Local Linguists Mastering Academic Writing in English

Abstract

This chapter describes the differences in how scholars present their findings in Research Articles (RA) in international journals in English and in local journals in Russian. It also attempts to present the reasons for these differences, seeking explanations in the sociocultural contexts in which these RAs were written. To achieve this aim, six RAs in English and six RAs in Russian, published in peer reviewed international and local journals, were examined. The analysis draws upon the theory of contrastive rhetoric, which stresses the necessity of studying texts in the contexts of society. The methodology used to unveil discursive conventions of RAs relies on a contrastive approach, which identified the structural differences and linguistic features of RAs in both English and Russian. The conclusion is made that the RAs differ in terms of writer / reader responsibility, form / content orientation, and reader engagement level. These differences are a result of sociocultural environments that affect the process of identity construction in academic discourse.