Title: With regard to L2 academic writing: the use of topicalisers in L1 (English and Spanish) and L2 (English) research articles
Source document: Brno studies in English. 2012, vol. 38, iss. 2, pp. [117]-130
Extent
[117]-130
-
ISSN0524-6881 (print)1805-0867 (online)
Persistent identifier (DOI): https://doi.org/10.5817/BSE2012-2-7
Stable URL (handle): https://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/126946
Type: Article
Language
License: Not specified license
Notice: These citations are automatically created and might not follow citation rules properly.
Abstract(s)
A great deal of cross-cultural research has shown remarkable differences between the written discursive practices of academic disciplinary members using English for international communication and members using other languages for local communication. Less research has been carried out, however, on the possible transfer of non-native scholars' writing practices from their native language into English when drafting their academic texts for an international audience. It is the aim of this paper to contribute to intercultural rhetoric by taking the latter approach. It will look into the use made of a particular cohesive device, topicalisers (i.e. linguistic signals that writers include in the text to organise the discourse, bringing about, changing or re-taking a topic), in Business Management research articles written in L1 (English and Spanish) and L2 (English) research articles. The analysis focuses on the frequency, distribution and choice of topicalisers. Results reveal significant differences in the use of topicalisers in L1 and L2 English research articles, which gives way to a different discourse flow and organisation of information. In the light of the results obtained, the different use of topicalisers made in L2 English texts could be interpreted as a discursive transfer of Spanish scholars' writing conventions in their L1.1
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[2] Burgess, Sally (2002) 'Packed houses and intimate gatherings: Audience and rhetorical strategies'. In: Flowerdew, John (ed.) Academic Discourse. London: Longman, 196–225.
[3] Carter-Thomas, Shirley (2007) 'The "iffiness" of medical research articles: A comparison of English If and French si'. In: Fløttum, Kjersti (ed.) Language and Discipline Perspectives on Academic Discourse. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Press, 161–187.
[4] Chamonikolasová, Jana (2005) 'Comparing the structures of texts written in English and Czech'. In: Slovak Studies in English I Conference Proceedings, 77–84. Bratislava: Univerzita Komenského.
[5] Clyne, Michael (1994) 'Cultural differences in the organization of academic texts'. Journal of Pragmatics 11, 211–247. | DOI 10.1016/0378-2166(87)90196-2
[6] Čmejrková, Světla (1996) 'Academic writing in Czech and English'. In: Ventola, Eija and Anna Mauranen (eds.) Academic Writing: Introduction and Textual Issues. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 137–145.
[7] Čmejrková, Světla (2007) 'Intercultural dialogue and academic discourse'. In Grein, Marion and Edda Weigand (eds.) Dialogue and Culture. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 73–94.
[8] Crismore, Avon, Raija Markkanen and Margaret S. Steffensen (1993) 'Metadiscourse in persuasive writing: A study of texts written by American and Finnish University students'. Written Communication 10(1), 39–71. | DOI 10.1177/0741088393010001002
[9] Fløttum, Kjersti, Trine Dahl and Trodd Kinn (2006) Academic Voices – Across Languages and Disciplines. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
[10] Kreutz, Heinz and Annette Harres (1997) 'Hedging in German and English academic writing'. In: Duszak, Anna (ed.) Culture and Styles of Academic Discourse. Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 181–201.
[11] Hinds, John (1987) 'Reader versus writer responsibility: A new typology'. In: Connor, Ulla and Robert B. Kaplan (eds.) Writing across Languages. Analyses of L2 Texts. Reading: Addison-Weslye, 141–152.
[12] Hyland, Ken (2005) Metadiscourse. London: Continuum.
[13] Hyland, Ken and Polly Tse (2004) 'Metadiscourse in academic writing: A reappraisal'. Applied Linguistics 25(2), 156–177. | DOI 10.1093/applin/25.2.156
[14] Lafuente-Millán, Enrique, Pilar Mur-Dueñas, Rosa Lorés-Sanz and Ignacio Vázquez-Orta (2010) 'Interpersonality in written academic discourse: three analytical perspectives'. In Lorés-Sanz, Rosa, Pilar Mur-Dueñas and Enrique Lafuente-Millán (eds.) Constructing Interpersonality: Multiple Perspectives on Written Academic Discourse. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 13–39.
[15] Martinez, Iliana (2005) 'Native and non-native writer's use of first person pronouns in the different sections of biology research articles in biology'. Journal of Second Language Writing 14, 174–190. | DOI 10.1016/j.jslw.2005.06.001
[16] Molino, Alessandra (2010) 'Personal and impersonal authorial references: A contrastive study of English and Italian linguistics research articles'. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 9(2), 86–101. | DOI 10.1016/j.jeap.2010.02.007
[17] Mur-Dueñas, Pilar (2007) '"I/we focus on...": A cross-cultural analysis of self-mentions in business management research articles'. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 6(2), 143–162. | DOI 10.1016/j.jeap.2007.05.002
[18] Mur-Dueñas, Pilar (2010) 'Attitude markers in business management research articles: A cross-cultural corpus-driven approach'. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 19, 50–72.
[19] Pérez-Llantada, Carmen (2008) 'Humans vs. machines? A multiperspective model for ESP discourse analysis in intercultural rhetoric research'. ESP Across Cultures 5, 91–104.
[20] Pérez-Llantada, Carmen (2010) 'Researching into English for research publication purposes from an applied intercultural perspective'. In Ruiz-Garrido, Miguel F., Juan Carlos Palmer-Silveira and Inmaculada Fortanet-Gómez (eds.) English for Professional and Academic Purposes. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 25–41.
[21] Preacher, K. J. (2001) 'Calculation for the chi-square test: an interactive calculation tool for chi-square tests of goodness of fit and independence'. [Computer software]. Available from http://www.people.ku.edu/~preacher/chisq/chisq.htm
[22] Salager-Meyer, Françoise, María Angeles Alcaraz Ariza and Nahirana Zambrano (2003) 'The scimitar, the dagger and the glove: Intercultural differences in the rhetoric of criticism in Spanish, French and English medical discourse (1930-1995)'. English for Specific Purposes 22, 223–247.
[23] Shaw, Philip (2003) 'Evaluation and promotion across languages'. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 2, 343–357. | DOI 10.1016/S1475-1585(03)00050-X
[24] Vassileva, Irena (1997) 'Hedging in English and Bulgarian academic writing'. In: Duszak, Anna (ed.) Culture and Styles of Academic Discourse. Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 203–221.
[25] Vassileva, Irena (1998) 'Who am I/Who are we in academic writing?' International Journal of Applied Linguistics 8, 163–190. | DOI 10.1111/j.1473-4192.1998.tb00128.x
[26] Vassileva, Irena (2001) 'Commitment and detachment in English and Bulgarian academic writing'. English for Specific Purposes 20(1), 83–102. | DOI 10.1016/S0889-4906(99)00029-0
[27] Vande Kopple, William (1985) 'Some exploratory discourse on metadiscourse'. College Composition and Communication 36, 63–94.
[28] Vande Kopple, W. (2002) 'Metadiscourse, discourse and issues in composition and rhetoric'. In Ellen Barton and Gail Stygall (eds.) Discourse Studies in Composition. New Jersey: Hampton Press, 91–113.
[29] Vold, Eva T. (2006) 'Epistemic modality markers in research articles: A cross-linguistic and cross-disciplinary study'. International Journal of Applied Linguistics 16, 61–87. | DOI 10.1111/j.1473-4192.2006.00106.x
[30] Williams, Joseph M. (1981) Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace. Harper Collins Publishers.