English for Academic Purposes

359 Pages·2012·3.68 MB·English

ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES

Routledge Applied Linguistics is a series of comprehensive resource books,
providing students and researchers with the support they need for advanced study
in the core areas of English Language and Applied Linguistics.

Each book in the series guides readers through three main sections, enabling them
to explore and develop major themes within the discipline.

•
Section A, Introduction, establishes the key terms and concepts and extends
readers’ techniques of analysis through practical application.
•
Section B, Extension, brings together influential articles, sets them in context,
and discusses their contribution to the field.
•
Section C, Exploration, builds on knowledge gained in the first two sections,
setting thoughtful tasks around further illustrative material. This enables
readers to engage more actively with the subject matter and encourages them
to develop their own research responses.

Throughout the book,topics are revisited,extended,interwoven and deconstructed,
with the reader’s understanding strengthened by tasks and follow-up questions.

English for Academic Purposes:

•
introduces the major theories, approaches and controversies in the field
•
gathers together influential readings from key names in the discipline, including
John Swales, Alistair Pennycook, Greg Myers, Brian Street and Ann Johns
•
provides numerous exercises as practical study tools that encourage in students
a critical approach to the subject.

Written by an experienced teacher and researcher in the field, English for Academic
Purposes is an essential resource for students and researchers of Applied Linguistics.

Ken Hyland is Professor of Education and Head of the Centre for Academic and
Professional Literacies at the Institute of Education, University of London. He has
twenty-six years’ experience teaching and researching academic and professional
literacies.

ROUTLEDGE APPLIED LINGUISTICS

SERIES EDITORS

Christopher N. Candlin is Senior Research Professor in the Department of Linguistics at
Macquarie University, Australia, and Professor of Applied Linguistics at the Open University,
UK. At Macquarie, he has been Chair of the Department of Linguistics; he established and
was Executive Director of the National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research
(NCELTR) and foundational Director of the Centre for Language in Social Life (CLSL).
He has written or edited over 150 publications and co-edits the Journal of Applied
Linguistics. From 1996 to 2002 he was President of the International Association of Applied
Linguistics (AILA). He has acted as a consultant in more than thirty-five countries and as
external faculty assessor in thirty-six universities worldwide.

Ronald Carter is Professor of Modern English Language in the School of English Studies
at the University of Nottingham. He has published extensively in applied linguistics, literary
studies and language in education, and has written or edited over forty books and a hun-
dred articles in these fields. He has given consultancies in the field of English language
education, mainly in conjunction with the British Council, in over thirty countries worldwide,
and is editor of the Routledge Interface series and advisory editor to the Routledge English
Language Introduction series. He was recently elected a fellow of the British Academy of
Social Sciences and is currently UK Government Advisor for ESOL and Chair of the British
Association of Applied Linguistics (BAAL).

TITLES IN THE SERIES

Intercultural Communication: An advanced resource book
Adrian Holliday, Martin Hyde and John Kullman

Translation: An advanced resource book
Basil Hatim and Jeremy Munday

Grammar and Context: An advanced resource book
Ann Hewings and Martin Hewings

Second Language Acquisition: An advanced resource book
Kees de Bot, Wander Lowie and Marjolijn Verspoor

Corpus-based Language Studies: An advanced resource book
Anthony McEnery, Richard Xiao and Yukio Tono

Language and Gender: An advanced resource book
Jane Sunderland

English for Academic Purposes: An advanced resource book
Ken Hyland

English for Academic Purposes

An advanced resource book

Ken Hyland

First published 2006
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

© 2006 Ken Hyland

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
Hyland, Ken.
English for academic purposes: an advanced resource book / Ken Hyland.
p. cm. – (Routledge applied linguistics)
Includes bibliographical references.
1. English language–Study and teaching–Foreign speakers.
2. English
language–Rhetoric–Problems, exercises, etc.
3. Academic writing–Study
and teaching.
4. Language and education.
5. Applied linguistics.
I. Title.
II. Series.
PE1128.A2H95 2006
428.0071’1–dc22
2006002498

ISBN10: 0–415–35869–8 (hbk)
ISBN10: 0–415–35870–1 (pbk)
ISBN10: 0–203–00660–7 (ebk)

ISBN13: 978–0–415–35869–9 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–415–35870–5 (pbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–203–00660–3 (ebk)

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006.

