A Comparative Study of Evidential Verb in Research Papers by Chinese and American Scholars: An Example of Experimental Research Paper on Oil and Gas

Abstract

Evidentiality refers to the speaker’s attitude towards the source of information and the reliability of the information conveyed and is one of the most important micro features of academic discourse. This study compared how Chinese and American researchers differed in the use of evidential verbs in their texts, the use of evidential verbs in 200 Chinese and American oil and gas experimental research papers is compared in this study using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies based on a comparative corpus. It was found that both Chinese and American students were able to learn the evidential verbs of empirical research and use more appropriate language to describe the course of the experimental research and its results, but Chinese students used less verbs, particularly perceptual, cognitive, and verbal evidential verbs. Chinese scholars struggle to take ownership of discourse and tend to employ negative verbs less frequently and their essays use a more homogeneous vocabulary. These findings highlight some of the writing issues Chinese scholars encounter while writing papers in the English language; this paper analyzes these issues and offers suggestions for academic writing.