How Syntactically Complex is L2 Academic Research Writing by Filipino Researchers across Disciplines?

نوع مقاله : مقاله تحقیق

نویسنده
Ph.D., Department of Humanities, College of Arts and Sciences, UPLB Graduate School, University of the Philippines Los Baños, the Philippines
چکیده
Syntactic complexity has received much attention in English for academic purposes (EAP) research. However, it remains an ignored area of EAP research in the Philippines. This study cross-examined syntactic complexity in research articles (RAs) authored by Filipino researchers (FRs) in Communication, Curriculum and Instruction, and Psychology. Major findings revealed that attributive adjectives, nominal prepositional phrases, and noun premodifiers most dominantly co-occurred across disciplinary RAs. A significant difference exists between the three nominal pre- and postmodifiers and other compressed and implicit and elaborated and explicit syntactic features. As such, Filipino-authored disciplinary RAs are characterized by a compressed and implicit discourse style. Therefore, L2 academic research writing by FRs regardless of the disciplines is syntactically complex with the use of the three compressed and implicit phrasal features. It is likewise filled with very dense packaging of information by the three nominal phrases. The study has practical implications for academic research writing instruction, academic research journals, and professional development training.

کلیدواژه‌ها

موضوعات


Ansarifar, A., Shahriari, H., & Pishghadam, R. (2018). Phrasal complexity in academic
writing: A comparison of abstracts written by graduate students and expert writers in
applied linguistics. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 31, 58–71.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2017.12.008
Anthony, L. (2021). AntConc (Version 3.5.9) [Computer Software]. Waseda.
https://www.laurenceanthony.net/software
Biber, D., Conrad, S., & Reppen, R. (1998). Corpus linguistics: Investigating language
structure and use. Cambridge University Press.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511804489
Biber, D., & Gray, B. (2010). Challenging stereotypes about academic writing: Complexity,
elaboration, explicitness. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 9, 2–20.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2010.01.001
Biber D., & Gray, B. (2011). Grammatical change in the noun phrase: The influence of
written language use. English Language and Linguistics, 15(2), 223–250.
https://doi.10.1017/S1360674311000025
Biber, D., & Gray, B. (2016). Grammatical complexity in academic English: Linguistic
change in writing. Cambridge University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511920776
Biber D., Gray, B., & Poonpoon, K. (2011). Should we use characteristics of conversation to
measure grammatical complexity in L2 writing development? TESOL Quarterly,
45(1), 5–35. https://doi.org/10.5054/tq.2011.244483
Biber D., Gray, B., & Staples, S. (2016). Contrasting the grammatical complexities of
conversation and academic writing: Implications for EAP writing development and
teaching. LIF – Language in Focus Journal, 2(1), https://doi.org/10.1515/lifijsal-2016-0001
Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., & Finegan, E. (1999). Longman grammar of
spoken and written English. Longman.
Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., & Finegan, E. (2021). Grammar of spoken
and written English. John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/z.232
Brezina, V., Weill-Tessier, P., & McEnery, A. (2021). #LancsBox v. 5.x. [software package].
http://corpora.lancs.ac.uk/lancsbox.
Brown, G., & Yule, G. (1983). Discourse analysis. Cambridge University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511805226
Bulté, B., & Housen, A. (2012). Defining and operationalising L2 complexity. In A. Housen,
& I. Vedder (Eds.), Dimensions of L2 performance and proficiency: Complexity,
accuracy and fluency in SLA (pp. 21–46). John Benjamins.
https://doi.org/10.1075/lllt.32.02bul
Commission on Higher Education. (2009). National higher education research agenda 2
(2009-2018) (NHERA 2). Commission on Higher Education.
https://ched.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/NHERA-2.pdf
Crystal, D. (2003). English as a global language (2nd ed.) Cambridge University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511486999
Crystal, D. (2008). ‘Two thousand million?’, English Today, 24(1), 3–6.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266078408000023
Dayag, D. T. (2012). Philippine English. In E. L. Low & A. Hashim (Eds.), English in
Southeast Asia: Features, policy, and language in use (pp. 91–100). John Benjamins.
https://doi.org/10.1075/veaw.g42
Dayag, D. T. (2014). Preposition stranding and pied-piping in Philippine English: A corpus-
based study. In G. Leitner, A. Hashim & H. Wolf (Eds.), Communicating with Asia:
The future of English as a global language (pp. 102–119). Cambridge University
Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9781107 477186.008
Dolnicar, S., & Chapple, A. (2015). The readability of articles in tourism journals. Annals of
Tourism Research, 52, 161–179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2015.03.003
Egbert, J., Larsson, T., & Biber, D. (2020). Doing corpus linguistics with a corpus.
Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108888790
Esfandari, R., & Ahmadi, M. (2022). A corpus-based analysis of noun phrase complexity in
research article part-genres in applied linguistics and clinical medicine. Language Related Research, 13(3), 139–173. https://doi.org/10.29252/LRR.13.3.6
Giampieri, P. (2020). Online corpora for second language teaching. The Linguistics Journal,
