This study was an assessment of authorial stance using engagement framework by Tanzanian EFL academic writers so as to reveal the linguistic resources that enable authors to present a stance toward the research they are reviewing and presenting. Specifically, the study sought to i) explore pattern of expanding and contracting in presenting authorial stance in the selected dissertations and theses, ii) assess the authors’ linguistic resources for expanding moves, and iii) assess the linguistic resources for contracting moves by the authors. The study adapted Martin and White (2005) engagement system framework focusing on heterogloss. The study was conducted at the Open University of Tanzania. We analyzed the engagement of 20 EFL post-graduate theses and 20 Dissertations at Master’s and Doctoral levels by the EFL candidates/authors and used document analysis as a sole tool of data gathering. In conducting analyses of these texts, each was first broken down into non-embedded clauses and analyzed based on the engagement system belonging to heterogloss categories then their respective sub-categories. Findings revealed that the dissertation/theses writers varied in their mode of registering their stances towards the subject matter and thence proven heteroglossic rather than monoglossic. In that way they were able to establish their authorial territory and claim their visibility or presence instead of being compilers or reporters of findings by others. It was further noted that author stance was more noticed in literature review and introduction chapters.
Construing Criticality in essay genre in English literatureClmentNdoricimpa
Criticality is established as one of most important characteristics of university essay genre. Students are required to demonstrate their critical thinking in their writing. However, criticality is a concept, which is less understood among students and tutors. Further, there is a little agreement among researchers on how to investigate the linguistic features associated with construing critical stance. Therefore, this paper demonstrates how criticality is achieved in essay genre in the discipline of English literature. The argument in this paper is that the linguistic features traditionally associated with enacting criticality interact with other linguistic features to achieve critical stance in a written text. A systemic functional analysis of essays in English literature drawn from British Academic Writing English (BAWE) corpus demonstrates this interaction. Specifically, the findings show that the linguistic resources for the creation of ideational meaning interact with those for critical positioning to achieve critical thinking in university essays. These findings have implication for teaching academic writing in the discipline of English literature.
Construing Criticality in essay genre in English literatureClmentNdoricimpa
Criticality is established as one of most important characteristics of university essay genre. Students are required to demonstrate their critical thinking in their writing. However, criticality is a concept, which is less understood among students and tutors. Further, there is a little agreement among researchers on how to investigate the linguistic features associated with construing critical stance. Therefore, this paper demonstrates how criticality is achieved in essay genre in the discipline of English literature. The argument in this paper is that the linguistic features traditionally associated with enacting criticality interact with other linguistic features to achieve critical stance in a written text. A systemic functional analysis of essays in English literature drawn from British Academic Writing English (BAWE) corpus demonstrates this interaction. Specifically, the findings show that the linguistic resources for the creation of ideational meaning interact with those for critical positioning to achieve critical thinking in university essays. These findings have implication for teaching academic writing in the discipline of English literature.
Discourse and Genre (the relationship between discourse and genre) Aticka Dewi
We provide some questions to make the discussion clearer
1. What is discourse?
Discourse is the use of language in text and context
2. What is genre?
Genre in linguistics refers to the type and structure of language typically used for a particular purpose in a particular context.
3. What is relationship between discourse and genre?
Discourse analysis is genre analysis. When we analyze discourses, of course we will specify them into more specific types from the characteristics of each discourse. For exampleThe specific type of discourses is called as genre.
4. Why should we use genre to analyze discourse?
Discourse is language in use. It is huge and almost unlimited. So, when we want to analyze discourses, we need a limitation to limit the unlimited things. Here, we use an analogy for this statement. (slide 11,12)
Genre provides limit in discourse.
That is why genre is used to help us divining and analyzing the discourses.
5. How do we analyze discourse through genre?
Example: text “Forklift fatty Improving”.
----------
The text is taken from the newspaper report. As we see in the language features and structures, we can divine it into recount text. It is non fiction, because it is based on real event. And it is written. So, we can say that this discourse has written non-fiction recount genre.
But, we cannot make sure that a type of discourse always has the same characteristics, because discourse is neither absolutely homogenous nor absolutely heterogeneous. Discourse is sometimes heterogeneous. Here, we provide two videos which have the same genre, but quite different in terms of language features and structures.
---------VIDEO
From the videos, we can feel that the first and the second videos are quite different. The structure in the first video is introduction (addressing, personal value), content (some important issues, e.g: financial issues, goals of America, ), closing (hope for American future, blessing). The language features used in the first video is more formal, present tense. The atmosphere created is formal.
From the second video, the structure is introduction (personal value without addressing), content (some goals), closing (. The language features used in the video is mixing, unclear and needs more understanding. The atmosphere created is a bit humorous.
Although they have different characteristics, they have the same genre in term of purpose, that is political genre.
From those videos, we can conclude that we cannot stick to an idea that a genre of discourse always has the same characteristics. AGAIN, discourse is neither absolutely homogenous nor absolutely heterogeneous.
This ppt provides summarized ideas of the relation between discourse analysis and language teaching. This ppt was used of the course "Discourse Analysis" at UCSC.
This Presentation is part of our semester 4 Syllabus. Which is about Reserch and Methodology.In between I choose the Topic of "What is Plagiarism and it's Forms.
Discourse and Genre (the relationship between discourse and genre) Aticka Dewi
We provide some questions to make the discussion clearer
1. What is discourse?
Discourse is the use of language in text and context
2. What is genre?
Genre in linguistics refers to the type and structure of language typically used for a particular purpose in a particular context.
3. What is relationship between discourse and genre?
Discourse analysis is genre analysis. When we analyze discourses, of course we will specify them into more specific types from the characteristics of each discourse. For exampleThe specific type of discourses is called as genre.
4. Why should we use genre to analyze discourse?
Discourse is language in use. It is huge and almost unlimited. So, when we want to analyze discourses, we need a limitation to limit the unlimited things. Here, we use an analogy for this statement. (slide 11,12)
Genre provides limit in discourse.
That is why genre is used to help us divining and analyzing the discourses.
