Personal Pronouns in Academic Writing

person-to-person Pronouns in Academic WritingIntroductionThis paper analyze on the works of previous studies regarding the habit of ad hominem pronouns in research articles (RA). The review will look at the usage of individualised pronouns in indite corpora in different aspects depression looking at the drug ab ingestion of ad hominem pronouns as a whole in the world of faculty member committal to theme and the differences in usage of face-to-face pronouns among the native speakers of face and of those who uses English as a second language.In recent psychoanalyze, thither has been an interest in investigating voice-related issues in the employment of student writing (Zhao Llosa, 2008). McCrostie (n.d.) produces on the deficiency of research done to investigate the use of voice in non-native donnish writing and fewer still, had been done on the studies below advanced level. sexual activity has as well as been mentioned as an atomic number 18a of study that has sl owly take uped management in the study of second language research. Though this had been said, sexual urge receives lack attention in the study of parley though many have claim of its importance as a mean and goal of language instruction. Thus, base on the issues above, the objective of this study is to investigate the usage of in the flesh(predicate) pronouns by masculine and feminine Malayan donnish writers.According to Nordquist (2010), individualised pronouns atomic number 18 defined as nouns that are used to substitute the person or people who are talked about.Literature Review in the flesh(predicate) pronounsThere has been across-the-board research on various features of academic writing and one of frequently looked at feature is the usage of face-to-face pronouns in academic writing. utilise personal pronouns in academic writing has been related to writers voice and the writers put in the academic world. Hyland (2001) separates that the use of impersonality has been proposed by manuals and textbooks as means of demonstrating bookish persuasion and allowing writers to speak to readers in an unmediated approach (as cited in Martin, n.d). The usage of personal pronouns in scientific writing sees a development from tralatitious notion towards recognition of this limited writing style. Martin further comments that writers choice is announcing their armorial bearing in the academic field is viewed as a strategy that is increasingly used by writers of the international English speaking community in promoting and gaining accreditation on their claims in research. This is in any case supported by Cherry (1998) claiming on the importance of self-representation in academic discourse and Groom (1993) in his depth psychology of academic writing indicates the importance of writers textual voice and states that writers should clearly state when they are reporting the voice of an author or stating their own expressions and personal point of views (as cited in Martin, n.d.)Kuo (1999) investigated the use of personal pronouns in scientific journal articles and discusses on how writers are able to reveal on their own apprehension of their position in the academic field as well as other readers. Kuo further comments on how knowledge presented in article journals with the use of personal pronouns poses a great value towards writers as it allows writers to share personal contributions and seek solidarity with readers as well as others involved in the grumpy discipline. Hyland (2001) as cited in Martin (n.d.) supports this notion in his research articles across ogdoad different disciplines on the attributions of personal pronouns, reporting a high symmetricalness in the usage of personal pronouns in social sciences and humanities. Hyland concluded in his study that the usage of personal pronouns in scientific texts seems to be a valuable rhetorical strategy which allows writers to construct academic credibility and gain a cert ain degree of confidence and authority (as cited in Martin, n.d.). tang stern (1999) in Martin (n.d.) excessively mentions the importance on the usage of personal pronouns however suggests that two teachers and students should be aware on the real heraldic bearing of how personal pronouns are used differently and other alternatives that can be opted towards the traditional method in claiming academic position and authority.The Use of personal Pronouns among Non-native SpeakersMartinez (2005) states on how using personal pronouns are not problematic for native, even so may pose as one on non-native speakers of English. Hyland (2000) conducted a study and revealed that non-native speakers uses personal pronouns in non-controversial contributions however avoid them when stating expressions, argumentations or opinions (as cited in Martinez, 2005). In a study conducted by Petch-Tyson (1998 in Martinez, 20005), it was found that non-native speakers use personal pronouns at a rate o f two to four times much than native speakers thencely concluded that learners overused first and second personal pronouns in their writing. A different study done by Tang and John (1999) on 27 Singaporean