“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”

Contents

Series editors’ preface
xi
Acknowledgements
xiii
How to use this book
xv
Introduction
1

SECTION A: INTRODUCTION
7

THEME 1: CONCEPTIONS AND CONTROVERSIES
8

Unit A1
Specific or general academic purposes?
9
Unit A2
Study skills or academic literacy?
16
Unit A3
Lingua franca or Tyrannosaurus rex?
24
Unit A4
Pragmatism or critique?
30

THEME 2: LITERACIES AND PRACTICES
37

Unit A5
Discourses, communities and cultures
38
Unit A6
Genre analysis and academic texts
46
Unit A7
Corpus analysis and academic texts
58
Unit A8
Ethnographically oriented analysis and EAP
65

THEME 3: DESIGN AND DELIVERY
72

Unit A9
Needs and rights
73
Unit A10
Development and implementation
81
Unit A11
Methodologies and materials
89
Unit A12
Feedback and assessment
99

SECTION B: EXTENSION
107

THEME 1: CONCEPTIONS AND CONTROVERSIES
108

Unit B1
Specific or general academic purposes?
109
Spack, R., Initiating ESL students into the academic discourse
community: how far should we go?
109
Hyland, K., Specificity revisited: how far should we go now?
113

Unit B2
Study skills or academic literacy?
118
Lea, M.R. and Street, B.V., Student writing and staff feedback in
higher education: an academic literacies approach
118

v

Unit B3
Lingua franca or Tyrannosaurus rex?
124
Swales, J.M., English as Tyrannosaurus rex
124

Unit B4
Pragmatism or critique?
129
Allison, D., Pragmatist discourse and English for Academic Purposes
129
Pennycook, A., Vulgar pragmatism, critical pragmatism, and EAP
133

THEME 2: LITERACIES AND PRACTICES
138

Unit B5
Discourses, communities and cultures
139
Myers, G., The narratives of science and nature in popularising
molecular genetics
139
Becher, T., Academic tribes and territories: intellectual inquiry and
the cultures of disciplines
143
Mauranen, A., Contrastive ESP rhetoric: metatext in Finnish–English
economics texts
147

Unit B6
Genre analysis and academic texts
153
Yakhontova, T., ‘Selling’ or ‘telling’? The issue of cultural variation
in research genres
153
Chang, Y.-Y. and Swales, J., Informal elements in English academic
writing: threats or opportunities for advanced non-native speakers?
157

Unit B7
Corpus analysis and academic texts
163
Hyland, K. and Milton, J., Qualification and certainty in L1 and
L2 students’ writing
163
Simpson, R., Stylistic features of academic speech: the role of
formulaic speech
168

Unit B8
Ethnographically oriented analysis and EAP
174
Chin, E., Redefining ‘context’ in research on writing
174

THEME 3: DESIGN AND DELIVERY
179

Unit B9
Needs and rights
180
Benesch, S., Rights analysis: studying power relations in an academic
setting
180

Unit B10
Development and implementation
186
Barron, C., Problem-solving and EAP: themes and issues in a
collaborative teaching venture
186

Unit B11
Methodologies and materials
193
Johns, A., Text, role and context
193

Flowerdew, L., Using a genre-based framework to teach organisational
structure in academic writing
197
Warschauer, M., Networking into academic discourse
202

Unit B12
Feedback and assessment
208
Ivanic, R. et al., ‘What am I supposed to make of this?’ The messages
conveyed to students by tutors’ written comments
208

vi

C o n t e n t s

SECTION C: EXPLORATION
215

THEME 1: CONCEPTIONS AND CONTROVERSIES
216

Unit C1
Specific or general academic purposes?
217
Unit C2
Study skills or academic literacy?
223
Unit C3
Lingua franca or Tyrannosaurus rex?
229
Unit C4
Pragmatism or critique?
235

THEME 2: LITERACIES AND PRACTICES
239

Unit C5
Discourses, communities and cultures
240
Unit C6
Genre analysis and academic texts
246
Unit C7
Corpus analysis and academic texts
254
Unit C8
Ethnographically oriented analysis and EAP
262

THEME 3: DESIGN AND DELIVERY
276

Unit C9
Needs and rights
277
Unit C10
Development and implementation
282
Unit C11
Methodologies and materials
293
Unit C12
Feedback and assessment
302

