Evaluation in research article introductions: A comparison of the strategies used by Chinese and British authors

Xiaoyu Xu; Hilary Nesi

doi:10.1515/text-2019-2046

Article

Evaluation in research article introductions: A comparison of the strategies used by Chinese and British authors

Xiaoyu Xu
Xiaoyu Xu has a PhD in Applied Linguistics from Coventry University and is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at City University of Hong Kong. She is interested in English for Academic Purposes (EAP), contrastive rhetoric, genre analysis, corpus linguistics and Systemic Functional Linguistics. Address for correspondence: Department of English, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, City University Hong Kong. Email: xiaoyuxu@cityu.edu.hk
and Hilary Nesi
Hilary Nesi is Professor of English Language at Coventry University, UK. Her research activities largely concern corpus development and analysis, the discourse of English for Academic Purposes (EAP), and the design and use of dictionaries and reference tools for academic contexts. She is editor of the Journal of English for Academic Purposes, and was principal investigator for the projects to create the British Academic Written English (BAWE) corpus and the British Academic Spoken English (BASE) corpus. Address for correspondence: School of Humanities, Coventry University CV1 5FB, UK. Email: h.nesi@coventry.ac.uk

Published/Copyright: September 26, 2019

Published by

Become an author with De Gruyter Brill

Submit Manuscript Author Information Explore this Subject

From the journal Text & Talk Volume 39 Issue 6

Abstract

This article investigates differences in evaluative style in introductions to research articles written by scholars from China and Britain. A corpus of 30 research article introductions in applied linguistics was analysed in terms of Appraisal Theory and genre analysis, using the UAM Corpus Tool. Findings from this analysis suggest that both the Chinese and the British authors were aware of the need to argue for their own opinions and maintain good relationships with their readers. However, the Chinese writers made more categorical assertions, supported by lists of references to prior studies, while the British writers were more likely to acknowledge the existence of alternative views within the research community, and were more explicit about their own attitudes towards the research topic, prior studies, and their own work. The findings, and the illustrative examples, can inform the design of programmes to help novice researchers publish internationally, and might also usefully raise the awareness of journal article reviewers and editors regarding cultural variation in approaches to stance-taking.

Keywords: evaluation; stance; research article; applied linguistics; genre; culture; Appraisal

About the authors

Xiaoyu Xu

Xiaoyu Xu has a PhD in Applied Linguistics from Coventry University and is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at City University of Hong Kong. She is interested in English for Academic Purposes (EAP), contrastive rhetoric, genre analysis, corpus linguistics and Systemic Functional Linguistics. Address for correspondence: Department of English, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, City University Hong Kong. Email: xiaoyuxu@cityu.edu.hk

Hilary Nesi

Hilary Nesi is Professor of English Language at Coventry University, UK. Her research activities largely concern corpus development and analysis, the discourse of English for Academic Purposes (EAP), and the design and use of dictionaries and reference tools for academic contexts. She is editor of the Journal of English for Academic Purposes, and was principal investigator for the projects to create the British Academic Written English (BAWE) corpus and the British Academic Spoken English (BASE) corpus. Address for correspondence: School of Humanities, Coventry University CV1 5FB, UK. Email: h.nesi@coventry.ac.uk

