The discourse of acknowledgements from a cross-cultural perspective (an English-Ukrainian academic context)
В статье рассматривается формат выражения благодарности в научных публикациях как академический микрожанр и как тип письменного текста. В результате проведенного эмпирического исследования представлены выводы межкультурного сравнения английского и украинского дискурсов выражения благодарности как...
Збережено в:
| Опубліковано в: : | Культура народов Причерноморья |
|---|---|
| Дата: | 2007 |
| Автор: | |
| Формат: | Стаття |
| Мова: | Англійська |
| Опубліковано: |
Кримський науковий центр НАН України і МОН України
2007
|
| Онлайн доступ: | https://nasplib.isofts.kiev.ua/handle/123456789/54921 |
| Теги: |
Додати тег
Немає тегів, Будьте першим, хто поставить тег для цього запису!
|
| Назва журналу: | Digital Library of Periodicals of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine |
| Цитувати: | The discourse of acknowledgements from a cross-cultural perspective (an English-Ukrainian academic context) / Л.В. Бордюк // Культура народов Причерноморья. — 2007. — № 110, Т. 1. — С. 55-56. — Бібліогр.: 13 назв. — англ. |
Репозитарії
Digital Library of Periodicals of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine| _version_ | 1859608471667736576 |
|---|---|
| author | Бордюк, Л.В. |
| author_facet | Бордюк, Л.В. |
| citation_txt | The discourse of acknowledgements from a cross-cultural perspective (an English-Ukrainian academic context) / Л.В. Бордюк // Культура народов Причерноморья. — 2007. — № 110, Т. 1. — С. 55-56. — Бібліогр.: 13 назв. — англ. |
| collection | DSpace DC |
| container_title | Культура народов Причерноморья |
| description | В статье рассматривается формат выражения благодарности в научных
публикациях как академический микрожанр и как тип письменного текста. В результате проведенного эмпирического исследования представлены выводы
межкультурного сравнения английского и украинского дискурсов выражения
благодарности как отражение академических традиций.
У статті розглянено формат вираження подяки в наукових публікаціях як
академічний мікрожанр і як тип письмового тексту. В результаті проведеного
емпіричного дослідження надані висновки міжкультурного порівняння
англійського та українського дискурсів вираження подяки як відображення академічних традицій.
The format of the Acknowledgements section in scholarly publications has been
treated as an academic microgenre and a type of a written text. The research has
been carried out across English and Ukrainian academic contexts. The ways of expressing
acknowledgements is considered an integral part of international academic
culture.
|
| first_indexed | 2025-11-28T08:46:30Z |
| format | Article |
| fulltext |
55
Бордюк Л. В.
THE DISCOURSE OF ACKNOWLRDGEMENTS FROM A CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE
(AN ENGLISH-UKRAINIAN ACADEMIC CONTEXT)
Статус английского языка как академического lingua franca способствует росту международного общения
и сотрудничества.
Цель данной статьи проанализировать и предоставить лингвистические и прагматические особенности
выражения благодарности как неотъемлимого элемента академического жанра. Формат выражения благодар-
ности в научных публикациях рассматривается как академический микрожанр и как тип письменного текста.
Особенности выражения благодарности/acknowledgements анализировались и сравнивались в межкультурном
аспекте, соответственно в англоязычном и украинском контекстах.
Материалом исследования послужили многочисленные англоязычные и украинские книги и пособия в
области лингвистики, педагогики, методики преподавания английского языка, а также бизнеса и менеджмента.
Проанализирована и описана типичная структура дискурса благодарности.
В результате исследования сделан вывод о том, что формат благодарности является факультативным в
украинских научных публикациях в отличие от англоязычных изданий, что свидетельстует о различных
культурных академичных традициях.
Nowadays, English has become the language of international academic communication. The status of English as
an academic lingua franca promotes the growth of international communication and cooperation between academics on a
global scale.
