Code Switching n Face

8/3/2019 Code Switching n Face

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770 Ines-A. Busch-L auercommunicat ive un i t s , i t i s no t su rpr i s ing tha t in t ra l ingual s tud ies on genres have on ly beenrecen t ly pursued . Outs tand ing rev iew s o f the s t a te-o f - the-ar t have bee n g iven by Gl~i ser (1990)an d Sw a l e s (1 9 9 0 ).

Co n t r a s t i v e rh e t o ri c o r ig i n a t in g f ro m t h e w o rk o f K ap l an (1 9 6 6) , G a l t u n g (1 9 8 3 ) an d Co n n o rand Kaplan (1986) , and d i scourse l evel analyses (e .g . Van Di jk , 1980 ; de Beaugrande &Dress ier , 1981) have s t imula ted s tud ies on con t ras t ive rhe to r ic in LSP. Clyne (1987 , 1991)i n v es t ig a t ed a r t i c le s i n s o c i o l o g y an d l in g u is t ic s p u b l i s h ed b y G erman s an d A n g l o -A m er i can sacco rd i n g t o t h e c r i te r ia : ( 1 ) l i n ea r i t y /d i g r e s s i v en es s ; ( 2 ) s y m m et ry / a s y m me t ry ; ( 3) h i e r a r ch y ;(4 ) con t inu i ty ; (5 ) advance o rgan izers ; (6 ) def in i t ion ; (7 ) sen tence types ; (8 ) da ta in tegra t ion ;and (9 ) hed ges . As he hypo thet i ca l ly po in ted ou t , there seem s to be a marked d i f ference in theacad emi c rh e t o r i c o f G e rman s an d A n g l o -A mer i can s , w h i ch i s p ro b ab l y d u e t o a d i f f e r en tt ex tual o rgan iza t ion and to d ivergen t in te l l ec tual s ty les . Therefore , the main concern o fcon t ras t ive L SP rese arch i s whe ther the s t ruc tu re and o rgan iza t ion o f sc ien t i f ic t ex ts in the sam esubjec t a rea bu t f rom d i f feren t l anguages , fo l low pr inc ip les which are e i ther l anguage-i n d ep en d en t o r s p ec i f i c f o r b o t h t h e l an g u ag e an d t h e cu l t u r e (p ro fe s s i o n a l an d / o r n a t i o n a lcu l tu re) o f the par t i cu lar d i scourse communi ty . In teres t ing ev idence fo r the l a t t e r no t ion hasbeen recen t ly revealed fo r t i t l es and abs t rac t s o f sc ience repor t s (Gnutzmann , 1988 , 1991) , fo rin t roduct ions o f ar t ic l es in l ingu i st i cs (Gnutzm ann & La nge, 1990) , fo r conc lus ions /sum ma ries o f a r t ic l es in the sub jec t a reas econo mic s and medica l sc ience (Ma uranen , 1993) .However , comprehens ive s tud ies on l arger corpora o f l a rge-sca le t ex t s are s t i l l miss ing .Fu r t h e rm o re , i t is n eces s a ry t o ex t en d w r i tt en d i s co u r s e an a l y s is f r o m s t u d y i n g th e " p ro d u c t "t ex t a s t h e r e s u l t o f a co mmu n i ca t i v e ac t , s een b y t h e L SP r e s ea rch e r , t o t h e ex ami n a t i o n o fcogni t ive p rocesses dur ing the wr i t ing and read ing o f these t ex t s by specia l i s t s . Only then acompar i son between L1 (source l anguage) and L2 ( t arget l anguage) wi l l con t r ibu te to anincreas ing l ingu i s t i c and aud ience awareness o f specia l i s t s .

PURPOSE OF THE STUDYTh e pre sen t a r t i c l e focuses on ab s t rac ts and abs t rac t ing in the f i e ld o f med ic ine . I t o r ig inates

f ro m my p e r s o n a l t e ach i n g ex p e r i en ce i n E SP (E n g l i s h fo r Sp ec i f i c Pu rp o s es ) co u r s e s fo rme dica l s tuden t s . Th i s research work i s in tended to be a subord inate ob jec t ive wi th in a researchpro jec t on cu l tu ra l and cross - l ingu i s t i c s imi lar i t i es /d i f ferences in wr i t t en academic d i scourse(bo th Engl i sh and German) in the f i e lds o f medic ine and l ingu i s t i cs .

T h e p u rp o s e o f t h i s p ro j ec t i s t w o - fo l d . T h e l ingu is t ic interest l ies in the appl icat ion oft ex t l ingu i s t i c , con t ras t ive and cogni t ive m etho dolog y to the descr ip t ion o f specia l languages a ndLS P tex t s f rom an in t ra- and in terl ingual approach . In o rde r to f ind ou t con t ras ts in the d i scoursa lo rgan iza t ion o f specia l tex t s and the i r l ingu i s t ic m ani fes ta t ion , I have em barked on analys ingvar ious research p rocess gen res , e .g . a r t i c l es , ed i to r i a l s , rev iews , abs t rac t s , l e t t e rs to the ed i to r ,acco rd i n g t o a co mp l ex t o p -d o w n ap p ro ach . T h i s ap p ro ach i s b a s ed o n (1 ) L SP r e s ea rch , ( 2 )t ex t l ingu i s t i cs , (3 ) con t ras t ive rhe to r ic /cross -cu l tu ra l s tud ies and (4 ) research in to cogn i t ivew r i t i n g p ro ces s e s . T h e r e s ea r ch w i l l f o l l o w a t h r ee - s t ep -co mp ar i s o n o f t ex t s : ( 1 ) G e rman v sEngl i sh t ex t s wr i t t en by Germans ; (2 ) German vs Engl i sh t ex t s wr i t t en each by nat ive speakers ;(3 ) Engl i sh t ex t s by NS vs Engl i sh t ex t s by NNS.

