Lecture
The language and style of scholarly writing have developed under the influence of what is known as academic etiquette, the essence of which lies in interpreting one's own viewpoint and the viewpoints one draws upon in order to substantiate scientific truth. However, one should not assume that there exists a set of "written rules" of scholarly speech. One can speak only of certain features of scientific language that have already become fixed by tradition.
The qualities that determine the culture of scientific speech and are characteristic of a scientific text are logicality, objectivity, semantic completeness, integrity, coherence, and precision, clarity and brevity.
The most important means of expressing logical connections here are special functional-syntactic means of connection, indicating:
- the sequence of development of a thought (first, above all, then, firstly, secondly, hence, thus, etc.),
- contradictory relations (however, meanwhile, whereas, nevertheless),
- cause-and-effect relations (consequently, therefore, owing to this, in accordance with this, as a result of this, moreover, in addition),
- transition from one thought to another (before moving on to..., let us turn to..., let us consider, let us dwell on..., having considered, let us proceed to..., it is necessary to dwell on..., it is necessary to consider),
- summary, conclusion (thus, in this way, hence, in conclusion let us note, all of the above allows us to draw the conclusion, summing up, it should be said...).
Thanks to special terms, it becomes possible to give, in a concise and economical form, detailed definitions and characteristics of scientific facts, concepts, processes and phenomena.
It should be firmly remembered that a scientific term is not merely a word, but an expression of the essence of the given phenomenon. One must not arbitrarily mix different terminology within a single text, bearing in mind that every science has its own terminological system, unique to it alone.
Professionalisms are not designations of scientific concepts, but conventional names for realities used among narrow specialists and understood only by them. They are a kind of jargon of their own.
Logicality of presentation is a general specific feature of this style. All parts of a scientific text are rigidly connected in meaning and arranged in strict sequence. Conclusions follow from the facts set out in the text. This is achieved by linking sentences by means of nouns combined with a demonstrative pronoun, adjectives, participles (the given, this, such, the aforementioned, the indicated, etc.).
Generalization and abstractness are characteristic of every scientific text, so abstract concepts are used here, ones that are difficult to imagine, see, or feel (time, balance, etc.). Not only nouns, but also verbs are usually used in a scientific text not in their primary meaning, but in a generalized-abstract one: to go, to indicate, to follow, to lead, to constitute, etc. (For example: the discussion concerns the problems of..., from this the conclusion follows..., to bring to a common denominator..., etc.)
The verb and verb forms in the text of a scientific work carry a special informational load and serve to express a constant property of the object (in scientific laws, regularities established earlier or in the course of the present study), for example: "the problem under consideration", rather than "the problem that has been considered").
To enhance expressiveness, scientific texts use intensifying particles, pronouns, adverbs: only, absolutely, merely; adjectives: colossal, the most difficult, etc.
Objectivity is another feature of the scientific style. A mandatory condition for the objectivity of the presentation of material is an indication of the source — who expressed this or that thought, to whom exactly this or that expression belongs. In the text, this condition can be realized by using special introductory words and phrases (according to the report, according to the data, in the opinion of, according to the data of, in our opinion, etc.).
The style of written scientific speech is an impersonal monologue. Here, a personal, subjective opinion is impermissible, and it is not customary to use the pronoun “I” and first-person singular verb forms. Expressing authorship through "we" makes it possible to present one's opinion as the opinion of a particular group of people, a scientific school, or a scientific field.
However, an excessive piling-up of the pronoun "we" in a text produces an unpleasant impression. Therefore, the authors of scientific works try to resort to constructions that exclude the use of this pronoun:
- indefinite-personal sentences (for example, "First, samples are selected for analysis, and then their conformity in size is established ...", (it is considered that...)),
- definite-personal sentences (let us consider the problem...).
- presentation in the third person (for example, "the author believes").
