Fuzzy Words Distribution in Management Science Research Articles

By using ZHANG Qiao＇s method for identifying fuzzy words （1998）, the present paper makes a statistic analysis of fuzzy words appearing in about 43,000 words of 6 academic research articles in management science. A distribution curve of fuzzy words in management research articles is drawn in accordance with the structures of the articles, and it is proved to be reasonable for tile discourse function of each section. Furthermore, the fuzzy words are divided into three categories and eleven sub-categories, including Category Ⅰ-fuzzy words, Category Ⅱ-fuzzy words＋non-fuzzy part / non-fuzzy part＋fuzzy words, Category Ⅲ-approximators＋fuzzy words. Distribution of fuzzy words varies in different sections of research articles in management science, because of different communicative purposes or discourse functions. Introduction section and Conclusion section have a higher occurrence rate of fuzzy words than Abstract section and Methodology and Data section.

Contrastive thematic analysis in research articles

Based on the theory of thematic complexity, a contrastive analysis on 2 sections selected from research articles-method and discussion, was conducted. The differences and similarities between the 2 sections in simple theme, multiple theme, textual theme, interpersonal theme, topical theme and thematic progression were analyzed and concluded. The author believes that the causes of the differences and similarities are the different genre features of the 2 sections and the academic features of the materials selected.

An Analysis of Surprise Markers in Linguistic Research Articles

To have a better understanding of surprise makers in linguistic Research Articles(RAs),this research selects 85 articles published in Applied Linguistics,analyzes 93 adjective surprise markers according to surprise frame,and explores readers’understanding of surprise markers in terms of the Immersed Experiencer Frame(IEF).The results show that,the Experiencers are activated at the lexical level and 78.49%Experiencers of them are implied,which encourages readers better immersed in the surprise motion.At the clause level,96.77%Triggers are new information,which attracts readers’attention to the information obtained in the present study in the process of Construal.Besides,the Degrees(90.32%are neutral),the Explanations(75.27%are unidentified),and the Resolutions(41.94%do not exist)are also construed at the clause level,which allows readers to make little effort to interpret surprise.In the process of Integration,readers proceed to the Resolutions by new information(34.41%),prior knowledge(20.43%),and speculation(3.23%)at the discourse level.It seems that the surprise markers are mainly used by authors as a means to attract readers and to promote their research.This research validates surprise frame as well as sheds light on emotion words using and comprehending in RAs.

Move-Step Structure of the Introduction Section of English Medical Science Research Articles Written by Chinese Researchers Published in International Journals

In the past decades,a number of researchers have tried hard to identify the move-step structure of different sections in research articles(RAs)from various disciplines.However,there is a very few amount of previous studies conducted on the move-step structure of the Introduction section of English medical science research articles(MSRAs)written by Chinese researchers published in international journals.In order to fill this gap,the present study aims to identify the moves,steps,and their structure of the Introduction section of English MSRAs written by Chinese researchers at Zunyi Medical University(ZMU)published in international journals.To create the target corpus of the present study,30 Introductions were purposively selected from 25 international medical science journals,which were published from 2007 to 2015.It is worth noting that all the authors are restricted to Chinese researchers only and at least one author must come from ZMU.The framework of Kanoksilapatham’s(2005)was adopted for the move-step analysis in the present study.The results demonstrated that these Introduction sections were generally written with three moves following the selected framework.In addition,there were two new steps that occurred in the Introduction section of these English MSRAs.In conclusion,the findings of the present study might provide a guideline for the research who plan to write English MSRAs for international articles more effectively.Moreover,the findings may provide valuable information for academic writing textbook designers as well.

