Coherence features of published research articles by Japanese authors: Culture-specific features and their acceptability

Abstract

Previous studies have demonstrated that research articles by non-native English-speaking researchers often contain features discordant with rhetorical conventions of English academic writing. It has also been revealed that creation of such non-standard elements may be related to the influence of the writers’ first language writing culture. Some have argued that these cultural rhetorical features ought to be viewed as acceptable because they are part of published content that passed the rigorous examinations. Others have reported findings suggesting that these cultural yet non-standard features constitute potential writing problems. To further explore this topic, the present study examines coherence features of the discussion section of research articles (RAs) produced in English and Japanese by Japanese-speaking authors. Rhetorical Structure Theory (RST) is used for the analysis of the selected texts in terms of coherence conventions of English expository or argumentative prose. The results are then compared with previous findings of coherence breaks created by student writers. The analysis shows that both English and Japanese RAs contain features discordant with coherence conventions described by RST. Close examinations show that the most prominent non-standard features in these RAs are closely comparable to those of coherence breaks in students’ writings reported by previous studies.