Contrastive Corpus Analysis on the Writing of American and Korean Scientists using Gramulator

Abstract

Non-Native-English-Speaking-Researchers face many challenges when attempting to publish in English-language-journals. One challenge is that non-conventional language selection by Non-Native-English-Speaking-Researchers may appear like the writing of nave native-speakers. Consequently, such work may be more closely scrutinized. In this study, we focus on the linguistic choices that distinguish the academic writing of American and Korean scientists. We employ Contrastive Corpus Analysis, using the Gramulator, to extract indicative n-grams that inform us of variations in writing practices. Our results indicate that Korean scientists (in comparison to their American counterparts) use fewer personal pronouns, more past tense reporting verbs (e.g., examine, demonstrate, show), and greater employment of passive voice. We conclude that our findings may benefit Korean scientists and material developers who seek to better learn and employ the writing style of their American counterparts.