Article published in:
English Text Construction
Vol. 11:2 (2018) ► pp. 257–285

Online conference announcements as spaces for disciplinary communication

| Universidad de Zaragoza
The aim of the study is to explore online conference announcements as sites for disciplinary communication and the way they are realized linguistically. A corpus of 50 conference announcements included in a major listserv in the field of linguistics is analysed, focusing on rhetorical structure and major interpersonal features, namely self mentions, engagement markers, modal verbs and the use of passive voice. Results show that linguistic interpersonal markers are deployed in the text according to the various communicative functions the text has and also the role played by the writer at each stage and, subsequently, the roles ascribed to readers. Moreover, it is claimed that the wide distribution of conference announcements ensured through electronic platforms reinforces the strategic role of these texts as vehicles of communication and interaction among disciplinary members.
Keywords: academic genres, interpersonal markers, online conference announcements, rhetorical structure, virtual disciplinary community
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.A framework for the analysis of online conference announcements
  • 3.Corpus and methodology
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1The rhetorical structure of conference announcements in the Linguist List
    • 4.2Interpersonal markers as indicators of rhetorical structure
    • 4.3Quantitative analysis of interpersonal markers
      • 4.3.1Self mentions
      • 4.3.2Engagement markers
      • 4.3.3Modal verbs
      • 4.3.4Passive voice
  • 5.Discussion of results
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 19 October 2018
https://doi.org/10.1075/etc.00011.lor
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