Jul 2026· Research in Corpus Linguistics· 0 citations· 10 references
Abstract
English for Academic Purposes (EAP) recognises that academic language varies according to disciplinary context and that learners’ linguistic needs are shaped by the norms of specific fields. This study investigates whether grammatical patterns in research article abstracts (RAA) differ across levels of disciplinary specificity. A Multidimensional Analysis (MDA) was conducted on a large corpus of RAAs, which were classified according to the Web of Science hierarchy at three levels of disciplinary granularity. Independent t-tests were then used to compare Mean Dimension Scores across disciplinary groups for each of the extracted MDA dimensions. The results show significant differences at the broadest level (e.g. Social Sciences compared to Physical Sciences), driven mainly by variation in tense and authorial stance (past-oriented empirical reporting versus present-oriented author-focused framing), nominalisation and phrasal complexity versus quantitative and conditional features, and evaluative predicative constructions. Smaller but still significant differences were also found at more fine-grained levels of classification, including between related subdisciplines such as Mathematics and Statistics & Probability. Overall, the findings suggest that grammatical variation in academic writing is systematic across multiple levels of disciplinary organisation, indicating that disciplinary specificity in EAP extends beyond broad ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ science distinctions to more fine-grained subdisciplinary differences.
While the field of English as a
lingua franca
(ELF) has been growing, there is currently no assessment that fairly captures the nature of ELF communication. The necessity for such an assessment has been emphasized by some scholars, but concrete efforts to develop one have been slow. To stimulate discussion and evidence gathering, this thematic review examines ELF within the framework of communities of practice, highlighting key components of the theory to underscore the importance of learning in and through practice within these communities. The discussion then turns to indigenous criteria − that is what members of communities of practice actually value when evaluating or assessing their peers − which is highly relevant in English for specific purposes assessment. In fact, many ELF studies can be classified as contexts for English for specific purposes. By reviewing studies that explore indigenous criteria, we can gain a better understanding of how domain or non-language specialists determine what is important for performance or communication within their respective communities, as well as how these criteria differ from those perceived by language specialists or applied linguists. A
strong
approach (i.e., focusing on task performance in real-world contexts) is then suggested, as a
weak
approach (i.e., focusing on language-related aspects) is inadequate for assessing ELF interactions, based on characteristics described in both ELF studies and research on indigenous criteria in various English for specific purposes contexts. The discussion concludes with a call for evidence gathering on what experienced ELF users perceive as important for communication in ELF settings.
Hyejeong Kim· RELC Journal : A Journal of...· 0 citations
This article explores the implications of English's role as a global lingua franca for other languages, with a particular focus on the transformations these languages undergo due to English influence. Such changes are most evident in the lexical domain, where they are typically examined under the framework of lexical borrowing or Anglicisms. However, they also extend to grammatical, stylistic, and pragmatic levels, affecting formulation structures, argumentation strategies, and behavioural patterns, often without speakers’ conscious awareness. This article aims to highlight that both the growing prevalence of English across diverse domains and the resulting shifts in speakers’ native languages are interconnected manifestations of the same global linguistic development. The observed linguistic changes are the result of an asymmetrical relationship between languages, which raises questions of linguistic justice. The study draws on corpus analyses of the German language, supplemented by data from cross‐linguistic research initiatives, such as the Global Anglicism Database Network project (GLAD,
https://www.nhh.no/en/research‐centres/global‐anglicism‐database‐network/
).
This study extends the analysis of cognitive verb use across academic disciplines by focusing on the Corpus of English Life Sciences Texts (CELiST), a subcorpus of the Coruña Corpus of English Scientific Writing (CC). Previous research has concentrated on the linguistic variation in English cognitive verbs over time, highlighting significant differences in the presence and distribution of these verbs across various fields, including Linguistics, Engineering, and Medicine (Carrió-Pastor 2017). This reveals distinct patterns of epistemic stance that reflect the research practices of each discipline. Based on this line of research, this study aims to determine whether similar patterns emerge in Life Sciences texts, where the communication of empirical knowledge holds significant importance. By analysing the frequency, distribution, and phraseological patterns of cognitive verbs within Life Sciences texts, this research will explore how eighteenth and nineteenth-century researchers in this field express certainty, attitude, and belief, and how these expressions match or differ from those observed in other disciplines. The findings will contribute to a deeper understanding of academic writing in the Life Sciences during that time. Further research may compare the results obtained with texts from the specific field of present-day life sciences.
