Engagement Markers In Published And Student Writers' English Research Articles Of Chemistry

A large number of studies have shown that academic articles not only embody objective research results,but also negotiate with readers by using various language strategies of academic society's convention discourse,so that readers can accept writers' opinions.As important language strategies that embody the characteristics of interpersonal meaning,engagement markers involve readers in the text to realize the interaction between writers and readers.The purposes of this thesis are to study the similarities and differences between the use of engagement markers in the research articles of published and student writers of chemistry and chemical engineering,and to provide reference for the teaching of engagement markers in L2 writing.This thesis concentrates on engagement markers of 33 research articles in chemistry and chemical engineering,including 23 articles from the first drafts of student writers' English academic articles and 10 published articles presented in chemistry and chemical engineering Journal with the average IF(Impact Factor)of6.216.In this thesis,the corpus tool of UAM Corpus Tool 3.3 and data processing software SPSS19.0 are used to collect different kinds of engagement markers and to make a quantitative analysis about the use of the engagement markers between published and student writers' articles with the aim of revealing the similarities and differences between them.The results as following: 1)The total number of engagement markers in published articles(1282)is far more than that in students' articles(548)and there are very significant differences(P=0.000<0.01);the order of sub-categories of engagement markers in the published articles from high to low is: directives(890),reader references(208),personal asides(96)and shared knowledge(88)while the order in students' articles is: directives(406),reader references(81),shared knowledge(56)and personal asides(5)and there are very significant differences in the use of directives and personal asides between published and students' articles(P=0.000<0.01).There is a significant difference in the use of the reader references(P=0.017<0.05)and there is no difference in the use of shared knowledge(P=0.051>0.05).2)The order of sub-categories of directives in the published articles from high to low is imperative verbs(786),obligation modal verbs(56),“it is...”structure(10)while the order in students' articles is imperative verbs(335),“it is...”structure(61),obligation modal verbs(10).In term of imperative verbs,published writers often use see/note/notice while student writers often use see;in term of obligation modal verbs,published writers tend to use should/must while student writers mainly use should;in term of “it is...”structure,published writers tend to use it is important...while student writers tent to use it is necessary...3)The order of sub-categories of reader references in the published articles from high to low is we/our(200),one(8)and the order in students' articles is also we/our(71),one(10).4)The frequency of personal asides is 96 in the published papers while the frequency of personal asides is 5 in students' articles;published writers usually use examples and interpretive statements while student writers only use the former.5)The order of sub-categories of shared knowledge in the published articles from high to low is familiarity with tradition(67),routine conditions(11),logical reasoning(10)while the order in students' articles is familiarity with tradition(57),logical reasoning(13),routine conditions(11).In terms of familiarity with tradition,both tend to use it is well-known that and as is well-known that,but conventionally occurs in the published articles and no appearance in students' articles;in terms of routine conditions,both tend to use normally;in terms of logical reasoning,published writers use more of course/obviously/clearly while student writers mainly use of course.4)The order of distribution of engagement markers in each section of published articles from high to low is results and discussion(961),methodology(154),introduction(141),conclusion(26)while the order in students' articles is results and discussion(498),introduction(333),methodology(16),conclusion(5).There is a very significant difference on the use of engagement markers in results and discussion section between published and students' articles(P=0.000<0.01).Research findings show: 1)Compared with published writers,student writers are deficient in the use of engagement markers in total;in contrast with published writers,student writers need to strengthen the ability of using directives,reader references and personal asides to interact with readers and pay attention to the diversity of language resources;student writers already have the awareness of readers,but compared with published writes,they are still lack of diversity in the use of language resources of shared knowledge.2)Student writers use more engagement markers in the results and discussion section,but use them less in other sections than published writers.Research suggestions: 1)In English academic writing,student writers realize their deficiencies in the use of engagement markers and they should make targeted improvement;2)In English academic teaching,teachers should pay attention to the specific problems and needs of students in the use of engagement markers and enrich the teaching of the resources of engagement markers.