T h e d i d a c t i c i n te r e st o f my r e s ea rch is a p r ag ma t i c o n e - - t o u t il iz e t h e re s u l ts f o r E SP co u r s eta i lo r ing and t each ing purposes . Wri t ing in L2 and summariz ing fo r speci f i c purposes ( thes i s ,au tho r abs t rac t s ) have no t ye t been suf f i c ien t ly the sub jec t o f research and have so far no t beenan in tegra t ive par t o f ESP course p rogrammes , a t l eas t in our depar tment .

A b s t r a c t s a n d a b s t r a c t in g i n L2Accord ing to the In ternat ional Standard Organ iza t ion ( ISO) 214-1976 (E) the t e rm a b s t r a c t

"s ign i f i es an abbrev ia ted , accura te represen ta t ion o f the con ten t s o f a document , wi thou t addedin terpre ta t ion o r cr i t i c i sm" . I t is charac ter i ze d by b rev i ty , conci sen ess and in form at iv i ty . Desp i t e


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Abstracts in Germ an med ical ourn als 771o f t h e n u m ero u s g u i d e l i n es fo r t ech n i ca l w r i t e r s i n h an d b o o k s an d s t y l e m an u a l s , accu ra t el i t era ture search and sc ien t i f i c work are o f ten hampered by l imi ta t ions of indexing and lack ofsys temat ic s t ructure in abs t rac t s as wel l as unspeci f i c word ing (A d Hoc Working Group , 1987;Fluck , 1988; Tibbo , 1992) . In cont ras t to many Anglo-American specia l i s t journal s , theins t ruct ions for au thors in Ge rma n me dical journal s o f ten refer the au thors on ly to the l eng th ofabs t rac t s bu t n o t to s t ructure and s ty le . An d there i s s t il l a l ack of publ ica t ions that are a rea l andspeci f i c help to the NNS of Engl i sh (Salager-Meyer , 1992) . What makes wr i t ing andsumm ariz ing in par t i cu lar so d i f f icu l t fo r NNS ?

Bas ical ly the re are 3 ca tegor ies o f cons t ra in t s :(1 ) Inadequate language competence

T h i s i s N N S ' i n ad eq u a t e k n o w l ed g e o f t h e L 2 l ex i co -g ram m at i ca l s y s t em w h i chham pers t ex t p roduct ion . Teaching exp er ien ce shows that these d i f f i cu lt i es o f ten re la teto sen tence types , g rammat ica l pa t t erns and the inappropr ia te use of cohes ive dev ices ,and lexis (cf. Swales , 1987).

(2) Insufficient awareness of summarizing princ iples and of the disco ursive /rheto ricalmacrostructure of abstracts in L1 an d consequently in L2Wri t ing and su mm ariz ing are t ime-c onsum ing and therefo re rare ly pract ised sk il l s int h e L 2 - t each i n g p ro ces s b ecau s e t h e re i s n o i m m ed i a t e f eed b ack l i k e i n s p eech .Moreover , abs t rac t ing i s a complex sk i l l . One needs to p roduce conten t , to o rganizeone 's thoughts ef fec t ive ly , to express them in appro pr ia te and accura te l anguage. Thish o l d s e s p ec i a l l y t ru e fo r t o p i c s en t en ces , a r r an g em en t s o f m o v es , p a rag rap h i n g an dparagraph- l ink ing dev ices .

(3) Insufficient awaren ess o f cultural, cross-linguistic p eculiaritiesT h e i m p o r t an ce o f t h is a s p ec t w as s t re s s ed b y C l y n e (1 9 9 1 ) w h o p o i n t ed o u t s t r ik i n gd i f f e r en ces b e t w een t h e s o -ca l led "T eu t o n i c" an d "A n g l o -S ax o n " s t y le s . T h e d o m i n an tro l e o f E n g l i s h i n v a r i o u s s u b j ec t a r eas fo rces N N S o f E n g l i s h t o o b ey an d ad ap tA n g l o -Sax o n cu l t u r a l n o rm s . In ad eq u a t e ad h e ren ce t o t h e E n g l i s h fo rm a l n o rm s i so f t en co n s i d e red " i n d i ca t i v e o f f au l t y r e s ea rch " acco rd i n g t o C l y n e (1 9 9 1 , p . 6 6 ) .

D u e t o t h e ab o v e m en t i o n ed i n ad eq u ac ie s , G erm an r e s ea rch e r s o f t en fee l le s s co m p e t en t an deven in fe r io r to w r i t e abs trac t s in L2 and bas ica l ly re ly on t rans la t ion serv ices . The se , howe ver ,o f ten fa i l to p rod uce ad equate abs t rac t s in terms of accu racy of the medical con ten t , theinformat ion conveyed , and the l inguis t i c means appl ied .

I t i s therefore no t surpr i s ing that research in to abs t rac t s has increas ing ly become a top ic o fd i scuss ion in recen t years (Fluck , 1988 , 1989; Gnutzmann, 1991; Ick ier , 1993; Kretzenbacher ,1990; Oldenburg, 1992; Ruge, 1992; Salager-Meyer, 1990, 1992; Tibbo, 1992).

CORPUS AND METHODOLOGYThe f i rs t t ask in th i s s tudy was to get fami l i ar wi th German medical d i scourse . Specia l i s t

communicat ion in the medical sc ience occurs in specia l i zed areas and i s character ized byd i f f e r en t d eg rees o f p ro fe s s i o n a l i s m ( ex p e r t - ex p e r t , ex p e r t - s t a f f , ex p e r t - l ay p e r s o n ) . V ar i o u sGerman medical journal s o f the per iod f rom 1989 to 1993 were scanned wi th regard to the i rjournal ch aracter , l anguage (s ) o f publ ica t ion and ins t ruct ions fo r au thors . In teres t ing ly , there i sno t on ly the t rend to renam e journal s wi th Engl i sh t i tl es bu t a l so to on ly accep t manu scr ip t s inEngl i sh . I t i s journal s address ing c l in ic ians and medical p ract i t ioners which s t i l l keep theG erm an l an g u ag e fo r p u b li ca ti o n . B u t t h es e j o u rn a l s b as i ca l l y r eq u ir e a G e rm an an d an E n g l i shau thor abs t rac t .