- sentences in the passive voice (for example, "...a comprehensive approach to the research has been developed..."). This voice eliminates the need to fix the subject of the action, and thereby removes the need to introduce personal pronouns into the text of the work.
The chosen manner of presenting the text is used throughout the entire work.
Semantic precision - one of the main conditions ensuring the scientific and practical value of information. An incorrectly chosen word can distort the meaning of what is written, giving rise to a double interpretation of this or that phrase.
Most often the following inaccuracies occur:
- originally Russian words are used imprecisely, contrary to their meaning ("The greater half of the goods remained unsold", "The machine offered by this firm is armed with a special cutter-rotation-speed indicator").
- precision is violated as a result of the synonymy of terms. Synonymous terms are used within a single statement (now "rarefaction", now "vacuum"; now "water turbine", now "hydroturbine"; or when in one instance the author uses "tomaty" and in another "pomidory" — both simply meaning tomatoes).
- to designate new concepts, new words are created from foreign ones according to the word-formation models of the Russian language ("shlyuzovat" [to lock, from "shlyuz", lock], "shtabelirovat" [to stack, from "shtabel", stack], "kabelizirovat" or "kablirovat" [to cable, from "kabel", cable]).
- the formation, from two Russian words, of a new word in a foreign manner in place of the Russian word "shtabeleukladchik" [stacker] - "shtabiler" and even "shtabilyator").
The precision of scientific speech is due not only to the purposeful choice of words and expressions; equally important is the choice of grammatical constructions, which presupposes precise adherence to the rules governing the connection of words in a phrase. The possibility of explaining words in phrases in different ways gives rise to ambiguity. Thus, the construction is ambiguous: "Such markings are absent on other goods" (whether it means other goods are absent, or such markings are absent, is hard to tell).
Semantic precision (unambiguity) is achieved by:
- careful selection of words,
- the use of words in their direct meaning,
- the wide use of terms and special vocabulary,
- the repetition of key words.
Clarity - another necessary quality of scientific speech, i.e. the ability to write accessibly and intelligibly. Accessibility and intelligibility are often called simplicity, which facilitates easy reading, i.e. when the author's thoughts are grasped without difficulty. However, simplicity must not be equated with primitiveness, nor should simplicity be confused with the general accessibility of scientific language. The main thing in the linguistic and stylistic shaping of the text of a scientific work is that its content, in the form of its presentation, should be accessible to that circle of scholars for whom such works are intended.
Practice shows that particularly many obscurities arise where authors, instead of precise quantitative values, use words and phrases with an indefinite or generalized meaning.
Authors often write "etc." in those cases when they do not know how to continue an enumeration, or introduce into the text the phrase "it is quite obvious" when they cannot set out their arguments. The turns of phrase "in a known manner" or "by a special device" often indicate that in the first case the author does not know in what manner, and in the second - which device exactly.
In many cases, the violation of clarity of presentation is caused by the desire to give the work an appearance of being scientific. Hence also the entirely unnecessary pseudo-scientific jargon, when simple, well-known objects are given overcomplicated names.
Brevity - a necessary and obligatory quality of scientific speech, one that above all determines its culture. Realizing this quality means being able to avoid unnecessary repetition, excessive detail, and verbal clutter. Every word and expression serves the purpose of conveying the essence of the matter not only as precisely, but also as briefly as possible. Therefore, words and phrases that carry no semantic load whatsoever must be completely excluded from the text of a scientific work.