university students showed the relative relative frequency of personal pronoun usage where first person pronoun occurred 92 times in all 27 essays which indicates a standardized role to Hyland (1999, 2000) and Harwood (2005 as cited in Martinez, 2005).Chang and Swales (1999) had also published a study concerning the attitudes of 37 non-native speaker graduate students studying at English universities regarding the use of personal pronouns in academic writing. From the study, it was found that regardless of their growth in the language, the students felt uncomfortable in using personal pronouns in academic writing. These graduate students believe that the use of personal pronouns is much to a greater extent suitable to be used by senior scholars and states that using them mak es academic writing much challenging. It was also found that these students rarely uses personal pronouns when enceinte opinions or stating the origin of a new idea (Chang and Swales, 1999 as cited in McCrostie, n.d.). McCrostie further commented that regardless of amount of studies focaliseed on published writings, few studies had been done on unpublished writing of non-native speakers thus suggesting that there is a need to have more studies to compare unpublished writings among both native and non-native speakers which can also contribute knowledge to the study.Gender and private PronounsAs mentioned previously, very few researches have been conducted in the area of discourse with gender functions as a variable. Past researches focused on linguistic differences amidst gender and its role in the studies related to informal writing, quarrel and electronic messaging (Yazdani Samar, 2010). Yazdani and Samar (2010) further stated that gender as an potent tool in writing has n ot given much focus on its impact or role in the methodology of teach writing thus, needs to cater to the arising issues academically. A study done by Yazdani and Samar (2010) on Iran writers revealed that female writers use more personal pronouns compared to males. A study conducted by Armagon et al. (n.d.) also revealed similar escortings in their research.MethodologyThis study adopts a quantitative approach. 10 articles were randomly selected where there is equal distribution among gender (5 males and 5 females). The articles were selected from GEMA Online diary (Jurnal Pendidikan), the Malaysian daybook of ELT research (MELTA) and The Open employ Linguistics Journal. All research articles are from the Social Sciences field. The articles were then canvass via Lex Tutor. The limitation to this study includes no control over the writers race thus the variable is not used as a factor in the study. Secondly, the authorship of research articles varies where several articles are written by superstar writers and few collaborative writers in single articles. Third, the research articles vary in terms of length resulting in imbalanced amount of words and personal pronouns that could be mended by it. Finally, the approaches regarding to the research articles were not taken into consideration. a couple of(prenominal) research articles were found to have a qualitative approach thus relying heavily on interviews or written transcripts thus may affect the outcome of the study.Findings and DiscussionThe findings obtained from the analysis are presented as followingResearch articles written by Malaysian males in frequencyArticlesPersonal Pronouns quaintPersonal Pronouns Plural1stsecond tertiary1stsecond3rd staminate 1 (21) it (19) they (2) themMale 2 (13) I (1) me (5) you (44) he (16) him (2) her (3) us (31) we (16) they (6) themMale 3 (26) I (1) you (95) he (15) him (31) it (3) her (7) we (2) us (24) they (11) themMale 4 (4) I (3) she (1) he (1) her (1) him ( 13) they (11) themMale 5 (41) I (2) me (1) she (10) we (19) they (7) them contribute87623453128Total Personal Pronouns unique(p) (327), Personal Pronouns Plural (181)According to the table above, it is found that Malaysian male writers uses more singular personal pronouns compared to plural personal pronouns. ground on results, it is also found that Malaysian academic male writers use more 3rd personal pronouns for both singular and plural categories however the highest frequency among personal pronouns used are 3rd singular personal pronouns with a frequency of 234.Among the personal pronouns used frequently by Malaysian male writersHeHE is very selective towards whom HE directs the venom. (male 2, 2002)In terms of second-rate score, HE is the second highest (male 3, pg. 12)Itand the enormous opportunity IT presents to higher education (male 1, pg. 4) move in a particular task and how IT will improve their variant skills. (male 3, pg. 2)Himdone bad thing to HIM and this made HIM feel bad (male 2, pg. 10)this particular strategy to help HIM comprehend what he is schooling. (male 3, pg. 13)TheyWhen these students enter university, THEY expect the withdraw feeding (male 1, pg. 1)particularly when THEY proceed to tertiary education. (male 3, pg. 2)information elements did THEY instruct learners to find out (male 5, pg. 1)Them, thus prompting THEM to pay more attention to metacognitive reading (male 3, pg. 