Cover not available

In:Communicating Certainty and Uncertainty in Medical, Supportive and Scientific Contexts
Edited by Andrzej Zuczkowski, Ramona Bongelli, Ilaria Riccioni and Carla Canestrari
[Dialogue Studies 25] 2014
► pp. 273–289

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
authorization required

Hedging and attitude markers in Spanish and English scientific medical writing

 | Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain
Published online: 26 November 2014
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ds.25.13oli
Hedging, a sociopragmatic phenomenon that allows authors to maintain their presence in discourse, is a rather difficult strategy for non-natives scholars. In this paper, we present two studies: the first analyses hedging from cross-linguistic (Spanish and English L2) and cross-generic (Research Paper and Case Report) approaches in a corpus of 30 Medical full-texts from highly indexed research journals. Our results indicate that Spanish authors hedge more when writing in English L2 but less than an English native. The second focus on attitude markers (Affect, Judgement and Appreciation) following Appraisal Theory (Martin and White 2005) to detect cross-cultural differences in 60 Medical Book Reviews. The outcome shows that Spanish reviewers blend categories and seem more positive and direct in their assessments.
References (29)
References
Burgess, Sally. 2002. “Packed Houses and Intimate Gatherings: Audience and Rhetorical Structure.” In Academic Discourse, ed. by John Flowerdew, 196–215. London: Longman.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Connor, Ulla. 1996. Contrastive Rhetoric. Cross-cultural Aspects of Second Language Writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Day, Robert A. 1998. How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Flowerdew, Lynne. 2005. “An Integration of Corpus-based and Genre-based Approaches to Text Analysis in EAP/ESP: Countering Criticisms Against Corpus-based Methodologies.” English for Specific Purposes 24: 321–332. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fortanet, Inma, Juan C. Palmer, and Santiago Posteguillo. 2001. “Hedging Devices in Technical and Academic English.” In Discourse Analysis and Terminology in Languages for Specific Purposes, ed. by Juan C. Palmer, Santiago Posteguillo, and Inma Fortanet, 241–257. 
Castelló: Publicaciones de la Universitat Jaume I.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2000. “Praise and Criticism: Interactions in Book Reviews.” In Disciplinary Discourses. Social Interactions in Academic Writing, ed. by Ken Hyland, 41–62. Harlow: Longman.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2002. Writing: Teaching and Researching. Harlow: Pearson Education.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lafuente Millán, Enrique. 2009. “Epistemic and Approximative Meaning Revisited: The Use of Hedges, Boosters and Approximators When Writing.” In English as an Additional Language in Research Publication and Communication, ed. by Sally Burgess, and Pedro Martín-Martín, 65–82. Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Martín-Martín, Pedro. 2005. The Rhetoric of the Abstracts in English and Spanish Scientific Discourse. Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Martin, James R. 2005. “Invocación de actitudes: el juego de la gradación de la valoración en el discurso.” Revista Signos 38 (58): 195–220.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Martin, James R, and David Rose. 2003. Working with Discourse. Meaning Beyond the Clause. London, New York: Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Martin, James R., and Peter R.R. White. 2005. The Language of Evaluation: Appraisal in English. London: Palgrave.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mikes, George. 1999. How to be an Alien. London: Penguin.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Morales, Oscar, Daniel Cassany, Sonia Oliver, Carolina González, and Ernesto Marín. 2009. “¿Es la escritura académica odontológica hispanoamericana un discurso matizado? Estudio de la atenuación en artículos de investigación.” Revista de Lenguas para Fines Específicos 15/16: 135–157.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Moreno, Ana I. 1997. “Genre Constraints Across Languages: Causal Metatext in Spanish and English RAs.” English for Specific Purposes 46 (3): 161–179. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2008. “A Study of Critical Attitude Across English and Spanish Academic Book Reviews.” Journal of English for Academic Purposes 7 (1): 15–26. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Oliver, Sonia. 2004. Análisis contrastivo Español/Inglés de la atenuación retórica en el discurso médico. El artículo de investigación y el caso clínico. Tesis Doctoral. Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona. Disponible en línea URL: [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2006. “A Corpus-Based Study of Hedging in Spanish Medical Discourse: Analysing Genre Pattern in Spanish Language Biomedical Research Articles.” In Corpus Linguistics. Applications for the Study of English, ed. by Ana M. Hornero, María J. Luzón, and Silvia Murillo, 365–384. Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Paltridge, Brian. 2000. Making Sense of Discourse Analysis. Brisbane (Australia): AEE Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Piqué-Angordans, Jordi, and Santiago Posteguillo. 2006. “Peer Positive and Negative Assessment in Medical English Written Genres.” In Advances in Medical Discourse Analysis: Oral and Written Contexts, ed. by Maurizio Gotti, and Françoise Salager-Meyer, 383–406. Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Prince, Ellen, Charles Bosk, and Joele Frader. 1982. “On Hedging in Physician-Physician Discourse.” In Linguistics and the Professions, ed. by Robert J. Di Pietro, 83–97. Noordwood, NJ: Ablex.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Salager-Meyer, Françoise. 1994.“Hedges and Textual Communicative Function in Medical English Written Discourse.” English for Specific Purposes 13 (2): 140–170. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Salager-Meyer, Françoise, María A. Alcaraz Ariza, and Nahirana Zambrano. 2003. “The Scimitar, the Dagger and the Glove: Intercultural Differences in the Rhetoric of Criticism in Spanish, French and English Medical Discourse.” English for Specific Purposes 22 (3): 223–247. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Salager-Meyer, Françoise, and María A. Alcaraz Ariza. 2004. “Negative Appraisals in Academic Book Reviews: A Cross-linguistic Approach.” In Intercultural Aspects of Specialized Communication, ed. by Christopher N. Candlin, and Maurizio Gotti, 149–172. Berne: Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Swales, John M. 2004. Research Genres: Explorations and Applications. Cambridge: Cambridge Applied Linguistics. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Taboada, Maite, and Marta Carretero. 2013 “Contrastive Analyses of Evaluation in Text: Key Issues in the Design of an Annotation System for Attitude Applicable to Consumer Reviews in English and Spanish.” In Contrastive Discourse Analysis. Functional and Corpus Perspectives, ed. by Maite Taboada, Susana Doval Suárez, and Elsa González Álvarez, 262–281. London: Equinox.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Valero-Garcés, Carmen. 1996. “Contrastive Rhetoric in ESP: A Cross-linguistic Analysis of Finite Verb Profiles in English and Spanish Medical Abstracts.” UNESCO-ALSED LSP Newsletter 20 (2): 22–36.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Varttala, Teppo. 1999. “Remarks on the Communicative Functions of Hedging in Popular Scientific and Specialist Research Articles on Medicine.” English for Specific Purposes 18 (2): 177–200. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Magaña, Dalia
2021. Modality across genres in Spanish as a heritage language. Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics 34:1 ► pp. 171 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 8 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue