EI收录原则下中美工程类期刊英文摘要文体对比研究
|
摘要
随着国际学术交流水平的提高，科技文献的国际发表与收录状况成为衡量其科研水平的重要参考。英文摘要是国际信息检索系统收录科技文献的主要依据。由于受非母语写作水平的限制，缺乏对英文摘要文体特点的了解和有针对性的写作指导，许多中国科研工作者的英文摘要不符合国际规范，在一定程度上限制了国际学术认同与交流的机会。
为了深入了解国内外英文摘要写作水平的差异，发现中国作者英文摘要中存在的问题，探索切实可行的写作指导原则，本文借鉴美国工程索引Engineering Information(Ei)对工程类论文英文摘要写作的指导要求，以文体学及功能语法的相关理论原则为依据，对国内外不同层次的英文摘要进行了微观文体特征及宏观信息结构方面的数据收集及对比分析。作者采用随机抽样法，分别从美国著名工程类期刊、被Ei收录的国内工程类核心期刊、未被Ei收录的国内工程类核心期刊三个样本库中，各抽取2006年发表的论文摘要三十篇，从明确性，简洁性及信息性三个角度，比较三类英文摘要在时态、语态、人称、长度、句式复杂性及衔接手段、名词短语构成和主位推进模式方面的主要异同。
研究获得以下几点发现：1)中外摘要在语言特征层面存在不同程度的差异，其中科技语汇的构成及句式结构较为相似，但在摘要长度、动词时态、语态与人称方面有较明显的差异；2)在宏观信息结构层面，英语作者的文摘内容更为完善，信息布局更为清晰明确；3)中国一般水平英语作者与英语作者摘要之间差异较大，而已被Ei收录的中国期刊摘要则既呈现出中国作者文体特征的共性，又更加接近国际规范水准。
在此基础上，本文分析了国内论文英语摘要在文体风格及语言表达方面的主要问题，并对工程论文的摘要写作提出了具体建议，以期促进国内科研工作者英文摘要写作能力的进步，从而提高国内工程类论文在国际上的发表率和索引率。
As present academic communication goes far beyond national borders, international publication or indexation has become a major reference for evaluating the academic importance of scientific researches. English abstract plays a key role in the assessment of research papers by international indexation systems like Ei (American Engineering Information) and SCI (Science Citation Index). However, due to limited English writing ability, inadequate understanding of international editing requirements and lack of corresponding instructions, many Chinese researchers have difficulty in writing qualified English abstracts and therefore lose chances for international academic communication.
In order to deepen the understanding of differences between English abstracts written by Chinese and native scholars, find out problems in the abstracts of Chinese authors and explore practical writing instructions, the author has conducted a comparative study to examine the major differences in terms of linguistic features and information structures among three groups of sampled abstracts—abstracts by American authors, higher-level and average Chinese authors.
The research involves both quantitative and qualitative methods: collecting data on the occurrence frequency of established research elements—tense, voice, personal pronouns, length, nominal structures, sentence complexities and thematic progression patterns; analyzing and comparing stylistic and functional differences between abstracts from the three corpora.
The major findings include the three following aspects: 1) linguistic features differ variably in the three corpora, with similar structures of technical terms and sentence patterns, but more distinct differences in tense, voice and personal pronouns; 2) in view of information structure, the native English abstracts are found to have complete components in sufficient yet concise presentation, but in abstracts by Chinese authors, there is obvious lack of information components, and unnecessarily complicated Thematic Progression patterns in information development; 3) most evident differences are found between American and average Chinese authors, while the higher-level Chinese authors not only display similar stylistic features with average Chinese authors, but also are more approximate to international standard in text quality.
A further study is conducted to find out the major problems with abstracts by Chinese authors concerning stylistic and linguistic features, and practical writing instructions on engineering abstracts are proposed, hopefully to facilitate Chinese engineering scholars to improve the quality of English abstracts and gain more access to international recognition and academic exchange.
