Lexical Bundles in Native and Non-native Scientific Writing: Applying a corpus-based study to language teaching

223 Pages·2014·2.891 MB·English

by  Danica Salazar

Lexical Bundles in Native and Non-native Scientific Writing
Studies in Corpus Linguistics (SCL)
SCL focuses on the use of corpora throughout language study, the development
of a quantitative approach to linguistics, the design and use of new tools for
processing language texts, and the theoretical implications of a data-rich
discipline.
For an overview of all books published in this series, please see
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General Editor Consulting Editor
Elena Tognini-Bonelli Wolfgang Teubert
The Tuscan Word Centre/ University of Birmingham
The University of Siena
Advisory Board
Michael Barlow Graeme Kennedy
University of Auckland Victoria University of Wellington
Douglas Biber Michaela Mahlberg
Northern Arizona University University of Nottingham
Marina Bondi Anna Mauranen
University of Modena and Reggio Emilia University of Helsinki
Christopher S. Butler Ute Römer
University of Wales, Swansea Georgia State University
Sylviane Granger Jan Svartvik
University of Louvain University of Lund
M.A.K. Halliday John M. Swales
University of Sydney University of Michigan
Yang Huizhong Martin Warren
Jiao Tong University, Shanghai The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Susan Hunston
University of Birmingham
Volume 65
Lexical Bundles in Native and Non-native Scientific Writing.
Applying a corpus-based study to language teaching
by Danica Salazar
Lexical Bundles in Native
and Non-native Scientific Writing
Applying a corpus-based study to language teaching
Danica Salazar
University of Oxford
John Benjamins Publishing Company
Amsterdam / Philadelphia
TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
8
the American National Standard for Information Sciences – Permanence
of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi z39.48-1984.
Cover design: Françoise Berserik
Cover illustration from original painting Random Order
by Lorenzo Pezzatini, Florence, 1996.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Salazar, Danica.
Lexical Bundles in Native and Non-native Scientific Writing : Applying a corpus-based
study to language teaching / Danica Salazar.
p. cm. (Studies in Corpus Linguistics, issn 1388-0373 ; v. 65)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Lexical-functional grammar. 2. Academic writing--Study and teaching. 3. Technical
writing--Study and teaching. 4. Phraseology. 5. Applied linguistics. 6. Second
language acquisition. I. Title.
P158.25.S25 2014
415--dc23 2014021966
isbn 978 90 272 0373 1 (Hb ; alk. paper)
isbn 978 90 272 6952 2 (Eb)
© 2014 – John Benjamins B.V.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any
other means, without written permission from the publisher.
John Benjamins Publishing Co. · P.O. Box 36224 · 1020 me Amsterdam · The Netherlands
John Benjamins North America · P.O. Box 27519 · Philadelphia pa 19118-0519 · usa
Table of contents
Acknowledgments ix
Chapter 0
Introduction, aims and scope 1
1.  Introduction  1
2.  Aims, scope and structure of the volume  3
Part 1
Lexical bundles in native and non-native scientific writing 7
Chapter 1
Theory and applications of phraseology and lexical bundles 9
1.  Distributional approaches to phraseology  9
2.  Lexical bundles  13
2.1  Definition and characteristic features  13
2.2  Fixedness, variation and compositionality  14
2.3  Lexical bundle structures  15
2.4  Lexical bundle functions  16
2.5  Rationale for the lexical bundle approach  19
3.  Phraseology and academic discourse  20
3.1  Phraseological units as markers of register  21
3.2  Phraseological units as markers of genre  22
3.3  Phraseological units as markers of discipline  23
3.4  Phraseological units as markers of academic competence  25
4.  Phraseology in language teaching and learning  26
4.1  Impact of phraseology on fluency and pragmatic competence  26
4.2  Resources for the teaching and learning of phraseology  28
4.3  Issues of selection and prioritization  31
4.4  Phraseology in learner corpora  33
4.5  Issues of acquisition and development  36
4.6  Issues of classroom practice  38
4.7  Way forward  39
vi  Table of contents
Chapter 2
Investigating lexical bundles in biomedical research writing 41
1.  Corpus of published scientific writing  41
2.  Creating and analyzing the list of target lexical bundles  42
2.1  Lexical bundle identification  42
2.2  Mutual Information score  43
2.3  Exclusion criteria  45
2.4  Structural classification  50
2.5  Functional classification  50
2.6  Keyword and prototype analysis  53
3.  Comparison with the non-native corpus  59
3.1  Corpus of non-native scientific writing  59
3.2  Analysis of non-native scientific writing  60
4.  Concluding remarks  61
Chapter 3
Target bundles 63
Frequency, structure and functions