Ana Montoya-Reyes· Research in Corpus Linguisti...· 0 citations
The evaluation of research impact in higher education has long been dominated by citation-based metrics and their derivatives, such as impact factors and h-indices. While these measures offer the appeal of standardisation and comparability, they capture only a narrow dimension of scholarly influence and often reinforce global, disciplinary and linguistic inequities. The rise of altmetrics has promised a broader, more immediate view of research engagement, yet these too remain vulnerable to bias, manipulation and structural asymmetries that privilege well-resourced institutions and English-language scholarship. We argue that the problem lies not only in the tools of measurement but in the broader metrification of higher education itself, where numerical indicators have supplanted expert judgement and contextual understanding. Drawing on the South African context, we argue for a recalibrated approach to research impact assessment. We outline the principles that should inform the development of a flexible, context-sensitive framework that integrates quantitative and qualitative evidence. Such an approach aligns with global movements for responsible research assessment, including the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) and the Leiden Manifesto, while foregrounding local priorities such as transformation, equity and societal relevance. Ultimately, we call for a shift from counting outputs to interpreting contributions, towards an evaluative culture grounded in judgement, context and inclusion.
S. Sobuwa, Ndzondelelo Bingwa, Muthumuni Managa et al.· South African Journal of Sci...· 0 citations
Before the late nineteenth century, linguistic research relied heavily on dictionaries, but by the end of the century two European scholars, G. Wenker and J. Gillieron, revolutionized linguistic methodology with two very different approaches to data collection in Europe. One hundred years later, just a few years before the founding of Masyarakat Linguistik Indonesia, two other European linguists, G. Diffloth and B. Nothofer, began their fieldwork projects in Island Southeast Asia. Their methodologies—connected yet differing in some details—have been explained in print and online sources. This essay focuses on linguistic fieldwork and research methodology based on empirical and inductive principles by reviewing the methods of Diffloth and Nothofer and comparing their approaches to those procedures used in a few recent linguistic studies of local languages in Malaysia and Indonesia. The underlying importance of studying the social history and the geography of the language communities involved in research projects as well as the need for cooperative interaction between researchers and language informants are the only basis for credible linguistic analysis. As hundreds of regional languages in Southeast Asia are threatened with obsolescence, linguists must not only document these languages but explore modes of cooperation with communities seeking to maintain their heritage languages from generation to generation. Computer programs such as ELAN can be used not only to document endangered languages but to revitalize them as well. As linguists, we need to rethink our procedures and enhance our interactions with the language communities of these islands.
James T. Collins· Linguistik Indonesia· 0 citations
Introduction. This article presents the results of a study aimed at identifying and systematically describing, within a core-periphery framework, the principles of multilevel organization of British educational-methodological discourse. Based on the corpus of authentic English language teaching manuals and employing the methods of discourse analysis, linguo-stylistic analysis, pragmatic analysis, and level-stratification analysis, a stable set of linguistic characteristics was identified. The interpretation of this set across lexical, grammatical, and compositional levels has explicated a system of principles, which include instructiveness, terminological precision, metaphorical richness, objectivity, causality, structural oherence, and logical consistency. Results. Central finding is the identification of instructiveness as the pervasive principle that integrates all levels and reflects the overarching objective of this institutional discourse: the purposeful transformation of a teacher’s professional practice through the transmission of normative methodological knowledge. The novelty of the research lies in the development and presentation of a principle-oriented model that for the first time presents the hierarchy and interaction mechanisms of the principles governing the selection of linguistic means at each level. The practical value of the results is seen in their potential application in linguo-didactics for enhancing teacher training programs, in the practice of creating educational-methodological manuals, as well as in courses on functional stylistics and text linguistics. The conclusions indicate that British educational-methodological discourse constitutes an intentionally organized hierarchical construct, whose efficacy is ensured by the actualization of the core principle of instructiveness and a complex of peripheral principles distributed across three discourse levels.
J. S. Starostina, A. Antsiferova· Vestnik of Samara University...· 0 citations
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