Glossary
311
Further reading
318
References
325
Author index
336
Subject index
336

C o n t e n t s

vii

viii

Contents cross-referenced

Section A: Introduction

Unit A1
Specific or general academic purposes?
9

Unit A2
Study skills or academic literacy?
16

Unit A3
Lingua franca or Tyrannosaurus rex?
24

Unit A4
Pragmatism or critique?
30

Unit A5
Discourses, communities and cultures
38

Unit A6
Genre analysis and academic texts
46

Unit A7
Corpus analysis and academic texts
58

Unit A8
Ethnographically oriented analysis and EAP
65

Unit A9
Needs and rights
73

Unit A10
Development and implementation
81

Unit A11
Methodologies and materials
89

Unit A12
Feedback and assessment
99

Section B: Extension

THEME 1:
Unit B1
Specific or general academic purposes?
109
CONCEPTIONS
Spack, R., Initiating ESL students into the academic discourse
AND
community: how far should we go?
109
CONTROVERSIES
Hyland, K., Specificity revisited: how far should we go now?
113

Unit B2
Study skills or academic literacy?
118
Lea, M.R. and Street, B.V., Student writing and staff feedback in higher
education: an academic literacies approach
118

Unit B3
Lingua franca or Tyrannosaurus rex?
124
Swales, J.M., English as Tyrannosaurus rex
124

Unit B4
Pragmatism or critique?
129
Allison, D., Pragmatist discourse and English for Academic Purposes
129
Pennycook, A., Vulgar pragmatism, critical pragmatism, and EAP
133

THEME 2:
Unit B5
Discourses, communities and cultures
139
LITERACIES AND
Myers, G., The narratives of science and nature in popularising molecular
PRACTICES
genetics
139
Becher, T., Academic tribes and territories: intellectual inquiry and the
cultures of disciplines
143
Mauranen, A., Contrastive ESP rhetoric: metatext in Finnish–English
economics texts
147

Unit B6
Genre analysis and academic texts
153
Yakhontova, T., ‘Selling’ or ‘telling’? The issue of cultural variation in
research genres
153
Chang, Y.-Y. and Swales, J., Informal elements in
English academic writing: threats or opportunities for advanced non-native
speakers?
157

Unit B7
Corpus analysis and academic texts
163
Hyland, K. and Milton, J., Qualification and certainty in L1 and L2
students’ writing
163
Simpson, R., Stylistic features of academic speech: the role of formulaic
speech
168

Unit B8
Ethnographically oriented analysis and EAP
174
Chin, E., Redefining ‘context’ in research on writing
174

THEME 1:
CONCEPTIONS
AND
CONTROVERSIES

THEME 2:
LITERACIES AND
PRACTICES

THEME 3:
DESIGN AND
DELIVERY

ix

THEME 3:
Unit B9
Needs and rights
180
DESIGN AND
Benesch, S., Rights analysis: studying power relations in an academic
DELIVERY
setting
180

Unit B10
Development and implementation
186
Barron, C., Problem-solving and EAP: themes and issues in a
collaborative teaching venture
186

Unit B11
Methodologies and materials
193
Johns, A., Text, role and context
193
Flowerdew, L., Using a genre-based framework to teach organisational
structure in academic writing
197
Warschauer, M., Networking into academic discourse
202

Unit B12
Feedback and assessment
208
Ivanic, R. et al., ‘What am I supposed to make of this?’ The messages
conveyed to students by tutors’ written comments
208

Section C: Exploration

Unit C1
Specific or general academic purposes?
217

Unit C2
Study skills or academic literacy?
223

Unit C3
Lingua franca or Tyrannosaurus rex?
229

Unit C4
Pragmatism or critique?
235

Unit C5
Discourses, communities and cultures
240

Unit C6
Genre analysis and academic texts
246

Unit C7
Corpus analysis and academic texts
254

Unit C8
Ethnographically oriented analysis and EAP
262

Unit C9
Needs and rights
277

Unit C10
Development and implementation
282

Unit C11
Methodologies and materials
293

Unit C12
Feedback and assessment
302

THEME 1:
CONCEPTIONS
AND
CONTROVERSIES

THEME 2:
LITERACIES AND
PRACTICES

THEME 3:
DESIGN AND
DELIVERY

Series editors’ preface

The Routledge Applied Linguistics series provides a comprehensive guide to a
number of key areas in the field of applied linguistics. Applied linguistics is a rich,
vibrant,diverse and essentially interdisciplinary field.It is now more important than
ever that books in the field provide up-to-date maps of what is an ever-changing
territory.