T h e i n s t ru c t i o n s fo r au t h o r s w ere w i d e an d u n s p ec i f i c r eco m m en d a t i o n s . So o n e o f t h et rad i t ional Ge rm an journal s fo r in ternal medic ine Zeitschrift f i ir die gesamte Innere Medizin undihre Grenzgebiete o n l y r e f e rs t o t h e len g t h o f ab s t r act s (1 / 2 p ag e ) an d t h e i m p o r t an ce o f k eywords and abs t rac t s fo r in ternat ional l i t e ra ture search .

T h e s eco n d t a s k w as t o s e l ec t a co rp u s . T w e n t y m ed i ca l E n g l i s h (M E ) r e s ea rch p ap e r s an dcas e s t u d ie s i n ex p e r i m en t a l an d o p e ra t iv e r e s ea rch an d t h e i r co r re s p o n d i n g G erm an an d N N S


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772 Ines-A. Busch-LauerTable 1. Length of articles and abstract

Text length of Length of abstracts Words/article sentencesS P S WG G E G E G E G E

1 1 7 1 1 5 6 110 85 22 14.12 99 4 3 8 9 181 184 22.6 20.43 39 1 1 9 10 199 107 22.1 10.74 113 1 1 8 8 120 101 15 12.65 30 1 1 5 6 86 100 17.2 16.66 71 2 1 8 8 189 166 23.6 20.77 94 2 3 7 8 144 146 20 .5 18.28 37 1 1 4 6 75 73 18.7 12.19 147 1 1 5 6 117 120 23.4 20

10 251 1 I 5 4 82 86 16.4 14.311 82 1 1 3 3 56 87 18.6 2912 16 I 1 6 6 74 99 12.3 16.513 114 2 2 6 7 108 125 18 17.814 63 1 1 4 5 74 134 18.5 26.815 201 3 2 7 8 137 161 19.5 20.116 87 4 4 11 It 188 192 17.0 17.417 196 1 1 7 7 189 197 27 28.118 53 3 I 5 6 74 98 14.8 16.319 78 1 1 3 3 48 75 16 2520 101 1 1 6 6 90 113 15 18.8S, sentences; P, paragraph; W, words; G, German; E, English.

E n g l i s h ab s t r ac t s w e r e d r aw n . T h es e w er e 1 0 ex p e r i m en t a l r e s ea r ch a r t i c l e s , 5 r ev i ew a r t i c l e san d 5 ca s e s t u d i e s i n G e r m an co v e r i n g a s p ec t s o f ca r d i o - v as cu l a r d i s ea s e s, c an ce r r e s ea r ch ,p aed i a t r i c s an d o r t h o p ed i c s . T h i s w i d e r an g e o f ab s t r ac t t o p i c s w as s e l ec t ed t o av o i dco n v e n t i o n a l i zed s ch em a t a o f ab s tr ac t s w h i ch m a y h av e d ev e l o p ed w i t h i n o n e j o u r n a l o r su b j ec ta r ea . T h e j o u r n a l s w e r e : ( 1 ) VASA Z e i t schr i ft fa r Gefdflkrankhe iten, Journ al o f VascularDiseases; (2 ) Zeitsch rif t f i ir Unfallchirurgie un d Versicherungsmedizin; (3 ) Aktuelle Chirurgie;(4 ) Zeitsc hrif t f i ir die gesamte Innere M edizin. Klinik-Pathologie-Experiment; (5 ) klinikarzt.Mediz in im Krankenhaus; (6 ) Krankenhausarzt . Zeitsc hrif t f i ir kl inische lnformationen; (7) TWPiJdiatrie; an d ( 8 ) Therapiewoche.

S u b s eq u en t t o s e l ec ti o n , t h e au t h o r ab s t r ac t s w e r e s eg m en t ed i n t o co n s ti t u en t s t r u ct u r a l u n i tsan d s en t en ces an d t h en an a l y s ed acco r d i n g t o t h e f o l l o w i n g f o r m a l , s t r u c t u r a l an d l i n g u i s t i ccr i te r ia : ( I ) overall length o f art icles ( s en t en ces ) an d o f ab s t r ac ts ( s en t en ces , w o r d s ) ; ( 2 )macrostructure [ r ep r e sen t a t io n an d a r r an g em en t o f " m o v e s " , c f . S a l ag e r - M ey e r ( 19 9 2 ) , w h i chw as co n f i r m ed b y a s p ec i a l i s t i n f o r m an t ] ; ( 3 ) linguistic realization ( co m p l ex i t y o f s en t en ces ,v e r b s an d t en s e f o r m s , l i n k in g w o r d s , l ex i ca l h ed g i n g ) .

RESULTSB ef o r e t h e an a l y s i s o f t h e f u n c t i o n a l co n t en t o f t h e ab s t r ac t s w as co n d u c t ed , a b r i e f

ex am i n a t i o n o f t h e o v e r a l l l en g t h o f t h e a r t i c l e , t h e l en g t h o f ab s t r ac t s an d p a r ag r ap h i n g w asm a d e ( s ee T ab l e 1 ). T h es e d a t a a r e u s e f u l to ev a l u a t e t h e d eg r ee o f co n d en s i n g i n f o r m a t i o n o far t ic les in abs t r ac t s .

