Cross-disciplinary and cross-linguistic uses of tensed verb phrases in the methods sections of master’s theses
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Sylvi Rørvik
Abstract
This study examines the distribution and functions of tensed verb phrases in the methods sections of master’s theses produced at Norwegian universities. The material comprises texts written in both English and Norwegian within the disciplines of chemistry, linguistics, and sociology. The method involved manual identification of tensed verb phrases, as well as a more detailed investigation of their rhetorical functions. The findings indicate that there are cross-linguistic and cross-disciplinary differences in both distribution and function, in line with findings from previous studies of student and professional academic writing. These findings have implications for the teaching of academic writing, which should reflect the conventions of the disciplinary communities of which the student writers are aspiring members.
Abstract
This study examines the distribution and functions of tensed verb phrases in the methods sections of master’s theses produced at Norwegian universities. The material comprises texts written in both English and Norwegian within the disciplines of chemistry, linguistics, and sociology. The method involved manual identification of tensed verb phrases, as well as a more detailed investigation of their rhetorical functions. The findings indicate that there are cross-linguistic and cross-disciplinary differences in both distribution and function, in line with findings from previous studies of student and professional academic writing. These findings have implications for the teaching of academic writing, which should reflect the conventions of the disciplinary communities of which the student writers are aspiring members.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Time in languages, languages in time 1
- Slavery and Britain in the 19th century 9
- Diachronic change in the ordering of kinship binomials 39
- Tracing processes in auxiliarization 67
- Translating verbal tenses between tensed and tenseless languages 95
- From language to language, from time to time 129
- Just a moment 155
- Then and now in English and French 181
- Time adverbials in English and Norwegian news discourse 201
- Minutes of action! A contrastive analysis of time expressions in English and Norwegian football match reports 229
- Cross-disciplinary and cross-linguistic uses of tensed verb phrases in the methods sections of master’s theses 255
- The expression of time in English and Czech children’s literature 283
- Index 305
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Time in languages, languages in time 1
- Slavery and Britain in the 19th century 9
- Diachronic change in the ordering of kinship binomials 39
- Tracing processes in auxiliarization 67
- Translating verbal tenses between tensed and tenseless languages 95
- From language to language, from time to time 129
- Just a moment 155
- Then and now in English and French 181
- Time adverbials in English and Norwegian news discourse 201
- Minutes of action! A contrastive analysis of time expressions in English and Norwegian football match reports 229
- Cross-disciplinary and cross-linguistic uses of tensed verb phrases in the methods sections of master’s theses 255
- The expression of time in English and Czech children’s literature 283
- Index 305