The books in this series are designed to give key insights into core areas of applied
linguistics. The design of the books ensures, through key readings, that the history
and development of a subject are recognized while,through key questions and tasks,
integrating understandings of the topics, concepts and practices that make up its
essentially interdisciplinary fabric. The pedagogic structure of each book ensures
that readers are given opportunities to think, discuss, engage in tasks, draw on their
own experience, reflect, research and to read and critically re-read key documents.

Each book has three main sections, each made up of approximately ten units:

A: An Introduction section: in which the key terms and concepts which map the
field of the subject are introduced, including introductory activities and reflective
tasks, designed to establish key understandings, terminology, techniques of analysis
and the skills appropriate to the theme and the discipline.

B: An Extension section: in which selected core readings are introduced (usually
edited from the original) from existing key books and articles, together with anno-
tations and commentary, where appropriate. Each reading is introduced, annotated
and commented on in the context of the whole book, and research/follow-up
questions and tasks are added to enable fuller understanding of both theory and
practice. In some cases, readings are short and synoptic and incorporated within a
more general exposition.

C: An Exploration section: in which further samples and illustrative materials
are provided with an emphasis, where appropriate, on more open-ended, student-
centred activities and tasks, designed to support readers and users in undertaking
their own locally relevant research projects. Tasks are designed for work in groups
or for individuals working on their own. They can be readily included in award
courses in applied linguistics, or as topics for personal study and research.

xi

The books also contain a glossary/glossarial index, which provides a guide to the
main terms used in the book,and a detailed,thematically organized Further Reading
section, which lays the ground for further work in the discipline. There are also
extensive bibliographies.

The target audience for the series is upper undergraduates and postgraduates
on language, applied linguistics and communication studies programmes as well
as teachers and researchers in professional development and distance learning
programmes. High-quality applied research resources are also much needed for
teachers of EFL/ESL and foreign language students at higher education colleges and
universities worldwide. The books in the Routledge Applied Linguistics series are
aimed at the individual reader, the student in a group and at teachers building
courses and seminar programmes.

We hope that the books in this series meet these needs and continue to provide
support over many years.

The Editors

Professor Christopher N.Candlin and Professor Ronald Carter are the series editors.
Both have extensive experience of publishing titles in the fields relevant to this
series. Between them they have written and edited over one hundred books and two
hundred academic papers in the broad field of applied linguistics. Chris Candlin
was president of the International Association for Applied Linguistics (AILA) from
1996 to 2002 and Ron Carter was chair of the British Association for Applied
Linguistics (BAAL) from 2003 to 2006.

Professor Christopher N. Candlin
Senior Research Professor
Department of Linguistics
Division of Linguistics and Psychology
Macquarie University
Sydney NSW 2109, Australia

and

Professor of Applied Linguistics
Faculty of Education and Language Studies
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK

Professor Ronald Carter
School of English Studies
University of Nottingham
Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK

xii

S e r i e s e d i t o r s ’ p r e f a c e

Acknowledgements

The view of EAP presented in this book emerged over many years in interactions
with many people, so I want to record my thanks to the students, colleagues and
friends who have encouraged me, discussed ideas and provided the insights which
have contributed to it. While there are too many to name individually, I have to
mention my debt to Vijay Bhatia, Marina Bondi, Tim Boswood, Lesley Coles, Ann
Johns and John Swales in particular for their unwavering enthusiasm, ideas, texts
and conversations which have both stimulated and sustained my interest in EAP.
I would also like to acknowledge the series editors, Chris Candlin and Ron Carter,
for inviting me to get involved in this project, and particularly to Chris for his close
reading of several drafts of the manuscript and thoughtful suggestions for revisions.
Thanks too to various classes of students on MA TESOL courses in both Hong Kong
and London for guinea-pigging many of the tasks and for their feedback on the
ideas and approaches discussed in these pages. Finally, and as always, my gratitude
goes to Fiona Hyland, for her support, her encouragement and her ideas about
writing and teaching.

