Researching and Teaching of Voice for Stance in Postgraduate Academic Writing Eric Lok Ming CHEUNG School of Education, FASS

Academic writing as the major assessment form and as gatekeeping

Voice as who we are; & as positioning with other viewpoints

Academic texts are value-laden— not (totally) impersonal or objective

‘Dialogic’ Nature of Academic Discourse

‘Voice’ in Academic Writing 1.Writer’s evaluation regarding their own research & other research – critiquing, arguing, persuading 2.Writer’s positioning in relation to prior texts 3.Writer’s management of the ‘space’ for alternative viewpoints

The Data Postgraduate writing by three applied linguistics students within one year – Dissertations – Proposals – Research articles – Literature reviews – ‘Term papers’ or ‘essays’

Studying Voice: Linguistic Perspective Informed by a linguistic theory sensitive to both context and language – Systemic Functional Linguistics – Language as a system of choice Appraisal – Language of Evaluation Resources deployed to enact social relations, share feelings and values, and affiliate within the community

Detailed Discourse Analysis Qualitative, interpretive Focus on how interpersonal meaning “unfolds” in the texts

Attitude: Evaluate Emotions, People And Things Finally, in declarative questions, usually the speaker seeks to establish the truthfulness of an incredulous fact (Balogun, 2011). These questions are identical to declarative statements with the exception of their final rising intonation and they often signal surprise or disbelief rather than a true interest in getting information. The presence of a wh-word in the declarative question further enhances the speaker’s surprise or disbelief, for example, “You realize how serious the problem is?” (Lam, 2005). Apart from that, when a speaker embeds a tag question (especially in a falling tone), for example, “She dances well, doesn’t she?”, it indicates that the speaker is sure of the fact in the declarative question, and his ultimate objective is to make the hearer further agree with the assumption(s) he has just made in the declarative question (Balogun, 2011: 44).

Graduation: Intensifying or Downplaying Evaluation or Propositions Finally, in declarative questions, usually the speaker seeks to establish the truthfulness of an incredulous fact (Balogun, 2011). These questions are identical to declarative statements with the exception of their final rising intonation and they often signal surprise or disbelief rather than a true interest in getting information. The presence of a wh-word in the declarative question further enhances the speaker’s surprise or disbelief, for example, “You realize how serious the problem is?” (Lam, 2005). Apart from that, when a speaker embeds a tag question (especially in a falling tone), for example, “She dances well, doesn’t she?”, it indicates that the speaker is sure of the fact in the declarative question, and his ultimate objective is to make the hearer further agree with the assumption(s) he has just made in the declarative question (Balogun, 2011: 44).

Engagement: Invite Or Reject Other Perspectives Finally, in declarative questions, usually the speaker seeks to establish the truthfulness of an incredulous fact (Balogun, 2011). These questions are identical to declarative statements with the exception of their final rising intonation and they often signal surprise or disbelief rather than a true interest in getting information. The presence of a wh-word in the declarative question further enhances the speaker’s surprise or disbelief, for example, “You realize how serious the problem is?” (Lam, 2005). Apart from that, when a speaker embeds a tag question (especially in a falling tone), for example, “She dances well, doesn’t she?”, it indicates that the speaker is sure of the fact in the declarative question, and his ultimate objective is to make the hearer further agree with the assumption(s) he has just made in the declarative question (Balogun, 2011: 44).

Major Linguistic Resources For Dialogic Expansion Modality – Suggesting probability and obligation – E.g. may, might, possibly, seem, seemingly, should… Projection – Attributing other sources (Citation) – E.g. Balogun (2011) states that in declarative questions...

Major Linguistic Resources For Dialogic Contraction Negation (e.g. no, without…) Concessive (e.g. however, but, rather, instead, even, only…) Comment adjunct (e.g. naturally, of course…) Authorial presence (e.g. personal pronouns, in fact, as a matter of fact…)

In the area of political discourse, scholars and researches have been interested in analyzing different rhetorical devices, e.g. alliteration, ellipsis, metaphor, rhetorical questions, repetition, etc. in political speeches (for example, Charteris-Black, 2005; Chilton, 2004; Ephratt, 2008). Many of these studies applied either a relatively broader perspective by analyzing several rhetorical devices at the same time (e.g. Ephratt, 2008) or studied more specifically in one of these strategies, e.g. metaphor (Charteris-Black, 2005), but rarely in the case of the rhetorical question, especially in the US presidential election campaign, which is supposedly perceived as the most debated and most attention-driving election in the democracy world. Therefore, this study serves as an update to previous studies of the rhetorical question, particularly selected from the more carefully-planned and written-as-spoken political speeches between the two candidates in the 2012 US presidential election campaign. Writer Positioning Himself In Relation To Other Research

Opening Up Dialogic Space In the area of political discourse, scholars and researches have been interested in analyzing different rhetorical devices Chilton, 2004 Charteris-Black, 2005 Ephratt, 2008

Narrowing down the Space: Counter-expectation Rarely in the case of rhetorical questions Scholars and researches have been interested in analyzing different rhetorical devices So there should be studies on rhetorical questions Scholars and researches have been interested in analyzing different rhetorical devices So there should be studies on rhetorical questions The expectedThe unexpected But

Dialogic Space Closed for Writer’s Study This study serves as an update to previous studies of the rhetorical question Rarely in the case of rhetorical questions scholars and researches have been interested in analyzing different rhetorical devices

Impact: Primarily Pedagogic Expanding ‘repertoire’ of displaying evaluative voice and stance– ‘Voice management’ Rhetorical demands of the community – ‘Modest’ but not totally invisible – There’s a norm—but still stretchable

Significance Tracking the emergence and development of postgraduate students’ voice and stance in linguistic terms Reiterating the importance of ‘voice’ teaching by focusing more on language Mapping the voicing strategies in postgraduate academic tasks—influencing task design

Major References Hood, S. 2012, ‘Voice and Stance as Appraisal: Persuading and Positioning in Research Writing Across Intellectual Fields’, in K. Hyland & C. S. Guinda (eds), Stance and Voice in Written Academic Genres, Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire, UK. pp Martin, J. R. & White, P. R. R. 2005, The Language of Evaluation: Appraisal in English, Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire, UK.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH! Eric Cheung By Steve MaconeSteve Macone