Modern Academic Discourse and the Typology of the Тext in Theory and Practice (a Comparative Study of the Abstract Genre)

Abstract

This article discusses the abstract as a typological genre as well as the components that comprise its structure and content. Abstract writing as a discursive act is viewed from two angles: internationally and from within the isolation of national perspectives. Comparing the development of the genre within and beyond a single linguistic culture, the article describes the different approaches to the genre in Western and Russian research. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of such categories as textuality and “cultural markedness” and discusses the main characteristics of the genre in relation to the lingua franca. Through a close reading and comparative analysis of student abstracts, the article examines 1) mistakes occurring in these abstracts in order to make inferences about the typological features of the genre, and 2) specific structural and content components against the backdrop of the lingua franca in order to draw conclusions about the structure of the genre. This analysis reveals discrepancies between the structural components of the text and the transfer of the general meaning of the text as well as textual lacunae in the matrix of the genre of another linguistic culture. It subdivides the genre of specific types of texts according to their structure and content, and also identifies the precedent genre in Russian and English linguistic culture. Furthermore, it argues that an ethnomethodology should include information about the specificity of the genre within contemporary academic discourse. The article recommends further research in the following areas: divergences from norms within the genre; optional components in the typology of the text and national academic discourse; a three-tier model for analyzing the genre in the foreign-language classroom: the language being studied — the native language — the lingua franca.