5. How do we analyze discourse through genre?
Example: text “Forklift fatty Improving”.
----------
The text is taken from the newspaper report. As we see in the language features and structures, we can divine it into recount text. It is non fiction, because it is based on real event. And it is written. So, we can say that this discourse has written non-fiction recount genre.
But, we cannot make sure that a type of discourse always has the same characteristics, because discourse is neither absolutely homogenous nor absolutely heterogeneous. Discourse is sometimes heterogeneous. Here, we provide two videos which have the same genre, but quite different in terms of language features and structures.
---------VIDEO
From the videos, we can feel that the first and the second videos are quite different. The structure in the first video is introduction (addressing, personal value), content (some important issues, e.g: financial issues, goals of America, ), closing (hope for American future, blessing). The language features used in the first video is more formal, present tense. The atmosphere created is formal.
From the second video, the structure is introduction (personal value without addressing), content (some goals), closing (. The language features used in the video is mixing, unclear and needs more understanding. The atmosphere created is a bit humorous.
Although they have different characteristics, they have the same genre in term of purpose, that is political genre.
From those videos, we can conclude that we cannot stick to an idea that a genre of discourse always has the same characteristics. AGAIN, discourse is neither absolutely homogenous nor absolutely heterogeneous.
This ppt provides summarized ideas of the relation between discourse analysis and language teaching. This ppt was used of the course "Discourse Analysis" at UCSC.
This Presentation is part of our semester 4 Syllabus. Which is about Reserch and Methodology.In between I choose the Topic of "What is Plagiarism and it's Forms.
Systemic Functional Linguistics: An approach to analyzing written academic di...ClmentNdoricimpa
Written academic discourse refers to the way of thinking and using language that exist in the academy. Writers demonstrate knowledge and negotiate social relations with readers by means of written discourse. In order to understand these characteristics of written discourse, different approaches are followed. Some follow a linguistic approach to uncover the linguistic devices associated with coherence in a written text. Other follow a social approach to analyze the social cultural context in which a written text occurs. However, it is demonstrated that the linguistic and the social cultural elements in a written text cannot be disassociated and that an approach, which combine the two approaches is required. Such an approach is Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). Therefore, this paper discusses the way in which SFL is used as an approach to analyzing linguistic features of academic discourses and how those features relate to social cultural context. In this paper, it is shown that SFL provides the means to analyze not only the linguistic resources employed in a written text but also the context in which the text is used. These linguistic resources are associated with the creation of ideational, interpersonal and textual meaning at the level of lexicogrammar and discourse semantic. The context is modelled through register and genre theory.
The major thrust of this research has been a psycholinguistic analysis of effectiveness of topic familiarity and two types of translation tasks (from L1 to L2 and L2 to L1) on retention of incidental vocabulary learning for a longer duration. The effects of translation tasks and topic familiarity have been studied individually .However, the relative effect of topic familiarity conditions and translation in two directions have not been attended to in longer period of time. In doing so, thirty intermediate EFL students were asked to translate a few texts in two directions with two conditions of topic (un)familiarity .Each text contains some unknown words .The students were tested on these unknown words and the responses were examined in immediate and delayed post tests. The delayed post test session held after 2 weeks. The results show that, unlike the revised hierarchical model (RHM), translation task directions did not have significant effect on incidental vocabulary learning while retention was more effective with topic familiar texts in the both tests .In addition, topic familiarity of the texts play an important part in the process of incidental vocabulary learning. The article concludes with some suggestions for task designing and vocabulary teaching.
This study focuses on the listening anxiety experienced by teacher candidates (TCs) in Iran and Turkey. Using different data collection methods, including two questionnaires, listening test, and semi-structured interviews, this study tried to investigate the factors behind Foreign Language Listening Anxiety (FLLA) among Iranian teacher candidates (TCs). The participants of the study in Iran context were 29 teacher candidates studying at BA level in English Language Teaching. All of the participants were asked to complete these two questionnaires with the background information regarding their age, gender, years of language study. The participants’ answers to FLLAS and FLCAS were analyzed with spss to obtain frequencies and percentages. The results were compared to the same study by Bekleyen. The findings revealed that Iranian TCs experienced a high level of FLLA compared to Turkish TCs and showed a significant positive correlation between FLLA and FLCA, which means that teacher candidates with higher levels of language anxiety tended to have higher levels of listening anxiety. In addition, interview data suggested that Iranian and Turkish participants’ FLLA mostly originated from the same source: inadequacy of past education in listening skill. Furthermore, practice was the most frequent strategy used by participants in these two countries to overcome this kind of anxiety.
The main thrust of this paper is to examine the issue of racial segregation in Maya Angelou’s “Caged Bird” via exploring the poem in relation to the circumstances that typify life and existence in the African American context. An attempt is made to situate this poem within the heat of racism, oppression, and class discrimination as well as the search for black identity. The paper relies on New Historicism as the scope of exploration owing to the chunk of influence that history and society bears on African American writing. Then literary critical analysis is made to verify the different aspects of racism and social segregation as represented in the poem.
This article provides an overview of existing instruments measuring self-efficacy for English language learning in both first and second language acquisition fields and their reliability and validity evidence. It also describes the development and use of the Questionnaire of English Language Self-Efficacy (QESE) scale, designed specifically for English language learners (ELLs), and presents an overview of the research findings from empirical studies related to its psychometric properties. A growing body of literature has begun to document encouraging evidence of ELL students’ self-efficacy belief measures and the utility of the QESE in particular. The information pertaining to the QESE is quite encouraging from measurement perspectives and fills the gap in the literature by providing a reliable and valid instrument to measure ELLs’ self-efficacy in various cultures. This paper concludes with evidence for internal consistency, test-retest reliability, structural, generalizability, and external aspects of the construct validity of the QESE. This paper contributes to the growing interest in these skills by reviewing the measures of self-efficacy in the field of second-language acquisition and the findings of empirical research on the development and use of a self-efficacy scale for ELLs.