M o s t G e r m an ab s t r ac t s ( 1 3 o f 2 0 ) an d t h e i r E n g l i s h N N S eq u i v a l en t s ( 15 o f 2 0 ) w e r e w r i t teni n o n e p a r ag r ap h ; o n l y 3 o f th e r em a i n i n g G er m an ab s t r ac t s v s 2 N N S E n g l i s h co n t a i n ed 2p a r ag r ap h s an d 4 v s 3 w e r e w r i t t en i n m o r e t h an 2 p a r ag r ap h s w h i ch d i d n o t i n d i ca t e " m o v e"d e v e l o p m e n t .T h e l e n gt h o f t h e r e s ea r c h p a p e r s ra n g e s f r o m a m i n i m u m o f 1 6 s e n te n c e s t o a m a x i m u m o f2 51 s en t en ces ; t h e n u m b er o f s en t en ces i n t h e ab s t r ac t s f r o m 3 t o 1 1 . A s can b e s een f r o m T ab l e1 t h e r e i s n o co r r e l a t i o n b e t w een t h e o v e r a l l l en g t h o f t h e a r t ic l e an d t h e l en g th o f ab s t rac t s . T h ed eg r ee o f co n d en s i n g i n f o r m a t i o n an d s e l ec t i n g i t em s f o r t h e ab s t r ac t d ep en d s l a r g e l y o n t h e


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A b s t r a ct s i n G e r m a n m e d i c a l jo u r n a l s

T a b le 2 . N u m b e r a n d p e r c e n ta g e o f s e n t e n c e s p e r m o v eM o v e S G S E P G P ES t a t e m e n t / b a c k g r o u n d 3 9 4 4 3 1 . 9 3 3 . 1Purp ose 11 12 9 .0 9 .1C o r p u s / m e t h o d s 1 5 1 7 1 2 .3 1 2 .8R e s u l t s 3 4 3 6 2 7 . 9 2 7 .1C on c l us i o ns 19 19 15 .6 14 .2C a se p re se n t a t i on 4 5 3 .3 3 .7T ot a l nu mb e r 122 133 100 .0 100 .0o f s e n t e n c e sS , s e n t e n c e ; P , p e r c e n t a g e ; G , G e r m a n ; E , E n g l i s h .

7 7 3

au t h o r, h i s / h e r s u m m ar i z i n g an d tex t co m p o s i t i o n s k i ll s . T h e n u m b er o f w o r d s i n t h e G er m anab s t r ac t s w as m i n i m u m 4 8 an d m ax i m u m 1 9 9 v s 7 3 an d 1 9 7 i n t h e N N S E n g l i s h eq u i v a l en t s .T h o u g h 1 2 o f t h e 2 0 ab s t r ac ts w e r e t r an s l a t ed i n t o E n g l is h , t h e r e a r e v a r i a t i o n s i n t h e n u m b ero f p a r ag r ap h s , s en t en ces an d w o r d s b e t w een t h e G er m an t ex t s an d t h e i r G N N S eq u i v a l en t s . S i xab s t r ac t s w e r e p a r t l y t r an s l a t ed an d o n l y t h r ee w er e o b v i o u s l y w r i t t en w i t h o u t r e f e r r i n g t o t h eG e r m a n ab s t rac t . T h e m ean n u m b er o f w o r d s / s en t en ce s w as 1 8.9 in th e G e r m a n an d 1 8 .7 i n t h eN N S E n g l i s h ab s t r ac t s w h i ch i s l e ss th an w as f o u n d b y T i b b o ( 1 9 9 2 ) f o r N S ab s t r ac t s i nch em i s t r y ( 2 1 w o r d s / s en t en ce ) , p s y ch o l o g y ( 2 5 ) an d h i s t o r y a r t i c l e s ( 2 5 ) . T h i s d i f f e r en ce m ayb e d u e t o d i v e r g en t t y p es o f r e s ea r ch i n th e s o c i a l s c i en ces o n t h e o n e h an d an d t h e n a t u r a ls c i en ces o n t h e o t h e r h an d .

F o l l o w i n g t h e S w a l e s i an co n cep t i o n o f " m o v e " , S a l ag e r - M ey e r ( 1 9 9 0, 1 9 92 ) i n v es t i g a ted 7 7ab s t r ac ts o f v a r i o u s t y p e s o f m ed i ca l r e s ea r ch . A p p l y i n g f o r m a l , s t r u c t u ra l an d l i n g ui s t ic a s p ec t s ,s h e e s t ab l i s h ed t h e m o v es : S t a t em en t ( o r b ack g r o u n d i n f o r m a t i o n ) ; P u r p o s e ; C o r p u s /M e t h o d s ( o r p r o ced u r e ) ; R es u l t s ( o r f i n d i n g s ) ; C o n c l u s i o n s ; S u g g es t i o n s , R eco m m en d a t i o n san d D a t a S y n t h es i s f o r r ev i ew a r t i c l e s ; C as e p r e s en t a t i o n f o r ca s e r ep o r t s . T h e p r e s en t a t i o n o ft h e s e m o v es i n t h e s t u d i ed G er m an co r p u s i s s h o w n i n T ab l e 2 :

I n t e r e s ti n g l y , n o n e o f th e ab s t r ac t s i n th e co r p u s w as a " s t r u c t u r ed ab s t r ac t " a s p r o p o s ed b yth e A d H o c W o r k i n g G r o u p f o r t he C r i t i c a l A p p r a i s a l o f th e M ed i ca l L i t e r a t u re ( 1 9 8 7 ). T h e r ew er e 3 i n d i ca t i v e ab s t r ac t s in t h e co r p u s , 1 0 i n f o r m a t i v e ab s t r ac t s an d 7 o f a m i x ed n a t u r e .

T h e r ep r e s en t a t i o n an d a r r an g em en t s o f m o v es v a r i e s acco r d i n g t o t h e au t h o r ' s i n t en ti o n an dt h e t o p i c d i s cu s s ed . M o v es a r e o n l y p a r t l y s ig n a l l ed b y l i n g u i st i c m ean s an d a r e o f t en co m b i n edi n o n e co m p l ex s en t en ce . T h o u g h s o m e ab s t r ac t s a r e d i v i d ed i n t o p a r ag r ap h s , t h e s e d o n e i t h e rr ep r e s en t t h e s t r u c t u r e o f t h e r e f e ren ce t ex t n o r i n d i ca t e m o v e p r o g r e s s i o n .

