{"title":"Climate discourses of petroleum corporations in China and the United States: A comparative stakeholder analysis","authors":"Jieyun Feng , Wenze Lu , Ming Liu , Wenqing Yu","doi":"10.1016/j.esp.2025.06.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.esp.2025.06.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Although corporate climate discourse has been extensively studied, research has primarily focused on self-legitimisation and self-promotional strategies. How corporations engage with key stakeholders and balance competing priorities remains underexplored. By integrating stakeholder theory with corporate climate discourse, this study explores how American and Chinese petroleum corporations frame their climate discourses in relation to two key global and national stakeholders: the Paris Agreement and their respective national governments. Using a mixed-methods approach, this study conducts a quantitative thematic analysis of the Paris Agreement and national climate policies, followed by a qualitative thematic analysis of climate discourse from six leading petroleum corporations—Marathon Oil, ExxonMobil, and Chevron (U.S.) and CNPC, Sinopec, and CNOOC (China). Findings indicate that the Paris Agreement prioritises global engagement, development capacity and a formal, obligatory commitment to directives. China's policy discourse presents the government as a central orchestrator, actively guiding national policy within a global framework. Meanwhile, U.S. policy discourse focuses on addressing immediate climate crises and promoting environmental justice while emphasising the roles of various agencies. In response to these two key stakeholders, Chinese corporations align their discourse closely with the Paris Agreement, centring on two themes: ‘transition to sustainable energy management’ and ‘policy-driven climate strategy’. American corporations take a more delicate approach, balancing global commitment with business operations while demonstrating ‘selective policy support and active lobbying’ and ‘advocacy for market-driven carbon pricing’. This study concludes with a discussion of its academic contributions and practical implications for climate regulators, corporate communication students and practitioners.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47809,"journal":{"name":"English for Specific Purposes","volume":"80 ","pages":"Pages 44-59"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144338498","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"When reviewers negate and authors navigate: Negation in peer review comments and author responses","authors":"Yue Yuan , Luda Liu , Feng (Kevin) Jiang","doi":"10.1016/j.esp.2025.05.008","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.esp.2025.05.008","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study explores how negation features in peer review discourse, examining patterns of its occurrence in the rhetorical exchanges between reviewers and authors. Drawing on a corpus of reviewer comments and corresponding author responses from 50 research articles published in the <em>British Medical Journal</em>, we adopt a discourse-informed approach that examines the co-textual environments in which negation appears, rather than attributing interpersonal functions to negation itself. We identify six rhetorical alignments (comparison, addition, refutation, hedging, boosting, and affect) based on how negation co-occurs with discourse features that organise information or express stance. Our findings reveal that while reviewers primarily use negation to deliver critical evaluation and assert authority, authors use it to defend research choices and manage disagreement through hedging and contrast. Exemplar exchanges illustrate how both parties negotiate critique while maintaining collegiality. The study contributes to English for Specific Purposes by addressing a practical need that novice researchers and postgraduate students often struggle to interpret reviewer feedback and write response letters. By examining the rhetorical deployment of negation, we offer insights into the interactional dimensions of peer review and provide pedagogical implications for teaching critique and rebuttal strategies in academic writing instruction.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47809,"journal":{"name":"English for Specific Purposes","volume":"80 ","pages":"Pages 31-43"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144321304","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Academic formulas in TED talks and TED-Ed animations: Insights for academic vocabulary learning","authors":"Chen-Yu Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.esp.2025.05.009","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.esp.2025.05.009","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Knowledge of academic formulas is essential for EAP learners, as these sequences are pervasive and serve key discourse functions in academic contexts. To support academic formula learning, it is crucial to identify resources that provide frequent and diverse encounters with these formulas. This study examines TED talks and TED-Ed animations as potential pedagogical resources by comparing the presence of Academic Formulas List (AFL) items in these discourse types with academic lectures. The results indicate that both TED talks and TED-Ed animations can offer learners opportunities to encounter a wide variety of AFL items, with their diversity comparable to academic lectures. TED talks contain a significantly higher density and variety of AFL items than TED-Ed animations, highlighting their relative usefulness for learning academic formulas. While TED-Ed animations contain fewer formulas overall, they feature a comparable variety of written AFL items to academic lectures and a higher density and variety of academic formulas than other learning resources (e.g., textbooks), emphasizing their value as supplementary resources. This study expands the range of resources available for academic formula learning and enhances the understanding of TED talks and TED-Ed animations as educational tools, highlighting their distinct lexical characteristics and implications for academic English instruction.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47809,"journal":{"name":"English for Specific Purposes","volume":"80 ","pages":"Pages 16-30"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144261391","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Stance taking through that-clauses in research article abstracts: Cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary practices in translated and non-translated English","authors":"Yueyue Huang (黄越悦) , Hao Yin (殷昊) , Dechao Li (李德超)","doi":"10.1016/j.esp.2025.05.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.esp.2025.05.007","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This corpus-based study provides cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary insights into stance-taking expression through controlling words in <em>that</em>-clauses within the English as lingua franca (ELF) academic context. It compares translated (from Chinese) and non-translated ELF discursive practices in research article abstracts (RAAs) in applied linguistics (AL) and medical sciences (MS), focusing on the frequency, semantic classes (communication, certainty, likelihood, and attitude), and diversity of controlling words. The results reveal a shared preference for verb forms of controlling words across disciplines and practices, along with a consistent disciplinary convention of higher frequency of <em>that</em>-clauses in AL than MS within each discursive practice. Further analysis indicates that translated discourses exhibit a higher frequency of <em>that</em>-clauses in both disciplines and rely on certain words indicating certainty or communication, suggesting cross-cultural constraints in translated practices. However, these constraints manifest differently in the two disciplines compared to their non-translated counterparts. Scholars in non-translated practices prefer communication and certainty words, a preference seen only in translated AL, not in MS. Additionally, lexical diversity of these controlling words shows minimal differences between translated and non-translated ELF practices in AL, but significant divergences in MS. These findings can inform literacy brokers and English for research publication instructors, enhancing multilingual academic communication.