LAME:Layout-Aware Metadata Extraction Approach for Research Articles

The volume of academic literature,such as academic conference papers and journals,has increased rapidly worldwide,and research on metadata extraction is ongoing.However,high-performing metadata extraction is still challenging due to diverse layout formats according to journal publishers.To accommodate the diversity of the layouts of academic journals,we propose a novel LAyout-aware Metadata Extraction(LAME)framework equipped with the three characteristics(e.g.,design of automatic layout analysis,construction of a large meta-data training set,and implementation of metadata extractor).In the framework,we designed an automatic layout analysis using PDF Miner.Based on the layout analysis,a large volume of metadata-separated training data,including the title,abstract,author name,author affiliated organization,and keywords,were automatically extracted.Moreover,we constructed a pre-trainedmodel,Layout-Meta BERT,to extract the metadata from academic journals with varying layout formats.The experimental results with our metadata extractor exhibited robust performance(Macro-F1,93.27%)in metadata extraction for unseen journals with different layout formats.

The Schematic Structure of Literature Review in Research Articles of Applied Linguistics

本研究考察英汉学术论文文献综述部分的图式结构。通过对语料编码和体裁分析,发现四语步模式在中英文文献综述语篇中均为主导的图式结构。本文从体裁和跨文化视角分析了中英文应用语言学学科的论文文献综述部分的异同。中文文献综述不同于英文之处主要在于其语步结构呈直线型;其他差异限于语步之下的策略或步骤层面。本研究提出的语步结构模型可以给学术论文写作学习者和习作者提供有关文献综述图式结构的元语言知识,以帮助他们处理写作中常见的结构问题。

Latest data on articles from Neural Regeneration Research (NRR) indexed by SCI,Chemical Abstracts (CA) and Excerpta Medica (EM)

NRR retrieved articles indexed by SCI, CA and EM at the beginning of March, 2008. The most recent data are as follows：

Articles collection published in Neural Regeneration Research 2011

Neural Regeneration Research （NRR, ISSN 1675-5374, CN11-5422/R）, an English language journal published in China every ten days, is dedicated to presenting peer-reviewed, evidenced based scholarly research in neuroregeneration, including neural stem cells, nerve tissue engineering, gene therapy, and traditional Chinese medicine.

Rhetorical Structure of Research Article Methods in Agricultural Science

Currently,there has been a growing interest in the study of academic writing;focusing on the structural organization of academic text or specific linguistic features.However,very few studies have been done on the structural organization of the Methods and the linguistic features link to each move.Thus,the purpose of this study is to identify rhetorical structure of the Methods of agricultural science research articles and to explore the linguistic features linked to each identified move,by analyzing thirty research articles based on Kanoksilapatham's2005 framework.Altogether,five moves were found in the Methods,showing that rhetorical structure of Methods in agricultural science has its own format.The moves and linguistic features realizing rhetorical functions may help novice researchers or learners write the Methods of science research articles effectively and professionally.

A Comparative Analysis of Syntactic Complexity in Applied Linguistics Abstracts Written by Chinese Novice Writers and Native English Advanced Writers

The rhetorical structure of abstracts has been a widely discussed topic, as it can greatly enhance the abstract writing skills of second-language writers. This study aims to provide guidance on the syntactic features that L2 learners can employ, as well as suggest which features they should focus on in English academic writing. To achieve this, all samples were analyzed for rhetorical moves using Hyland’s five-rhetorical move model. Additionally, all sentences were evaluated for syntactic complexity, considering measures such as global, clausal and phrasal complexity. The findings reveal that expert writers exhibit a more balanced use of syntactic complexity across moves, effectively fulfilling the rhetorical objectives of abstracts. On the other hand, MA students tend to rely excessively on embedded structures and dependent clauses in an attempt to increase complexity. The implications of these findings for academic writing research, pedagogy, and assessment are thoroughly discussed.