A s can b e s een f r o m T ab l e 2, t h e m o v e " P u r p o s e o f t h e s t u d y " o ccu r s l e a s t f r eq u en t l y inG e r m a n ab s t r ac t s an d t h e i r E n g l i s h eq u i v a l en t s. T h i s m o v e i s o f t en r ep l aced b y a r e l a t iv e l y l o n g" S t a t em en t o f t h e p r o b l em a r ea" ( an o p t i o n a l m o v e i n E n g l i s h N S ab s t r ac t s acco r d i n g t oS a l ag e r - M ey e r , 1 9 9 0 ) o r b ack g r o u n d i n f o r m a t i o n . T h i s i s t ru e f o r ab s t r ac t s o f r ev i ew a r t i c l e s b u ta l s o f o r s o m e ab s t r ac t s o f ex p e r i m en t a l r e s ea r ch . A b s t r ac t s o f ca s e r ep o r t s u s e a f i n a l b r i d g es en t en ce t o i n d ica t e " P u r p o s e" an d " C as e p r e s en t a t i o n " . T h i s r e s em b l e s t h e i n tr o d u c t o r y s ec t io no f r e s ea rch a r t i c l e s ( c f. E x am p l es 1 an d 2 ) . T h e s am p l e t ex t s a r e th e N N S E n g l i s h eq u i v a l en t sa s t h ey ap p ea r ed i n th e G er m an m ed i ca l j o u r n a l s .E X A M P L E 1 D u r i n g ch i l d h o o d th e t o rs i o n o f t h e t e s t i c le is t h e m o s t co m m o n cau s e o f acu t e

s c r o t a l p a in . M o r eo v e r i t i s th e m o s t s ev e r e acu t e a f f ec t i o n o f t h e s c r o t a l o r g an san d r eq u i r e s a r ap id d i ag n o s t i c p r o cee d i n g an d t h e r ap eu t i c i n t e r v en t io n . A s t u d yw as ca r r i ed o u t in 1 4 6 ch i ld r en w i t h s u r g e r y b ec au s e o f a t o rs i o n o f t h e t e s ti c le .T h e p r aeo p e r a t i v e d i ag n o s t ic f i nd i n g s o f th i s a r e r ep o r t ed . T h e r e s u l ts s h o w edt h a t D o p p l e r - s o n o g r ap h y w as t h e m o s t s en s i t i v e d i ag n o s t i c p a r am e t e r t or eco g n i ze a t o r s i o n o f t he t e s t ic l e . T h i s r ev i ew s u m m a r i ze s cu r r en t k n o w l ed g e o ft h e d i ag n o s t i c an d t h e r ap eu t i c m a n ag em en t o f t h e acu t e s c r o t a l a f f ec t io n d u r i n gch i l d h o o d . T W Pddia tr ie (1989) 2 , p . 275

E X A M P L E 2 : B a l l o o n d i l a t a t io n o f acq u i r ed s t en o s es o f ao r ta an d l a r g e a r te r i e s is a w i d e l yu s ed p r o ced u r e . I n ca s e o f co n g en i t a l m a l f o r m a t i o n s s u ch a s co a r c t a t io n ,


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774 lnes-A. Busch-Lauerh o w e v e r , t h i s m e t h o d i s n o t r e c o m m e n d e d a s t h e r a p y o f f i r s t c h o i c e T h ef r e q u e n t l y m a r k e d d e g e n e r a t i v e w a l l l e s i o n s o f s u c h c a s e s m a y b e r e s p o n s i b l ef o r s u b s e q u e n t a n e u r y s m f o r m a t i o n . T h i s c o m p l i c a t i o n h a s b e e n r e p o r t e d i n10- -40% of ca ses t r ea ted by ca the te r d i la ta t ion A la te r cor rec t ion o f ana n e u r y s m b y s u r g e r y i s m u c h r i s k ie r t h a n p r i m a r y o p e r a t i o n o f a c o a r c ta t i o n . Ac a s e r e p o r t o f a 2 8 - y e a r - o l d - w o m a n w i t h a f a l s e a n e u r y s m f o l l o w i n g c a t h e t e rd i l a t a ti o n o f a c o a r c t a t i o n i s p r e s e n t e d . VAS A (1990) 19 (1), p. 78

I n c o n t r a s t t o th e G e r m a n " i n t r o d u c t o r y " a b s t r a c ts , N S a b s t r a c t s a n d a r t ic l e s o f t e n s t a r t w i t ha t o p i c s e n t e n c e p o i n t i n g t o t h e "Pu r p o s e " a n d "M e t h o d o l o g y " a p p l i e d . Co n s e q u e n t l y , t h eE n g l i s h N S ' r e a d i n g e x p e c t a t i o n i s d i f f e r e n t s o t h a t t h e N N S t e x t a t l e a s t a p p e a r s t o b e" s o m e w h a t s t r a n g e " . O f t e n i t i s e v e n t h e f i rs t s e n t e n c e w h i c h i s d e c i s i v e f o r th e r e a d e r t oc o n t i n u e o r s t o p r e a d i n g .

