Comparative Analysis of Chinese and Western Authors’ Use of Evidentiality

Abstract

Academic writing is the process of authors' interaction and communication with readers. Based on Yang's classification of evidentiality and self-built corpus, this study examines and compares the characteristics of Chinese and western authors' use of evidentiality in second language academic writing. The major results include: 1) Evidentials are universal in research papers. Chinese authors' less use of evidentials indicates their tendency to conceal personal opinions to offer more objective arguments; 2) Both Chinese and western authors prefer reporting and inferring evidentials, owing to the style of natural science and the language practice of the subject; 3) The frequency of English authors' sensory and belief evidentials is significantly higher than that of Chinese authors due to the different cultural backgrounds; and 4) As to the specific realization of each evidential type, the commonality and difference coexist.