为了深入了解国内外英文摘要写作水平的差异，发现中国作者英文摘要中存在的问题，探索切实可行的写作指导原则，本文借鉴美国工程索引Engineering Information(Ei)对工程类论文英文摘要写作的指导要求，以文体学及功能语法的相关理论原则为依据，对国内外不同层次的英文摘要进行了微观文体特征及宏观信息结构方面的数据收集及对比分析。作者采用随机抽样法，分别从美国著名工程类期刊、被Ei收录的国内工程类核心期刊、未被Ei收录的国内工程类核心期刊三个样本库中，各抽取2006年发表的论文摘要三十篇，从明确性，简洁性及信息性三个角度，比较三类英文摘要在时态、语态、人称、长度、句式复杂性及衔接手段、名词短语构成和主位推进模式方面的主要异同。
研究获得以下几点发现：1)中外摘要在语言特征层面存在不同程度的差异，其中科技语汇的构成及句式结构较为相似，但在摘要长度、动词时态、语态与人称方面有较明显的差异；2)在宏观信息结构层面，英语作者的文摘内容更为完善，信息布局更为清晰明确；3)中国一般水平英语作者与英语作者摘要之间差异较大，而已被Ei收录的中国期刊摘要则既呈现出中国作者文体特征的共性，又更加接近国际规范水准。
在此基础上，本文分析了国内论文英语摘要在文体风格及语言表达方面的主要问题，并对工程论文的摘要写作提出了具体建议，以期促进国内科研工作者英文摘要写作能力的进步，从而提高国内工程类论文在国际上的发表率和索引率。
As present academic communication goes far beyond national borders, international publication or indexation has become a major reference for evaluating the academic importance of scientific researches. English abstract plays a key role in the assessment of research papers by international indexation systems like Ei (American Engineering Information) and SCI (Science Citation Index). However, due to limited English writing ability, inadequate understanding of international editing requirements and lack of corresponding instructions, many Chinese researchers have difficulty in writing qualified English abstracts and therefore lose chances for international academic communication.
In order to deepen the understanding of differences between English abstracts written by Chinese and native scholars, find out problems in the abstracts of Chinese authors and explore practical writing instructions, the author has conducted a comparative study to examine the major differences in terms of linguistic features and information structures among three groups of sampled abstracts—abstracts by American authors, higher-level and average Chinese authors.
The research involves both quantitative and qualitative methods: collecting data on the occurrence frequency of established research elements—tense, voice, personal pronouns, length, nominal structures, sentence complexities and thematic progression patterns; analyzing and comparing stylistic and functional differences between abstracts from the three corpora.
The major findings include the three following aspects: 1) linguistic features differ variably in the three corpora, with similar structures of technical terms and sentence patterns, but more distinct differences in tense, voice and personal pronouns; 2) in view of information structure, the native English abstracts are found to have complete components in sufficient yet concise presentation, but in abstracts by Chinese authors, there is obvious lack of information components, and unnecessarily complicated Thematic Progression patterns in information development; 3) most evident differences are found between American and average Chinese authors, while the higher-level Chinese authors not only display similar stylistic features with average Chinese authors, but also are more approximate to international standard in text quality.
A further study is conducted to find out the major problems with abstracts by Chinese authors concerning stylistic and linguistic features, and practical writing instructions on engineering abstracts are proposed, hopefully to facilitate Chinese engineering scholars to improve the quality of English abstracts and gain more access to international recognition and academic exchange.
引文
American National Standards Institute (1979). American Standard: Programming Language PL/I. New York: American National Standards Institute.
Andrews, D., & Bickle, M. (1982). Technical Writing. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, Inc.
Bhatia, V. K. (1993). Analyzing genre: Language use in professional settings. London& NY: Longman.
Brown, G. & Yule, G. (1983). Discourse Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bussmann, H. (2000). Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. 327.
Comrie, B. (2005).Tense. Beijing: Peking University Press.26.
Crystal, D. & Davy, D. (1969). Investing English Style. New York: Longman.
Danes, F. (1974). Functional Sentence Perspectives and the Organization of the Text. Papers in Functional Sentence Perspective. Prague: Academia.
Day, Robert.A. (1995). How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 29-32.
Day, Robert A. (1998) How to Write & Publish a Scientific Paper. 5th Edition. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx.
Ei. (2005). Briefing of Ei Inclusion Criteria. Engineering Information, China.
Firbas, J. (1976). A study in the functional sentence perspective of the English and Slovaonic interrogative sentence. Brno Studies in English 12.
