Writing discussion sections of research articles (RAs) is difficult for novice scientists. The study investigates patterns of linguistic characterizations in discussion sections of RAs in chemical engineering. Around 240,000-word corpus was compiled using 213 discussion sections extracted from 20 disciplinary journals. Multi-dimensional (MD) analysis proposed by Biber was used to capture linguistic co-occurrence patterns based on a constellation of features across collected texts. The MD results show six salient linguistic patterns: (1) Involvement and interactivity; (2) Description versus Narration; (3) Expression of attitude; (4) Informational production; (5) Framing scientific claims; and (6) Expression of denial. Discourse-based interviews were then conducted with eight professional scientists to elicit their perception of MD findings concerning their reading experience and understanding of established writing conventions. The implications for EAP professionals are proposed as to the explicit instruction on teaching novice writers how to employ stance expressions strategically in academic writing.
Abstract-Academic listening has been widely studied from the perspective of note-taking, attention to discourse markers, and schematic knowledge. Learner variables, such as motivation, degree of anxiety, and learner beliefs, have all received increasingly attention from researchers, but have not yet been sufficiently explored in second language (L2) listening. This paper investigates the correlations between second language learning motivation and learners' strategy use awareness in academic listening practices. Quantitative data was obtained using questionnaires issued to 79 second year English-major students after a TOEFL lecture listening practice. The results suggest that teacher classroom instruction and feedback, task significance, and learners' commitment encourage the listeners to apply more listening strategies. Pedagogical implications drawn from the results are discussed, concluding that L2 listening teachers should develop motivation-based strategy instruction with emphasis on creating a learner-centred constructivist learning environment. In addition, a skill-oriented approach is proposed in order to improve course design in L2 listening instruction. This would train students to consciously use strategies to improve their listening comprehension in an EFL ( English as a Foreign Language) context. Suggestions are provided at the end for future research.
A corporate social responsibility (CSR) report is a form of information disclosure about environmental, health, and human rights issues. It serves as an essential bridge for communication between enterprises and stakeholders. Enterprises can use vague language (VL) to strategically communicate with the public, establish a positive corporate image, and legitimize their activities. In recent years, many scholars have studied the usage and communicative function of VL in general conversational discourse, yet VL in business discourse has not received much attention.
In this study, 30 social responsibility reports of 10 world-renowned cosmetic enterprises between 2015–2019 were collected to build a corpus. With the help of the corpus software AntConc, this paper explores VL, specifically in CSR reports, using a corpus-assisted approach. Further, the quantitative findings are complemented by the contextualized interpretation of the communicative functions of VL in CSR reports. The major findings of this research are as follows. There are four types of VL used in CSR texts: quantity, degree, time, and softening stance-taking. In addition, the use of VL can help achieve several communicative purposes of CSR report drafting (i.e., provide an appropriate amount of information, enhance persuasion, and self-protection). Some practical suggestions are discussed for improving the awareness of the strategic use of vagueness in CSR reports.
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