This study examines written errors in a corpus of 30 compositions produced by 15 students of English as a second language (L2), whose first language (L1) is Spanish. Their ages range from 10 to 11. This paper identifies grammar errors as the most frequent due to L1’s interference in L2 learning. Positive, focused, indirect written feedback is proven to be the most effective, and the L1 seems to help the students to understand the teacher’s metalinguistic explanation to correct errors and avoid mistakes. These results provide insight into language learning given that they offer information regarding the teaching practice.
Reading without proper guidance from the perspective of discourse analysis will be a challenge and torture for English readers. However, most college students are suffering from this sort of tedious reading dilemma due to a sense of failure and anxiety as a result of an inefficient teaching approach. In this paper, the author tries to combine discourse analysis with reading coaching so as to arouse and promote readers’ sense of discourse, with the hope of helping them to read effectively.
In her cross-border debate with Chinese anchor Liu Xin, Trish Regan, an American anchor, behaved differently than what she had done in her previous commentaries. This paper explores the attitudinal differences evinced by Trish Regan on different occasions from a linguistic perspective. Based on the Appraisal System, especially the Attitude subsystem (Martin and White, 2005), this paper examines the attitudinal resources utilized by Trish Regan in her two news commentaries and her online debate with her counterpart Liu Xin—a set of texts which provides a longitudinal account of how Trish has changed her attitude. By annotating the attitude resources used by Trish, positive and negative evaluations are expected to be clarified, with detailed analyses of subsystems in the Attitude System to be given. The results suggest that Trish’s attitude towards China has changed a lot in her commentaries and the debate with Liu Xin—from negative to partly positive. It also appears that Trish maintained a positive attitude towards the United States while she changed her positive attitude towards the trade war into a negative one in her debate with Liu Xin.
The present study examines the role that feedback plays on the development of second language (L2) English learners’ writing accuracy over time. Earlier formal accounts and empirical works have focused on the relevance of corrective feedback (CF) in L2 writing learning (Ellis et al., 2008; Sheen, 2007), and what kind of CF (i.e. direct or indirect) has proved to be the most effective one, especially at low L2 levels (García Mayo and Labandibar, 2017; Ismail et al., 2008). We have analyzed 3 pieces of writing produced by 8 L2 English participants (aged 11 to 12). The participants were randomly divided into two groups, one of them received direct CF on their written tasks and the other group was exposed to indirect CF. Results revealed that both groups seemed to improve their mean scores from the pre-task to the post-task, regardless of the type of CF implemented. However, the direct CF group has proven to benefit more from teacher’s written CF, when compared to the indirect CF group. This is especially the case in the development of grammar accuracy.
Politics is a genre of language, and language is the manifestation of politics (Mazrui, 2008). Political discourse not only plays an important role in the process of national external communication but also conveys certain ideology and political intentions. Based on interpersonal function in Systemic Functional Grammar and using President Xi’s speech at the Extraordinary G20 Leaders’ Summit as the original data, this paper analyzes and explores how this speech can achieve discourse function through personal pronouns, mood, and modality. In addition, this paper reveals how various linguistic resources are used to realize interpersonal meaning in political discourse.
There is an obvious tendency and ample evidence to show Sylvia Plath’s representation of the gendered body throughout her poetry. However, inadequate attention has been paid to the evolution of her such kind of representation. Taking one of her early poems “Pursuit” and a later one “Daddy” as examples, this essay aims to explicate this evolution of representation. In her early poetry, her representation of gendered body centers on Freudian interest as seen in “Pursuit,” but in her later poems this representation changes to her political consciousness as is the case in “Daddy.” Therefore, this evolution embodies both her change of poetic subject matter and her concern with gender politics under the influence of the social culture.
Under the guidance of the theory of theme and rheme as well as thematic progression patterns, two significant components in Systemic Functional Linguistics, this paper discusses the thematic structure and thematic progression patterns of the Queen’s national speech “We will meet again!” which was delivered on April 5, 2020, when both England and the rest of the world were in the throes of the growing pandemic. With the use of quantitative and qualitative research methods, their distributions and the reasons are explored to figure out the thematic features, the effects, or the functions that have been achieved in Queen’s speech.
Pragmatic presupposition focuses on the study of the relationship between the speaker and the hearer at the time of communication and the language they used. It can effectively serve advertising language from the linguistic field. In other words, pragmatic presupposition can meet some of the requirements of the advertisements. Nowadays people confront a variety of commercial advertisements, such as food advertisements, drink advertisements, digital product and cosmetic advertisements, etc. In fact, advertising language is the core factor which determines the success or failure of one commercial advertisement. Most domestic and overseas scholars have studied advertising language through cooperative principles,rhetoric and systemic-functional grammar, etc. However, they do not pay enough attention to the pragmatic presupposition manifested in both Chinese and English cosmetic advertisements. Therefore, this paper conducts a comparative study based on previous studies of pragmatic presupposition with new data. The data analyzed in this study are taken from some major fashion magazines in America, United Kingdom and China, such as VOGUE, Cosmopolitan,Trends health,etc. These cosmetic advertisements were advertised in the recent 20 years. Through the analysis, it is found that there is no significant difference between Chinese and English cosmetic advertisements in terms of types of pragmatic presupposition manifested. Both Chinese and English advertisers mainly adopt four types of pragmatic presupposition: existential presupposition, factive presupposition, state presupposition and behavior presupposition, and state presupposition takes up the largest proportion. The present study provides a more comprehensive analysis of pragmatic presupposition and classification of it. In addition, the results of this study also could help advertisers and consumers increase their mutual understanding.
This paper analyses the structure patterns of code-switching quantitatively and qualitatively based on EFL classroom discourse. Through the detailed analysis, the paper finds that there are different structure patterns in which teachers often switch their codes in English classroom. These structure patterns are reflected in different language levels: words and phrases level, clausal and sentence level. The functions of code-switching are determined by those structure patterns that teachers will choose for different purposes in the process of teaching.
