中外社会学期刊论文摘要的人际互动元话语研究

Interactional Metadiscourse in Abstracts of English and Chinese Sociology Research Articles

本文以国内外四种顶级社会学期刊的240篇英文摘要为语料,综合考察了文化背景和研究范式对两类常见人际互动元话语——模糊限制语与增强语的影响。统计分析表明,定量研究中两类元话语的使用频数均显著高于非定量研究,英文期刊中增强语的使用频数显著高于中文期刊。进一步的文本分析表明,定量研究比非定量研究立场更明确,表述更精确,中英文作者都有尊重读者、容许辩驳的意识,但英文作者的表达更加多样化,对个人学术贡献显得更自信。

Based on previous studies on interactional metadiscursive resources in scholarly writings, this study explores cultural and paradigmatic variations in hedges and boosters with a dataset of 240 English abstracts from four prestigious journals in sociology. Statistical analyses show that quantitative researches use significantly more of both devices than non-quantitative re- searches, and English journals feature a significantly higher frequency of boosters than Chinese journals. Textual analyses fur- ther reveal that quantitative researchers lay more emphasis on assuredness and exactness in expression, and despite all the writers＇ audience-sensitivity, English writers demonstrate more adequate linguistic resources and seem more confident in their knowledge claims.