Function words in scientific discourse: between grammar, semantics and stylistics

Abstract

Aim: to determine whether the norms of usage of functional parts of speech (conjunctions, articles, particles, prepositions) are complied with in contemporary English-language scientific articles and to what extent their presumed violation hinders comprehension of the text.

Methodology. A corpus of biomedical research articles was compiled using random sampling from international English-language journals. Using continuous sampling, violations of the rules for the use of conjunctions, articles, particles and prepositions were identified in the articles and, where possible, correlated with the grammar rules of the authors' native languages.

Results. The research demonstrates that the quality of English in scientific publications is adversely affected by its pluricentricity and fragmentation of norms. For scientists who are non-native speakers of English, the main difficulty lies in complying with British-American grammar norms, while native speakers often violate stylistic norms of scientific discourse. It has been proved that, of all function words, the incorrect use of conjunctions most distorts the semantics of the text, which is particularly characteristic of Chinese scientists due to the interfering influence of their native language.

Research implications. The research makes it clear that the gap between the theory of World Englishes and the practice of teaching English as an international language of science should be bridged as soon as possible, because teaching academic writing is unfeasible without clearly understanding what grammar standards and teaching model to follow.