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Exploring the Interface between Nonverbal Elements and Data Commentaries in Biology and Engineering Research Articles

Jasti Appa Swami

Abstract

The present study investigated the interface between nonverbal elements (NVEs) and data commentaries in the results sections of biology and civil engineering research articles. A corpus of 40 research articles published in peer-reviewed journals from both biology and civil engineering disciplines and semi-structured interviews with two researchers from the respective disciplines formed the data for this study. While the corpus data were analysed both manually and by using the UAM corpus tool, the data obtained from semi-structured interviews with specialist informants from both the disciplines were analysed thematically. The findings of manual analysis revealed that although there were slight variations in terms of type, proportion and position of NVEs in data commentaries, the process involved in establishing the interface between NVEs and data commentaries seems to have little variation. The findings of corpus analysis indicate that though the move structure of data commentaries is more or less similar in both the disciplines in terms of the major moves Background information, Presentation of visual and Comment on result, it was observed that there were a few variations in the type, sequence and occurrence of the submoves. The findings of thematic analysis show that the disciplinary variations when integrating NVEs and data commentaries into results sections of research articles were due to the nature of data generated and the different tools and techniques deployed in their disciplines reflective of their respective discursive practices. The findings of the study have implications for research scholars, novice researchers and ESP writing teachers.

Keywords:Nonverbal Elements, Data Commentaries, ESP, Move Structure

Introduction

Engineering and science discourses get constructed by integrating written and visual modes of communication. In genres such as research articles, both engineering and science disciplines deploy a range of NVEs for presenting data and developing scientific arguments (Poe et al 2010). Though several critical decisions precede the presentation of the data in the visual form, the challenge does not stop there. In fact, the challenge gets more pronounced from here as it becomes essential for the author to interpret NVEs for the reader. In this context, the interface between NVEs and the accompanying written interpretation/comment assumes centrality in academic writing for all stakeholders involved in the production and consumption of engineering and science knowledge.

The importance of the interplay between NVEs and data commentaries in a variety of fields has been widely acknowledged by many scholars (e.g., Swales & Feak, 1994, 2012; Poe et al 2010; Sancho Guinda 2011; Wharton, 2012; Roth, 2013). Though there have been several studies on move structure of different sections of research articles in various disciplines (e.g. Brett, 1994; Hopkins & Dudley¬-Evans, 1988; Kanoksilapthamm, 2015; Swales, 1990; Samraj, 2002), fewer studies (Nordrum & Eriksson, 2015; Eriksson & Nordrum, 2018) have focused on data commentaries alone despite their acknowledgement of the central role played by the interaction between NVEs and data commentaries in engineering and science fields. A few move analysis studies in science and engineering (Kanoksilaptham, 2005, 2015; Maswana, Kanamaru, & Tajino, 2015; Stoller & Robinson, 2013) have examined the interface with a focus on the move structure of data commentaries against a larger frame of full-length research articles. There seems to be a lack of research on the interface between text and graphics, with Busch-Lauer (1998) being a notable exception, which was conducted on three medical research genres - research papers, review articles, and case reports. Since the results sections of a research article make use of both data commentaries and NVEs to highlight the key findings of a study and to narrate the story of scientific discovery (Stoller & Robinson, 2013), exclusive investigation on the interaction between NVEs and data commentaries in the results sections gains importance. Additionally, there appears to be scant research on the interplay between the text and the visual in civil engineering and biology. Given this research gap, the present study attempts to investigate the interface between NVEs and data commentaries in the results sections of life sciences and civil engineering research articles.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Jasti Appa Swami
Centre for English Language Studies
University of Hyderabad
jastiappaswamihcu@gmail.com
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