Graetz, N. (1985). Teaching EFL students to extract structural information from abstracts. In Ulijn and Pugh(eds.): 123-35.
Gnutzmann, C. & Oldenburg, H. (1991). Contrastive text linguistics in LSP-research: Theoretical considerations and some preliminary findings. In H. Schroder (Ed.), Subj ect-oriented texts. Berlin: Warter de Gruyter. 103-137.
Halliday, M.A.K. (2000). An Introduction to Functional Grammar. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.38-40.
Hasan, R.& Halliday, M.A.K. (1976). Cohesion in English. London: Longman.
Huckin, Thomas N. (1986). Prescriptive linguistics and plain English: the case of the "whiz-deletions". Visible Language, 20:174-87.
Hyland, K. (2001). Humble servants of the discipline? Self-mention in research articles. English for Specific Purposes, 20:207-226.
Kou, C. H. (1999). The Use of Personal Pronouns: Role Relationships in Scientific Journal Articles. English for Specific Purposes, 18(3): 121-138.
Locker, K. (1997). http://www.washington.edu/oue/summer-institute/writing.html.
Malcolm, L. (1987). What rules govern tense use in scientific articles? English for Specific Purposes, 6:31-44.
Martin, P. M. (2003).A genre analysis of English and Spanish research paper abstracts in experimental social sciences. English for Specific purposes, 22: 25-43.
Mathesius, V. (1939). On so-called functional sentence perspective. Slovo a slovensnost 7.
Melander, B., Swales, J. and Fredrickson, K. (1997). Journal abstracts from three academics fields in the United States and Sweden: national or disciplinary proclivities. In Anna Duszak. Culture and Styles of Academic Discourse. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Nwogu, K. (1997). The medical research paper: Structure and Function. English for Specific Purposes, 16 (2). 119-138.
O'Connor, M. & Woodford, F. P. (1976) Writing Scientific Papers in English. Trio: The Hague.
Richards, Jack. C. et al. (2000). Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 451-452.
Salager-Meyer, K. (1994). Discoursal Flaws in Medical English Abstracts: A Genre Analysis per Research-and Text-type. Text, 10:365-384.
Slade, C. (2000) Form and Style: Research Papers, Reports and Theses. Beijing: Foreign Language Learning and Research Press.
Stein, W. (1997). A Genre Analysis of the TESOL Conference Abstract. PhD Thesis, Oklahoma State University.
Swales, J. M. & Feak. C. B. (1994) Academic Writing for Graduate Students: Essential Tasks and Skill. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.
Swales, J. M. (2001). Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.
Tarone, E., Dwyer S., Gillette, S. & Ieke, V. (1998). On the Use of the Passive and Active Voice in Astrophysics Journal Papers: with Extensions to Other Languages and Other Fields. English for Specific Purposes, V 17-1.
TippeR, J. M. (2004). Abstracts, in "Down to Earth Research Advice". http://www.earthresearch.com/writing-abstract shtm.
Ventola, E. (1991). Non-native Writing and Native Revising of Scientific Articles. Functional and Systemic Linguistics: approaches and uses. New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 456-492.
Ventola, E. (1994). Abstracts as an Object of Linguistic Study. Writing vs. Speaking. Tubingen:Gunter Narr. P.333-352.
