Article published In:
Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics: Online-First Articles

Linguistic variation in two written academic sub-registers

A multi-dimensional analysis

ORCID logo | Ferdowsi University of Mashhad
ORCID logo | Centennial College
ORCID logo | University of Arizona
ORCID logo | Ferdowsi University of Mashhad

The present study aims to compare abstracts written by graduate students and internationally-published authors using Biber’s (1988) Multi-Dimensional (MD) model. To this end, two corpora of abstracts (1800 texts each) from research articles (RA) published in top international Applied Linguistics journals, and theses completed in the same field were compiled. We compared the two corpora with regard to three of Biber’s (1988) dimensions: involved versus informational production; elaborated vs. situation-dependent reference; and abstract vs. non-abstract style. Our results revealed that RA abstracts and thesis abstracts are similar when compared to non-academic registers of English, but different when compared to each other. Relative to thesis abstracts, RA abstracts are more informational but less elaborated and less impersonal. Interestingly, we found that RA/thesis abstracts differ from Biber’s (1988) academic prose register along the three dimensions. Our findings can further our understanding of the differences between RA and thesis abstracts, thus contributing to the instruction of academic writing at the graduate level.

Keywords: multi-dimensional (MD) analysis, written academic sub-registers, graduate students, internationally-published writers, RA abstract, thesis abstract
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Comparative studies of thesis and RA abstracts
    • 2.2Multi-dimensional studies in academic language
    • 2.3Research gaps and research questions
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1The corpora
    • 3.2The situational analysis of the corpora
    • 3.3Analytical procedure
    • 3.4Statistical analysis
  • 4.Results and discussion
    • 4.1Dimension 1: Involved versus informational production
      • 4.1.1RQ 1a: RA/thesis abstracts vs. non-academic registers with regard to dimension 1
      • 4.1.2RQ 2a: RA vs. thesis abstracts with regard to dimension1
      • 4.1.3RQ 3a: RA/thesis abstracts vs. Biber’s (1988) academic prose with regard to dimension 1
    • 4.2Dimension 3: Elaborated vs. situation-dependent reference
      • 4.2.1RQ 1b: RA/thesis abstracts vs. non-academic registers with regard to dimension 3
      • 4.2.2RQ 2b: RA vs. thesis abstracts with regard to dimension 3
      • 4.2.3RQ 3b: RA/thesis abstracts vs. Biber’s (1988) academic prose with regard to dimension 3
    • 4.3Dimension 5: Abstract vs. non-abstract style
      • 4.3.1RQ 1c: RA/thesis abstracts vs. non-academic registers with regard to dimension 5
      • 4.3.2RQ 2c: Differences between RA and thesis abstracts with regard to dimension 5
      • 4.3.3RQ 3c: RA/thesis abstracts vs. Biber’s (1988) academic prose with regard to dimension5
  • 5.Conclusion and implications
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 8 April 2024
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/resla.22052.ans
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