A corpus-based study of the ADJ-looking adjectivization in English

This article aims to conduct a corpus-based study of the diachronic and synchronic distributions of a special type of participle adjectivization, the ADJ-looking adjectivization. The study based on the Corpus of Historical American English (COHA) finds that this process of adjectivization consists of two phases: (1) The downward rank-shift from the look ADJ construction to the ADJ looking adjectivization is a process of metaphorization; (2) The transcategorization from the ADJ looking adjectivization to the ADJ-looking adjectivization is a process of lexicalization. The study based on the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) finds that ADJ-looking adjectivizations are mode and register sensitive but not discipline sensitive. The modifier use prefers to occur more in hard science texts to increase the complexity of nominal groups and the predicative use prefers to occur more in soft science texts to increase the grammatical intricacy of sentences. The reason for the non-sensitivity across disciplines is that evaluative adjectives tend to occur in neither soft nor hard science texts.

A Hard-Science Approach to Kondratieff’s Economic Cycle

In an effort to evidence the Kondratieff cycle more scientifically than the way economists do, physical variables are studied rather than monetary indicators. Previously published graphs are reproduced and updated here with recent data. A cyclical rather regular variation of energy consumption reveals a 56-year cycle. A dozen human endeavors/phenomena, such as bank failures, homicides, hurricanes, feminism, and sunspot activity are shown to resonate with this cycle. Possible explanations for this phenomenon may have to do with a climatic variation or with the length of time any individual actively influences the environment. There is some evidence that the cycle may be getting shorter in amplitude and duration in recent years. All quantitative confidence levels involved in these observations are poor by scientific standards and permit critics to question the very existence of this phenomenon.

10. Major Issues in IPE: Economic versus Political Power, Development, Globalization, How to Study the Real World

This chapter examines four major issues in International Political Economy (IPE). The first concerns power and the relationship between politics and economics, and more specifically whether politics is in charge of economics or whether it is the other way around. The second issue deals with development and underdevelopment in developing countries. The third is about the nature and extent of economic globalization, and currently takes places in a context of increasing inequality between and inside countries. The fourth and final issue concerns how to study the real world from an IPE perspective and it pits the hard science American School against the more qualitative and normative British School.

Stance of Indonesian Writers in Journal Articles

Stance refers to attitude, feelings, judgment or commitment of a speaker towards a proposition. A speaker employs certain linguistics features to express his stance including hedges, boosters, self-mentions and attitude markers. This research aims at analyzing stance of Indonesian writers in social and hard science journal articles written in English by examining the use of linguistic features employed as stance markers. The research result shows that the writers of social science articles use more stance marker compares to those of hard science articles. Indonesian writers maintain the objectivity of academic writing as there was very limited use of self-mentions in the articles. The stance markers used by Indonesian writers represent the positive, negative or neutral type of stance.

Inference to the Best Explanation, Relative Plausibility, and Probability

In many areas of life, from hard science to managing one’s everyday affairs, explanatory considerations help to guide inference. From the fact that some proposition would explain a given phenomenon we infer that the proposition is true. And when several propositions may explain a given phenomenon we infer the one that best explains it. Inferences all share the same structure, typically referred to as “abduction” or “inference to the best explanation.” Because legal proof falls somewhere between science and managing one’s everyday affairs, it should perhaps not be surprising that the juridical proof process involves similar inferential practices. This chapter juxtaposes an explanation-based account of juridical proof against different probability accounts, develops an argument about the descriptive superiority of the explanation-based account over its competitors, and sets forth the theoretical and practical implications of this argument.

Professional Skills Teaching Within Veterinary Education and Possible Future Directions

Once ignored for their potential to take up precious time within the veterinary curriculum at the expense of hard science and technical competencies, professional skills such as ethical conduct, professional conduct, and communication skills are now considered essential in the creation of successful and employable graduates. Despite the requirement to include professional skills in veterinary curricula, limited communication among colleges and inconsistent documentation of curricular developments have led to a wide range of teaching and assessment methods with no consistent standards existing among colleges. Integration of professional competency teaching into the general curriculum is lauded widely, but barriers such as faculty buy-in have kept many colleges from moving toward a standard in which professional competencies are integrated into the general curriculum. The aim of this article is to provide veterinary educators and curriculum designers with an understanding of the rationale for including professional skills teaching within the curriculum while also presenting currently used, as well as recommended, strategies for effective instruction of professional skills.

Evoking Transformation

This book is a significant contribution to higher education globally in doing transformation and doing change in institutional culture. It is a powerful reference point and resource for transformation offices/social justice units in South Africa and globally as we continue to engage with the hard science of change. The book provides insight into the specific choices made by Stellenbosch University in relation to its location and healing institutionally harmed communities.

Comparative Study of Interactional Metadiscourse Markers in the Discussion Section of Soft and Hard Science Research Articles: Hedges and Boosters in Focus

The aim of this descriptive analytical study was to examine research articles discussion sections from four disciplines to measure the functions and frequencies of hedges and boosters. To this end, scholarly research articles were randomly selected from leading and reputable journals in mechanical and industrial engineering as representatives of hard science disciplines and management and psychology as representatives of soft science disciplines. The size of the corpus in each discipline was around 17000 words. The data were analyzed in light of Hyland's (2005) model of interactional metadiscourse for hedges and boosters devices. Results of descriptive and inferential statistics showed that the use of hedges was significantly more in soft science disciples while boosters were overused in hard science disciplines, corresponding to the fact that by virtue of being less personal and more objective, hard sciences are represented through more frequent use of boosters than hedges to express facts. On the other hand, soft sciences are influenced by their subjectivity which results in higher frequencies of hedges. The findings of this study have implications for English for Academic/Specific purposes courses. Keywords: Discussion section, Research article, Metadiscourse, Booster, Hedge.

It takes all sorts to make a world

Evolutionary biology is a historical science and there is no math that can cope with history. In order to bypass this difficulty and make evolutionary biology a hard science, population geneticists, together with behavioral ecologists, have invented a new fake biology, whose main tool is optimization. I highlight the shortcomings that affect this concept.