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Licensed Unlicensed Requires Authentication Published by De Gruyter Mouton January 17, 2020

A Corpus-Based Comparative Study on Lexical Bundles in Native and Chinese Scholars’ English Abstracts—Taking Linguistics and Chemistry as an Example

  • Jia Liu

    The first author, Jia Liu is a Ph.D. candidate as well as a lecturer at School of Foreign Languages, Nankai University, China. Her research interests include second language acquisition, English language teaching, English for academic purposes education.

    and Yuqing Lu

    The corresponding author, Yuqing Lu, is a Ph.D. and an associate professor at School of Foreign Languages, Nankai University, China. Her research interests include English language teaching, English for academic purposes education as well as translation theory and practice.

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Abstract

Based on self-established corpora, the study systematically explores structural and functional similarities and differences of four-word lexical bundles in native and Chinese writers’ English abstracts both in chemistry and linguistics from the interdisciplinary and intradisciplinary viewpoint. The results show that disciplinary features are found in the use of lexical bundles. Besides, most bundle differences found in abstracts by English native writers are also found in those written by Chinese scholars, indicating that Chinese scholars have developed an awareness of their discipline. In addition, both structurally and functionally, the lexical bundles in Chinese writers’ abstracts are similar to those of native writers in linguistics while divergent in chemistry.

About the authors

Jia Liu

The first author, Jia Liu is a Ph.D. candidate as well as a lecturer at School of Foreign Languages, Nankai University, China. Her research interests include second language acquisition, English language teaching, English for academic purposes education.

Yuqing Lu

The corresponding author, Yuqing Lu, is a Ph.D. and an associate professor at School of Foreign Languages, Nankai University, China. Her research interests include English language teaching, English for academic purposes education as well as translation theory and practice.

Acknowledgment

This study is financially supported by Tianjin Philosophy and Social Sciences Planning Project, Tianjin, China (Project No. TJWW15-007) and Fundamental Research Funds from Nankai University, Tianjin, China (Project No. 63172045) and Central Government University Special Project Funds, China (Project No. 96176102).

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Published Online: 2020-01-17
Published in Print: 2019-11-26

© 2020 FLTRP, Walter de Gruyter, Cultural and Education Section British Embassy

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