Rethinking Reader and Writer Responsibility in Academic English

Article Article scientifique Article Rethinking Reader and Writer Responsibility in Academic English eng 2015-02-27 2015 author Mackenzie Ian University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland 135360 1-21 10.1515/applirev-2015-0001 1868-6303 https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/applirev-2015-0001/html There is a growing perception that English used as a lingua franca does not need to resemble English as a native language, but can include a great deal of lexicogrammatical variation. However, a more fundamental matter is whether research articles written in English need to conform to the dominant linear, deductive, ‘Anglo’ pattern of text organization, or whether non-native English speakers should be free to transfer rhetorical patterns from their L1s into English, such as, e.g., an inductive, indirect, end-weighted form of argumentation, perhaps with a less-assertive conclusion. Hinds (1987) describes the latter style of writing as “reader-responsible,” as opposed to the “writer-responsible” Anglo-American style, arguing that it requires a great deal more inferential work on the part of the reader. Yet from a relevance theory perspective it appears unlikely that a culture would choose to impose unnecessary additional processing effort on readers. The perception of difficulty is an etic perspective: analysts from “writer-responsible” cultures imagine the processing effort that would be necessary in their culture to make sense of “reader-responsible” texts. Indirect, inductive rhetorical styles do not cause problems for readers accustomed to them. Given that most academic writing in English is for an international audience, non-native English-speaking researchers – and indeed native English speakers too – should be free to adopt a range of styles, or some sort of heterogeneous hybrid, depending on their perceptions of their readers’ expectations. A further issue is whether researchers who have reservations about ‘Anglo’ styles of writing, e.g. in the social sciences or literary and cultural theory, should encourage non-native English speakers to imitate the noun-heavy, nominalized, passivized, syntactically-complex style dominant in these fields. Academic English English as a lingua franca Contrastive rhetoric Reader responsibility Writer responsibility Dewey 418.02 111 Département de traduction 91 false Applied linguistics review 6 1 8d48486a-c03a-4599-acd5-f55b8d818a57 Article (Published version) Public Article_scientifique_from_crossref.pdf 411707 application/pdf OA NATIONAL 77aa1e705c014d1a78cde465894a47e243221281bb11c33e036d77a07e3e0820 openAccess Faculté de traduction et d'interprétation / Département de traduction

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Rethinking Reader and Writer Responsibility in Academic English	Applied linguistics review			2015	33	21

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Mackenzie, Ian