A Appendix

Chinese RAs (17,887 words)	British RAs (16,437 words)
Gao, Y. (2011). Cognitive linguistics–Inspired empirical study of Chinese EFL teaching. Creative Education, 02(04), 354–362.	Elwood, J. A., & Bode, J. (2014). Student preferences vis-à-vis teacher feedback in university EFL writing classes in Japan. System, 42, 333–343.
Yang, X. (2010). Intentional forgetting, anxiety, and EFL listening comprehension among Chinese college students. Learning and Individual Differences, 20(3), 177–187.	Lamb, T. (2011). Fragile Identities: Exploring Learner Identity, Learner Autonomy and Motivation through Young Learners’ Voices. The Canadian Journal of Applied linguistics, Special Issue 14(2), 68–85.
Wen, W. (2014). Assessing the roles of breadth and depth of vocabulary knowledge in Chinese EFL learners’ listening comprehension. Chinese Journal of Applied linguistics, 37(3), 29–56.	Vandergrift, L., & Baker, S. (2015). Learner variables in Second language listening comprehension: An exploratory path analysis. Language Learning, 65(2), 390–416.
Liu, H. (2010). Dependency direction as a means of word-order typology: A method based on dependency treebanks. Lingua, 120(6), 1567–1578.	MacDonald, M. C. (2013). How language production shapes language form and comprehension. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 226.
Lei, L. (2012). Linking adverbials in academic writing on applied linguistics by Chinese doctoral students. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 11(3), 267–275.	McNamara, T. (2015). Applied linguistics: The challenge of theory. Applied linguistics, 36(4), 466–477.
Chen, Y. (2015). Developing Chinese EFL learners’ email literacy through requests to faculty. Journal of Pragmatics, 75, 131–149.	Murray, N. (2012). English as a lingua franca and the development of pragmatic competence. ELT Journal, 66(3), 318–326.
Hou, Z. (2015). A critical analysis of media reports on China’s air defense identification zone. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 198, 194–201.	Mills, T. A., Lavender, R., & Lavender, T. (2015). “Forty is the new twenty”: An analysis of British media portrayals of older mothers. Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare, 6(2), 88–94.
Wei, L. (2012). Construction of seamless English language learning Cyberspace via interactive text messaging tool. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2(8), 1590–1596.	Coffin, C., Hewings, A., & North, S. (2012). Arguing as an academic purpose: The role of asynchronous conferencing in supporting argumentative dialogue in school and university. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 11(1), 38–51.
Cheng, C. (2014). A Contrastive study of English and Chinese book reviews on linguistics: Perspective of Attitudinal meanings. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 4(5), 1009–1016.	Sealey, A. (2015). Book reviews and forum contributions in applied linguistics—Continuity and change. Applied linguistics, 36(4), 478–487.
Liu, B. (2013). Effect of first language on the use of English discourse markers by L1 Chinese speakers of English. Journal of Pragmatics, 45(1), 149–172.	Jones, C., & Carter, R. (2014). Teaching spoken discourse markers explicitly: A comparison of III and PPP. International Journal of English Studies, 14(1), 37–54.
Xin, T. (2010). Mainstream discourse and the construction of public understanding of women’s employment. Social Sciences in China, 31(2), 135–149.	Cameron, D. (2010). Sex/gender, language and the new Biologism. Applied Linguistics, 31(2), 173–192.
Li, J. (2014). Examining genre effects on test takers’ summary writing performance. Assessing Writing, 22, 75–90.	Gardner, S. (2012). Genres and registers of student report writing: An SFL perspective on texts and practices. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 11(1), 52–63.
Yang, W., & Sun, Y. (2012). The use of cohesive devices in argumentative writing by Chinese EFL learners at different proficiency levels. Linguistics and Education, 23(1), 31–48.	Charles, M. (2011). Adverbials of result: Phraseology and functions in the Problem–Solution pattern. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 10(1), 47–60.
Chien, C., Kao, L., & Wei, L. (2008). The role of Phonological awareness development in Young Chinese EFL learners. Language Awareness, 17(4), 271.	Moyle, M. J., Heilmann, J., & Berman, S. S. (2013). Assessment of early developing Phonological awareness skills: A comparison of the preschool individual growth and development indicators and the Phonological awareness and literacy Screening–PreK. Early Education & Development, 24(5), 668–686.
Liu, B., Wang, Z., & Jin, Z. (2010). The effects of punctuation in Chinese sentence comprehension: An ERP study. Journal of Neurolinguistics, 23(1), 66–80.	Mackenzie, N. M., Scull, J., & Bowles, T. (2015). Writing over time: An analysis of texts created by year One students. The Australian Educational Researcher, 42(5), 567–593.