14(2), 50–70.
Gray, B. (2015). Linguistic variation in research articles: When discipline tells only part of
the story. John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/scl.71
Halliday, M. A. K., & Martin, J. R. (1993/1996). Writing science: Literacy and discursive
power. Falmer Press. (Vol. first published in 1993, republished in 1996).
https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203209936
Hernandez, H. P. (2021). Syntactic description of research articles across disciplines
[Doctoral dissertation]. Philippine Normal University–Manila .
Hernandez, H. P. (2022a). Compressed and implicit syntactic features of L2 English
academic research writing by Filipino research writers across disciplines: A cross-
analysis. The Journal of Teaching English for Specific and Academic Purposes, 10(1),
51–73. https://doi.org/10.22190/JTESAP2201051H
Hernandez, H. P. (2022b). Prepositional phrases as noun postmodifiers in disciplinary
research articles authored by Filipino researchers: A cross-examination. International
Journal of Language Studies, 16(1), 21–44.
Hernandez, H. P., & Genuino, C. F. (2022). Compression and implicitness through dependent
phrases in academic ESL writing by Filipino researchers across disciplines. LEARN
Journal: Language Education and Acquisition Research Network, 15(2), 546–577.
Hutter, J. (2015). A corpus-based analysis of noun modification in empirical research articles
in applied linguistics [Master’s thesis]. Portland State University.
Hyland, K. (2006). Disciplinary differences: Language variation in academic discourses. In
K. Hyland & M. Bondi (Eds.), Academic discourse across disciplines. Peter Lang.
https://doi.org/10.3726/978-3-0351-0446-2
Hyland, K. (2007). Applying a gloss: Exemplifying and reformulating in academic discourse.
Applied Linguistics, 28(2), 266–285. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amm011
Jenkins, J. (2015). Global Englishes: A resource book for students (3rd ed.). Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315761596
Kuiken, F., Vedder, I., Housen, A., & De Clercq, B. (2019). Variation in syntactic
complexity: Introduction. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 29(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijal.12255
Mabayo, R. (2019, May 24). Considering history and narratives as Spain and the Philippines
approach 500th anniversary: At the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Spain in the
Philippines, which narrative do we celebrate? The Diplomat.
https://thediplomat.com/2019/05/considering-history-and-narratives-as-spain-and-the-philippines-approach-500th-anniversary/
Makovskaya, L., & Radjabzade, S. (2022). Source use by EFL undergraduate students:
Challenges and success in process-based writing. Language Related Research, 13(3), 255–284. https://doi.org/10.29252/LRR.13.3.10
Malakhovskaya, M., Beliaeva, L., & Kamshilova, O. (2021). Teaching noun-phrase
composition in EAP/ESP context: A corpus-assisted approach to overcome a didactic gap. Journal of Teaching English for Specific and Academic Purposes, 9(2), 257–266. https://doi.org/10.22190/JTESAP2102257M
McEnery, T., & Wilson, A. (2001). Corpus linguistics: An introduction (2nd ed.). Edinburgh
University Press.
Nguyen, T. T. L., & Suwannabubpha, S. (2021). EFL writing at Thai secondary schools:
Teachers and students’ views, difficulties and expectations. Language Related Research, 12(3), 187–214. https://doi.org/10.29252/LRR.12.3.7
Ortega, L. (2003). Syntactic complexity measures and their relationship to L2 proficiency: A
research synthesis of college-level L2 writing. Applied Linguistics, 24(4), 492–518.
https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/24.4.492
Otto, J., Partow-Navid, P., & Doshi, M. (2011). Revisiting the readability of management
information systems journals again. Research in Higher Education Journal, 15, 77–84.
Pallotti, G. (2014). A simple view of linguistic complexity. Second Language Research,
31(1), 117–134. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267658314536435
Rottensteiner, S. (2010). Structure, function and readability of new textbooks in relation to
comprehension. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2(2), 3892–3898.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.03.611
Ruan, Z. (2018). Structural compression in academic writing: An English-Chinese
comparison study of complex noun phrases in research article abstracts. Journal of
English for Academic Purposes, 36, 37–47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2018.09.001
Sawyer, A., Laran, J., & Xu, J. (2008). The readability of marketing journals: Are award-
winning articles better written? Journal of Marketing, 72(1), 108-117.
https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.72.1.108
Senate of the Philippines. (2013, January 21). Senate declares Chinese New Year as special
working holiday [Press release].
https://web.archive.org/web/20210516035425/http://legacy.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2013/0121_prib1.asp
Swales, J. M. (2004). Research genres: Explorations and applications. Cambridge University
Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139524827
Wu, Z., Mauranen, A., & Lei, L. (2020). Syntactic complexity in English as a lingua franca
academic writing. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 43, 1–13.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2019.100798
Yin, S., Gao, Y., & Lu, X. (2021). Syntactic complexity of research article part-genres:
Differences between emerging and expert international publication writers. System, 97,
1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2020.102427