Unlocking the Mysteries of Academic Writing: A Corpus-based Analysis of Lexical Bundles in L2 English for Engineering Students

This study examines the use of lexical bundles in reports produced by university-level L2 English writers in civil and environmental engineering (CEE). The corpus consists of 119 reports, and the study compares the use of different types of lexical bundles (3-word, 4-word, and 5-word) in high-scorin...

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Main Authors: Barbara Wing Yee Siu, Muhammad Afzaal, Hessah Saleh Aldayel, Samantha Curle
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2024-11-01
Series:SAGE Open
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440241299997
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author Barbara Wing Yee Siu
Muhammad Afzaal
Hessah Saleh Aldayel
Samantha Curle
author_facet Barbara Wing Yee Siu
Muhammad Afzaal
Hessah Saleh Aldayel
Samantha Curle
author_sort Barbara Wing Yee Siu
collection DOAJ
description This study examines the use of lexical bundles in reports produced by university-level L2 English writers in civil and environmental engineering (CEE). The corpus consists of 119 reports, and the study compares the use of different types of lexical bundles (3-word, 4-word, and 5-word) in high-scoring and low-scoring papers. The results show that high-scoring papers use a wider range of lexical bundles, and that the use of lexical bundles varies by discipline. The study also identifies specific features of the lexical bundles that contribute to score differences. The findings suggest that teaching lexical bundles and vocabulary can improve the academic writing of engineering students. The paper concludes by calling for further research on the impact of formulaic expressions on attainment scores in L2 writing.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2158-2440
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spelling doaj-art-a887729bd5d242ee9aaf84e6fac321ae2024-11-30T08:03:36ZengSAGE PublishingSAGE Open2158-24402024-11-011410.1177/21582440241299997Unlocking the Mysteries of Academic Writing: A Corpus-based Analysis of Lexical Bundles in L2 English for Engineering StudentsBarbara Wing Yee Siu0Muhammad Afzaal1Hessah Saleh Aldayel2Samantha Curle3 The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hunghom, Kowloon, Hong Kong Shanghai International Studies University, China Kind Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia University of Bath, UKThis study examines the use of lexical bundles in reports produced by university-level L2 English writers in civil and environmental engineering (CEE). The corpus consists of 119 reports, and the study compares the use of different types of lexical bundles (3-word, 4-word, and 5-word) in high-scoring and low-scoring papers. The results show that high-scoring papers use a wider range of lexical bundles, and that the use of lexical bundles varies by discipline. The study also identifies specific features of the lexical bundles that contribute to score differences. The findings suggest that teaching lexical bundles and vocabulary can improve the academic writing of engineering students. The paper concludes by calling for further research on the impact of formulaic expressions on attainment scores in L2 writing.https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440241299997
spellingShingle Barbara Wing Yee Siu
Muhammad Afzaal
Hessah Saleh Aldayel
Samantha Curle
Unlocking the Mysteries of Academic Writing: A Corpus-based Analysis of Lexical Bundles in L2 English for Engineering Students
SAGE Open
title Unlocking the Mysteries of Academic Writing: A Corpus-based Analysis of Lexical Bundles in L2 English for Engineering Students
title_full Unlocking the Mysteries of Academic Writing: A Corpus-based Analysis of Lexical Bundles in L2 English for Engineering Students
title_fullStr Unlocking the Mysteries of Academic Writing: A Corpus-based Analysis of Lexical Bundles in L2 English for Engineering Students
title_full_unstemmed Unlocking the Mysteries of Academic Writing: A Corpus-based Analysis of Lexical Bundles in L2 English for Engineering Students
title_short Unlocking the Mysteries of Academic Writing: A Corpus-based Analysis of Lexical Bundles in L2 English for Engineering Students
title_sort unlocking the mysteries of academic writing a corpus based analysis of lexical bundles in l2 english for engineering students
url https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440241299997
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