The goal of this paper is to analyze and present linguistic and pragmatic features of an Acknowledgements section,
i.e. the expression of gratitude, as an integral element of academic genre. The novelty of the research done is
predetermined by its cross–cultural approach. The features of acknowledgements writing have been compared across
English and Ukrainian academic traditions. A wide range of books in various fields of knowledge (Linguistics,
Pedagogics, Teaching English as a Foreign Language, Technical Writing, Business, Management etc) has become the
object of a detailed empirical research. The objectives of the research were to set out the essential generic elements of the
Acknowledgements section together with their linguistic features as well as to analyze how the key parts are typically
organized and structured.
Since the Acknowledgements section is considered an integral element of academic genre [13] the theory of genre
has been employed as a theoretical basis for analysis and argumentation. Genre is an event of communication aimed at
achieving certain communicative purposes and serves as a means of accomplishing such purposes [11, 12]. Genres may
be treated as a textual realization of discourse. The definition of genre as a type of a written or oral text with a
recognizable set of relatively stable features [13 , p.24] is relevant for the research carried out and the outcomes achieved.
In this paper, the Acknowledgements section is considered a micro-academic genre and a type of a written text.
Essential Features of the English Acknowledgements section
The purpose of the Acknowledgements section is to thank people . The production of knowledge involves a large
number of individuals and institutions. Different people give their labor (intellectual or manual) to every aspect of
scholarly and scientific work. The input of those who have contributed substantially should be acknowledged, Author/s
should include acknowledgements to donors, fundung agencies, research award committees and all those who have made
financial contributions to the project.
Acknowledgements, i.e. the expression of gratitude to colleagues, sponsors, supervisors etc, have become a
standard constituent of English academic research publications and books. In case of books, they are usually placed at
the beginning, after Preface, before Table of Contents and the main text. Yakhontova [13, p.93] singles out the
following most widespread elements of acknowledgements:
– thanks to colleagues
– thanks to editors and reviewers
– financial support (grants, sponsors etc)
– sources of the materials used (copyrighted or manuscript materials, transcripts etc)
– disclaimers
Most Acknowledgements have a similar general structure. The introductory sentence normally mentions work
done by others (individuals, departments, sources etc).
The register of Acknowledgements combines formal and informal features. Thus, the first person pronoun I is
used for a single author and we for co-authors. Besides colleagues, reviewers and office staff Acknowledgements may
address the author’s parents, grandparents and siblings. The following informal sentence has been come across in
Acknowledgements in Gertrude Moscowitz’s book «Caring and Sharing in the Foreign Language Class»: A big bouquet
should go to … for the sketch of the cover and to … for the layout of the cover design [8, p.v].
The paradigm of lexical means expressing gratitude is really broad though rather standard and predetermined by its
pragmatic purpose. It includes verbs : I thank to; the edition owed much to; contributed greatly to; share their expertise;
to facilitate; past participle: I am indebted to;
nouns: gratitude; thanks; help; encouragement; patience and support, intellectual stimulation and other forms of
assistance; improvements.
adjectives: grateful; valuable; helpful; sincere; generous (with their time and knowledge), invaluable.
All the above lexical means are positively marked. In numerous examples their positive effect is enhanced by
intensifiers: especially, very, a very specially, greatly, much. The negative effect of the denotative meaning of the word
combination critical remarks is usually lessened, softened by the positive connotative meaning of the adjective valuable.
The volume of the Acknowledgements section is arbitrary. It may range from one paragraph to one page and a
half.
56
The concluding sentence normally contains a disclaimer in different wording, e.g.:
The responsibility for any shortcoming rests with me alone.
None of the sponsoring organizations is responsible for the views expressed.
A Comparative Cross-cultural Analysis of the Acknowledgement Format
Research has demonstrated that there exist cultural differences in the Acknowledgements section. First of all, it is
optional in Ukrainian academic genre unlike English one. Most Ukrainian research publications do not include it as an
integral element. It is limited to indicating reviewers’ names and affiliations, e.g. Є. А. Карпільовська «Суфіксальна
підсистема сучасної української мови: Будова та реалізація»[2]; Бацевич Ф. С. «Основи комунікативної
лінгвістики» [1]; Н. М. Петренко «Вступ до перекладознавства» [3]; O. Rebriy «Dictum Factum Translation Course.
