Abstract
Research on generic structures of acknowledgements in dissertations has gradually drawn attention in various contexts. However, there is relatively scant research on the ways in which acknowledgements are written by authors with mutually similar cultural backgrounds but in two different academic environments and language contexts. To fill this gap, this study compared 60 PhD dissertation acknowledgements written by Taiwanese postgraduates in Taiwan, an EFL context, with another 60 written by Taiwanese scholars who obtained their doctorates in the United States, an ESL context. The focus was on the generic structures and linguistic features of the writing styles of the two groups. The study aimed to investigate whether divergences existed in the two different academic and language settings, but with the writers sharing the same cultural and language background. If such divergences did exist, the likely causes would be explored. The results revealed that firstly, the participants in both contexts generally followed a three-tier structure when writing their dissertation acknowledgements, namely, reflecting, thanking, and announcing moves. However, academic conventions, institutional preferences and the language context, together with socio-cultural factors, affected their construction of moves/steps and their choice of linguistic elements. It was found that the rhetorical language in both corpora was relatively direct, emotional and precise.
Highlights
Expressing gratitude in academia is a frequent practice and acknowledgements are commonly seen in different types of academic texts, especially in theses and dissertations (DA) (Note 1)
With reference to Hyland’s (2003, 2004b), Hyland and Tse’s (2004), and Zhao and Jiang’s (2010) studies on DA written by Chinese speakers in Hong Kong and mainland China, the present research investigated 120 PhD DA in English-related disciplines written by Taiwanese Chinese-speaking writers in Taiwan and the United States (US), compared the generic structure and linguistic features in these two settings, and examined the keyword use in this genre
The results reveal that subtle differences clearly exist in constructing moves/steps and choosing linguistic elements, though all the authors shared very similar (Chinese) cultures
Summary
Expressing gratitude in academia is a frequent practice and acknowledgements are commonly seen in different types of academic texts, especially in theses and dissertations (DA) (Note 1). How socio-cultural and disciplinary preferences affect the presentation of those who are thanked, or how academic conventions and the use of English as an L1 or a foreign or second language in different social contexts influence the thanking strategies adopted and the linguistic choices made. Research comparing DA written only by NNS writers who share the same culture but study in two different socio-cultural and language contexts (i.e., EFL, where English is used as a foreign language like Taiwan and China versus ESL, where English is used as a second language like Hong Kong) is still relatively understudied. This study aims to compare and contrast DA written by Taiwanese students in Taiwan (TW) and in the United States (US) in terms of their generic structure, linguistic features, the people who are thanked, strategies of expressing gratitude, keyword use, the possible causes of divergences if any, and implications for instructing writing DA. It is hoped that this examination can bridge the research and pedagogical gap in studying the reciprocal relationship between texts and contexts
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