CNKI(中国知网)．(2007)．中国期刊全文数据库核心期刊导航(工业技术)．北京：中国学术期刊(光盘版)电子杂志社．
陈露生．(1995)．科技论文英文摘要的语法结构和词语模式．上海电力学院学报，1995(3)：79-84．
丁往道，吴冰，钟美荪，郭栖庆．(1998)．英语写作手册．北京外语教学出版社．
范晓晖．(2005)．论医学论文英文摘要中被动态的滥用．中国科技翻译，2005 (4)：11-14．
方梦之．(1989)．科技英语实用文体．上海：上海外语教育出版社．
高一虹．(2000)．语言文化差异的认识与超越．北京：外语教学与研究出版社．
贺德方．(2006，Nov．8)．从科技论文世界排名提升看中国科技核心竞争力．科技日报．北京：科技日报社．
何瑞清．(2004)．中外科技期刊英文文摘比较——语态分布和“头重脚轻”句的使用频率．上海科技翻译，2004(1)：16—18．
胡壮麟．(1994)．语篇的衔接与连贯．上海：上海外语教育出版社．
胡壮麟，朱永生，张德禄，李战子．(2005)．系统功能语言学概论．北京：北京大学出版社．p．170．
黄国文．(1988)．语篇分析概要．长沙：湖南教育出版社．
李海军，吴迪龙．科技论文问题的嬗变与科技论文的英译．上海翻译，2006(3)：28—31．
李美霞．(2006)．功能语法教程．北京：外文出版社．
刘辰诞．(1999)．教学篇章语言学．上海：上海外语教育出版社．
滕真如，谭万成．(2004)．英文摘要的时态语态问题．中国科技翻译，2004(1)．
王应宽，魏秀菊，蒲应龚，刘心爱．(2000)．科技学术论文英文题名与摘要等的译写．编辑学报，2000(4)：213—217．
熊春茹．(2002)．英语科技论文写作与国际检索系统收录原则．南京航空航天大学学报，2002(4)：83—86．
熊春茹．(2005)．Ei收录科技期刊英文摘要语篇的体裁性要求．编辑学报，2005(1)：29—30．
徐盛桓．(1982)．主位和述位．外语教学与研究，1982(1)．
杨永林，杨芳，杨莉．(2002)．英语论文写作研究．北京：中央广播电视大学出版社．p．127-144．
于建平．(2001)．科技论文汉译英中若干问题分析．中国翻译，2001(1)：32-34．
于建平．(1999)．科技论文引文摘要的写作与翻译剖析．中国翻译，1999(5)：32-34．
张今，张客定．(1998)．英汉语信息结构对比研究．开封：河南大学出版社．
Andrews, D., & Bickle, M. (1982). Technical Writing. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, Inc.
Bhatia, V. K. (1993). Analyzing genre: Language use in professional settings. London& NY: Longman.
Brown, G. & Yule, G. (1983). Discourse Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bussmann, H. (2000). Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. 327.
Comrie, B. (2005).Tense. Beijing: Peking University Press.26.
Crystal, D. & Davy, D. (1969). Investing English Style. New York: Longman.
Danes, F. (1974). Functional Sentence Perspectives and the Organization of the Text. Papers in Functional Sentence Perspective. Prague: Academia.
Day, Robert.A. (1995). How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 29-32.
Day, Robert A. (1998) How to Write & Publish a Scientific Paper. 5th Edition. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx.
Ei. (2005). Briefing of Ei Inclusion Criteria. Engineering Information, China.
Firbas, J. (1976). A study in the functional sentence perspective of the English and Slovaonic interrogative sentence. Brno Studies in English 12.
Graetz, N. (1985). Teaching EFL students to extract structural information from abstracts. In Ulijn and Pugh(eds.): 123-35.
Gnutzmann, C. & Oldenburg, H. (1991). Contrastive text linguistics in LSP-research: Theoretical considerations and some preliminary findings. In H. Schroder (Ed.), Subj ect-oriented texts. Berlin: Warter de Gruyter. 103-137.
Halliday, M.A.K. (2000). An Introduction to Functional Grammar. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.38-40.
Hasan, R.& Halliday, M.A.K. (1976). Cohesion in English. London: Longman.
Huckin, Thomas N. (1986). Prescriptive linguistics and plain English: the case of the "whiz-deletions". Visible Language, 20:174-87.
Hyland, K. (2001). Humble servants of the discipline? Self-mention in research articles. English for Specific Purposes, 20:207-226.
Kou, C. H. (1999). The Use of Personal Pronouns: Role Relationships in Scientific Journal Articles. English for Specific Purposes, 18(3): 121-138.
Locker, K. (1997). http://www.washington.edu/oue/summer-institute/writing.html.
Malcolm, L. (1987). What rules govern tense use in scientific articles? English for Specific Purposes, 6:31-44.
Martin, P. M. (2003).A genre analysis of English and Spanish research paper abstracts in experimental social sciences. English for Specific purposes, 22: 25-43.
Mathesius, V. (1939). On so-called functional sentence perspective. Slovo a slovensnost 7.
Melander, B., Swales, J. and Fredrickson, K. (1997). Journal abstracts from three academics fields in the United States and Sweden: national or disciplinary proclivities. In Anna Duszak. Culture and Styles of Academic Discourse. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Nwogu, K. (1997). The medical research paper: Structure and Function. English for Specific Purposes, 16 (2). 119-138.