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47809,"journal":{"name":"English for Specific Purposes","volume":"80 ","pages":"Pages 1-15"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144241162","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An examination of the use of spoken interactional metadiscourse markers in EMI lectures from different disciplines","authors":"David Lasagabaster, Ada Bier","doi":"10.1016/j.esp.2025.05.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.esp.2025.05.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The internationalisation process has encouraged the spread of English-medium instruction (EMI) in universities all over the world. Whereas the purported benefits of EMI are more often than not taken for granted, there are many issues related to what is actually happening in EMI classrooms that still need to be looked into. In this vein, the use of interactional metadiscourse markers when delivering content in the lingua franca and the potential impact of the disciplinary culture are two issues that have hitherto been largely overlooked. Since research studies indicate that teachers in the arts and social sciences tend to use a higher number of metadiscourse markers than those in the hard sciences, the impact of the discipline in classroom discourse deserves further attention. With a view to fill in this research gap, in this paper we analysed the 29,469 interactional metadiscourse markers found in 36 lectures of three different disciplines, namely economics, engineering and history. The overall distribution of interactional metadiscourse markers revealed that engagement markers happened to be the dominant category by an ample margin, followed by self-mentions, hedges, boosters and attitudes markers. In addition, statistically significant differences were found in the use of interactional markers across the three disciplines, a fact that should be considered in professional development courses. The pedagogical implications to be drawn from these findings and some future directions for research are also put forth.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47809,"journal":{"name":"English for Specific Purposes","volume":"79 ","pages":"Pages 137-151"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144125288","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The case of English for aviation maintenance: A multi-dimensional analysis of commercial aircraft manuals","authors":"Amber Wanwen Wang, Eric Friginal","doi":"10.1016/j.esp.2025.05.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.esp.2025.05.005","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Aircraft manufacturers use Simplified Technical English (STE) as a strategic tool to enhance the readability of aviation maintenance manuals and reduce comprehension errors. This standardized linguistic approach is essential for ensuring global aviation safety, especially as approximately 80% of maintenance technicians worldwide are non-native English speakers (NNES). This study employs Biber's Multi-Dimensional analysis framework to investigate the linguistic characteristics of aviation maintenance English (AME) compared to general written English (GWE). The research is based on a specialized 27-million-word corpus compiled from maintenance manuals for operational commercial aircraft families produced by a leading manufacturer, which collectively support global flight operations. The analysis reveals that AME prioritizes informational density, minimizes abstract content, and uses comparable levels of elaboration to ensure clarity in safety-critical contexts. These findings challenge the misconception of simplified English as overly simplistic or reductive, demonstrating instead that strategic linguistic simplification enhances technical communication without compromising clarity. By highlighting the role of STE in supporting global interoperability, safety, and efficiency, this research offers valuable implications for English for Specific Purposes (ESP) pedagogy and the ongoing development of STE guidelines in aviation and other high-stakes industries.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47809,"journal":{"name":"English for Specific Purposes","volume":"79 ","pages":"Pages 124-136"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144125287","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Corrigendum to “The case of English for aviation maintenance: A multi-dimensional analysis of commercial aircraft manuals” [English for Specific Purposes 79 (2025) 87–100]","authors":"Amber Wanwen Wang, Eric Friginal","doi":"10.1016/j.esp.2025.05.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.esp.2025.05.006","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47809,"journal":{"name":"English for Specific Purposes","volume":"79 ","pages":"Page 123"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144116294","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"","authors":"Fan Lin, Yan Qin","doi":"10.1016/j.esp.2025.05.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.esp.2025.05.002","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47809,"journal":{"name":"English for Specific Purposes","volume":"79 ","pages":"Pages 119-122"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144099789","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Bridging the gap: Exploring authorial voice in medical ethics blogs and research papers","authors":"Selahattin Yılmaz , Nur Yiğitoğlu-Aptoula","doi":"10.1016/j.esp.2025.05.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.esp.2025.05.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines the authorial voice in medical ethics blogs and their corresponding academic papers to uncover how scientific discourse is recontextualized for broader audiences. Drawing on 92 medical ethics blog posts paired with their paired medical research articles, the analysis focuses on stance, engagement, and recontextualization strategies. Using corpus-based and qualitative approaches, we identify how these two genres differ in tone, self-representation, and audience engagement, with blogs employing more personal and evaluative language to facilitate accessibility and reader involvement. Findings reveal that medical ethics blogs strategically balance credibility and relatability, emphasizing simplicity and interactivity, while the corresponding research articles adhere to formal conventions of accuracy and detail. This study highlights how academic blogging can complement traditional research dissemination by fostering inclusivity and enhancing the public's engagement with complex scientific issues.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47809,"journal":{"name":"English for Specific Purposes","volume":"79 ","pages":"Pages 104-118"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144090159","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"","authors":"Dilay Candan","doi":"10.1016/j.esp.2025.05.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.esp.2025.05.001","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47809,"journal":{"name":"English for Specific Purposes","volume":"79 ","pages":"Pages 101-103"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144090160","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}