Dissertation committee:
Επταμελής εξεταστική επιτροπή
1. Σταματία Κουτσουλέλου-Μίχου (επιβλέπουσα): Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια Γλωσσολογίας στον Τομέα Γλωσσολογίας (Τμήμα Φιλολογίας) του Εθνικού και Καποδιστριακού Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών
2.Διονύσης Γούτσος: Καθηγητής Κειμενογλωσσολογίας στον Τομέα Γλωσσολογίας (Τμήμα Φιλολογίας) του Εθνικού και Καποδιστριακού Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών
3. Ελένη Παναρέτου: Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια Γλωσσολογίας στον Τομέα Γλωσσολογίας (Τμήμα Φιλολογίας) του Εθνικού και Καποδιστριακού Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών
4. Αμαλία Μόζερ: Καθηγήτρια Θεωρητικής Γλωσσολογίας στον Τομέα Γλωσσολογίας (Τμήμα Φιλολογίας) του Εθνικού και Καποδιστριακού Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών
5. Αγγελική Τζάννε: Καθηγήτρια Γλώσσας και Γλωσσολογίας του Τμήματος Αγγλικής Γλώσσας και Φιλολογίας του Εθνικού και Καποδιστριακού Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών
6. Μαρία Ιακώβου: Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια Γλωσσολογίας στον Τομέα Γλωσσολογίας (Τμήμα Φιλολογίας) του Εθνικού και Καποδιστριακού Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών
7. Γεωργία Φραγκάκη: Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια Γλωσσολογίας στο Τμήμα Φιλολογίας του Πανεπιστημίου Πελοποννήσου
Summary:
This dissertation is a linguistic study that looks into the characteristics of scientific/ academic genres. The goal is to analyze a genre of (prepared and planned) academic monologue that is called conference presentation. Despite its vital role in academic communities, this specific genre has not been studied by the Greek scientific community.
We have looked into the conference presentations of two different panhellenic scientific conferences (a medical conference and a philological conference) with the aim of detecting specific linguistic mechanisms with interactional resources according to Hyland’s metadiscourse model (2005 a, b). The research focuses on the hedges, the emphatics and the attitude markers that are present in the organizational parts of the speeches (moves and steps), as defined by Swales’ theoretical move analysis (1990, 2004). The use of these mechanisms has been correlated with the functions and the contextual features of a conference presentation and mostly with the speakers’ goals. At the same time, due to linguistic interest for disciplinary comparisons among scientific/academic genres, we looked into (quantitative and qualitative) discrepancies in the conference presentations regarding the use and the function of specific metadiscourse mechanisms which have been correlated with the specific features of the two different sciences.
The study revealed that the three linguistic mechanisms promote the main goal of the speakers to ensure that the audience accepts their (scientific) assertions and their objectives as differentiated in the organizational parts of their speeches. Simultaneously, their linguistic choices in connection with the three metadiscourse mechanisms serve the conventions of the scientific/academic genre and are also influenced both by the features of a conference presentation and the rules of these specific scientific communities, as well as the rhetorical style that characterizes them. Further comparisons between speech samples from the two conferences show quantitative and qualitative differentiations in the use of these specific linguistic mechanisms, which have been correlated with the different features and the specific demands of the two sciences.
The results of this study could contribute to better understanding this genre and they can also be used in teaching academic genres. In this way, the new scientists will practise in using these specific mechanisms in order to create an effective presentation for specialists so as to consolidate their position in the scientific community and create the prerequisites needed to expand and promote their research.
This dissertation is a linguistic study that looks into the characteristics of scientific/ academic genres. The goal is to analyze a genre of (prepared and planned) academic monologue that is called conference presentation. Despite its vital role in academic communities, this specific genre has not been studied by the Greek scientific community.
We have looked into the conference presentations of two different panhellenic scientific conferences (a medical conference and a philological conference) with the aim of detecting specific linguistic mechanisms with interactional resources according to Hyland’s metadiscourse model (2005 a, b). The research focuses on the hedges, the emphatics and the attitude markers that are present in the organizational parts of the speeches (moves and steps), as defined by Swales’ theoretical move analysis (1990, 2004). The use of these mechanisms has been correlated with the functions and the contextual features of a conference presentation and mostly with the speakers’ goals. At the same time, due to linguistic interest for disciplinary comparisons among scientific/academic genres, we looked into (quantitative and qualitative) discrepancies in the conference presentations regarding the use and the function of specific metadiscourse mechanisms which have been correlated with the specific features of the two different sciences.
The study revealed that the three linguistic mechanisms promote the main goal of the speakers to ensure that the audience accepts their (scientific) assertions and their objectives as differentiated in the organizational parts of their speeches. Simultaneously, their linguistic choices in connection with the three metadiscourse mechanisms serve the conventions of the scientific/academic genre and are also influenced both by the features of a conference presentation and the rules of these specific scientific communities, as well as the rhetorical style that characterizes them. Further comparisons between speech samples from the two conferences show quantitative and qualitative differentiations in the use of these specific linguistic mechanisms, which have been correlated with the different features and the specific demands of the two sciences. The results of this study could contribute to better understanding this genre and they can also be used in teaching academic genres. In this way, the new scientists will practise in using these specific mechanisms in order to create an effective presentation for specialists so as to consolidate their position in the scientific community and create the prerequisites needed to expand and promote their research.
Keywords:
conference presentation, schematic structure, interactional resources, metadiscourse, hedges, emphatics, attitude markers
