UP WITH THE TIMES

2020 ◽  
pp. 40-57
Author(s):  
Olga Ilchenko ◽  
Natalia Kramar
Keyword(s):  
Writing Instruction ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Education ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Academic Publishing ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
Methodological Principles

English language education, especially in light of the status of English as present-day lingua franca, has become a prolific field of research, and no less prolific area of practical application internationally. Through a critical literature review, the current study addresses one of its most prominent subfields – English for Academic Purposes – with special emphasis on academic writing. We briefly touch upon its evolution and identify the terminological ambiguities involved in EAP conceptualization within the broader framework of ESP (English for Specific Purposes). By examining the changes that academic English is undergoing today due to the overwhelming influence of L2 speakers’ varieties (termed “similects” by Anna Mauranen), we elucidate how English as a Lingua Franca movement can benefit and enrich EAP pedagogic practice. We also discuss how EAP fits within the latest CEFR guidelines, paying close attention to mediating skills, critical thinking and integrative thinking skills, which, as we argue, need to be more extensively incorporated into academic writing instruction. We discuss the rationale and the methodological principles of English for Research Publication Purposes as a new offshoot of EAP, which combines genre-based instruction with the exploration of multiple non-linguistic issues, involved in academic publishing, such as interaction with editors and gatekeepers, choosing a suitable journal, navigating the review process. We hope to demonstrate that EAP teaching, and especially academic writing instruction, is in need of major revision to overcome the yawning gap that currently exists between theory and practice.

scholarly journals A Comparative Study of Saudi and International Journals of Applied Linguistics: The Move–Bundle Connection Approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-30
Author(s):  
Basim Alamri
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Research Articles ◽  
Writing For Publication ◽  
Lexical Bundles ◽  
Raising Awareness ◽  
Novice Writers ◽  
Rhetorical Structures

The present study implemented a genre-based approach to analyze the rhetorical structure of English language research articles (RAs): specifically, the Introduction-Methods-Results-Discussion-Conclusion (I-M-R-D-C) sections. Next, lexical bundles (LBs) associated with patterns of moves were identified by applying a corpus-driven approach. The study analyzed two corpora of 30 RAs purposely selected from 16 peer-reviewed journals of applied linguistics published in Saudi Arabia and internationally during the years of 2011-2016. First, a genre-based approach was used to identify the move structures of RAs through analyzing different RA sections by different models. Next, lexical bundles associated with each identified move in each IMRDC section were analyzed using a corpus-driven approach, based on structural and functional taxonomies. The study findings showed that both corpora share similarities and differences related to rhetorical structures and lexical bundles. These findings have pedagogical implications for novice writers, graduate students, and English for Academic Purposes (EAP) instruction, including raising awareness of rhetorical structures and LBs in academic writing for publication, which could help produce more successful publishable research articles.

scholarly journals Cultural Collisions in L2 Academic Writing

2003 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Steinman
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Writing Pedagogy ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Contrastive Rhetoric ◽  
Esl Writing ◽  
Discourse Practices ◽  
Technical Issues ◽  
Open Discussion ◽  
Writing Instructors

Learning to write in English for academic purposes presents a significant challenge for non-native speakers. Not only must they deal with the obvious linguistic and technical issues such as syntax, vocabulary, and format, but they must also become familiar with Western notions of academic rhetoric. (West or Western in this article refer primarily to North America.) Collisions of cultures are experienced when the discourse practices L2 writers are expected to reproduce clash with what they know, believe, and value in their L1 writing. For this article I reviewed a range of literature that addresses writing and culture. Described by researchers and by L2 writers are collisions regarding voice, organization, reader/ writer responsibility, topic, and identity. Implications for writing pedagogy include awareness of contrastive rhetoric on the part of ESL writing instructors; instructors' acknowledgment of and appreciation for the prior knowledge that students bring from their L1; realization on the part of ESL writing instructors that Western notions of,for example, voice are indeed just notions and are simply one way among many of expressing oneself; and a need for open discussion with students about how they might incorporate standard Western notions of writing without compromising their own identity.

