EVALUATIVE MEANS IN ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IN THE FRAMWORK OF ACADEMIC DISCOURSE

Abstract

. Aim. To analyze the structure and content, as well as genre characteristics of acknowledgements as a part of English academic discourse and to reveal the functions of evaluative means in acknowledgements. Methodology. The research is based on traditional semantic analysis as well as studying the potential of digital tools aimed at identifying the sentiment of the text. The research uses axi-ological approach towards academic discourse. Results. The research has revealed that evaluative means serve as a genre specific element of authors’ acknowledgements. Authors use evaluative means to express their gratitude to the addressees of the acknowledgements, and appreciation of their contribution to the research. Theoretical and Practical implications. The research expands the vistas of discourse analysis through implementing digital tools to identify the sentiment of acknowledgements as a genre of academic discourse. The research results can be relevant for applied linguistics purposes: when doing a pre-translation or post-translation analyses of acknowledgements. Moreover, the research has revealed specific features of acknowledgements that may be taken into considera-tion when writing acknowledgements.