As an open social recourse and special language text, linguistic landscape, visibility and salience of languages on public and commercial signs in a given territory or region Landry and Bourhis (1997), and presented on various signs or billboards publicly, can be used as a useful recourse in language learning. Shenzhen, the first Chinese special economic zone, has developed into a fast-growing innovative city. Compared to other cities, Shenzhen has more frequent communications with worldwide visitors. Therefore, its education should be more international and advanced, especially English learning, since English, the most widely used language, is being used in linguistic landscapes increasingly. However, nowadays tedious English learning content and learning methods are unable to meet training requirements of students’ English level in society. Therefore, considering the significance of linguistic landscape in humanities construction and English learning, the government and schools give great importance to the construction of campus linguistic landscape. Through reference to representative research literatures and comparative analysis, this study intends to explore the importance of linguistic landscape in English learning by analyzing differences in campus linguistic landscape between middle schools and universities within Shenzhen from the form and content by introducing the way in which linguistic landscape is presented. And different purposes of its application are introduced in order to understand the application and design of linguistic landscape in different campuses more comprehensively. The research also explores the influence of campus linguistic landscape on students’ English learning, from the perspective of informal environmental penetration, learning material, stirring interest, broadening vocabulary and knowledge and its close relationship with life. This paper adopts the Constructivist learning theory of Piaget (1970). Students establish knowledge about the external world in the process of interaction with the surrounding environment to develop their cognitive structure. This paper concludes that the integration of linguistic landscape can benefit from its educational function to conduct a practice-oriented, teacher-led and student-centered pattern of English learning and improve students’ English learning ability.
Given Folding Beijing’s great importance to Chinese science fictions after winning the 2016 Hugo Award for Best Novelette and Ken Liu’s active engagement in promoting modern Chinese literary works to go global, this paper endeavors to explain how the influences of ideology, poetics and patronage are displayed in Folding Beijing’s English translation from the perspective of Lefevere’s Rewriting Theory. Instead of focusing on the linguistic elements of the translation, the current study attempts to reveal the cultural, social, ideological, and poetical effects on the translator’s decision-making process and tries to explore the reasons for the novelette’s success. It is believed that this paper can, to a certain extent, not only provide beneficial guidance for future practitioners in this translation field, but also offer some reference for the study of translation of Chinese contemporary science fictions.
Speaking in English confidently is a challenging task but very crucial for university students. Graduates with good communication efficiency especially in the engineering field are greatly demanded in the current work industry. Performing confidently is not only important for scoring academic tasks but also to help expand the revenue of the companies at workplace. Thus, a pilot study was conducted to investigate the perceptions of a public technical university engineering undergraduates’ confidence level in speaking English. A mixed method design was employed where a survey and semi-structured interview were conducted for data collection. The participants were selected using purposive sampling method where a total number of 50 undergraduates provided valid responses to the online questionnaire and 5 undergraduates participated in the semi-structured interview. Descriptive statistics using Statistical Package for the Social Science Version 25.0 (SPSS version 25.0) and thematic analysis were adopted for data analyses. The results revealed three main areas that were identified as important to build the students’ confidence in speaking: applying manual skills, familiarization of vocabulary and correct usage of grammar. The findings also highlighted that the participants felt that more public speaking practices should be provided to them to improve their confidence level further in speaking English fluently.
This article is mainly focused on the protagonist Savitri of the novel The Dark Room and how she is alienated from herself, from the society and from the world and about her quest for marital identity. Savitri also goes through the crisis of discontent to the quest for happiness. Savitri of the ancient legend is a paragon of virtue and courage who confronts even Death to save her husband is finally victorious. Ironically unlike the legendary Savitri, Narayan’s Savitri chooses to leave home, husband and children once she comes to know of her husband’s infidelity. Contrary to the legend, Savitri is just an ordinary, amiable, housewife. She abandons her gambler and drunkard husband and her family. But her independence proves detrimental to Savitri’s familial peace. Narayan skillfully portrays her every action and in his ironic subtle fashion puts across the artificiality behind it. As a qualitative research, this researcher has taken the text as a ptimary source and interpreted it from existential point of view.
This study aims at stylistically analyzing Men in the Sun in terms of the use of rhetorical questions and polyphony. The main objective is to show the contribution of these stylistic features (rhetorical questions and use of polyphony) in construing meaning and heightening the aesthetic values of novella and show how focus on specific stylistic features helps in analyzing a literary text. The researchers used the analytical approach to examine how the use of rhetorical questions and polyphony helps in constructing the meaning of the novella and highlighting its main themes. This study will be helpful to students of literature who want to better understand stylistic analysis and how writers use stylistic devices to enhance the meaning they want to convey. The study could also serve as a springboard for further studies in this area and could promote academic discourse on stylistic analysis of various Arabic literary works in English translation.
Genesis claims that ancient languages were divinely diversified as the linguistic origin. In consistence, this article presents systematic evidence for biblical etymology related to all major body parts and organs. For instance, heart is to heat, brain is to burn, kidney is to kindle burnt offering, and muscle is to slice to the multiple. Sandal is sacred land, scared is sacred scarf, and tragedy is to tear garment. Both objective and abstract words exhibit biblical match, such as random and ransom as escaping scapegoat randomly chosen. Biblical etymology of morals 德, love 愛, real真, eternity 永, memory, necessity 必, secret 秘, accident, pardon 恕 and mister is also presented. Novel interpretation in biblical etymology is also presented for several affixes such as 辰, 者, per, and m/l+vowel+n. In definitive etymology, numerous words such as generation, espionage, pregnancy and agriculture are presented to bilingually match bible, especially the scripture of Moses, reflecting divine creation.
In a consumer society, "discourse" has become a way of creation. The narrative of object sets a new perspective, showing the non-material components of the material as much as possible, and people’s positive attitude towards the narrative mode also changes the focus of fashion design work. It is intended to analyze clothing narrative from the three aspects of fashion narrative suggestion, discourse structure and how fashion narrative is consumed.