The author and publisher wish to express thanks to the following for use of copy-
right materials. Reprinted from English for Specific Purposes, 15 (2): Allison, D.
‘Pragmatist discourse and English for Academic Purposes’ pp. 85–103, copyright ©
1996 with permission from Elsevier. Reprinted from English for Specific Purposes,
22 (3): Barron, C. ‘Problem-solving and EAP: themes and issues in a collaborative
teaching venture’ pp. 297–314, copyright © 2002 with permission from Elsevier.
Reprinted from English for Specific Purposes, 18: Benesch, S.‘Rights analysis: study-
ing power relations in an academic setting’ pp. 313–27, copyright © 1999 with
permission from Elsevier. Reprinted from English for Specific Purposes, 12:
Mauranen, A. ‘Contrastive ESP rhetoric: metatext in Finnish–English economics
texts’ pp. 3–22, copyright © 1993 with permission from Elsevier. Reprinted from
English for Specific Purposes, 16: Pennycook, A. ‘Vulgar pragmatism, critical
pragmatism, and EAP’pp. 253–69, copyright © 1997 with permission from Elsevier.
Reprinted from Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 1 (1): Warschauer, M.
‘Networking into academic discourse’pp. 45–58,copyright © 2002 with permission
from Elsevier. Flowerdew, L. (2000) ‘Using a genre-based framework to teach
organisational structure in academic writing’. ELT Journal, 54 (4) pp. 371–5, by
permission of Oxford University Press. Chin, E. (1994) ‘Redefining “context” in
research on writing’.Written Communication,II,Sage Publications,reproduced with

xiii

permission. Excerpts from Johns, A. (1997) Text, role and context, copyright ©
Cambridge University Press, reproduced with permission. Reprinted from English
for Specific Purposes, 21 (4): Hyland, K.‘Specificity revisited: how far should we go
now?’pp. 385–95,copyright © 2002,with permission from Elsevier. Reprinted from
Journal of Second Language Writing, 6 (2): Hyland, K. and Milton, J. ‘Qualification
and certainty in L1 and L2 students’ writing’ pp. 183–206, copyright © 1997, with
permission of Elsevier. Excerpts from Becher, T. (1989) Academic tribes and
territories: intellectual inquiry and the cultures of disciplines, SRHE/Open University
Press, reproduced with kind permission of the Open University Press/McGraw-Hill
Publishing Company. Ivanic, R., Clark, R., and Rimmershaw, R. (2000) ‘“What am
I supposed to make of this?” The messages conveyed to students by tutors’ written
comments’, in M. Lea and B. Stierer (eds) Student writing in higher education: new
contexts, Open University Press, reproduced with kind permission of the Open
University Press/McGraw-Hill Publishing Company. Lea, M. and Street, B. (2000)
‘Student writing and staff feedback in higher education: an academic literacies
approach’, in M. Lea and B. Stierer (eds) Student writing in higher education: new
contexts, Open University Press, reproduced with kind permission of the Open
University Press/McGraw-Hill Publishing Company. Myers, G. (1994) ‘The narra-
tives of science and nature in popularising molecular genetics’, in M. Coulthard
(ed.), Advances in written text analysis, Routledge, reproduced with permission of
the publisher. From Simpson, R. (2004) ‘Stylistic features of academic speech: the
role of formulaic speech’, in Connor, U. and Upton, T. (eds) Discourse in the pro-
fessions, pp. 37–64, with kind permission by John Benjamins Publishing Company,
Amsterdam and Philadelphia, www.benjamins.com, and the Foundation of
Language. Spack, R. (1988) ‘Initiating ESL students into the academic discourse
community: how far should we go?’TESOL Quarterly, 22 (1),pp.29–52,reproduced
with kind permission of the author. Yakhontova, T. (2002). ‘“Selling” or “telling”?
The issue of cultural variation in research genres’, in J. Flowerdew (ed.), Academic
discourse, pp. 216–32, Longman, reproduced with kind permission of Tatyana
Yakhontova. Excerpts from Swales, J. and Feak, C. (2000) English in today’s research
world: a writing guide, University of Michigan Press, reproduced with kind
permission of the publisher. Swales, J. (1997) ‘English as Tyrannosaurus rex’, World
Englishes, 16 (1), Blackwell Publishing Ltd, reproduced with permission of the
publisher.

xiv

A c k n o w l e d g e m e n t s