T h e " m o v e s " M e t h o d s ( o r p r o c e d u r e ) a n d " R e s u l t s " f r e q u e n t l y o c c u r i n c o m b i n e d f o r m i ne x p e r i m e n t a l r e s e a r c h ( c f . E x a m p l e 3 ) :E X A M PL E 3 : . . . I t i s e s p e c i a l l y t h e in - s i t u -b y p a s s p r o c e d u r e w h i c h h a s o p e n e d t h e p a t h to

n e w a n a s t o m o t i c s i t e s a t t h e l e v e l o f t h e f o o t. O u r o w n e x p e r i e n c e w i t h 8 6b y p a s s p r o c e d u r e s i n 8 4 p a t i e n t s h a s g i v e n u s a n e a r l y p a t e n c y r a t e o f 8 2 % i nn o n d i a b et i c a r te r ia l o c c l u si o n s a n d o f 8 0 % i n d i a b e t i c s . . . VAS A (1990) 19 (1),p. 53

T h e s e m o v e s c a n b e c h a r a c t e r i z e d a s a c h r o n o l o g i c a l d e s c r i p ti o n o f r e s e a r c h e r s t o o b t a i n d a taa n d r e te l l th e m t o th e a u d i e n c e . Pa s s i v e v o i c e a n d p a s t te n s e d o m i n a t e i n t h e s e m o v e s i n G e r m a na b s t r a c ts . Su r p r i s in g l y , p a s s i v e v o i c e w a s s o m e t i m e s t r a n s f e rr e d i n t o a c t i v e p r e s e n t p e r f e c t ( 12c a s e s i n t h e o v e r a l l c o r p u s ) a n d u s i n g f i r st p e r s o n p l u r a l ' w e ' i n th e E n g l i s h e q u i v a l e n t t e x t . T h em o v e "Co n c l u s i o n s " i s e x p l i c i t l y a n n o u n c e d i n 8 a b s t r a c t s , 9 a b s t r a c t s i n d i c a t e a v a g u ec o n c l u s i o n a n d 3 o m i t i t ; i n s t e a d r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s a r e g i v e n .

Fu r t h e r m o r e q u i t e a l o t o f l e x i c a l h e d g i n g c o u l d b e o b s e r v e d i n t h e G e r m a n a b s t r a c t s , e. g . . . i s t w a h r s c h e i n l i c h a l s . . , z u i n t e rp r e t ie r e n

( is p r o b a b l y t o b e d is c u s s e d a s . . . ) . . e s i s t w a h r s c h e i n l i c h , d a b . .

( it is l i k e l y / p o s s i b l e / p r o b a b l e t h a t . . . ) . .Sp ~ i t r e s u l t a t e s p r e c h e n e h e r f i i r . . .

( fi n a l d a ta r a t h e r p o i n t t o t h e p o s s i b i l i ty o f . . . . . i n b e z u g a u f . . , s i n d d i e E r g e b n i s s e m i t e i n e r g e w i s s e n E in s c h r~ i n ku n g a u f z u n e h m e n

( t h e s e re s u l ts s h o u l d b e r e g a r d e d w i t h d u e c a u t i o n ) . . o b w o h l . . . e rh O ht i s t, s c h e i n t . . , n i c h t b e t r o f f e n z u s e in

( t h o u g h . . . i n c re a s e d . . . . d o e s n o t s e e m t o b e in v o l v e d ). . . d i e V e r ~ n d er u n g , w a h r s c h e i n l i c h a u s g e l r s t d u t c h . . . . d i Jr ft e e i n K o - Fa k t o r i n d e r

P a t ho g e n es e v o n . . , s ei n( th i s c h a n g e p r o b a b l y d u e t o . . . . m i g h t b e a c o - f a c t o r i n t h e p a t h o g e n e s is o f . . . )T h e f r e q u e n t h e d g i n g i n th e f i n a l m o v e o f a b s t r a c ts i s in c o r r e s p o n d e n c e w i t h N S a r t ic l e s a n d

abs t r ac ts a s The Lancet (1992) s ta te s : "I t s e e m s t h a t m o s t c o n t r i b u t o r s t o m e d i c a l j o u r n a l s f i ndi t e x t r e m e l y d i ff i c ul t t o b e c e r t a in w h i c h o f th e i r c o n c l u s i o n s h a v e b e e n p r o v e n a n d w h i c h n o t ,o r s o o n e m u s t a s s u m e . So i t is n o t s u r p ri s i n g t h at t h e y o f t e n s ti c k to h e d g e s - - w o r d s o r p h r a s e su s e d t o d e n o t e l a c k o f a s s e r t i v e n e s s . "

H e d g e s a r e n o t n e c e s s a r i l y a d i s a d v a n t a g e o r e v e n a m i s t a k e . T h e y a l l o w t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n o fn e w s c i e n ti f ic d a t a a n d c o n c l u s i o n s i n a m a n n e r t h a t i s t e n t a t iv e a n d y e t u n d e r s t a t e d . H o w e v e r ,t h e r e m a y b e c u l t u r a l d i f f i c u l t i e s w i t h h e d g i n g f a c i n g t h o s e f o r w h o m E n g l i s h i s a s e c o n dl a n g u a g e , e .g . i n c a s e t h e y o v e r d o o r d i s r e g a r d i t.

Co n s i d e r i n g t h e c o h e s i v e d e v i c e s ( l i n k i n g w o r d s ) i n t h e c o r p u s , w e c a n s t a t e t h a t a u t h o r sq u i t e o f t e n u s e l i n k e r s o f a d v e r s a t i v e c h a r a c t e r (dennoch, jedoch--ho weve r , wi ihrend,wohingegen--whereas); c o n c e s s i v e l i n k e r s (obwohl, allerdings--although, as), c o n s e c u t i v el inke r s (so, folg lich --so that, therefore) a n d a d d i t i v e s (an d, furthermore, in addition) w h i c hs e e m s t o o p p o s e t h e f i n d i n g s p r e s e n t e d b y Sa l a g e r - M e y e r ( 1 9 9 2 , p . 1 1 9) .