1.  Frequency of target bundles  63
2.  Structural characteristics of target bundles  68
2.1  Noun structures  70
2.2  Verb structures  73
2.3  Prepositional-phrase fragments  76
2.4  Other structures  78
2.4.1  Verb or adjective + to-clause fragment  80
2.4.2  Verb phrase or noun phrase + that-clause fragment  81
2.4.3  Adverbial-clause fragment  81
2.4.4  Copula be + adjective phrase  82
2.4.5  Anticipatory it + verb or adjectival phrase  83
2.4.6  Other adjectival phrases  83
2.4.7  Other expressions  83
3.  Functions of target bundles  84
3.1  Multifunctionality of lexical bundles  84
3.2  Distribution of target-bundle functions  90
3.3  Research-oriented bundles  93
3.4  Text-oriented bundles  97
3.5  Participant-oriented bundles  103
4.  Concluding remarks  108
Table of contents  vii
Chapter 4
Target bundles in non-native expert scientific writing 111
1.  Frequency of target bundles in the non-native corpus  111
2.  Structural characteristics of target bundles in the non-native corpus  116
2.1  Noun structures  122
2.2  Verb structures  123
2.3  Prepositional-phrase fragments  128
2.4  Other structures  131
3.  Functions of target bundles in the non-native corpus  135
3.1  Research-oriented bundles  141
3.2  Text-oriented bundles  142
3.3  Participant-oriented bundles  144
4.  Concluding remarks  146
Part 2
Pedagogical applications of the study 151
Chapter 5
Pedagogical utility of the list of target bundles 153
1.  The list is a sortable inventory that can be used for the selection of lexical 
bundles for teaching  153
2.  The list addresses issues connected to bundle length and overlap  155
3.  The list offers information on how lexical bundles are used in context  156
4.  The list links lexical bundles to the functions they perform 
in scientific texts  157
5.  The list can facilitate the conscious analysis of lexical bundles  158
6.  The list can help provide non-native science writers with more exposure to 
lexical bundles  159
7.  Concluding remarks  160
Chapter 6
Specific activities for the teaching of lexical bundles in scientific discourse 161
1.  Activities for noticing bundles  161
Activity 1. Noticing bundles for comparing and contrasting  162
Activity 2. Asking students about the use of lexical bundles (Eriksson 2012, 
204)  163
Activity 3. Concordancing task for key word fact (adapted from Thurston 
and Candlin 1998, 272)  164
2.  Activities for the retrieval of lexical bundles  165
viii  Table of contents
Activity 4. Asking students to think about lexical bundles in their own 
writing (Eriksson 2012, 204)  166
Activity 5. Preposition matching task  167
Activity 6. Missing-word task with key word role (adapted from de Prada, 
Salazar, and Molero 2012)  167
3.  Activities for the generation of lexical bundles  168
Activity 7. Polysemous-verb task  169
Activity 8. Adjectival modification  170
Activity 9. Adverbial modification  171
Activity 10. Derivation task  172
Activity 11. Substitution task  173
Activity 12. Ordering task  174
Activity 13. Reporting verbs (adapted from Bloch 2009, 69–70)  175
Activity 14. Correction task  177
4.  Concluding remarks  178
Chapter 7
Conclusions and recommendations 179
References 185
Articles from the Health Science Corpus used in examples  199
Index 209
Acknowledgments
First, I would like to acknowledge financial support that enabled me to carry out 
research for this book: funding provided to me by the Government of Catalonia 
through the Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR, 
grant no. 2008FI 00044), as well as funding from the Spanish Ministry of Science 
and Innovation and FEDER for the SciE-Lex project (project no. HUM2007-
64332/FILO), in which I was fortunate enough to take part.
I will always be grateful to those who were instrumental in the writing of this 
volume, foremost among them my kind and supportive mentor Isabel Verdaguer, 
but also my  other  friends in Barcelona: Emilia Castaño, Elisabet Comelles, 
Trinidad Guzman, Joseph Hilferty, Natalia Judith Laso, Aaron Ventura, Mar Cruz, 
Claudia Marcela Chapetón, Mireia Ortega and Marisa de Prada; in Louvain-la-
Neuve: Magali Paquot, Sylviane Granger, Sylvie De Cock, Gaëtanelle Gilquin and 
Fanny Meunier; and in York: Rachel Wicaksono and Christopher Hall. I am also 
indebted to Iliana Martínez of the National University of Río Cuarto in Argentina, 
for allowing me to me use her corpus of Argentinian research writing; and to Kees 
Vaes for his patience and kind encouragement.
I thank my family and friends in Oxford and Manila, and in other parts of the 
world, for their love and generosity. I especially thank my mother, Arlene Decin, 
my stepfather, Rene Decin, and my aunt, Arminda Rayala, for giving me support 
when I most needed it.
Finally, I give my love and thanks to my husband, Enrico Marchioni, without 
whom none of this would be possible.
Maraming salamat.
Danica Salazar
Oxford, May 2014