ERIC Number: EJ1217060
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-May
Pages: 37
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-2490-4198
EISSN: N/A
A Comparative Study of Metadiscoursal Features in English Research Article Abstracts in Hard Disciplines
Wei, Jing; Duan, Jing
Arab Journal of Applied Linguistics, v4 n1 p1-37 May 2019
This study investigates how L1 Chinese scholars in hard science disciplines use metadiscourse in their English academic writing, by comparing the deployment of metadiscoursal resources written by L1 Chinese and L1 English scholars. Hyland's (2005) interpersonal model of metadiscourse was adopted for the analysis. We found that L1 Chinese scholars used less metadiscoursal resources than L1 English scholars on the whole. In the two dimensions of interaction, L1 Chinese scholars made more use of interactive devices, while L1 English scholars used more interactional items. This reflects that L1 Chinese scholars made greater efforts to guide the readers through their papers, and that L1 English scholars are more concerned with creating author identity and engaging their readers. The t-tests confirmed that L1 Chinese scholars used significantly more code glosses in interactive metadiscourse and less self-mentions in interactional metadiscourse. An in-depth analysis reveals two functions of code glosses and five functions of self-mentions in RA abstracts.
Descriptors: Native Language, Chinese, Physical Sciences, English for Academic Purposes, Academic Language, Second Language Learning, Discourse Analysis, English, Contrastive Linguistics, Language Usage, Writing (Composition), Authors, Documentation, Research Reports, English (Second Language), Foreign Countries, Professional Identity
Faculty of Human and Social Sciences of Tunis, Tunisia. 94 BD du 9 Avril Tunis 1007, Tunisia. Tel: 216-71564797; Fax: 216-567551; Web site: http://www.arjals.com/ojs/index.php/Arjals2016
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: China
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A