Regarding the origin of language, Genesis claims that ancient languages were divinely diversified. This testimony presents systematic evidence for biblical etymology related to prophet and priest. Priesthood was pivotal in ancient culture, and religious worship is central to civilization. This testimony presents systematic and surprising evidence for relationship of prophet and priest to biblical etymology, indicating that the old testament culture and method of worship are extensively reflected by etymology of words.
More from English Literature and Language Review ELLR (20)
2024.06.01 Introducing a competency framework for languag learning materials ...Sandy Millin
http://sandymillin.wordpress.com/iateflwebinar2024
Published classroom materials form the basis of syllabuses, drive teacher professional development, and have a potentially huge influence on learners, teachers and education systems. All teachers also create their own materials, whether a few sentences on a blackboard, a highly-structured fully-realised online course, or anything in between. Despite this, the knowledge and skills needed to create effective language learning materials are rarely part of teacher training, and are mostly learnt by trial and error.
Knowledge and skills frameworks, generally called competency frameworks, for ELT teachers, trainers and managers have existed for a few years now. However, until I created one for my MA dissertation, there wasn’t one drawing together what we need to know and do to be able to effectively produce language learning materials.
This webinar will introduce you to my framework, highlighting the key competencies I identified from my research. It will also show how anybody involved in language teaching (any language, not just English!), teacher training, managing schools or developing language learning materials can benefit from using the framework.
Welcome to TechSoup New Member Orientation and Q&A (May 2024).pdfTechSoup
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The French Revolution Class 9 Study Material pdf free download
Assessing EFL Learner,s Authorial Stance in Academic Writing: A Case of Out Theses and Dissertations Authors
1. English Literature and Language Review
ISSN(e): 2412-1703, ISSN(p): 2413-8827
Vol. 3, No. 8, pp: 74-81, 2017
URL: http://arpgweb.com/?ic=journal&journal=9&info=aims
*Corresponding Author
74
Academic Research Publishing Group
Assessing EFL Learners’ Authorial Stance in Academic Writing:
A Case of Out Theses and Dissertations Authors
Zelda Elisifa Sam* Department of Linguistics and Literary Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Open University
of Tanzania, Tanzania
Elizabeth Kyara Department of Foundation Studies, Institute of Continuing Education, Open University of Tanzania,
Tanzania
1. Introduction
One of the demands of reporting research results that challenges second language (L2) writers is representing
their perspectives on a topic while engaging in assessment of the research that has already been reported in that
area. This task confronts researchers as they introduce their studies and situate them in relation to other works in
their fields. ESL pedagogy often offers only superficial or abstract guidelines or formulas, scattered sentence
examples, or a focus on vocabulary out of its discursive context to writers who want to learn more about how to
achieve an effective stance in presenting their research. Such approaches are inadequate in preparing writers to
achieve the nuanced presentation of their views in relation to others that is needed to establish a research space and
situate oneself within that space.
This study seeks to assess Tanzanian EFL learners‟ use of linguistic resources in showing their stance in their
academic writing. Our analysis draws on the Engagement framework in systemic functional linguistics (Martin and
White, 2005) and links the linguistic resources identified through that framework with Swales‟ moves (Swales,
1990;2004), to provide more detailed information about how authors achieve an authoritative voice. Each rhetorical
move has a specific purpose that needs to be realized by appropriate linguistic expressions. For example, in
transitioning from Swales (1990) first move, “establish a territory” of a study to the next, “establish a niche” in
research, an author might choose to entertain a wide range of possibilities before contracting the argumentative
space to highlight his/her stance. Alternatively, s/he might focus directly on what is already known in order to direct
the readers‟ attention to their perspectives. In either case, the author can choose from a range of possible ways of
entertaining or closing down options. Our focus here was assessing various ways the EFL learners use to present a
stance in linguistic resources related to the rhetorical moves they make.
2. Introducing Research
When called upon to respond to disciplinary writing requirements that often remain implicit, novice L2 research
writers, even those in post-graduate programs, can experience a gap between their disciplinary knowledge and their
Abstract: This study was an assessment of authorial stance using engagement framework by Tanzanian EFL
academic writers so as to reveal the linguistic resources that enable authors to present a stance toward the
research they are reviewing and presenting. Specifically, the study sought to i) explore pattern of expanding and
contracting in presenting authorial stance in the selected dissertations and theses, ii) assess the authors‟
linguistic resources for expanding moves, and iii) assess the linguistic resources for contracting moves by the
authors. The study adapted Martin and White (2005) engagement system framework focusing on heterogloss.
The study was conducted at the Open University of Tanzania. We analyzed the engagement of 20 EFL post-
graduate theses and 20 Dissertations at Master‟s and Doctoral levels by the EFL candidates/authors and used
document analysis as a sole tool of data gathering. In conducting analyses of these texts, each was first broken
down into non-embedded clauses and analyzed based on the engagement system belonging to heterogloss
categories then their respective sub-categories. Findings revealed that the dissertation/theses writers varied in
their mode of registering their stances towards the subject matter and thence proven heteroglossic rather than
monoglossic. In that way they were able to establish their authorial territory and claim their visibility or
presence instead of being compilers or reporters of findings by others. It was further noted that author stance
was more noticed in literature review and introduction chapters.
Keywords: Authorial stance; EFL; Academic writing; Engagement framework.
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75
ability to write about that knowledge in English (Hirvela and Belcher, 2001; Ivanic and Camps, 2001; Schneider and
Fujishima, 1995; Silva, 1993) despite attending university writing courses (Carson, 2001; Hansen, 2000; Leki et al.,
2006; Raymond and Parks, 2002). Studies of learner corpora have shown both linguistic and rhetorical differences
between L2 adult writers and their native speaker counterparts (Biber et al., 1998; Granger et al., 2002; Hyland and
Milton, 1997; Hyland, 2006; Mauranen, 1993; Silva, 1993) that indicate that more thoughtful pedagogical
interventions are urgently needed to help L2 writers tackle advanced academic writing. Hyland and Milton (1997)
identified how weak L2 writing can reveal a “comparative lack of control” relevant to the projection of an authorial
voice, manifest in the subtle deployment of assertion and doubt. This is true for novice L2 research writers even at
post-graduate pursuits.
