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

Abstract

AbstractBased 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.