Evaluative Functions of Reporting Evidentials in English Research Articles of Applied Linguistics

Abstract

Reporting evidentials are frequently used in Research Articles. Based on the data analysis of 50 English research articles of applied linguistics, the study shows that reporting evidentials not only function as indicating the information sources, but also have multiple evaluative functions. The analyses have proved this by showing the evaluative functions of reporting evidential in choosing different information sources and different realization forms. At the same time the persuasive effects and discourse implications of these different choices are also discussed.

Share and Cite:

Yang, L. (2013) Evaluative Functions of Reporting Evidentials in English Research Articles of Applied Linguistics. Open Journal of Modern Linguistics, 3, 119-126. doi: 10.4236/ojml.2013.32016.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1] Aikhenvald, A. (2004). Evidentiality. Oxford: Oxford University.
[2] Aikhenvald, A., & Dixon, R. (2003). Studies in evidentiality. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
[3] Berkenkotter, C., & Huckin, T. (1995). Genre knowledge in disciplinary communication. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
[4] Biber, D., et al. (1999). Longman grammar of spoken and written English. Edinburgh: Pearson Education Ltd.
[5] Chafe, W. (1986). Evidentiality in English conversation and academic writing. In W. Chafe, & J. Nichols (Eds.), Evidentiality: The linguistic coding of epistemology (pp. 261-272). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
[6] Chafe, W., & Nichols, J. (1986). Evidentiality: The linguistic coding of epistemology. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
[7] Fairclough, N. (1992). Discourse and social change. Cambridge: Polity Press.
[8] Fang, H. M. (2005). A Systemic-functional Approach to evidentiality. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Shanghai: Fudan University.
[9] Francis, G., Hunston, S., & Manning, E. (1996). Collins COBUILD grammer patterns 1: Verbs. London: Harper Collins.
[10] Halliday, M. A. K., & Matthiessen, C. M. I. (2004). An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Arnold.
[11] Hu, Z. L. (1994). Evidentiality in language. Foreign Languages Teaching and Research, 1, 9-15.
[12] Hu, Z. L. (1995). Evidentiality in Chinese and discourse analysis. Journal of Hubei University, 2, 13-23.
[13] Hunston, S. (1993). Evaluation and ideology in scientific writing. In M. Ghadessy (Ed.), Register analysis: Theory and practice. London and New York: Pinter Publishers.
[14] Hyland, K. (1999). Academic attribution: Citation and the construction of disciplinary knowledge. Applied Linguistics, 20, 341-367. doi:10.1093/applin/20.3.341
[15] Hyland, K. (2002). Activity and evaluation: Reporting practices in academic writing. In J. Flowerdew (Ed.), Academic discourse (pp. 115130). London: Longman.
[16] Mushin, I. (2000). Evidentiality and deixis in narrative retelling. Journal of Pragmatics, 32, 927-957. doi:10.1016/S0378-2166(99)00085-5
[17] Mushin, I. (2001). Evidentiality and epistemological stance: Narrative retelling. Amsterstam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
[18] Nesler, M. S., et al. (1993). The effect of credibility on perceived power. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 17, 1407-1425. doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.1993.tb01040.x
[19] Palmer, F. (1990). Modality and the English modals. London: Longman.
[20] Palmer, F. (2001). Mood and modality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[21] Sinclair, J. (1986). Fictional worlds. In M. Coulthard (Ed.), Talking about text (pp. 43-47). Birmingham: University of Birmingham ELR.
[22] Tadros, A. (1993). The Pragmatics of text averral and attribution in academic texts. In M. Hoey (Ed.), Data, description, discourse (pp. 99114). London: Harper Collins.
[23] Tang, B. (2007). Systemic-functional approach to discourse features of evidentiality in English news reports of epidemic situation update. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Shanghai: Fudan University.
[24] Thomas, S., & Hawes, T. P. (1994). Reporting verbs in medical journal articles. Englsih for Specific Purposes, 2, 134-155.
[25] Thompson, G., & Ye, Y. (1991). Evaluation in the reporting verbs used in academic papers. Applied Linguistcs, 4, 365-382.
[26] Yang, L. X. (2009). Evidentiality in English research articles. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, Xiamen: Xiamen University.
[27] Yang, L. X. (2010). Genre perspective on evidentiality. Proceedings of 36th ISF. Sydney: Macquarie University Press.

Copyright © 2024 by authors and Scientific Research Publishing Inc.

Creative Commons License

This work and the related PDF file are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.