STANCE AND CULTURE - A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ENGLISH AND PERSIAN AUTHORIAL STANCE IN APPLIED LINGUISTICS RESEARCH ARTICLES

Oct 15, 2026

The study examines how culture, as reflected in language, influences authorial stance in applied linguistics research articles. Two corpora drawn from the discussion sections of forty journal articles—by native Persian and native English researchers—were compared in the frequency and types of stance devices. Using subtypes from Hyland’s (2005b) model, results show differential use of hedges, boosters, attitude markers, and self-mentions, indicating culture’s role in meta-discourse choices and academic writing conventions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Research hypotheses

STANCE AND CULTURE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ENGLISH AND PERSIAN AUTHORIAL STANCE IN APPLIED LINGUISTICS RESEARCH ARTICLES Mohammad Reza Hashemi English Department, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran [hashemi@um.ac.ir](hashemi@um.ac.ir) Hosna Hosseini Tabaran Institute of Higher Education, Mashhad, Iran [hosseinihosnatab@gmail.com](hosseinihosnatab@gmail.com) This study tended to investigate the effect of culture, as depicted in language, on the use of stance in the applied linguistics research articles of two groups: native speakers of Persian, and native speakers of English. The two corpora comprising the discussion sections of forty research articles from reliable journals were compared for amounts and types of stance. In order to find the cultural differences between native Persian and English researchers, the subtypes of stance devices adapted from Hyland’s (2005b) model were used. Results showed that the groups used stance markers differently; more specifically, they employed hedges, boosters, attitude markers, and self-mentions differently. Furthermore, culture affects stance features as the meta-discourse devices employed by the researchers in writing the research article genre. The findings have implications for EFL learners and novice non-native writers to know the conventions and patterns as thinking devices for effective writing in academic communities of articles. Keywords: Stance markers; Applied linguistics; Research articles; Discourse analysis. Introduction Academic writing was for some time considered to be an impersonal presentation of information. Nonetheless, this stance about academic writing is no longer supported. It is now rather maintained that academic discourse embodies interaction between writers and readers (Hyland, 2005a). Writing in this regard is considered as engagement between the writer and the reader (Hyland & Tse, 2004) . It also represents the writer’s voice or identity via employing stance markers as rhetorical devices. A range of linguistic markers have been recognised as contributions to the writers’ stance and the engagement of the reader. Academics do not simply produce texts representing a reality, but they also construct and negotiate social relations employing language. Writers select materials to represent themselves and self- and other-positioning (Jaffe, 2009) . Therefore, writing involves interactions which are realised through stance and engagement devices. According to Bakhtin (as cited in Gee, 1999) the rhetorical resources, having a dialogic purpose, are used to incorporate the anticipation of voices and positions of potential readers. We should also bear in mind that the academic written genre has attracted great attention from certain disciplines such as history, philosophy, sociology of sciences, rhetoric and applied linguistics (Hyland, 2000) . Interestingly, academic members shape discourse communities via articles, books, notes, emails, seminars, and conferences, among which research articles are of high importance (Hyland, 2009) . In the present study, the genre of research article was selected because it is widely used by scholars; it is assumed to be “the jewel in the crown of academic communication” (Hyland, 2009, p.78) . Indeed, the research article as a kind of cultural capital is associated with power in the scholarly life. Moreover, it fosters interpersonality and intertextuality (Hyland, 2004) . The other reason for the preeminence of the research article is the non-native writers’ attitude and preference to join disciplinary communities through writing and publishing articles (Hyland, 2009) . Moreover, several studies (e.g. Gosden, 1993; Hanania & Akhtar 1985, as cited in Hyland, 2008) have revealed that writer intrusion is a feature of introduction and discussion sections where arguments, decisions and claims are written. Importantly, according to Mauranen (1993), in the discussion section writers use the most rhetorical

FAQs

What is the main research focus of the study?

The study investigates how culture affects authorial stance in applied linguistics research article discussion sections, comparing native Persian and native English researchers.

How is stance analyzed in the paper?

The analysis compares the amounts and types of stance devices using subtypes adapted from Hyland’s (2005b) model, focusing on devices such as hedges, boosters, attitude markers, and self-mentions.

What evidence from the results supports the role of culture?

The findings indicate that the two groups use stance markers differently and that culture shapes stance features through the meta-discourse devices employed in writing the research article genre.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Nguyễn Văn Học