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Abstracts in German medical ournalsTable 3. Commonverbs in the medical English corpus

775

GERMANuntersuchen, durchfiihren, darstellen, zeigen/aufzeigen, beobachten, feststellen, sein, haben, teilnehmen, betragen,ergeben, liefern, nachweisen, diskutieren, ableiten, ergeben, erkennen, interpretierenENGLISHto study, to discuss, to consider, to perform, to obtain, to observe, to prefer, to investigate, to present, to show, to reveal,to be, to have

German abstracts often use complex sentence structures and enumerating sentences whereasNS English abstracts use plain and shorter sentences (Salager-Meyer, 1990, 1992). The preferredtense forms of the verbs in the German corpus were past tense and present perfect to describebackground information and present tense to indicate ongoing research. Passive voice wasfrequently applied to avoid author's perspective.

The range of verbs used in the German abstracts and their English equivalents is restrictedwhich may have positive implications on teaching abstracting in medicine. Common verbsfound in the corpus are listed in Table 3:

Comparing this list with the study of Fluck (1988, p. 33) on abstracts in economics, linguisticsand metallurgy reveals subject-specific differences in the preference of verbs in experimentalscience and technical subjects.

A content analysis of the original German articles and their German abstracts indicates thatthe abstracts in most cases do not follow the structure and the argumentation of the article whichalso contributes to faulty linguistic expression in L2 abstracts. A comparison between theGerman abstracts and their English equivalents indicates that authors largely rely on their owntranslation skills that often results in a transfer of German academic thought patterns intoEnglish but also produces "bad" and "artificial" English, sometimes even conveying wrongpieces of information. Consequently, erroneous translations will certainly not be studied in moredetail or misunderstood by the NS of English.

CONCLUSIONS AND PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

The preliminary study presented here produced several findings. First, German medicalabstracts and their English equivalents do not necessarily follow the guidelines for manuscriptsin the ISO standard nor do they follow the structure and argumentation of the original article.The presentation and arrangement of moves is regulated by author's intentions and summarizingskills. The compulsory "moves" established by Salager-Meyer (1990, 1992) for NS medicalabstracts could not be identified in all abstracts of the corpus. In contrast to NS medicalabstracts, the studied material puts emphasis on "'background information" but largely omits"purpose and scope" as well as "conclusions". Second, the analysis indicates that the equivalentNNS English abstracts are translations or were partly translated by the authors themselves andnot revised. Structural inadequacies already present in the German abstracts are transferred intoL2. In addition faulty translation occurs which may influence readability for the English-speaking community. As a consequence profound research done by German scientists maysuffer persuasiveness because o f linguistic incompetence, illogical structuring, lexical hedgingsand vague conclusions. Third, though this study was of limited scope and could only revealpreliminary results, it clearly demonstrates that it is vital to introduce and to train abstracting inL2 in ESP course programmes to enable NNS scientists and medical staff to communicateeffectively. Special emphasis should be put on macrostructure and 'structured abstracts'according to the Ad Hoc Working Group (1987). To overcome the present situation it also seemsto be necessary to introduce the genre abstract into the training of technical translators becausemany journals require both an L1 and L2 abstract.


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7 7 6 I n e s- A . B u s c h - L a u e r

R E F E R E N C E S

A d H o c W o r k i n g G r o u p f o r C r i t ic a l A p p r a i s a l o f th e M e d i c a l L i t e r a t u r e ( 1 9 8 7 ). A p r o p o s a l f o r m o r e i n f o r m a t i v ea b s t r a c t s o f c l i n i c a l a r t i c le s . Annals o f Internal Medicine, 106 , 5 9 8 - 6 0 4 .ANSI. American National Standard of Writing Abstracts ( 1 9 7 1 ) . N e w Y o r k : A m e r i c a n N a t i o n a l S t a n d a r d I n s t i t u t e .d e B e a u g r a n d e , R . , & D r e s s i e r, W . ( 1 9 8 1 ) . Introduction to text linguistics. L o n d o n : L o n g m a n .C l y n e , M . ( 1 9 8 7 ) . C u l t u r a l d i f f e r e n c e s i n t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n o f a c a d e m i c t e x t s . E n g l i s h a n d G e r m a n . Journal ofPragmatics, 1 1 . 2 1 1 - 2 4 7 .C l y n e , M . ( 1 9 9 1 ) . T h e s o c i o c u l t u r a l d i m e n s i o n - - t h e d i l e m m a o f t h e G e r m a n - s p e a k i n g s c h o l a r . I n H . S c h r 0 d e r ( E d . ) ,Subject-oriented texts. Languages for special purposes and text theory ( p p . 4 9 - 6 7 ) . B e r l i n : d e G r u y te r .C o n n o r , U . , & K a p l a n R . B . ( 1 9 8 6 ) . Writing across languages: Analysis of L2 text. R e a d i n g , M a s s .: A d d i s o n - W e s l e y .F l u c k , H . - R . ( 1 9 8 8 ) . Z u r A n a l y s e u n d V e r m i t t l u n g d e r T e x t s o r te ' A b s t r a c t ' . I n C . G n u t z m a n n ( E d . ) , FachbezogenerFremdsprachenunterricht ( p p . 6 7 - 9 0 ) . F F F 6 . T i i b i n g e n : G u n t e r N a r r .F l u c k , H . - R . ( 1 9 8 9 ) . V e r g l e i c h e n d e A n a l y s e d e u t s c h s p r a c h i g e r A b s t r a c t s i n w i s s e n s c h a f t l i c h e n Z e i t s c h r if t e n . In C h .L a u r 6 n & M . N o r d m a n ( E d . ) , Special languages, from hu ma n thinkin g to thinking m achines ( p p . 2 9 1 - 3 0 7 ) .

