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Chapter 3. The power of English

I and we in Lithuanian, Lithuanian English and British English research writing
  • Jolanta Šinkūnienė
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Intercultural Perspectives on Research Writing
This chapter is in the book Intercultural Perspectives on Research Writing

Abstract

The use of I and we in research writing has been acknowledged as one of the most powerful means to mark author stance, however there are substantial differences in personal pronoun preferences depending on the disciplinary and cultural background of the writer. This chapter investigates the use of personal pronouns in linguistic research articles written by Lithuanian scholars in English and in Lithuanian, and by British English speakers in English. The results suggest that most Lithuanian scholars choose a more explicit author stance expression when they write in English, even though the frequencies and some functions of I and we in the English speakers’ texts tend to be different from those in the Lithuanian scholars’ articles.

Abstract

The use of I and we in research writing has been acknowledged as one of the most powerful means to mark author stance, however there are substantial differences in personal pronoun preferences depending on the disciplinary and cultural background of the writer. This chapter investigates the use of personal pronouns in linguistic research articles written by Lithuanian scholars in English and in Lithuanian, and by British English speakers in English. The results suggest that most Lithuanian scholars choose a more explicit author stance expression when they write in English, even though the frequencies and some functions of I and we in the English speakers’ texts tend to be different from those in the Lithuanian scholars’ articles.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Preface vii
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Part I. Three-fold intercultural analysis
  6. Chapter 1. A contrastive (English, Czech English, Czech) study of rhetorical functions of citations in Linguistics research articles 15
  7. Chapter 2. How to internationalise and empower academic research? 39
  8. Chapter 3. The power of English 59
  9. Part II. Two-fold intercultural analysis
  10. Chapter 4. “This dissonance” 83
  11. Chapter 5. Asserting research status, values and relevance in thesis abstracts of Science and Engineering 105
  12. Chapter 6. Chinese writers of English RAs as creators of a research space in a national context 129
  13. Chapter 7. Conference abstracts in English 151
  14. Part III. Intercultural analysis on the move
  15. Chapter 8. Hybrid rhetorical structure in English Sociology research article abstracts 175
  16. Chapter 9. Epistemic stance and authorial presence in scientific research writing 195
  17. Chapter 10. Publishing in English 217
  18. Chapter 11. Not the same, but how different? 237
  19. Chapter 12. Evaluation in research article introductions in the Social Sciences written by English as a lingua franca and English native users 255
  20. Chapter 13. Exploring ELF manuscripts 277
  21. Afterword 299
  22. About the Authors 303
  23. Index 307
https://doi.org/10.1075/aals.18.03sin

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Preface vii
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Part I. Three-fold intercultural analysis
  6. Chapter 1. A contrastive (English, Czech English, Czech) study of rhetorical functions of citations in Linguistics research articles 15
  7. Chapter 2. How to internationalise and empower academic research? 39
  8. Chapter 3. The power of English 59
  9. Part II. Two-fold intercultural analysis
  10. Chapter 4. “This dissonance” 83
  11. Chapter 5. Asserting research status, values and relevance in thesis abstracts of Science and Engineering 105
  12. Chapter 6. Chinese writers of English RAs as creators of a research space in a national context 129
  13. Chapter 7. Conference abstracts in English 151
  14. Part III. Intercultural analysis on the move
  15. Chapter 8. Hybrid rhetorical structure in English Sociology research article abstracts 175
  16. Chapter 9. Epistemic stance and authorial presence in scientific research writing 195
  17. Chapter 10. Publishing in English 217
  18. Chapter 11. Not the same, but how different? 237
  19. Chapter 12. Evaluation in research article introductions in the Social Sciences written by English as a lingua franca and English native users 255
  20. Chapter 13. Exploring ELF manuscripts 277
  21. Afterword 299
  22. About the Authors 303
  23. Index 307
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