John Flowerdew

Discourse Community, Legitimate Peripheral Participation, and the Nonnative-English-Speaking Scholar.

This article presents a case study of a nonnative-English-speaking scholar from Hong Kong and his experience in publishing a scholarly article in an international refereed journal on his return from doctoral study in the United States. The investigation is presented as a contribution to the important study of what it means to be a non-anglophone researcher seeking international publication in English but living and researching in a non-anglophone country. The article applies elements of social constructivist theory—most importantly the notions of discourse community (e.g., Swales, 1990) and learning as peripheral participation (Lave & Wenger, 1991)—to interpret the difficulties the writer experiences. It also considers the role that TESOL may play in addressing these difficulties.

Problems in writing for scholarly publication in English: The case of Hong Kong

Abstract Through in-depth interviews, this paper identifies a range of problems which confront Hong Kong Chinese scholars in writing for publication in English and which they feel put them at a disadvantage vis-a-vis native speakers of that language. These problems are as follows: they have less facility of expression; it takes them longer to write; they have a less rich vocabulary; they find it difficult to make claims for their research with the appropriate amount of force; their process of composition may be influenced by their L1; qualitative articles are more problematic than quantitative articles; they are restricted to a simple style; and the introductions and discussions to scholarly articles are particularly problematic parts. Given the reduction of emphasis on English in Hong Kong following the reversion to Chinese sovereignty, these problems are likely to increase. A number of recomendations are made to remediate the situation.

On the Notion of Culture in L2 Lectures

This article reports on one aspect of the findings of a 3-year ethnographic study into academic lectures conducted at a university in Hong Kong, where native speakers of English lecture to ethnic Chinese ESL students. Based on ethnographic data, the article develops a framework for the analysis of L2 lectures. The framework has four dimensions: ethnic culture, local culture, academic culture, and disciplinary culture. Each of the dimensions is illustrated by means of data from the ethnographic research. The article suggests that application of the model, because of its potential for developing cultural synergy, is likely to be of interest for those involved in the lecture preparation of lecturers and students in an L2, both in Hong Kong and elsewhere.

Attitudes of Journal Editors to Nonnative Speaker Contributions

More and more nonnative speakers (NNSs) are seeking to publish in international journals devoted to English language teaching and applied linguistics. Strong anecdotal evidence and occasional references in the literature attest to the disadvantages NNSs encounter vis-a-vis their native speaker (NS) peers. This article presents the results of an interview study with the editors of 12 leading international journals in applied linguistics and English language teaching. The purpose was to find out how these editors viewed the issue of NNSs publishing in their journals and to gain insight into how to enhance the chances of successful publication by NNSs. The results of the interviews included a questioning of the concept of the term nonnative speaker, the overall attitudes of editors and reviewers to NNS contributions, problematic aspects of NNS contributions, and positive attributes of NNS contributors. Problematic aspects included surface errors, parochialism, absence of authorial voice, and nativized varieties of English. Positive attributes include awareness of cross-linguistic and cross-cultural issues, objectivity of outsider perspectives, an international perspective, a testing mechanism for the dominant theories of the centre, access to research sites and data where NSs would be intrusive, and the alerting of centre scholars to research undertaken on the periphery.

Writing for scholarly publication in English: The case of Hong Kong

Abstract With English becoming increasingly dominant as the international language of research and publication, there is a need to empirically investigate the question of international scholarly publication in English on the part of non-native speakers of English. This paper presents the results of a large-scale survey concerning publication in international refereed journals in English by Hong Kong Chinese academics who have Cantonese as their first language. The survey seeks answers to the following questions: What exposure to English have these Hong Kong scholars had? What are their attitudes towards publishing in English? What are their problems? What are their strategies for successful publishing? And what change to the language of publication, if any, do they see accompanying the reversion of sovereignty over Hong Kong from Britain to China?

The Effect of Discourse Markers on Second Language Lecture Comprehension

This paper measures the effect of the presence or absence of discourse markers such as so, right, well, OK , and now on second language lecture comprehension. A control group viewed a video recording of an extract of a naturally occurring lecture, whereas an experimental group viewed the same extract, but with discourse markers deleted. The results clearly indicate that subjects comprehended the lecture better when discourse markers were included than when they were deleted. This finding contrasts with earlier research that suggested discourse markers play no significant role in comprehension. This contrast is interpreted as being due to differences in experimental procedures.

Concordancing as a tool in course design

Abstract Computerized text analysis programs (concordancers) are now available for use on personal computers. Drawing upon experimental work done at Sultan Qaboos University, Sultanate of Oman, this paper shows how such programs can be used as a tool in course design. The starting point is a corpus of written and/or spoken text from the target communicative situation. From this data-base computer text-processing can provide criteria for: (a) the selection and grading of items for the syllabus, and (b) the authentic contextualization of these items in learning materials.

Signalling nouns in discourse

Abstract This paper presents a description of a major class of vocabulary, signalling nouns, which have important discourse functions in establishing links across and within clauses. This class of noun is particularly prevalent in academic discourse. The description is based on a reading of the literature and, more importantly, the authors own corpus data. The synthesis represents the first attempt to bring this diverse work together under one umbrella. The description provides a framework which is likely to be of value to materials writers and teachers and learners in English for Academic and Specific Purposes.

The Teaching of Academic Listening Comprehension and the Question of Authenticity.

Abstract This paper shows a range of insights that can be gained for EAP listening comprehension pedagogy from the analysis of a representative authentic lecture. Based on a small survey of academic listening textbooks the salient features identified in the lecture are found to be absent from the textbooks. EAP listening instructors, it is argued, need to supplement their commercial texts by exposing their students to authentic lectures. Only in this way can they prepare them effectively for authentic academic listening.

Research Perspectives on English for Academic Purposes: Issues in EAP: A preliminary perspective

The need for English English for Academic Purposes (EAP) – the teaching of English with the specific aim of helping learners to study, conduct research or teach in that language – is an international activity of tremendous scope. It is carried out in four main geographical domains, each of which exhibits particular characteristics and purposes. It is carried out, first, in the major English-speaking countries (the US, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand), where large numbers of overseas students whose first language is not English come to study. It is conducted, second, in the former colonial territories of Britain (and less importantly the United States) where English is a second language and is used as the medium of instruction at university level. It is conducted, third, in countries which have no historic links with English, but which need to access the research literature in that language (the countries of Western Europe, Japan, China, Latin America, Francophone Africa and others).1 And finally, EAP is now increasingly being offered in the countries of the former Soviet-bloc, as they seek to distance themselves from the influence of Russia and its language and position themselves as participants in the increasingly global economy and academic community. To give some indication of the demand for EAP, if we take the first of the four areas mentioned – the countries where English is a first language – in 1996–7, 457,984 foreign students were studying in the US (Davis, 1997) and 198,064 in the UK (Higher Education Statistics Agency, 1997). While these numbers are already very considerable, they are likely to comprise only a minority of the likely target EAP population.