Self-access system for English language support

ReCALL ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 5 (8) ◽  
pp. 28-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hilary Nesi
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Skills ◽  
First Language ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Language Teacher Education ◽  
Access System ◽  
Dissertation Writing ◽  
English Students ◽  
Academic Year

In common with similar units in many other British Universities, the Centre for English Language Teacher Education at Warwick University offers support in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) for students whose first language is not English. Students newly arriving from overseas are contacted via their departments and are invited to attend classes covering a range of language skills associated with EAP. Classes are typically well-attended in the first months of the academic year, and attendance tends to fall off in the second term, although there is an upsurge in interest in certain areas, such as Academic Writing, as students become increasingly involved in assignment and dissertation writing.

scholarly journals Reporting Verbs and Related Syntactic Choices in Students' Theses: A Study of Two Disciplines

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 130-142
Author(s):  
Martina Jarkovská ◽  
Lenka Kučírková
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Past Research ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Communicative Functions ◽  
Literature Reviews ◽  
Lower Ability ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Verb Tense

Adopting Hyland's (2002) framework of reporting words (RVs), the paper investigates the use of RVs in Master's theses written in English by students of two disciplines, Economics and Management and Natural Resources. The data were drawn from two sub-corpora, each consisting of 82 Literature Reviews, where other authors' research is summarised and commented on. Besides determining the most frequent communicative functions, in this paper, the RVs are further analysed in terms of the verb tense, voice, and subject-agent. The findings revealed significant differences between the two disciplines. In the former, most RVs were in the present active with named-author as the subject, conveying a neutral attitude towards the reported message and neutrally summarising previous research outcomes. Most RVs were in the past tense in the latter, reporting on past research procedures or outcomes. The findings reveal infrequent use of evaluative or critical verbs. Each discipline's predominant choice may suggest writers' lower ability to highlight the cited sources' direct relevance to their research. The study hopes to contribute to the efficacy of teaching English for Academic Purposes to non-native speakers. It has pedagogical implications for academic writing in both undergraduate and postgraduate courses at non-philological tertiary education institutions.

scholarly journals Academic publishing: Making the implict explicit

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecile Badenhorst ◽  
Xiaolin Xu
Keyword(s):  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Academic Publishing ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Writing Fluency ◽  
Implicit Processes ◽  
Writing For Publication ◽  
Academic Writer ◽  
Publishing Career ◽  
Emotionally Intelligent ◽  
Publishing Practices

For doctoral students, publishing in peer reviewed journals is a task many face with anxiety and trepidation. The world of publishing, from choosing a journal, negotiating editors and navigating reviewers’ responses is a bewildering place. Looking in from the outside, it seems that successful and productive academic writers have knowledge that is inaccessible to novice scholars. While there is a growing literature on writing for scholarly publication, many of these publications promote writing and publishing as a straight-forward activity that anyone can achieve if they follow the rules. We argue that the specific and situated contexts in which academic writers negotiate publishing practices is more complicated and messy. In this paper, we attempt to make explicit our publishing processes to highlight the complex nature of publishing. We use autoethnographic narratives to provide discussion points and insights into the challenges of publishing peer reviewed articles. One narrative is by a doctoral student at the beginning of her publishing career, who expresses her desires, concerns and anxieties about writing for publication. The other narrative focuses on the publishing practices of a more experienced academic writer. Both are international scholars working in the Canadian context. The purpose of this paper is to explore academic publishing through the juxtaposition of these two narratives to make explicit some of the more implicit processes. Four key themes emerge from these narratives. To publish successfully, academic writers need: 1) to be discourse analysts; 2) to have a critical competence; and 3) to have writing fluency and 4) to be emotionally intelligent.

scholarly journals Facilitating learning about academic phraseology: teaching activities for student writers

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Davis ◽  
John Morley
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
First Language ◽  
Student Writers ◽  
Teaching Activities ◽  
Self Study ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
The Many ◽  
The University ◽  
University Of Manchester

Academic Phrasebank is an online, open-access compendium of formulaic phrases for academic writers, created and continuously developed at the University of Manchester. Originally developed for student writers whose first language is not English, data suggests that over half of the many users are in fact native speakers of English. Underpinned by current approaches to academic text analysis and to understanding the phraseological nature of language, the Academic Phrasebank has become a well-known and widely-used resource which many learning support teachers recommend to students at all levels of study, mainly as a self-study or quick reference tool. In order to explore ways to facilitate learning about academic phraseology, this paper seeks to demonstrate how exercises developed from Academic Phrasebank can be used to help student writers to better understand the nature and role of academic phrases and to improve their academic writing. The usefulness of different exercise types is discussed, drawing on comments from learning developers. The implication of the study is that such teaching activities can facilitate student engagement with academic phrases and help them to write more effectively.

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