Scientific Articles and Patent Applications on Biodiesel Production from Lignocellulosic Biomass

This document was conducted to identify trends in research activity (published articles) and technology (patent applications) on the production of biodiesel from lignocellulosic biomass. The Web of Science, Compendex, and Scopus databases were used to retrieve articles and Derwent Innovation was used to search for patent applications;300 articles and 169 patent applications were retrieved. The most common research goals (microbial lipid production, acid pretreatment, and pyrolysis) were identified from an analysis of the author’s keywords. The countries most involved in research are China (96 articles), United States (68), and India (19). The top countries in international partnerships research were United States (22), China (16), and Germany (11). Bioresource Technology (54), Biotechnology for Biofuels (18), and Green Chemistry (13) are the journals with the most published articles. United States (84) is the leader on patent applications, followed by China (15) and Japan (5).

A genre analysis of medical abstracts by Chinese and English native speakers

This study presents statistical results of a comparison between English abstracts in a leading intemational medical journal and those in a Chinese one. With a genre analysis and discussion of linguistic features of these abstracts, the paper points out the weak points in the abstracts by Chinese writers and provides some suggestions for writing abstracts of medical research articles

Developing Chinese Undergraduate English-Majors’ Research Article Writing Competence

This paper describes a course designed to help Chinese undergraduate English-majors acquire competence in English research article （RA） writing. Such competence comprises three components： 1） discourse structure of an RA; 2） scientific thinking and reasoning; and 3） academic language. Participants were from one intact class of 28 senior English majors at a university in Shanghai. This course was experimental and designed to develop a scheme for teaching RA writing to the senior students in China. Students＇ RA writings throughout the semester were collected as the main data. Findings show that discourse knowledge, scientific thinking, and linguistic structure can be learned and transferred using these mediating tools： 1） the exemplars of sample RAs; 2） teacher＇s demonstration and feedback through mini-training sessions; and 3） analysis of genre and norms of RAs. The process-centered, theme-oriented and inquiry-based pedagogy adopted in the course may shed some light on English RA writing teaching practices to Chinese EFL learners.

Appraisal of the Production-Oriented Approach： An Introduction

The production-oriented approach （POA） has been developed over a decade. It is driven by the need to improve English classroom instruction for university students in China （Wen, 2016）. It is also motivated by the aspiration to enhance the quality of foreign language education in other similar pedagogical contexts outside China. A volume of research has been done by Wen Qiufang and her research team, to formulate the theory of POA and to test its effectiveness in classroom pedagogy （e.g. Wen, 2016, 2015; Yang, 2015; Zhang, 2015）. At the moment, the POA is still at an early stage of theory building and almost all empirical research is done in the Chinese context. In order to improve the quality of this theory and to make it intelligible to the international academic community, a one-day symposium was held in Beijing Foreign Studies University on May 15, 2017. The symposium was entitled ＇The first international forum on innovative foreign language education in China： Appraisal of the POA＇. In the forum, leading experts in applied linguistics were invited to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the POA and the directions for its future development. The symposium was the first attempt for the POA research team to discuss its latest work with international scholars. This Viewpoint section collects the responses of four experts who participated in the symposium, listed in alphabetical order. The collection of articles covers three topics related to the POA： its pedagogical application, its use for teacher training, and its research. Alister Cumming is Professor Emeritus and the former Head of the Centre for Educational Research on Languages and Literacies, University of Toronto, Canada. His article focuses primarily on POA research as an exemplary case of design-based research. Rod Ellis is Research Professor in the School of Education at Curtin University, Australia. He discusses POA in terms of pedagogy, teacher training and research, with both critiques and constructive suggestions. Paul Kei Matsuda is Professor of English and Director of Second Language Writing at Arizona State University, the writed states. He responds to POA from the perspective of an expert researcher and teacher of L2 writing. Charlene Polio is Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Linguistics ＆ Germanic, Slavic, Asian ＆ African Languages atMichigan State University, the writed states. She conceptualises POA as a useful method to address some issues in pre-service teacher development. Overall, the articles in this section are insightful and reader-friendly. They are not only useful for the development of POA in particular, but may also be valuable to a broad range of researchers as they touch upon pertaining issues, as well as emerging topics, in the field of applied linguistics. We therefore find it necessary to make them accessible to a wide readership.