Declaration: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

References

Becher, Tony. 1994. The significance of disciplinary differences. Studies in Higher Education 19(2). 151–161.10.1080/03075079412331382007Search in Google Scholar

Becher, Tony & Trowler Paul. 2001. Academic tribes and territories: Intellectual inquiry and the culture of disciplines, 2nd edn. Buckingham, England: Open University Press.Search in Google Scholar

Berkenkotter, Carol & Thomas N. Huckin. 1995. Genre knowledge in disciplinary communication: Culture/cognition/power. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.10.2307/358302Search in Google Scholar

Bloch, Joel G. & Lan Chi. 1995. A comparison of the use of citations in Chinese and English academic discourse. In Diane Belcher & George Braine (eds.), Academic writing in a second language: Essays on research and pedagogy, 231–274. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.Search in Google Scholar

Bondi, Marina. 2012. Voice in textbooks: Between exposition and argument. In Ken Hyland & C. Sancho Guinda (eds.), Stance and voice in written academic genres, 101–115. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1057/9781137030825_7Search in Google Scholar

Dubois, Betty Lou. 1997. The Biomedical discussion section in context. Greenwich, Conn: Ablex Pub. Corp.Search in Google Scholar

Dudley-Evans, Tony. 1995. Common-core and specific approaches to the teaching of academic writing. In Diane Belcher & George Braine (eds.), Academic writing in a second language, 293–312. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.Search in Google Scholar

Duszak, Anna. 1997. Cross-cultural academic communication: A discourse-community view. In Anna Duszak (ed.), Culture and styles of academic discourse, 11–39. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.10.1515/9783110821048Search in Google Scholar

Gosden, Hugh. 1992. Discourse functions of marked theme in scientific research articles. English For Specific Purposes 11. 207–224.10.1016/S0889-4906(05)80010-9Search in Google Scholar

Hall, Edward. 1976. Beyond culture. New York: Doubleday.Search in Google Scholar

Heslot, Jeanne. 1982. Tense and other indexical markers in the typology of scientific texts in English. In Jorgen Heodt, Lita Lundquist, Heribert Picht & Jacques Quistgaard (eds.), Pragmatics and LSP, 83–103. Copenhagen: School of Economics.Search in Google Scholar

Hill, Susan S., Betty F. Soppelsa & Gregory K. West. 1982. Teaching ESL students to read and write experimental-research papers. TESOL Quarterly 16(3). 333–347.10.2307/3586633Search in Google Scholar

Hofstede, Geert, Gert Jan Hofstede & Michael Minkov. 2010. Cultures and organizations: Software of the mind, 3rd edn. New York: McGraw-Hill.Search in Google Scholar

Hood, S. 2004. Appraising research: Taking a stance in academic writing (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation). Sydney: University of Technology.Search in Google Scholar

Hopkins, Andy & Tony Dudley-Evans. 1988. A genre-based investigation of the discussion sections in articles and dissertations. English For Specific Purposes 7(2). 113–121.10.1016/0889-4906(88)90029-4Search in Google Scholar

Hu, Guangwei & Feng Cao. 2011. Hedging and boosting in abstracts of applied linguistics articles: A comparative study of English- and Chinese-medium journals. Journal of Pragmatics 43(11). 2795–2809.10.1016/j.pragma.2011.04.007Search in Google Scholar

Hu, Guangwei & Guihua Wang. 2014. Disciplinary and ethnolinguistic influences on citation in research articles. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 14(1). 14–28.10.1016/j.jeap.2013.11.001Search in Google Scholar

Hyland, Ken. 2009. Writing in the disciplines: Research evidence for specificity. Taiwan International ESP Journal 1(1). 5–22.10.18485/esptoday.2017.5.1.1Search in Google Scholar

Hyland, Ken. 2012. Undergraduate understandings: Stance and voice in final year reports. In Ken Hyland & C. Sancho Guinda (eds.), Stance and voice in written academic genres, 134–150. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1057/9781137030825_9Search in Google Scholar

