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Article: Authority and invisibility: Authorial identity in academic writing

TitleAuthority and invisibility: Authorial identity in academic writing
Authors
Keywords12
Academic writing
Culture
Identity
Interactions
Self-reference
Issue Date2002
PublisherElsevier BV. The Journal's web site is located at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/pragma
Citation
Journal Of Pragmatics, 2002, v. 34 n. 8, p. 1091-1112 How to Cite?
AbstractAcademic writing is not just about conveying an ideational 'content', it is also about the representation of self. Recent research has suggested that academic prose is not completely impersonal, but that writers gain credibility by projecting an identity invested with individual authority, displaying confidence in their evaluations and commitment to their ideas. Perhaps the most visible manifestation of such an authorial identity is the use of first person pronouns and their corresponding determiners. But while the use of these forms are a powerful rhetorical strategy for emphasising a contribution, many second language writers feel uncomfortable using them because of their connotations of authority. In this paper I explore the notion of identity in L2 writing by examining the use of personal pronouns in 64 Hong Kong undergraduate theses, comparisons with a large corpus of research articles, and interviews with students and their supervisors. The study shows significant underuse of authorial reference by students and clear preferences for avoiding these forms in contexts which involved making arguments or claims. I conclude that the individualistic identity implied in the use of I may be problematic for many L2 writers. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Persistent Identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/130126
ISSN
2023 Impact Factor: 1.8
2023 SCImago Journal Rankings: 1.105
ISI Accession Number ID
References

 

DC FieldValueLanguage
dc.contributor.authorHyland, Ken_HK
dc.date.accessioned2010-12-23T08:47:29Z-
dc.date.available2010-12-23T08:47:29Z-
dc.date.issued2002en_HK
dc.identifier.citationJournal Of Pragmatics, 2002, v. 34 n. 8, p. 1091-1112en_HK
dc.identifier.issn0378-2166en_HK
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10722/130126-
dc.description.abstractAcademic writing is not just about conveying an ideational 'content', it is also about the representation of self. Recent research has suggested that academic prose is not completely impersonal, but that writers gain credibility by projecting an identity invested with individual authority, displaying confidence in their evaluations and commitment to their ideas. Perhaps the most visible manifestation of such an authorial identity is the use of first person pronouns and their corresponding determiners. But while the use of these forms are a powerful rhetorical strategy for emphasising a contribution, many second language writers feel uncomfortable using them because of their connotations of authority. In this paper I explore the notion of identity in L2 writing by examining the use of personal pronouns in 64 Hong Kong undergraduate theses, comparisons with a large corpus of research articles, and interviews with students and their supervisors. The study shows significant underuse of authorial reference by students and clear preferences for avoiding these forms in contexts which involved making arguments or claims. I conclude that the individualistic identity implied in the use of I may be problematic for many L2 writers. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.en_HK
dc.languageengen_US
dc.publisherElsevier BV. The Journal's web site is located at http://www.elsevier.com/locate/pragmaen_HK
dc.relation.ispartofJournal of Pragmaticsen_HK
dc.subject12en_HK
dc.subjectAcademic writingen_HK
dc.subjectCultureen_HK
dc.subjectIdentityen_HK
dc.subjectInteractionsen_HK
dc.subjectSelf-referenceen_HK
dc.titleAuthority and invisibility: Authorial identity in academic writingen_HK
dc.typeArticleen_HK
dc.identifier.emailHyland, K:khyland@hku.hken_HK
dc.identifier.authorityHyland, K=rp01133en_HK
dc.description.naturelink_to_subscribed_fulltexten_US
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/S0378-2166(02)00035-8en_HK
dc.identifier.scopuseid_2-s2.0-0036270950en_HK
dc.relation.referenceshttp://www.scopus.com/mlt/select.url?eid=2-s2.0-0036270950&selection=ref&src=s&origin=recordpageen_HK
dc.identifier.volume34en_HK
dc.identifier.issue8en_HK
dc.identifier.spage1091en_HK
dc.identifier.epage1112en_HK
dc.identifier.isiWOS:000177143100010-
dc.publisher.placeNetherlandsen_HK
dc.identifier.citeulike2273289-
dc.identifier.issnl0378-2166-

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