Generally, the tendency to present an inappropriately subjective persona is a characteristic of both L2 and L1
student writers. Using the Appraisal framework Martin and White (2005), Hood (2004) found that published writers
used more linguistic resources for evaluating constructs and findings, (Appreciation), while student writers used
more resources for presenting feelings (Affect) and opinions about people (Judgment). The student writers‟ use of
“Affect” and “Judgment” instead of “Appreciation” constructed their texts as more personal and subjective than the
published academic texts.
In addition to using linguistic resources that enable the kind of impersonal stance expected in much academic
writing, projecting an effective authorial stance also calls for the management of “prosody”, the presentation of a
constellation of values to strengthen an argument. Lemke (1992) defines “prosody” as the recurrence of particular
meanings in “realizations that tend to be distributed through the clause and across clause and sentence boundaries”
(p. 47). From this perspective, the scope of any evaluation is not confined to one sentence or even a paragraph, but
instead, “evaluations propagate or ramify through a text, following the grammatical and logical links that organize it
as structured and cohesive text as opposed to a mere sequence of unrelated words and clauses” (p. 49). Hood (2006)
argues that student writers are challenged in carrying through a consistent evaluative stance using appropriate
linguistic choices. These writers are often found to fail in picking up and reinforcing values they have previously
introduced as they develop their texts, or to use discordant values that weaken their arguments. This can result in
presentation of a static or inconsistent perspective, whereas experienced writers are able to deliver a more dynamic
and focused perspective by using multiple instances of interpersonal resources that accumulate and resonate with one
another as the text unfolds (Chang, 2010).
Research in English for Academic Purposes has argued for the need to shift attention to discursive practice
when advanced academic writing instruction is involved (e.g. Charles (2007); Flowerdew (1998); (Hood (2004);
Hood, 2006); Pho (2008). An area of discursive practice in writing that has been much-researched is the
introduction to a research article, and a key contributor to our understanding of the discourse structure of
introductions to research is (Swales (1990); Swales, 2004), who pointed out that introductions are always marked
with an evaluative authorial voice. In his CARS (Create a Research Space) model for introductions, (Swales
(1990); Swales, 2004) describes three major moves, “Establishing a territory”, “Establishing a niche” and
“Occupying the niche” or “Presenting the present work” and steps for presenting those moves that include such
active rhetorical actions as claiming, reviewing, counter-claiming, questioning, indicating, and announcing.
Accomplishing these discursive activities rests heavily on the author-writer‟s manipulation of language resources
that create a convincing stance through a balance of assertion and concession. Swales notes that authorial comment
is more frequent in the Introduction and Discussion sections than in other parts of a research paper (e.g. the Methods
or Results sections).
However, the rhetorical moves and steps described by Swales offer only a general orientation to or guidelines
for writing an introduction. Swales‟ model, helpful in proposing explicit rhetorical guidelines for academic writing,
can be enriched with the specific language features needed to achieve the expected rhetorical structure, as all these
discursive activities in an introduction are closely tied to the presentation of an author‟s stance.
3. Current Study
3.1. The Problem
Since the introduction of Engagement framework by Martin and White (2005) the focus has been interpersonal
meanings being realized in the interplay of two discursive voices, monogloss and heterogloss. In projecting an
authoritative stance, writers need to display a fine interplay of assertion (e.g., when presenting the main argument
and the rationale for the study) and openness (e.g. making room for acknowledging other perspectives and
negotiating with readers). According to Martin and White (Ibid.), appropriate deployment of interpersonal evaluation
can help display one‟s disciplinary credentials by projecting “a professionally acceptable persona and appropriate
attitude” (pp.13–14). This means the writers engage their colleagues by displaying respect and due regard for their
views and reputations, constructing a subtle equilibrium between “the researcher‟s authority as an expert-knower and
his or her humility as a disciplinary servant” (pp. 13–14). The Engagement system therefore focuses on the
deployment of voice and stance. It deals with how author-writers project themselves, incorporate and manage
different voices or sources of voices in the form of monogloss or heterogloss. Based on this notion, engagement
analysis investigates “the degree to which speakers/writers acknowledge these prior speakers and the ways in which
they engage with them whether they present themselves as standing with, as standing against, as undecided, or as
neutral with respect to these other speakers and their value positions” (p. 93).
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In monoglossic assertions, no dialogistic alternatives are recognized, as they do not overtly reference other
voices or recognize alternative positions (Martin and White, 2005). However, statements that are presented as
monoglossic are often a focal point for discussion or argumentation, or include propositions presented as taken-for-
granted and so assume a reader who shares the writer‟s position. A focus on the key linguistic resources that enable
such positioning and assertive argumentation can help L2 writers recognize how to control the language that enables
them to negotiate this challenging textual territory.
The main focus in the current study, however, was on the construal of heterogloss, and the engagement
framework suggests that heterogloss statements can be categorized as either expanding or contracting. The
difference lies in “the degree to which an utterance... actively makes allowances for dialogically alternative positions
and voices (dialogic expansion), or alternatively, acts to challenge, fend off or restrict the scope of such (dialogic
contraction)” (Martin and White, 2005). Figure 1 below presents these options and their sub-categories with
examples of some of their linguistic realizations.
Figure-1. Engagement system: Heterogloss (Adapted from Martin and White (2005)).
The expanding options thus included „attribute‟ (with sub-categories „acknowledge‟ and „distance‟) and
„entertain‟. „Attribute‟ resources open up dialogic space by referencing an external source, either acknowledging or
distancing that source. „Entertain‟ options include “wordings by which the authorial voice indicates that its position
is but one of a number of possible positions and thereby, to greater or lesser degrees, makes dialogic space for those
possibilities” (Martin and White, 2005). Contracting options, on the other hand, include „disclaim‟ (with sub-
categories „deny‟ and „counter‟) and „proclaim‟ (with sub-categories „concur‟, „pronounce‟, and „endorse‟).