3)systems of the language that enables THEM to teach effectively. (male 4, pg. 1)Research articles written by Malaysian females in frequencyArticlesPersonal Pronouns SingularPersonal Pronouns Plural1st2nd3rd1st2nd3rdFemale 1(1) he (1) she (3) we (10) they (1) themFemale 2 (16) I (1) me (20) you (2) he (5) her (4) his (3) she (40) it (3) us (15) we (59) they (14) themFemale 3 (2) I (10) they (6) themFemale 4 (3) I* (2) we (24) they (15) themFemale 5 (19) I (2) me (62) you (1) she (14) he (11) her (3) him (5) we (3) us (25) they (6) themTotal40828531170T otal Personal Pronouns Singular (207), Personal Pronouns Plural (201)Based on the table above, Malaysian female academic writers use more plural personal pronouns in writing their research articles. This finding is similar of their male counterparts. The findings also reveal that Malaysian female academic writers use more 3rd plural personal pronouns in academic writing unlike their male counterparts who uses a higher frequency of 3rd singular personal pronouns.Among the personal pronouns used frequently by Malaysian female writersYouWhat assumptions do YOU think administrators make about attire (female 2, pg. 6)If YOU have the of import point (female 5, pg. 8)Theyreal audience for the language task THEY were working on (female 2, pg. 1)THEY can be changed through the learning process such as by using (female 4, 2)THEY generally respond in predictable slipway rather than be critical. (female 5, pg. 4)Thembeing presented with predetermined language structures and then practicing THEM. (female 2, pg. 2)It also requires THEM to state their name in order to enable (female 5, pg. 7)Usage come of Personal Pronouns by males and femalesGenderMaleFemalePersonal Pronouns Singular327207Personal Pronouns Plural181201Total508408Overall, the findings indicate that Malaysian male academic writers use more personal pronouns than Malaysian female academic writers. The findings obtained are not in line with previous research that was done by Yazdani and Samar (2010) in relation to non-native English speakers.Conclusion and RecommendationsThe findings had shed new acumen on the use of personal pronouns among male and female Malaysian academic writers. In conclusion, there is no significant difference between the general use of personal pronouns among male and female writers. Both male and female writers were found to use more singular personal pronouns. However, there is a difference in terms of the personal pronouns used between male and female writers. Male writers we re found to use higher frequency of 3rd singular personal pronouns whereas the female writers were found to use a higher frequency of 3rd plural personal pronouns. The findings have also revealed that male writers use more personal pronouns compared to female writers in the general analysis.However, as mentioned previously, the findings of this study may be affected by factors listed in the limitation section as this study is based on a small scale range. Therefore, the findings obtained in this study are still funny thus several recommendations are proposed for future researches interested in the aforementioned(prenominal) area of study which are (a) to focus on research articles under the same area of study and approach (b) to consider the writers race as a variable and (c) to take into consideration of the length of research articles intend to be used in the study. key of Research Articles Male WritersSubramaniam, G. (2006). Stickability in Online Autonomous Literature read ing Programmes Strategies for Sustaining Learner Interest and Motivation. Malaysian Journal of ELT Research. (2). 80-96.Hazidi, H. A. H. (2002). Similar words, Different Meanings A Natural Semantic Metalanguage Exploration of ethnical Differences. GEMA Online of lyric Studies. (2)1. 1-13.Muhammad Kamarul, K., Chew, J., Abdul Rashid, M. (2006). Metacognitive Reading Strategies of Good Malaysian Chinese Learners. Malaysian Journal of ELT Research. (2). 21-41.Munir, S. (2009). Grammatical Awareness among Primary School English Language Teachers. GEMA Online of Language Studies. 9(1). 35-46.Lim, J. M. H. (2009). Rhetorical Categories and Linguistic Mechanisms in Describing Research Conditions A Comparative Genre-Based probe into Researchers Choices in Education and Applied Linguistics. The Open Applied Linguistics Journal. 2. 67-85.List of Research Articles Female WritersAinol, M. Z. Noor Lide, A. K. (2006). Classical and Rasch Analyses Of Dichotomously Scored Reading Comprehension stress Items. Malaysian Journal of ELT Research. (2). 1-20.Mardziah, H. A. Tan, B. H. (2008). Wired Together Collaborative Problem-Based Language Learning In an Online Forum. Malaysian Journal of ELT Research. (4). 54-71.Nor Shidrah, M. D., Nuraihan, M. D. Noor Lide, A. K. (2005). Second Language Writing apprehension Cause or Effect? Malaysian Journal of ELT Research. 1-19.Siti Norliana, G. (2008). Learner mount and their Attitudes towards Studying Literature. Malaysian Journal of ELT Research. (4). 1-17.Tan, K. E. (2006). Writing English Essays within dominant allele Discourses in Malaysian Schools. GEMA Online of Language Studies. 21. 23-45.