Cover not available

Article published In: Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 27:2 (2014) ► pp.492–513

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

Lexical bundles in Biology

Differences between textbooks and research articles

 | University of Murcia
Published online: 8 December 2014
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/resla.27.2.12san
On the basis of previous lexical bundle studies, this paper examines the forms, structures and functions of 4-word bundles in a corpus of textbooks and a corpus of research articles in Biology. The study includes the main biological disciplines and focuses on three major features: the overall distribution of bundles, their typical structures, and their functions in discourse in Biology. The findings support the idea that lexical bundles are a basic linguistic construct with important functions for the construction of discourse in this area. Concluding discussion highlights the pedagogical implications of using research journals and/or textbooks to teach English to biologists in a second language context. Furthermore, the importance of explicit instruction in these word combinations in courses on English for Biologists is emphasized.
References (33)
Altenberg, B. (1987). Causal ordering strategies in English conversation. In J. Monaghan (Ed.), Grammar in the construction of texts (pp. 50–64). London: Frances Pinter.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1998). On the phraseology of spoken English: The evidence of recurrent word-combinations. In A.P. Cowie (Ed.), Phraseology: Theory, analysis and applications (pp. 101–122). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Altenberg, B., & Eeg-Olofsson, M. (1990). Phraseology in spoken English. In J. Aarts & W. Meijs (Eds.), Theory and practice in corpus linguistics. (pp. 1–26). Amsterdam: Rodopi.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Biber, D., & Barbieri, F. (2007). Lexical bundles in university spoken and written registers. English for Specific Purposes, 261, 263–286. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Biber, D., Conrad, S., & Cortes, V. (2004). If you look at….: Lexical bundles in university teaching and textbooks. Applied Linguistics, 25(3), 371–405. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., & Finegan, E. (1999). The Longman grammar of spoken and written English. London: Longman.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Biber, D., & Tracy-Ventura, N. (2007). Dimensions of register variation in Spanish. In G. Parodi (Ed.), Working with Spanish corpora (pp. 87–152). London: Continuum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Butler, C. (1997). Repeated word combinations in spoken and written text: Some implications for functional grammar. In C. Butler, J. Connolly, R. Gatwards, & M. Wismans (Eds.) A fund of ideas: Recent development in functional grammar (pp. 60–77). Amsterdam: Institute for Functional Research into Language and Language Use.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Byrd, P., & Coxhead, A. (2010). On the other hand: Lexical bundles in academic writing and in the teaching of EAP. University of Sydney Papers in TESOL, 51, 31–64.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cobb, T. (n.d.) Complete lexical tutor. Available at [URL] [URL] on January 10, 2012.
Cortes, V. (2004). Lexical bundles in published and student disciplinary writing: Examples from history and biology. English for Specific Purposes, 231, 397–423. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chen, Y., & Baker, P. (2010). Lexical bundles in L1 and L2 academic writing. Language Learning & Technology, 14(2), 30–49.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Flowerdew, J. (1993). Concordancing as a tool in course design. System, 211, 231–44. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gledhill, C. (2000). Collocations in science writing. Tübingen: Gunter Narr.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Howarth, P. (1998). Phraseology and second language proficiency. Applied Linguistics, 191, 24–44. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hunston, S. (2008). Starting with the small words: Patterns, lexis and semantic sequences. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 13(3), 271–295. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hyland, K. (2005). Stance and engagement: A model of interaction in academic discourse. Discourse Studies, 7(2), 173–191. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2008a). Academic clusters: Text patterning in published and postgraduate writing. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 18(1), 41–62. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2008b). As can be seen: Lexical bundles and disciplinary variation. English for Specific Purposes, 27(1), 4–21. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jablonkai, R. (2010). English in the context of European integration: A corpus-driven analysis of lexical bundles in English EU documents. English for Specific Purposes, 29(4), 253–267. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jones, M., & Haywood, S. (2004). Facilitating the acquisition of formulaic sentences: An exploratory study in an EAP context. In N. Schmitt (Ed.), Formulaic sequences (pp. 269–291). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McCarthy, M., & Carter, R. (2006). This that and the other: Multi-word clusters in spoken English as visible patterns of interaction. In M. McCarthy (Ed.)., Explorations in corpus linguistics (pp. 7–26). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nation, P. (2009). Teaching ESL/EFL reading and writing. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
O’Keeffe, A., McCarthy, M., & Carter, R. (2007). From corpus to classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pecorari, D. (2008). Repeated language in academic discourse: The case of Biology background statements. Nordic Journal of English Studies, 7(3), 9–33. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Reeves, C. (2005). The language of science. New York : Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schmitt, N. (2000). Vocabulary in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schmitt, N., & Carter, R. (2004). Formulaic sequences in action: An introduction. In N. Schmitt (Ed.). Formulaic sequences (pp. 1–23). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Scott, M. (1996). Wordsmith tools 4. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Thompson, G. (2001). Interaction in academic writing: Learning to argue with the reader. Applied Linguistics, 22(1), 58–78. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wray, A. (2002). Formulaic language and the lexicon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Samraj, Betty
2024. Disciplinary differences in lexical bundles use: A cautionary tale from methodological variations. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 70 ► pp. 101399 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 30 november 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