„Disclaim‟ resources shut down dialogic space by directly rejecting another view or saying it doesn‟t apply, and
„proclaim‟ resources confront, challenge, or exclude dialogic alternatives.
Taken as a whole, appraisal meanings are “integrated complexes of meaning” which can enable the presentation
of a dynamic evaluative stance throughout the text (Hood, 2004; Martin and White, 2005). The current study
therefore assessed the use of the engagement framework by Tanzanian EFL academic writers, using OUT as a case
study, to reveal the linguistic resources that enable authors to present a stance toward the research they are reviewing
and presenting and making these resources explicit.
3.2. Research Objectives
The proposed study seeks to attain the following objectives:
i) To find out pattern of expanding and contracting in presenting authorial stance in the selected dissertations
and theses.
ii) To assess linguistic resources for expanding moves by the authors of the dissertations and theses, and
iii) To assess the linguistic resources for contracting moves by the authors.
3.3. Methodology
3.3.1. Documents under Analysis
The current study involved analyzing the engagement of 20 EFL post-graduate theses and 20 Dissertations at
Master‟s and Doctoral levels by the candidates/authors of the Open University of Tanzania students.
In conducting analyses of these texts, each was first broken down into non-embedded clauses and analyzed
based on the engagement system as presented in Figure 1. Each clause was assigned to either monogloss or
4. English Literature and Language Review, 2017, 3(8): 74-81
77
heterogloss, and then sub-categories of heterogloss were identified. After each non-embedded clause was so
categorized, we looked at the linguistic resources each author had used in each clause and across the text to achieve
particular authorial stance.
3.3.2. Instrumentation and Data Handling
We used content analysis as the sole tool for data collection. Holsti (1969) offers a broad definition of content
analysis as, “any technique for making inferences by objectively and systematically identifying specified
characteristics of messages” (p. 14). Under Holsti‟s definition, the technique of content analysis is not restricted to
the domain of textual analysis, but may be applied to other areas such as coding student drawings (Wheelock et al.,
2000), or coding of actions observed in videotaped studies (Stigler et al., 1999). This tool is the sine qua non for this
study, since, as Stemler (2001) puts it, content analysis can be a powerful tool for determining authorship such as
examining the authors‟ prior writings, and correlate the frequency of nouns or function words to help build a case for
the probability of each person's authorship of the data of interest.
The resulting data were handled both quantitatively and qualitatively. The quantitative data were frequencies of
the engagement resources while qualitative data will the „voices‟ or examples of excerpts extracted from the theses
and dissertations for exemplification.
4. Findings
4.1. Summary of Findings
The two main kinds of stance; namely, contract and expand strategies, were in focus, each with two sub-
strategies which are disdain and proclaim, and entertain and attribute for contract and expand, respectively. The
differing extents of use of the four sub-strategies of author stance are as summarized in figure 2 below.
Figure-2. Extent of Author Engagement sub-strategies
Data in figure 2 above illustrate that the authors‟ engagement strategies in registering their stance in their
academic writings were not homogenous. The overall findings show that their engagement strategies were more in
expanding ideas, assertions, and arguments of findings of other authors or even their own than in contracting such
ideas. In other words, the authors favored paraphrasing in providing comments and assertions by others to reducing
or summarizing their own or others findings, as will be defined in subsequent sections. More specifically, entertain
sub-strategy was the most dominant, with 889 occurrences, which is similar to 36% of all the occurrences. This was
followed by disdain sub-strategies which are with contract sub-strategies) with 563 occurrences, similar to 23% of
all occurrences. The least used sub-strategies were proclaim (also within contract strategies) with 456 instances,
which is similar to 19th of all occurrences. In short, the expand sub-strategies ranked first and third whereas contract
ones ranked second and fourth.
4.2 Contract
The term „contract‟ or more precisely dialogic contraction is as proposed Martin and White (2005) and defined
by Chatterjee (2008) as referring to instance of textual engagement where a writer can disdain or proclaim a
proposition or assertion. White (2003) has it that contraction category contains wordings that acknowledge the
existence of possible alternative viewpoints but at the same time act to close down or „contract‟ the dialogic space
for theses.
563
456
889
531
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
Disdain Procalim Entertain Attribute
Contract Expand
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4.2.1 Disdain
This is also known as countering or negative response to the proposition (Chatterjee, 2008). The use of this sub-
strategy of reader engagement is as summarized in figure 3 below.
Figure-3. Employment of disdain Strategies in EFL Theses and Dissertations
The use of contrastive conjunction but dominated as disdain strategy by registering 153 frequencies of
occurrences (equal to 27% of all 563 frequencies of disdain sub-strategies. This was followed by no, with 127
frequencies similar to 23 of all occurrences). The two are commonest conjunctions in both plain and technical
English which the speakers or writers use to register their disagreement or counter prior argument. It is therefore
logical that EFL academic writers in this study favoured them over others. No in academic writing (which was also
noted in the surveyed theses and dissertations) is common in turn-initial or sentence initial positions.
Examples in surveyed theses and dissertations are:
• “No evidence exists to prove the claim…”
• “No justification has been provided (5 times)
• No reasons were given…
However, both but and no were prevalent in sentence-medial position serving adverbial coordinating functions
as in:
• The scholars have strong case but no coverage in Tanzania….
• “The findings are comprehensive enough but they fail to capture the essence of gender”
Don‟t was used 98 times (similar to 17% and all in sentence medial positions as a form of authorial counter-
arguments to prior argument in the same sentence or previous sentence as in:
• “These studies don‟t cover rural Tanzania.”
• “Arguments presented don‟t include the grassroots majority”.
The least used disdain strategy was never, with only 51 (9%) frequencies. This is probably due to tis being too
strong in terms of author commitment, which implies no room exists for an alternative viewpoint.
Generally, the most favoured disdain sub-strategies of contraction author stance were coordinating conjunctions
while inter-sentential contrast markers were not as popular in OUT theses and dissertations.
4.2.2. Proclaim
This sub-strategy involves the author showing agreement with or endorsement of subject matter or argument
(Chatterjee, 2008). Different proclamation dialogic engagement words used are summarized in Table 1 below.
