The design and implementation of an English for Research Publication Purposes course: A corpus-based genre-analytic pedagogical intervention

Authors

Keywords:

ERPP training course, genre analysis, corpus-driven pedagogy, critical-pragmatic approach

Abstract

The pressure on scholars who use English as an Additional Language (EAL) to publish their research in English-medium journals has recently been extended to those postgraduate students who seek to complete their PhD programmes. However, in higher education institutions worldwide, few training courses on English for Research Publication Purposes (ERPP) are being offered in order to provide students with effective rhetorical strategies which could facilitate the integration in their disciplinary communities. In this paper we report on the design and implementation of an ERPP training course for doctoral students in the fields of Arts and Humanities, which is based on the prior compilation of a corpus of research articles selected by the participants, a genre-analysis of the texts and a critical-pragmatic approach to the teaching of the socio-cultural features that underpin the whole process of publishing one’s research. On the basis of the analysis of the responses to a post-course evaluation questionnaire we also aim to examine the participants’ perceptions of the pedagogical intervention. The results indicate that, through their active participation in the course, the students acknowledge having gained a better understanding of the socio-pragmatic context involved in the publishing process, including awareness of the predominant rhetorical structures of research articles and abstracts, the prevalent academic practices in both national and international settings, and of potential variation in communicative strategies in their specific disciplinary areas.

 

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Author Biographies

Pedro Martín Martín, Universidad de La Laguna

Pedro Martín is a tenured lecturer in EAP at the University of La Laguna, Spain. His main area of interest is intercultural and cross-disciplinary academic discourse. He has published a number of articles on this issue. He is also the author of the book The Rethoric of the Abstract in English and Spanish Scientific Discourse (2005), and coeditor of the monograph English as an Additional Language in Research Publication and Communication (2008). He is currently a team member of a multidisciplinary project (ENEIDA) on the rhetorical strategies used by Spanish scholars when seeking to publish in English-medium journals.

 

Sally Burgess, Universidad de La Laguna

Sally Burgess is a lecturer in English at the University of La Laguna, Spain. Her main research interests are in cross-cultural rhetoric, the contribution of language professionals to the preparation of research publications, the teaching of research writing in the university context, and the effects of research evaluation policies on scholars’ publishing practices and professional trajectories. With Margaret Cargill she organized the first PRISEAL (Publishing Research Internationally: Issues for Speakers of English as an Additional Language) conference in early 2007. She is currently the book reviews editor of the Journal of English for Research Publication Purposes.

 

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Published

2021-12-08

How to Cite

Martín Martín, P., & Burgess, S. (2021). The design and implementation of an English for Research Publication Purposes course: A corpus-based genre-analytic pedagogical intervention. Revista De Lenguas Para Fines Específicos, 27(2), 91–108. Retrieved from https://ojsspdc.ulpgc.es/ojs/index.php/LFE/article/view/1387