O'Connor, M. & Woodford, F. P. (1976) Writing Scientific Papers in English. Trio: The Hague.
Richards, Jack. C. et al. (2000). Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 451-452.
Salager-Meyer, K. (1994). Discoursal Flaws in Medical English Abstracts: A Genre Analysis per Research-and Text-type. Text, 10:365-384.
Slade, C. (2000) Form and Style: Research Papers, Reports and Theses. Beijing: Foreign Language Learning and Research Press.
Stein, W. (1997). A Genre Analysis of the TESOL Conference Abstract. PhD Thesis, Oklahoma State University.
Swales, J. M. & Feak. C. B. (1994) Academic Writing for Graduate Students: Essential Tasks and Skill. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.
Swales, J. M. (2001). Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.
Tarone, E., Dwyer S., Gillette, S. & Ieke, V. (1998). On the Use of the Passive and Active Voice in Astrophysics Journal Papers: with Extensions to Other Languages and Other Fields. English for Specific Purposes, V 17-1.
TippeR, J. M. (2004). Abstracts, in "Down to Earth Research Advice". http://www.earthresearch.com/writing-abstract shtm.
Ventola, E. (1991). Non-native Writing and Native Revising of Scientific Articles. Functional and Systemic Linguistics: approaches and uses. New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 456-492.
Ventola, E. (1994). Abstracts as an Object of Linguistic Study. Writing vs. Speaking. Tubingen:Gunter Narr. P.333-352.
CNKI(中国知网)．(2007)．中国期刊全文数据库核心期刊导航(工业技术)．北京：中国学术期刊(光盘版)电子杂志社．
陈露生．(1995)．科技论文英文摘要的语法结构和词语模式．上海电力学院学报，1995(3)：79-84．
丁往道，吴冰，钟美荪，郭栖庆．(1998)．英语写作手册．北京外语教学出版社．
范晓晖．(2005)．论医学论文英文摘要中被动态的滥用．中国科技翻译，2005 (4)：11-14．
方梦之．(1989)．科技英语实用文体．上海：上海外语教育出版社．
高一虹．(2000)．语言文化差异的认识与超越．北京：外语教学与研究出版社．
贺德方．(2006，Nov．8)．从科技论文世界排名提升看中国科技核心竞争力．科技日报．北京：科技日报社．
何瑞清．(2004)．中外科技期刊英文文摘比较——语态分布和“头重脚轻”句的使用频率．上海科技翻译，2004(1)：16—18．
胡壮麟．(1994)．语篇的衔接与连贯．上海：上海外语教育出版社．
胡壮麟，朱永生，张德禄，李战子．(2005)．系统功能语言学概论．北京：北京大学出版社．p．170．
黄国文．(1988)．语篇分析概要．长沙：湖南教育出版社．
李海军，吴迪龙．科技论文问题的嬗变与科技论文的英译．上海翻译，2006(3)：28—31．
李美霞．(2006)．功能语法教程．北京：外文出版社．
刘辰诞．(1999)．教学篇章语言学．上海：上海外语教育出版社．
滕真如，谭万成．(2004)．英文摘要的时态语态问题．中国科技翻译，2004(1)．
王应宽，魏秀菊，蒲应龚，刘心爱．(2000)．科技学术论文英文题名与摘要等的译写．编辑学报，2000(4)：213—217．
熊春茹．(2002)．英语科技论文写作与国际检索系统收录原则．南京航空航天大学学报，2002(4)：83—86．
熊春茹．(2005)．Ei收录科技期刊英文摘要语篇的体裁性要求．编辑学报，2005(1)：29—30．
徐盛桓．(1982)．主位和述位．外语教学与研究，1982(1)．
杨永林，杨芳，杨莉．(2002)．英语论文写作研究．北京：中央广播电视大学出版社．p．127-144．
于建平．(2001)．科技论文汉译英中若干问题分析．中国翻译，2001(1)：32-34．
于建平．(1999)．科技论文引文摘要的写作与翻译剖析．中国翻译，1999(5)：32-34．
张今，张客定．(1998)．英汉语信息结构对比研究．开封：河南大学出版社．