Taking an authorial stance in English and Arabic research article discussions

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 461-487
Author(s):  
Hmoud S. Alotaibi
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Appraisal Theory ◽  
Language Resources ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Research Article ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Evaluative Language ◽  
Great Divergence ◽  
Dialogic Space

Abstract Taking an authorial stance is essential in academic writing but remains a challenge for novice researchers, especially EFL/ESL writers. This study explores how authors of English and Arabic research article discussions employ evaluative language resources while commenting on their results. To this end, the study investigated the employment of Engagement resources within Appraisal Theory (Martin & White 2005). The findings exhibited a great divergence between the two language groups as Arabic discussions relied more on Contracting strategies, which indicate the tendency to close down the space for dialogic alternatives, while their English counterparts preferred Expanding resources, which open up the dialogic space for alternative voices. The study, therefore, bears some pedagogical implications for L2 learners.

scholarly journals Evaluative stance in Vietnamese and English writing by the same authors: A corpus-informed appraisal study

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Tieu-Thuy Chung ◽  
Luyen-Thi Bui ◽  
Peter Crosthwaite
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
L2 Writing ◽  
Appraisal Theory ◽  
Student Writers ◽  
English Writing ◽  
Language Varieties ◽  
Evaluative Language ◽  
L1 And L2 Writing ◽  
L1 And L2

Appraisal theory (Martin and White 2005), an approach to discourse analysis dealing with evaluative language, has been previously employed in analysing newspaper articles and spoken discourses in several earlier studies, although it is gaining in popularity as a framework for comparing first and second (L1/L2) writing. This study investigated 40 English majors’ Vietnamese and English paragraphs for evaluative language, a key component of successful academic writing, as realised under Appraisal theory. To this purpose, we collected L1 Vietnamese and L2 English data from the same student writers across the same topics and using a corpus-informed Contrastive Interlanguage Analysis approach to the annotation and analysis of appraisal. A range of commonalities were present in the use of appraisal across the two language varieties, while the results also suggest significant differences between students’ evaluative expressions in Vietnamese as a mother tongue and English as a second or foreign language. This variation includes the comparative under- and over-use of specific appraisal resources employed in L1 and L2 writing respectively, in particular, regarding writers’ employment of attitudinal features. The findings serve to inform future pedagogical applications regarding explicit instruction in stance and appraisal features for novice L2 English writers in Vietnam.

Learning to Evaluate Through That-Clauses

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 84-97
Author(s):  
Deliang Man ◽  
Kok Yueh Lee ◽  
Meng Huat Chau ◽  
Esther Smidt
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Writing Development ◽  
Language Resources ◽  
Learner Corpus ◽  
Learner Corpora ◽  
Evaluative Language ◽  
Argumentative Essays ◽  
Learner Language

The advent of technology has facilitated the study of language development and writing development in the form of learner corpora. While learner corpus studies have flourished in recent years, few consider evaluative language development. This paper reports on a study which examines the use of evaluative that-clauses, a linguistic structure that is regularly used to express evaluation in academic writing, in a longitudinal corpus of 304 argumentative essays written by a group of undergraduate students at a university in Brunei. Results suggest students' dynamic use of language resources over time, and support the findings of previous research on the use of evaluative that-clauses by undergraduate students in other contexts of learning. This study, based on an approach to treating learner language in its own right, contributes to the understanding of the nature of language development. Implications for language teaching, including a revised role for teacher feedback and the use of longitudinal learner corpora for students' learning, are considered.

Markers of identification in Indigenous academic writing: A case study of genre innovation

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shurli Makmillen ◽  
Michelle Riedlinger
Keyword(s):  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Genre Studies ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Research Article ◽  
Rhetorical Genre ◽  
Academic Genres

AbstractThis study contributes to research into genre innovation and scholarship exploring how Indigenous epistemes are disrupting dominant discourses of the academy. Using a case study approach, we investigated 31 research articles produced by Mäori scholars and published in the journal AlterNative between 2006 and 2018. We looked for linguistic features associated with self-positioning and self-identification. We found heightened ambiguous uses of “we”; a prevalence of verbs associated with personal (as opposed to discursive) uses of “I/we”; personal storytelling; and a privileging of Elders’ contributions to the existing state of knowledge. We argue these features reflect and reinforce Indigenous scholars’ social relations with particular communities of practice within and outside of the academy. They are also in keeping with Indigenous knowledge-making practices, protocols, and languages, and signal sites of negotiation and innovation in the research article. We present the implications for rhetorical genre studies and for teaching academic genres.

