Appraising Research: Evaluation in Academic Writing

Appraising Research: Evaluation in Academic Writing

Also by Susan Hood ACADEMIC ENCOUNTERS: LIFE IN SOCIETY (with Kristine Brown)

Appraising Research: Evaluation in Academic Writing Susan Hood University of Technology, Sydney, Australia Palgrave macmillan

Susan Hood 2010 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2010 978-0-230-55349-1 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2010 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-36323-0 ISBN 978-0-230-27466-2 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9780230274662. 5 / This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hood, Susan, 1952 Appraising research : evaluation in academic writing / Susan Hood. p. cm. Summary: This book is an exploration of how writers take an evaluative stance in academic writing from the point of view of Appraisal theory. It focuses on introductions to research articles in English across a range of disciplines Provided by publisher. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-349-36323-0 1. English language Rhetoric Study and teaching Evaluation. 2. Academic writing Evaluation. 3. Report writing Evaluation. 4. Interdisciplinary approach in education. I. Title. PE1404.H66 2010 808.042071 dc22 2009046784 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10

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Contents Acknowledgements List of Figures and Tables viii ix 1 Evaluation in Academic English 1 2 Establishing a Warrant for Research 30 3 Writing with Attitude 73 4 Attitude and Field in Academic Writing 109 5 Prosodies of Attitude 141 6 Legitimising Space for New Knowledge: Disciplinary Differences 171 References 211 Index 225 vii

Acknowledgements I would like to thank a number of friends and colleagues who have provided me with inspiration, encouragement and support in the writing of this book. A close interest in academic discourse tracks back to my years at Hong Kong Polytechnic University and I want to thank my colleagues in Hong Kong for the opportunity to learn more about academic English from them and with them, especially to Liz Hamp-Lyons, Gail Forey, and Ken Hyland. I am also greatly indebted to the Systemic Functional Linguistics community in Sydney, for the many opportunities to listen to and engage with truly inspiring colleagues who work at the cutting edge of linguistic theory and at the same time are passionate about educational applications. Thanks to Jim Martin, Peter White, Bev Derewianka, Clare Painter, Susan Feez, Sally Humphrey, David Rose, John Knox and so many more. Thanks too to my friend and colleague Karl Maton in Sociology at the University of Sydney for making working across disciplines not only possible but exciting. Much of the research that underpins this book began in my doctoral studies, and so special thanks are due to my supervisor, Jenny Hammond, for her support throughout that process, and to my colleagues and most importantly my postgraduate students here at the University of Technology, Sydney, who have made me think deeply about how better to understand and to teach academic writing. Finally thank you to the staff at Palgrave Macmillan, to Jill Lake for her support of the original proposal and especially to Jill Lake and Priyanka Gibbons for their positive support and assistance from the original proposal through all stages in the production of the manuscript. viii

List of Figures and Tables Figures 1.1 The move structure of the RA introduction (from Swales 1990: 141) 9 1.2 Modelling of language in context adapted from Martin & White (2005) 23 1.3 Model of APPRAISAL from Martin & Rose (2007) 24 1.4 Example of the principle of delicacy in ATTITUDE 27 2.1 Teaching-learning cycle modelling literacy pedagogy (Rothery & Stenglin 1994: 8) 71 3.1 Sub-categories of ATTITUDE as affect, judgement, and appreciation 78 3.2(a) Building a system network of GRADUATION 87 3.2(b) Building a system network of GRADUATION 88 3.2(c) Building a system network of GRADUATION 89 3.2(d) Building a system network of GRADUATION 99 3.2(e) Extended network of GRADUATION as FORCE and FOCUS 103 3.2(f) The network of GRADUATION as FORCE and FOCUS 105 4.1(a) Dichotomising attitude 132 4.1(b) Relativising attitude 132 4.2(a) The field of research projecting the object of study 136 4.2(b) The field of the object of study projected by the field of research 136 4.3 Multiple research voices authorising the object of study 137 4.4 Research voices representing contested positions on the object of study 138 ix

x List of Figures and Tables 5.1 Propagating values in a clause 143 5.2 Coupling of ideational and interpersonal meanings 143 5.3 Coupling and lexical relations 144 5.4 Coupling interaction and importance 146 5.5 Building community around a coupling 146 5.6 Lexical relations propagating prosody across two sub-fields 148 5.7 Expanding prosody of positive affect 150 5.8 Expanding prosody of positive appreciation 151 5.9 Higher level periodicity and prospective and retrospective prosodies 155 6.1 The system network of appraisal (Martin & White 2005) 172 6.2 Hierarchical knowledge structure integrating knowledge 174 6.3 Segmented languages of a horizontal knowledge structure (from Maton 2007) 174 6.4 Segmented languages with stronger verticality 175 6.5 Legitimation codes of specialisation (from Maton 2007) 176 6.6 The field of research projecting the object of study 182 6.7 The system network of GRADUATION as FOCUS 186 6.8 The system of ENGAGEMENT in appraisal (from Martin & White 2005: 134) 189 6.9 Layers of projection 192 6.10 A temporal causal process in the integration of knowledge 205 6.11 Spatial mapping of field of research into disadvantage of EAL scholars publishing in English 207 Tables 4.1 Differentiating two fields of discourse 123 4.2 Exclusively reporting on the object of study 123

List of Figures and Tables xi 4.3 Exclusively reporting on other research 124 4.4 Dynamic shifting from one field to the other in the social sciences 125 4.5 Dynamic shifting from one field to the other in the sciences 126 4.6 Field and attitude in the social sciences 127 4.7 Field and attitude in the sciences 128 4.8 Preference for invoking attitude towards other research 129 4.9 Field and invoking vs inscribing attitude 130