P h i l a d e l p h i a : C l e v e d o n .G a i t u n g , J . ( 1 9 8 3 ) . S t r u k t u r , K u l t u r u n d i n t e l l e k t u e l l e r S t i l . E i n v e r g l e i c h e n d e r E s s a y i i b e r s a c h s o n i s c h e , t e u t o n i s c h e ,g a l l i s c h e u n d n i p p o n i s c h e W i s s e n s c h a f t . Leviathan, 2, 3 0 3 - 3 3 8 .G l ~ e r , R . ( 1 9 9 0 ). Fachtextsorten im Englischen. FFF 1 3 . T i i b i n g e n : G u n t e r N a rr .G n u t z m a n n , C . ( 1 9 8 8 ) . A u f s a t z t i t e l i n e n g l i s c h s p r a c h i g e n F a c h z e i t s c h r i f t e n . L i n g u i s t i s c h e S t r u k t u r e n u n d k o m m u n i k a -t i v e F u n k t i o n e n . I n C . G n u t z m a n n ( E d . ) , Fachbezogener Fremdsprachenunterricht ( p p . 2 3 - 3 8 ) . F F F 6 , T i i b i n g e n :G u n t e r N a r r .G n u t z m a n n , C . ( 1 9 9 1 ) . ' A b s t r a c t s ' u n d ' Z u s a m m e n f a s s u n g e n ' i m d e u t s c h - e n g l i s c h e n V e r g l e i c h : D a s P a s s i v a l si n t e r k u l t u r e l le s u n d t e i l t e x t d i f f e r e n z i e r e n d e s S i g n a l . I n B . - D . M i i l l e r ( E d . ) , Interkulturelle Wirtschaftskommunikation( p p . 3 6 3 - 3 7 8 ) . M / i n c h e n : l u d i c i u m .G n u t z m a n n , C . , & L a n g e , R . ( 1 9 9 0 ) . K o n t r a s t i v e T e x t l i n g u i s t ik u n d F a c h s p r a c h e n a n a l y s e . I n C . G n u t z m a n n ( E d . ),Kontrastive Linguistik ( p p . 8 5 - 1 1 6 ) . F r a n k f u rt a m M a i n : L a n g .I c k i e r, T h . ( 1 9 9 3 ) . Z u r T e x t g a t t u n g ' A b s t r a c t ' . Fachsprache. LSP Journal, 1-2, 4 4 - 5 3 .I S O 2 1 4 - 1 9 7 6 ( E ) ( i 9 7 6 ) . International Organization for Standardization: Documentation: Abstracts for publicationand docum entation. G e n f .K a p l a n , R . B . ( 1 9 6 6 ) . C u l t u r a l t h o u g h t p a t t e r n s i n i n t e r c u lt u r a l e d u c a t i o n . Language Learning, 16, 1 - 2 0K r e t z e n b a c h e r , H . L . ( 1 9 9 0 ) . Rekapitulation. Textstrategien der Zusammenfassung von wissenschaftlichen Fachtexten.T i i b i n g e n : G u n t e r N a r r.The Lancet ( 1 9 9 2 ) . E d i t o r i a l . T r i m m i n g h e d g e s . Lancet, 340, 1 A u g u s t , 2 7 5 .M a u r a n e n , A . ( 1 9 9 3 ) . Cultural differences in academic rhetoric. A textlinguistic study. F r a n k f u r t a m M a i n : L a n g.

O l d e n b u r g , H . ( 1 9 9 2 ) . Angewandte Fachtextlinguistik: 'Conclusions' und Zusammenfassungen. F F F 1 7 . T i i b i n g e n :G u n t e r N a r r .R u g e , M . ( 1 9 9 2 ) . A b s t r a c t s a u s Z e i t s c h r i f t e n u n d R e f e r a t e o r g a n e n d e r M a t h e m a t i k , P h y s i k a n d C h e m i e . I n R . G l ~ i s e r(Ed.), Aktuelle Probleme der anglistischen Fachtextanalyse ( p p . 5 9 - 6 8 ) . L F S 5 . F r a n k fu r t a m M a i n : L a n g .S a l a g e r o M e y e r , E ( 1 9 9 0 ) . D i s c o u r s a l m o v e m e n t s i n m e d i c a l E n g l i s h a b s t r a c t s a n d t h e i r l i n g u i s t i c e x p o n e n t s : A g e n r ea n a l y s i s s t u d y . INTERFA CE. Journal of Applied Linguistics, 4.2, 1 0 7 - 1 2 4 .S a l a g e r - M e y e r , F . ( 1 9 9 2 ) . A t e x t - t y p e a n d m o v e a n a l y s i s s t u d y o f v e r b t e n s e a n d m o d a l i t y d i s t r i b u t i o n i n m e d i c a lE n g l i s h a b s t r a c t s . English for Specific P urposes, 1 1 ( 2 ) , 9 3 - 1 1 3 .S t a h e l i , L . T . ( 1 9 8 6 ) . Speaking and writing for the physician. N e w Y o r k : R a v e n P r e s s .S w a l e s , J . ( 1 9 8 7 ) . U t i l i z i n g t h e l i te r a t u r e i n t e a c h i n g t h e r e s e a r c h p a p e r . TESOL Quarterly, 21(1), 4 1 - 6 8 .S w a l e s , J . ( 1 9 9 0 ) . Genre analysis. English in academic and research settings. C a m b r i d g e : C U P .T i b b o , H . ( 1 9 9 2 ) . A b s t r a c t i n g a c r o s s t h e d i s c i p l i n e s : A c o n t e n t a n a l y s i s o f a b s t r a c ts f r o m t h e n a t u r a l s c i e n c e s , t h e s o c ia ls c i e n c e s , a n d t h e h u m a n i t i e s w i t h i m p l i c a t i o n s f o r a b s t r a c t i n g s t a n d a r d s a n d o n l i n e i n f o r m a t i o n r e t r i e v a l . LISR, 14,3 1 - 5 6 .Va n D i jk , T . A . ( 1 9 7 7 ) . Te xt and context: Explorations in the semantics and pragmatics of discourse. L o n d o n :L o n g m a n .Va n D i jk , T . A . ( 1 9 8 0 ) . Ma crostructures: An interdisciplinary study o f global structures in discourse interaction, andcognition. H i l l s d a l e , N . J .: E r l b a u m .

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