Direct research promotion in RA discussion sections through English and Spanish: Teaching implications for Spanish social scientists.

Abstract

Over the last few decades, researchers have increasingly published their research in English-medium scientific journals, mainly because of their greater prospects for international recognition and career promotion. Of all possible academic genres, the research article continues to be the pre-eminent genre of the academy, and the empirical research article is the most relevant for Spanish scholars. Discussion and/or other Closing (DC) sections in this subgenre in English-medium journals are especially difficult for social scientists to write when English is not their first language. This intercultural rhetoric research explores the possible negative transfer of their research promotional behaviour in Spanish when they write DC sections for publication in English. Drawing on recent strengthened move analysis methodology and employing quantitative and qualitative methods, I compared the extent to which authors writing in English and in Spanish as L1 promote their own research in DC sections. To do so, I systematically annotated ten pairs of comparable DC sections from the Exemplary Empirical Research Articles in English and Spanish Corpus for their communicative functions which, for the first time, were validated by the article authors themselves. Additionally, I used an online survey to understand their promotional behaviour better. This innovative methodology confirmed that the writers in the study were more promotional in English than in Spanish. In particular, authors in English highlighted more positive aspects of their studies and applications of their results while in Spanish they were more neutral and focused largely on statements of contribution and relevance to the zeitgeist. It was also found that the inclusion of specific rhetorical steps was affected by different levels of culture (unstated general communication norms, reviewing and socialisation processes, as well as research assessment policies). These findings demonstrate how social scientists’ promotional approaches are complex and merit further attention. Implications for the teaching of academic writing in English for publication purposes are drawn.