Negotiating across languages: Metadiscourse in English and Spanish abstracts in Soil Science

This study aimed to contrast metadiscourse use across languages in abstracts in the field of Soil Science. Three corpora were compared: abstracts published in Spanish by Spanish speakers; abstracts published in English by Spanish speakers; and abstracts published in English by English speakers. Metadiscourse occurrences were qualitatively coded using computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software and interpreted in relation to independent variables language of publication, writers’ dominant language, and abstract rhetorical structure. Findings suggest an overall preference for boosting and a tendency to rely heavily on interpersonal features when presenting and discussing research outcomes, which may be accounted for in terms of the promotional function of the genre. Contrastive corpus analysis indicates a shift from Spanish local patterns of interaction when publishing in English towards dominating patterns of negotiation in the additional language, which might be attributed to the external demands posed by differing socio-pragmatic contexts of publication. Few divergencies observed in the use of hedging features and in the setting up of research background might indicate coexisting communication patterns and deliberate participation strategies by Spanish speakers.