Interpreter/s Shorthand» [9] etc.
Words of gratitude may conclude Preface. A very concise paragraph (three lines) in «Словник паронімів
української мови» Д. Г. Гринчишина та О. А. Сербенської [4] may serve an example:
«Автори висловлюють глибоку подяку працівникам Інституту мовознавства ім. О. О. Потебні за
доброзичливу допомогу і цінні критичні зауваження, а також можливість користуватися матеріалами
картотеки» [4, c. 6]. The positively marked lexical means of the analyzed Ukrainian text is similar to those of the above
English samples: глибока подяка ; доброзичлива допомога; цінні критичні зауваження.
A different trend can be traced when analyzing books and manuals written by Ukrainian authors in English and
published in Ukraine. As s rule, they include an Acknowledgement section. It confirms the statement made by Scollon, an
expert in intercultural communication, that «many aspects of western culture, especially western patterns of discourse, are
carried within English» [10, p. 4]. The Acknowledgements section in Ukrainian scholarly publications reflects the cross-
cultural awareness of Ukrainian authors and their sense of belonging to the international academic community. The
examples of such publications may be a collective manual by Miriam G. E., Daineko V.V. et al. «Basic Translation.
Основи перекладу» [7].
Gratitude to the reviewers, consultants and sponsors has been expressed by the author of the book «English
Academic Writing»Yakhontova T.V. [13] in Preface (Передмова).* Typical lexical means have been used: глибоко
вдячна за уважне ознайомлення; цінні критичні зауваження; за поради та допомогу; посібник підготовлено за
сприяння Відділу з питань освіти і культури Держдепартаменту США…….
A different format of acknowledgements is typical of books and manuals written in English and published in the
framework of international projects. The manual for university students «Getting on in English» [6] – a joint effort of the
cooperation between Lviv State Polytechnic University, Department of Foreign Languages and Coventry University,
School of International Studies & Law- has been produced with support of the European Union under Tempus-Tacis Joint
European Project. The Introduction section, Contents and the main text are preceded by acknowledgements to the funding
sources and the administration of the Universities involved both in English and Ukrainian:
The authors express their deep gratitude to the officials of both Universitites for their support of the Project.
Автори висловлюють глибоку вдячність керівництву вищеназваних університетів за всебічну підтримку
Проекту.
А very rare example of using subheadings ПОДЯКА and ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS may be found in «Dictum
Factum Translation Course. Law»edited by L.Chernovaty and V. Karaban [5]. A one-paragraph text (in Ukrainian and
English) includes the above mentioned essential elements of expressing gratitude: thanks to colleagues and reviewers
(за допомогу і поради у створенні посібника), funding sources (Асоціація юристів штату Огайо та Фонду
юристів штату Огайо за надання дозволу використання їх видання, Асоціація міст-побратимів Цинцинаті-
Харків). The English Acknowledgements includes a disclaimer : Needless to say, all errors of fact and judgment are our
own while it is omitted in the corresponding Ukrainian pattern.
Some post-graduate students at the Department of Applied Linguistics of Lviv National Polytechnic University
were rather embarrassed and ill at ease when suggested that their supervisors and consultants should be mentioned and
thanked at the end of their scholarly papers. The post-graduate students considered it inappropriate, very personal,
informal and, thus, non-academic.
But the pragmatic purpose of Acknowledgements typically organized and structured is academically
prededermined. This is not merely a matter of courtesy and gratitude. It is part of the process of declaring interests,
providing information that the reader requires in order to evaluate potential bias of research. This is part of international
academic culture and demonstration of belonging to a certain academic community.
Ukrainian authors writing both in English and Ukrainian should include the Acknowledgements or Подяка section
in their publications since the latter would have not been possible without the contribution and help of other people.
Источники и литература
1. Бацевич Ф. С. Основи комунікативної лінгвістики. – К.: Видавничий центр «Академія», 2004.
2. Карпільовська Є. А. Суфіксальна підсистема сучасної української літературної мови: будова та реалізація. – К, 1999.
3. Петренко Н. М. Вступ до перекладознавства. – Дніпропетровськ: Дніпропетровський інститут економіки та права, 2004.