scholarly journals A Discourse Analysis: Cohesion of the Introduction Section of Research Article

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Anis Firdatul Rochma ◽  
Sulis Triyono
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Language ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Research Articles ◽  
Semantic Meaning ◽  
Lexical Cohesion ◽  
Research Article ◽  
English Academic Writing ◽  
Writing Competence

<em>As an effort to give contribution to the existing knowledge, it is expected for the undergraduate students to compose an engaging research article in order to convince the readers about the importance of the research article. However, there is only a little attention given to the articles written by the undergraduate students although it is considered very critical to examine whether the exposure of English academic writing has significantly enhances the writing competence of the students. Furthermore, as it is also very crucial to build a meaningful semantic meaning among the sentences in order to disclose the worthiness of the research article, it is essential to analyze the cohesion of the research article written by the undergraduate students. Henceforth, the present research is projected to investigate the cohesion of the research articles written by the undergraduate students of English Language Teaching. As the introduction section of research article is likely to be an area to portray the logical explanation of the research, the present research solely focuses on examining the cohesion of the introduction section of research article. By adopting a qualitative design and involving several steps to analyze the introduction section, it is revealed that the grammatical cohesion is considered to be the most utilized type of cohesion in writing the introduction section. Still, the lexical cohesion is also necessary to build an eloquent semantic meaning about the topic as well the importance of the research article.</em>

scholarly journals Move analysis and their lexical verbs of research article abstracts of Filipino and American writers

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-63
Author(s):  
Abdul Wahid Ibrahim Tocalo
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Differences ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Research Article ◽  
Writing Instructions ◽  
Native Speakers Of English

Rhetorical move analyses of research article (RA) abstracts have established variations across disciplines and cultures. However, there is still a need for more explorations on Applied Linguistics discipline. Comparing native and other group of non-native speakers of English, such as Filipino users of the language, has also been a neglect in research as far as the researcher’s knowledge is concerned. Hence, this study investigated the rhetorical moves in the RA abstracts of American and Filipino writers who are published in two journals related to Applied Linguistics field. The study also explored the lexical verbs underlying each move in all the abstracts. Each abstract was then segmented into moves. Findings revealed that the moves Situating the Research (STR), Presenting the Research (PTR), and Discussing the Research (DTR) were obligatorily used by both groups of writers, while the moves Describing the Methodology (DTM) and Summarizing the Findings (STF) were obligatory only among Filipinos and optional among Americans. Filipino writers appear to develop their own conventions deviating from Americans who are considered native speakers and norm providers. The results also amplify the existence of cultural differences even in abstract writing. Further, the study details lists of lexical verbs that may be used to realize a rhetorical intent of each move. Hence, academic writing instructions may be informed by the rhetorical and linguistic realizations unveiled in this study. Directions for future research are likewise provided.

Bridging boundaries across genre traditions

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 259-293
Author(s):  
Isaac Nuokyaa-Ire Mwinlaaru
Keyword(s):  
Identity Construction ◽  
Frequency Distribution ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Research Articles ◽  
Lexical Bundles ◽  
Functional Linguistics ◽  
Research Article

Abstract This study explores the benefits of a synergy between ESP research on genre and theoretical dimensions of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). It models genre on SFL dimensions and employs this model to analyse 200 biodata written by Applied Linguistics scholars, 100 each from research articles and seminar posters. Data were analysed from contextual, logico-semantic and lexicogrammatical perspectives. The findings reveal five generic stages in biodata. The frequency distribution of these stages and the phases that realise them shows variation between research article bios and seminar bios. The most frequent logico-semantic (or rhetorical) relations identified among stages and phases are of the expansion type, namely addition and elaboration, Further, collocational frameworks are used in organising some generic phases into waves of meaning and in construing different identities. Finally, evaluative resources, in the form of lexical bundles, modification and circumstantial elements in the clause, are employed by writers to boost their professional achievements and promote themselves. These findings contribute to theoretical discussions on genre and the scholarship on the interface between identity construction and academic writing, and also motivate further research.

