A. Tverdokhleb
Alfred
Nobel University, Dnipropetrovsk
Analysis of lexical
and grammatical peculiarities of an abstract of an authentic English research paper
Everybody knows that the technological progress is a driving force of
the modern society. Science develops rapidly and as a result,
the volume of information devoted to academic research and discoveries
increases. This allows scientists to integrate into the international academic circles,
demonstrate their works to their foreign colleagues and get access to English research
papers. Having reached a sufficiently high level of information scientists find new communication channels in the form of secondary
texts, in particular abstracts. Moreover, we evidence that the trend to write abstracts
to research papers presents in all modern scientific disciplines. To succeed in
this activity we need to know what lexical and grammatical means to use in English
abstracts. Taking into account the fact that an abstract is professionally
oriented this is achieved at the lexical level by the use of scientific
vocabulary, terminology, scientific clichés, introductory words and
phrases.
We base our study on the
analysis of 16 authentic English research paper abstracts on physics and
computer science, published by Middle Tennessee State University and Springer
Science + Business Media – the international publishing company, which
specializes in academic journals and scientific books.
The study revealed that terms
have the highest frequency – 170 units (161 %).
The component approach to the
analysis of terms of scientific abstract showed that they can be classified
according to their structure:
- One-component, formed by the
noun: magneto – (магніт), laser –(лазер),
sensors – (сенсори);
- Two-component, formed by the
noun + noun: energy storage –
(накопичення енергії), amounts of energy – (кількість енергії);
- Three-component, formed by the
adjective + noun + noun: magnetic
ignition systems – (магнітні системи запалювання), electrical power source –
(джерело електричного струму).
With the increasing number of
components terms tend to be used less frequently.
The derivative analysis showed that abstracts of research papers have
different types of term formation the productivity of which is not equal.
The compound terms formed by word-combinations prevail. For example: application domain – (домен програми), third
party application – (програма стороннього розробника). The frequency of use
of these terms is 95 units (55%) of the total number.
The terms formed by affixes, for example: providers – (провайдери), clustering – (кластерізація),
resolution level – (рівень прийняття рішення). The frequency of use of
these terms is 65 units (33%) of the total number.
The abbreviations are used rarely.
In addition, abstract analysis helped us to reveal the uneven terms derivation in various fields of
science. Thus, the neologisms are mostly used in computer science. They account
for 20 units (19%), while in physics they are missing. This is due to the fact
that science constantly develops and new terms appear together with IT
evolution. For example: granular
computing – (гранулярні обчислення), hyperboxes – (гіпербокси), cloud storage
controllers – (контролери хмарних систем зберігання даних).
Furthermore, the academic style is characterized by the wide use of scientific
clichés, which facilitate perception of scientific information and
contribute to its uniqueness.
In our analysis we found that the number of clichés both in
physics and computer science is almost the same (16 and 18 units respectively),
the percentage is only 33%.
The introductory words and phrases are widely used in all the types of scientific
and technical texts, however in abstracts they are particularly important as
they serve as connectors in the sentence. Thus, for example, the connector however promotes coherence of the text
and consistency of its presentation.
Our group focused on the evolution of a star; however, it must be noted
that this diagram has helped astronomers in many other ways.
The generalization strategy is mainly used on the grammatical level when
choosing verb tense forms. This includes Present Simple, Present Perfect and Past
Simple. The infinitives and Gerunds are also widely used.
In our analysis we found that abstracts are characterized by the wide
use of Present Simple, which accounts for 75 units (71%). This is because abstracts
usually state any fact. For example:
The magneto is a system that generates
an electric current without the use of an electrical power source.
Past Simple is used to describe the study. For example:
We studied how different lasers are used to correct
different kinds of vision defects.
In our analysis Past Simple is used 22 times (21%).
The frequency of other tenses is much less. Present Perfect accounts for
2,8%.
One of the relevant grammar issues is usage of the infinitives and Gerunds.
Their usage mainly depends on the function and construction in the sentence.
For example:
1) The purpose of our project is to study
magneto ignition systems.
2) Granular computing
includes methods from various areas with the aim of supporting human in
better understanding of analyzed problems and generated results.
After we had analyzed the abstracts, we found that both in physics and computer
science the number of infinitives is almost the same and accounts for 40%.
The Gerunds are used rarely.
Frequency analysis of certain lexical and grammatical means makes it possible to see clearly which lexical
and grammatical structures should be used in the research paper abstract.
The information on analysis of lexical and grammatical peculiarities of
an abstract of an authentic English research paper may also be useful for specialists
interested in writing English abstracts.
Scientific supervision by PhD
Associate Professor G.I. Miasoid
Language supervision by PhD Associate
Professor G.I. Miasoid