4. Словник паронімів української мови (Гринчишин Д. Г., Сербенська О. А.) – К.: Радянська школа, 1986.
5. Dictum Factum Translation Course. Law. Eds. Chernovaty L., Karaban V. – Вінниця: Поділля-2000, 2002.
6. Getting on іn English. Manual for university students. Lviv, 1998.
7. Miriam G. E., Daineko V. V. et al. Basic Translation. Основи перекладу. – К.: Ельга. Ніка-Центр, 2003.
8. Moscowitz G. Caring and Sharing in the Foreign Language Class. – Heinle&Heinle Publishers, Boston, 1978.
9. Rebriy O. Dictum Factum Translation Course. Interpreter’s Shorthand. – Вінниця, 2002.
10. Scollon R. and Wong Scollon. Intercultural Communication: A Discourse Approach. Cambridge, VF: Blackwell Publishers, 1995.
11. Swales J. M. Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.
12. Swales J. M. and Feak C.B. English in Today’s Research World: A Writing Guide. Ann Arbor:University of Michigan, 2000.
13. Yakhontova T.V. English Academic Writing. For students and researchers. – Львів: Видавничий центр ЛНУ ім. І. Франка, 2002.
Примечания
*The author of the presented paper is one of the reviewers of this book.
|
| id | nasplib_isofts_kiev_ua-123456789-54921 |
| institution | Digital Library of Periodicals of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine |
| issn | 1562-0808 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-28T08:46:30Z |
| publishDate | 2007 |
| publisher | Кримський науковий центр НАН України і МОН України |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | Бордюк, Л.В. 2014-02-04T21:25:48Z 2014-02-04T21:25:48Z 2007 The discourse of acknowledgements from a cross-cultural perspective (an English-Ukrainian academic context) / Л.В. Бордюк // Культура народов Причерноморья. — 2007. — № 110, Т. 1. — С. 55-56. — Бібліогр.: 13 назв. — англ. 1562-0808 https://nasplib.isofts.kiev.ua/handle/123456789/54921 В статье рассматривается формат выражения благодарности в научных публикациях как академический микрожанр и как тип письменного текста. В результате проведенного эмпирического исследования представлены выводы межкультурного сравнения английского и украинского дискурсов выражения благодарности как отражение академических традиций. У статті розглянено формат вираження подяки в наукових публікаціях як академічний мікрожанр і як тип письмового тексту. В результаті проведеного емпіричного дослідження надані висновки міжкультурного порівняння англійського та українського дискурсів вираження подяки як відображення академічних традицій. The format of the Acknowledgements section in scholarly publications has been treated as an academic microgenre and a type of a written text. The research has been carried out across English and Ukrainian academic contexts. The ways of expressing acknowledgements is considered an integral part of international academic culture. en Кримський науковий центр НАН України і МОН України Культура народов Причерноморья The discourse of acknowledgements from a cross-cultural perspective (an English-Ukrainian academic context) Article published earlier |
| spellingShingle | The discourse of acknowledgements from a cross-cultural perspective (an English-Ukrainian academic context) Бордюк, Л.В. |
| title | The discourse of acknowledgements from a cross-cultural perspective (an English-Ukrainian academic context) |
| title_full | The discourse of acknowledgements from a cross-cultural perspective (an English-Ukrainian academic context) |
| title_fullStr | The discourse of acknowledgements from a cross-cultural perspective (an English-Ukrainian academic context) |
| title_full_unstemmed | The discourse of acknowledgements from a cross-cultural perspective (an English-Ukrainian academic context) |
| title_short | The discourse of acknowledgements from a cross-cultural perspective (an English-Ukrainian academic context) |
| title_sort | discourse of acknowledgements from a cross-cultural perspective (an english-ukrainian academic context) |
| url | https://nasplib.isofts.kiev.ua/handle/123456789/54921 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bordûklv thediscourseofacknowledgementsfromacrossculturalperspectiveanenglishukrainianacademiccontext AT bordûklv discourseofacknowledgementsfromacrossculturalperspectiveanenglishukrainianacademiccontext |