scholarly journals Genre Pedagogy and Bilingual Graduate Students’ Academic Writing

Publications ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Morell ◽  
Susana Pastor Cesteros
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Discourse Community ◽  
Graduate Course ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Research Article ◽  
Genre Awareness ◽  
Analysis Task

Genre pedagogy plays an important role in helping graduate students to enter the discourse community of their fields. Although familiarity with research genres benefits graduate students, few studies have explored the influences of instruction on learners’ subsequent generic practices. In this study, we describe the genre-based approach used in a bilingual (English and Spanish) Applied Linguistics graduate course, which aimed to enhance students’ research genre awareness to allow them to be better able to confront their own work as investigators. The description of the course is followed by a study to determine if and how a research article discourse analysis task influenced the students’ academic writing in their own papers. Our research question was the following: To what extent can course instruction influence students’ academic writing? The study entails a survey to elicit students’ perspectives on the influence of the course and its tasks on their academic writing, as well as teachers’ comments on the students’ written work. Although learning to do research at the graduate level requires a broad range of competencies that go beyond genre awareness, the findings from the survey confirmed the positive effects of genre knowledge gains in accomplishing further research goals.

Evaluative prosodies in academic quality audit reports

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 336-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Ho
Keyword(s):  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
Appraisal Theory ◽  
Academic Quality ◽  
Quality Audit ◽  
The Face ◽  
Evaluative Language ◽  
Main Components ◽  
Audit Reports ◽  
The University

This paper analyzes the discourse of academic quality audit reports by drawing upon Appraisal Theory (Martin & White 2005). It focuses on the evaluative prosodies in the discourse leading up to the three main components of the reports, namely commendations, affirmations, and recommendations. These reports are prepared by the audit panels formed by the Quality Assurance Council of the University Grants Committee of Hong Kong upon the completion of academic quality audit visits to each of the city’s eight publicly-funded tertiary institutions. This paper argues that such evaluative prosodies, or the pattern of use of evaluative language, are strategically employed by the audit panels in an attempt to strike a balance between three needs: (1) to discharge their quality assurance responsibilities with their power vested by the Hong Kong Government through the University Grants Committee; (2) to maintain and/or reinforce a credible ethos for the panels themselves; and (3) to attend to the face wants of the institutions and the stakeholders concerned.

scholarly journals Formulaic Sequence Acquisition in Academic Writing: Examining Different Interventions

2019 ◽  
Vol 2018 (1) ◽  
pp. 241
Author(s):  
Lewis Murray
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Writing Studies ◽  
Formulaic Sequences ◽  
Japanese University ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Formulaic Sequence ◽  
The Difference

For L2 learners, successful acquisition of formulaic sequences (FSs) is recognised as being valuable for academic writing. Studies suggest that cued output exercises requiring an evaluation effort may prove beneficial. The aim of this study was to examine the value of such exercises. Four classes in a Japanese university EAP programme were each assigned a different intervention over a 4-week period. Each intervention required a different degree of involvement with selected target FSs. Writing samples collected from participants before the intervention established no significant difference in target FS use between the groups. Postintervention data, drawn from the difference in individual participant’s pre- and posttest target FS use, revealed significantly increased use only from the group assigned exercises requiring the greatest involvement, suggesting that such exercises may be important for acquisition. These findings are discussed in relation to other studies concerning cued output and evaluation effort. 第二言語学習者のアカデミック・ライティング学習には、定型表現の習得が有益とされる。判断負荷のかかる手がかり提示型課題の効果を示唆した研究もある。そこで本研究は、そうした練習課題の有効性を検証するため、日本の大学のEAPコースで4週間にわたり、4つの通常授業クラスで各々異なる介入活動を行なった。各介入は、特定の定型表現に対し異なる度合いの関与を必用とした。介入前の授業参加者によるライティング・サンプルにおいては、グループ間の有意差は認められなかったが、介入後のデータでは、一つのグループでのみ、定型表現の使用に大幅な増加が認められた。ここからは、このグループの参加者が行なった練習問題に、より多くの判断作業量が含まれていたことが、定型表現の習得のために重要であった、という可能性が示唆される。こうした調査結果について、手がかり提示型課題と判断作業の問題を扱った他の研究との関係から、考察を行なった。

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