Loi, Check-kim. 2010. Research article introductions in Chinese and English: A comparative genre-based investigation. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 9(4). 267–279.10.1016/j.jeap.2010.09.004Search in Google Scholar

Lustig, Myron W. & Jolene Koester. 2010. Intercultural competence: Interpersonal communication across cultures, 6th edn. Pearson: Boston.Search in Google Scholar

Martin, J. R. & Peter R. R. White. 2005. The language of evaluation: Appraisal in English. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1057/9780230511910Search in Google Scholar

O’Donnell, Michael. 2011. CorpusTool (Version 3.0). http://www.wagsoft.com/CorpusTool/index.html (accessed 4 March 2014).Search in Google Scholar

Peng, Kaiping & Richard E. Nisbett. 1999. Culture, dialectics, and reasoning about contradiction. American Psychologist 54(9). 741–754.10.1037/0003-066X.54.9.741Search in Google Scholar

Samraj, Betty. 2002. Disciplinary variation in abstracts: The case of wildlife behavior and conservation biology. In John Flowerdew (ed.), Academic discourse, 40–56. Harlow: Longman.Search in Google Scholar

Sancho Guinda, C. & Ken Hyland. 2012. Introduction: A context-sensitive approach to stance and voice. In C. Sancho Guinda & Ken Hyland (eds.), Stance and voice in written academic genres, 1–11. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1057/9781137030825Search in Google Scholar

Shaw, P. 2003. Evaluation and promotion across languages. Journal of English For Academic Purposes 2(4). 343–357.10.1016/S1475-1585(03)00050-XSearch in Google Scholar

Sheldon, Elena 2013. The Research article: A rhetorical and functional comparison of texts created by native and non-native English writers and native Spanish writers. The University of New South Wales Unpublished doctoral thesis.Search in Google Scholar

Swales, John M. 1990. Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Search in Google Scholar

Swales, John M. 2004. Genre analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Search in Google Scholar

Taylor, Gordon & Tingguang Chen. 1991. Linguistic, cultural, and subcultural issues in contrastive discourse analysis: Anglo-American and Chinese scientific texts. Applied Linguistics 12. 319–336.10.1093/applin/12.3.319Search in Google Scholar

West, Gregory K. 1980. That-nominal constructions in traditional rhetorical divisions of scientific research papers. TESOL Quarterly 14(4). 483–489.10.2307/3586236Search in Google Scholar

Wu, S. 2008. Investigating the effectiveness of arguments in undergraduate essays from an evaluation perspective. Journal of Prospect: An Australian Journal Of TESOL 23. 59–75.Search in Google Scholar

Wu, G. & Zhu, Y. 2014. Self-mention and authorial identity construction in English and Chinese research articles: A contrastive study. Linguistics and The Human Sciences 10(2). 133–158.10.1558/lhs.v10i2.28557Search in Google Scholar

Xu, Xiaoyu & Hilary Nesi. 2017. An analysis of the evaluation contexts in academic discourse. Functional Linguistics 4(2). 1–17.10.1186/s40554-016-0037-xSearch in Google Scholar

Xu, Xiaoyu & Hilary Nesi. 2019. Differences in engagement: A comparison of the strategies used British and Chinese research article writers. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 38. 121–134.10.1016/j.jeap.2019.02.003Search in Google Scholar

Yang, Rui. 2003. Progress and paradoxes: New developments in China’s higher education. In Ken Hyland (ed.), Centralization and decentralization: Educational reforms and changing governance in Chinese societies, 173–200. Hong Kong: Comparative Education Research Centre, The University of Hong Kong.Search in Google Scholar

Published Online: 2019-09-26

Published in Print: 2019-11-26

You are currently not able to access this content.

Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/text-2019-2046

Keywords for this article

evaluation; stance; research article; applied linguistics; genre; culture; Appraisal