Encoding the Global Theme in Research Articles

Encoding the Global Theme in Research Articles

Syntactic and FSP Parameters of Academic Titles and Keyword Sets.

Renata Pípalová is Senior Lecturer in English Linguistics and Director of Linguistics at the Department of English Language and Literature at Charles University. Her research focuses on text and discourse analysis and she is currently writing up a monograph on coherence and cohesion in English paragraphs. Renata will be at the University of Leeds from 23 to 27 October as part of the Erasmus+ Staff Mobility programme.

Abstract: Research articles rank among the most prominent academic genres familiarizing their readers in a succinct way with the latest results of academic research. Due to the immense rate of publication these days, it has become increasingly difficult to gain reader attention. Among other things, such attention may be achieved by devoting particular care to the selection of a suitable title and perhaps reinforced with the help of the keyword set. Since titles and keyword sets are freely available and visible even in paid online journals, they are in open competition and serve a multitude of functions (e.g., enticing readers or raising their expectations). Crucially, they encode the Global Theme of Research articles, though in two distinct ways. The talk is based on a specialized corpus, composed of titles and keyword sets gathered from linguistic Research articles recently published by six renowned international journals. The talk identifies their ideational, interpersonal, and textual functions, and looks at some of the prominent patterns and distinct tendencies in their formulation, paying particular attention to their syntactic and FSP (information structure) parameters.