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Chapter 9. Epistemic stance and authorial presence in scientific research writing

Hedges, boosters and self-mentions across disciplines and writer groups
  • Jingjing Wang and Feng (Kevin) Jiang
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Intercultural Perspectives on Research Writing
This chapter is in the book Intercultural Perspectives on Research Writing

Abstract

In this study, we investigate hedges, boosters and self-mentions as main expressions of epistemic positioning and how much they are projected by explicit authorial presence in the research writings by Chinese PhD students and expert writers across four science disciplines. Results show that PhD science students used considerably more hedges, boosters and self-mentions than journal article writers. They exhibit an obvious preference for certain epistemic resources and an avoidance to hedge or boost their/others’ claims in their academic writings. The results are discussed with regard to different cultures, disciplines and writer groups, and pedagogical implications on L2 research writing instructions are also raised at the end of the chapter.

Abstract

In this study, we investigate hedges, boosters and self-mentions as main expressions of epistemic positioning and how much they are projected by explicit authorial presence in the research writings by Chinese PhD students and expert writers across four science disciplines. Results show that PhD science students used considerably more hedges, boosters and self-mentions than journal article writers. They exhibit an obvious preference for certain epistemic resources and an avoidance to hedge or boost their/others’ claims in their academic writings. The results are discussed with regard to different cultures, disciplines and writer groups, and pedagogical implications on L2 research writing instructions are also raised at the end of the chapter.

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.18.09wan

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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