The passive voice in scholarly writing: A diachronic look at science and history

While much has been written about the passive voice in scientific writing, similar interest involving humanities writing in general has been more modest. A paucity of diachronic studies also raises the need to understand more about how passive use has changed over time and what such changes imply for the norms in academic writing. This study investigated the use of the passive voice in science and history, with the latter serving as a specific case for the humanities. Eighty articles from the English Historical Review (EHR) from the late 19th century to the present were analyzed for passive use, and the statistics were compared with those reported in a recent study involving 80 articles from the journal Science over the same time span. The results revealed that passive use had fallen in Science and EHR, and that fewer passives were found in the EHR articles. The use of non-finite passives, however, remained stable over time in both Science and EHR. The semantic functions of passives also differed between Science and EHR. The study highlights the importance of considering the use of the passive voice in discipline-specific terms. More work involving other disciplines in the humanities and the social sciences is recommended

Clause complexing in research-article abstracts: Comparing human- and AI-generated text

The ability of chatbots to produce plausible, human-like responses raises questions about the extent of their similarity with original texts. Using a modified version of Halliday’s clause-complexing framework, this study compared 50 abstracts of scientific research articles from Nature with generated versions produced by Bard, ChatGPT, and Poe Assistant. None of the chatbots matched the original abstracts in all categories. The only chatbot that came closest was ChatGPT, but differences in the use of finite adverbial clauses and –ing elaborating clauses were detected. Incorporating distinct grammatical features in the algorithms of AI-detection tools is crucially needed to enhance the reliability of their results. A genre-based approach to detecting AI-generated content is recommended

The language of insults: A look at Theme, Rheme and negative inferences

This paper examines the thematic structure of a corpus of insults using the inference-boundary model of Theme and Rheme. It focuses on the concept of negative inference—which must be generated for an insult to be successfully delivered—and shows how it allows us to better understand and characterize the form that insults generally take. The analysis suggests that insults are typically structured to generate backward-looking negative inferences from the decoder, much in line with how new information (in this case, the thrust of the insult) is generally located in final position. The paper also proposes a summary statement capturing the general configuration of insults and suggestions for further research

Thematic and Rhematic Progression in Scientific Writing: A Pilot Study

The Hallidayan Theme-Rheme framework is commonly used to account for the message structure of language. Much has been done to investigate the message structure of different text types using the Hallidayan framework and Daneš’s notion of thematic progression (TP). Similar studies targeting scientific research articles, however, are few, and the Rhemes in these studies are almost always sidelined. Diagrams capturing the development patterns of Themes and Rhemes at the whole-text level are also lacking. To address these gaps, this study compared the TP and rhematic progression (RP) patterns of 50 scientific research articles, adopting both a diagrammatic and quantitative approach. The quantification of TP and RP was based on the thematic-density index (TDI) and rhematic-density index (RDI), respectively. The results revealed that TDI was greater than RDI at all levels of the text. The TP and RP patterns were also different and distinct. Whereas the TP pattern comprised a simple-linear progression in the introduction section followed by a constant development in the rest of the article, the RP pattern was generally simple-linear in its shape. The observed TP and RP patterns capture not merely the message structure of scientific writing, but its communicative function. Further work involving more varied scientific texts is recommended to investigate whether these patterns are robust across disciplines

Thinking critically : a look at students' critiques of a research article

The ability to reason, analyse, and evaluate issues critically is a valued skill, and ranks highly in the list of attributes expected of graduates. Much has been written about the importance and application of critical thinking in various domains, but studies on the actual manifestation of such skills in students’ writing have attracted only modest interest. Even less has been written about critiques in relation to critical thinking. This study sought to investigate the form and nature of issues raised by 119 second-year biology undergraduates in their critiques of the introduction section of a research article. The study revealed that the vast majority of students tended to raise surface issues in their critiques, focusing on visible textual features such as rhetorical structure and language-related issues. The minority who raised depth issues addressed the arguments used in the reading and their significance. In light of the skewed results, a two-stage process — involving (1) summary writing, and (2) the use of evaluative criteria and the Toulmin model as an overarching framework — is recommended to enhance the teaching of critical thinking within the curriculum. This study offers a glimpse into the outcomes of critical thinking, as represented by the students’ critiques. It provides a bottom-up approach to our understanding of the issues raised by students in a task centred on critical thinking, and so focuses our attention on specific areas for further consideration or remediation.Accepted versio

AN ANALYSIS OF THE RUBRICS OF EXAMINATION QUESTIONS SET FOR DIFFERENT SUBJECT DISCIPLINES IN THE FACULTY OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES, NUS

Bachelor'sBACHELOR OF ARTS (HONOURS

The passive voice in scientific writing. The current norm in science journals

In contrast to past consensus, many authors now feel that the passive voice compromises the quality of scientific writing. However, studies involving scientific articles are rare. Using a corpus of 60 scientific research articles from six journals, this study examined the proportion of passives used, and the contexts and forms in which they occurred. The results revealed that about 30% of all clauses were passive clauses. The canonical form was most pervasive, followed by the bare passive; together, they constituted more than a quarter of all clauses analyzed. Passives were typically used in main clauses, followed by relative and adverbial clauses. Roughly 29% of all passives were located in the methodology section. Based on the results, the proportion of passives in scientific writing may stabilize at about 30%. It is unlikely to dramatically drop any further since the trend suggests that passives are still widely used in the methodology section.Published versio

INVESTIGATING THEME AND RHEME : A COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Talking themes : the thematic structure of talk

This paper examines the thematic structure and progression of an extract of a spontaneous conversation using the inference-boundary model (an amended version of the Hallidayan theme-rheme framework) and the thematic progression framework of Daneš. This paper argues that equal attention should be paid to both thematic and rhematic progression. Insofar as rheme carries the body of the message, it would be tremendously helpful for us to gain an understanding of the patterned behaviour of the rhematic element and how theme and rheme together shape the message in the unfolding discourse. The paper also examines the different patterns of theme-rheme development in the extract. The boxed, gapped, holistic, and multiple developments, including their variant forms, are presented and discussed.Accepted versio

CLAUSE COMPLEXING : A CRITIQUE OF HALLIDAY'S FRAMEWORK

Master'sMASTER OF ART