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Personal and Social Voices in Written Discourse Revisited1

  • Fatemeh Bagheri

    Fatemeh Bagheri is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the English Department of Wuhan University. Her main research efforts are focused on applied linguistics and corpus-based discourse analysis.

    and Liming Deng

    Liming Deng (the corresponding author) is a professor at the English Department of Wuhan University. Her main research efforts are focused on discourse studies, second language writing, and EAP.

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Published/Copyright: December 10, 2019
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Abstract

For years, personal and social voices have been the issue of discussion on voice construction in written discourse (e.g., Elbow, 1999; Flowerdew, 2011; Hyland, 2002, 2010a, 2012b; Mauranen, 2013; Ramanathan & Atkinson, 1999; Tardy, 2005). However, there is a lack of an integrated examination of the dimensions which determine voice construction in writing from personal and social perspectives. This article re-examines the issue of voice construction through a critical review of previous literature on identity in written discourse. It is argued that there are five major dimensions for the construction of voice in written discourse. How writers appropriate their voice according to such five dimensions as genre, transition, culture, discipline and audience will be discussed. This paper lends further support to the view that voice in written discourse is both personal and social. As it is known, good writing expresses both personal and social voices. However, based on the dominant dimension(s), voice construction should be adjusted. Sometimes personal voice is boldly expressed; sometimes social voice is; and some other times the boundary between the two is unnoticeable. The study provides an integrated framework as well as pedagogical implications for the teaching of academic writing within L1 and L2 contexts.


1 This article is supported by the National Social Science Fund of China entitled “A Genre-Based Study of the Dynamic Interdiscursive System in Chinese and English Professional Discourse” (17BYY033).


About the authors

Fatemeh Bagheri

Fatemeh Bagheri is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the English Department of Wuhan University. Her main research efforts are focused on applied linguistics and corpus-based discourse analysis.

Liming Deng

Liming Deng (the corresponding author) is a professor at the English Department of Wuhan University. Her main research efforts are focused on discourse studies, second language writing, and EAP.

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Published Online: 2019-12-10
Published in Print: 2019-09-25

© 2019 FLTRP, Walter de Gruyter, Cultural and Education Section British Embassy

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