Table-1. Types of Proclaim Stance
S/n Stance Frequencies
1 Indeed 11
2 Certainly 49
3 Clearly 119
4 Obviously 82
5 Already 29
6 The paper proves 63
7 The paper underscores that 103
127
98
51
77
153
57
0 50 100 150 200
no
Don‟t
Never
However
But
Unfortunately
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Proclaim stance sub-strategies are grouped into two: adverbs and clausal assertive. Clearly was the most
dominant with 119 occurrences which is 26% of all 456 occurrences, followed by the paper underscores that which
was employed 103 times, equal to 22.6% of occurrences. Obviously and the paper proves ranked third and fourth
with 82 (11%) and 63 (8%) occurrences, respectively.
Overall, proclaim stance sub-strategies that were of adverb category were more dominant with a total of
occurrences of 290 (63.6%) when compared to clausal assertive with 166 (36.4) occurrences.
Most of the sub-strategies that were used belong to a category which Salichah et al. (2015) refer to as emphatics
which emphasize the size of force of writer‟s certainly in the message. It is worth-noting commonality of proclaim
reader engagement strategies with boosters which, according to Vazquez and Giner (2009), are strategies by
academic writers to show their confidence in the truth of a particular proposition.
4.3 Contract
Also known as dialogic expansion, it refers to the act of opening up „the space of alternative positions” (Martin
and White 2005: 140. Chatterjee (2008) observes that dialogic expansion is signaled by use of reporting verbs such
as „claims‟ „argues‟ and some grammatical and semantic cues. This category of authorial stance was variously
employed in the two subcategories of „entertaining‟ and „attributing as described below.
4.3.1. Entertain
This, according to Martin and White (2005), refers to an authorial articulation of opinion with regard to the
truth-value of the proposition. These sub-strategies involved 12 forms of authorial stances the frequencies of use of
which are summarized in Table 2 below.
Table-2. Types of Entertain Author Stance Strategies
S/n Stance Frequencies
1 May 76
2 Might 85
3 Perhaps 94
4 Probably 128
5 It's likely that 71
6 Unless 66
7 When 157
8 I believe 11
9 I suspect 17
10 Seem 38
11 Apparently 21
12 Wh-questions 125
As Table 2 indicates wh-questions dominated all other entertain strategies by registering 125 frequencies equal
to 14% which is second to the use of „when‟ followed by probably for the third for having 157 (18%) and 128 (12%)
frequencies, respectively. Wh-questions are particularly good case of articulation of opinion by their information-
seeking nature and interrogating of facts function. These were mostly found in research questions and in statement of
the problems. A few others were noted in literature review where the authors expressed their doubts about some
aspects of the findings or expressed procedural flaws.
When was mostly used as a subordinator author registering their opinion not about temporal concerns of the
assertion but to register their aversive outlooks; as in
• When one sees this argument one understands….
• This is not quite true when you take a different view point…
As for perhaps, which is categorized as a „hedge‟ and which, according to Serholt (2012), refers to expressions
which alternates the strength of illocutionary force by reducing the writer‟s commitment. This was observed mostly
in literature review and in discussion of the findings.
However, I believe entertain strategies was the least employed by having only 11 (1%) instances of use. This
also belongs to the category of hedges. Unlike perhaps, they communicate writer‟s level of personal belief system
about the subject matter. Also, less popular and which shares characteristics with I believe, is I suspect which had 17
(1.9%) occurrences.
4.3.2. Attribute
Attribute is an expansion authorial stance sub-strategy in which the writer expresses his/her attribute toward
propositions by author scholar (Martin and White, 2005) „Attribute sub-strategies employed and their frequencies are
summarized in figure 4 below.
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Figure-4. Use of Attribute Reader Engagement Strategies
As figure 4 testifies, the most dominant attribute was they say which had 162 frequencies of occurrence, which
is equal to (30.5%). This sub-strategy is in use of plain English word „say‟ which lack attitudinal inclination in the
sense that, while it partly communicates detachment, its co-occurrence with they-which is an othering pronoun-
shows an attribute of not belonging to same viewpoint. This was followed by the verb state, which also has fair
neutrality in it in terms of author attitude but with the use of they before it. It, too, communicates author detachment
from whatever was stated. This occurred 101 times (equal to 19%) of all 531 occurrences of attribute. The most
disfavored attribute in the current study is they believe which shows strong conviction but only not shared by the
author. This was used only 23 times (similar to 4%).
Overall, the use of they occurring with the attributes in the current study suggest author distancing
himself/herself from the claims or assertions made. These attributes were predominant in literature review chapters
of theses and dissertations, in which scholarly attributions are a norm.
5. Conclusion and Recommendations
The current study sought to assess various ways the EFL learners use to present a stance in linguistic resources
related to the rhetorical moves they make. The current study has shown that EFL writers vary in their mode of
registering their stances towards the subject matter. They have therefore proven heteroglossic rather than
monoglossic. In that way they have been able to establish their authorial territory and their claim their visibility or
presence instead of being compilers or reporters of findings by others. This proves that the academic writers under
study were not as novice as Hyland and Milton (1997) who revealed a lack the projection of an authorial voice,
manifest in the subtle deployment of assertion and doubt. These studies also showed that author stance was more
noticed in literature review and Introduction Chapters, unlike Swales (2004) that authorial comment is more frequent
in the Introduction and Discussion sections than in other parts of a research paper.
In the light of the findings presented and conclusions drawn, we recommend that:
i) Authorial engagement strategies be made part of academic writing in the Open University of Tanzania in
particular and Tanzanian universities in general.
ii) EFL academic writers, in the course of supervision, be made aware of other forms of author visibility such
as self-mention.
iii) The university students be made aware of a wide range of attitudinal and evaluative verbs in making review
of literature since they prove to have only a few of them.
Acknowledgement
The author is highly grateful to Open University of Tanzania for financing this study under its Small Research
Grants Scheme under the Directorate of Research and Postgraduate Studies (DRPS)
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