Reader engagement across cultures, languages and contexts of publication in business research articles

Abstract

Engagement markers are crucial interpersonal tools to interact with readers and draw support for the writer's positions. However, little is known about the effect of the writer's cultural background and language, as well as the context of publication, on the way authors use these strategies. The present study provides a quantitative and contrastive analysis based on a corpus consisting of business management articles written in different cultures and languages (Anglophone/English vs. Spanish) and aimed at different contexts of publication (local vs. international). The results obtained indicate that, although context of publication and national culture are powerful factors regulating the use of these strategies, other aspects such as L1 transfer and L2 proficiency may have some bearing on the use of these resources.