There is a number of lexical and syntactic features of a scientific text:
the absence of figurative means (epithets, metaphors, artistic comparisons, hyperboles), and of the emotional coloring of the text (the expression of personal feelings),
the use of words indicating:
the sequence of development of a thought (first, above all, then, further, firstly, etc.),
contradictory relations (however; meanwhile; whereas; nevertheless),
cause-and-effect relations (consequently, therefore, owing to this, as a result of this, moreover, in addition,...),
transition from one thought to another (before moving on to...let us turn to...; let us consider, let us dwell on...; having considered..., let us proceed to ...),
conclusion (thus, in this way, hence),
the source of the statement (according to Maslow, from experience, according to information..., according to the report..., in the opinion of..., according to the data....).
the use of generally accepted expressions (as the study has shown, on the basis of the data obtained, etc.),
the use of introductory words (of course, possibly, probably, it must be assumed, certainly, etc.),
the use of complex sentences, especially complex sentences with subordinate clauses (as is known, scholars believe that) and complex sentences with conjunctions (owing to the fact that; in view of the fact that; after; as a result of the fact that; in accordance with .., etc.),
direct word order in sentences (subject first, then predicate),
the informational role of a word intensifies toward the end of the sentence: at the beginning of the sentence there is auxiliary information, at the end - the main information, with the essential information being placed after the predicate.
For comparison:
1. Classes on "Organization of Scientific Research" have been moved to Monday at the request of the students of group 8.
2. At the request of the students of group 8, classes on "Organization of Scientific Research" have been moved to Monday.
3. Classes on "Organization of Scientific Research" have been moved, at the request of the students of group 8, to Monday.
When working on the text of a scientific study one should avoid:
- verbosity, speech redundancy. Verbosity or speech redundancy most often manifests itself in the use of superfluous words ("For this purpose the firm uses available auxiliary premises" (if there are no premises, they cannot be used either); "The inspection established that existing prices at many retail outlets of our city were significantly inflated" (non-existent prices can be neither inflated nor understated); "The opening of cracks at supports with unstressed reinforcement is permitted up to a value of 0.2 mm"). This is how combinations arise such as: break interval, interior interior, overall dimensions and the like.
- the replacement of Russian words with foreign ones (the deadline for completion can be prolonged);
- tautology (the use of words sharing the same root within a single sentence): the benefit of beneficial use, it follows that the following factors must be taken into account, this phenomenon is fully manifested."in the August month", "schematic plan", "five persons of miners", "seven units of transformers" and the like;
- pleonasms (redundancies): joint collaboration, industrial industry (the word "industry" already contains the concept of "industrial"), "to expedite construction at an accelerated pace" ("to expedite" already means "to proceed at an accelerated pace"), "to suffer a complete fiasco" ("fiasco" is itself a "complete defeat"), in the month of April, 200 thousand rubles of money, a price list of prices, etc.;
- officialese (chancellery clichés) - stylistic flaws of speech redundancy that clutter the language ("These goods are permitted for sale only after special processing", "The transition rings in this assembly serve in the capacity of insulation", "The supply of voltage here is carried out by way of a two-pole contactor", "The unloading of goods is carried out on the basis of the use of a belt conveyor").
Very often, in the text of technical scientific works, the need arises to enumerate, in a certain sequence, technological operations, work techniques, and malfunctions of technical equipment and mechanisms. In such cases, complex non-conjunctive sentences are usually used, the first part of which contains words with a generalizing meaning, while the subsequent parts specify, point by point, the content of the first part. In doing so, the enumerated items are structured uniformly, similarly to homogeneous parts under a generalizing word in ordinary texts.
Self-check questions
What should one begin with when preparing a draft manuscript? Why?
Characterize the structure of a scientific study.
What mandatory parts does the introduction consist of?
What is presented in detail in the main part?
What is reflected in the conclusion?
What should the number of conclusions correspond to?
What is placed in the appendices?
In what way is the division of chapters into sections carried out?
Which methodological techniques for presenting scientific material are used most often?
What is objectivity and what determines it? How is it realized in context?
What does the style of scientific speech consist of?
Which constructions exclude the use of the pronoun "we"?
What is understood by the quality of speech culture?
What determines the precision of scientific speech?
What is understood by the clarity of scientific speech?
By what concept is speech culture defined?
List the lexical and syntactic features of a scientific text.
What should be avoided when working on the text of a scientific study?
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