A Comparative Study of Introductory ‘it’ in Research Articles Across Eight Disciplines
http://ucrel.lancs.ac.uk/publications/CL2007/abstract/13_Abstract.pdf
Abstract
This paper describes an analysis of introductory ‘it’ plus that-clause and to-clause
complementation, structures said to be particularly important in academic English, in
288 research articles (RAs) across eight disciplines. We also examined NS/NNS
differences as it has been asserted that NS use more and a greater variety of
collocations, and that collocation is difficult for NNS. Previous research into history
and literary criticism suggests that the patterns have several different functions.
However, little or no research seems to have investigated other disciplines, or
NS/NNS differences.
We investigated a 1.6 million-word corpus of 288 RAs across eight disciplines
– Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Business, Language and
Linguistics, Law, and Public and Social Administration. We first individually
examined all 6,008 occurrences of ‘it’, and recorded all forms of the target patterns.
The frequency of all forms was then checked. Finally, the function of each occurrence
was individually checked.
Results indicate that that-clauses evaluate propositions, while to-clauses
evaluate the difficulty or necessity of procedures. 110 different forms were found: the
most common were ‘it is possible that’, ‘it is possible to’, and ‘it is important to’. A
number of statistically significant interdisciplinary and also NS/NNS differences were
found in the form and frequency of the patterns, including clear differences between
sciences and non-sciences. The highest proportions appeared in Law, and the lowest in
Biology.
Conclusions are that the patterns revealed are accepted within disciplines as
recognized ways to evaluate propositions and procedures, and that the disciplinary
differences found inform us about disciplinary norms. The results help us understand
scientific expression and the RA and there are also implications for EAP, with the
need to teach research writers discipline-specific research writing. NNS may be less
aware of certain genre conventions, and may need help to join the discourse
communities of international research.
http://ucrel.lancs.ac.uk/publications/CL2007/abstract/13_Abstract.pdf
Abstract
This paper describes an analysis of introductory ‘it’ plus that-clause and to-clause
complementation, structures said to be particularly important in academic English, in
288 research articles (RAs) across eight disciplines. We also examined NS/NNS
differences as it has been asserted that NS use more and a greater variety of
collocations, and that collocation is difficult for NNS. Previous research into history
and literary criticism suggests that the patterns have several different functions.
However, little or no research seems to have investigated other disciplines, or
NS/NNS differences.
We investigated a 1.6 million-word corpus of 288 RAs across eight disciplines
– Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Business, Language and
Linguistics, Law, and Public and Social Administration. We first individually
examined all 6,008 occurrences of ‘it’, and recorded all forms of the target patterns.
The frequency of all forms was then checked. Finally, the function of each occurrence
was individually checked.
Results indicate that that-clauses evaluate propositions, while to-clauses
evaluate the difficulty or necessity of procedures. 110 different forms were found: the
most common were ‘it is possible that’, ‘it is possible to’, and ‘it is important to’. A
number of statistically significant interdisciplinary and also NS/NNS differences were
found in the form and frequency of the patterns, including clear differences between
sciences and non-sciences. The highest proportions appeared in Law, and the lowest in
Biology.
Conclusions are that the patterns revealed are accepted within disciplines as
recognized ways to evaluate propositions and procedures, and that the disciplinary
differences found inform us about disciplinary norms. The results help us understand
scientific expression and the RA and there are also implications for EAP, with the
need to teach research writers discipline-specific research writing. NNS may be less
aware of certain genre conventions, and may need help to join the discourse
communities of international research.
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