Variation of Sentence Connectors as Logical Devices in Abstracts
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17722/jell.v4i3.113Keywords:
Discipline, Sentence connectors, Native speakers, Non-Native speakersAbstract
This study was an attempt to examine the category and frequency of sentence connectors in research articles’ abstracts of two disciplines of Applied Linguistics and Electrical Engineering written by native English speakers (NES) and non-native English speakers (NNES). The corpus of eighty research articles that all taken from well-known refereed journals, are selected by scholars within two disciplines. Sentence connectors were identified and classified following the taxonomies of Quirk et al. model. In this model, taxonomies included connectors occurring both within and beyond the sentential level. The words were counted by Ant-Conc-3.4.1 software. The results indicated the sentence connectors in the two disciplines were differently used. The frequency of sentence connectors in Electrical Engineering articles was higher than that in the Applied Linguistics. As for the NES and NNES, the results demonstrated stylistic differences as well. So, writing style is not only a function of disciplinary distinctions but also a reflection of the writers' linguistic backgrounds.
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