Evaluative Meanings and Disciplinary Values - eTheses Repository ...

for academic writers to express careful attitudes towards research matters, and to take a
sceptical stance towards other . At the same time, the writer seeks an
alternative theory, approach or methodology based on her or his own ideas, and other
researchers works are sometimes discussed positively in order to support
view. Thus, writer certainty is constructed by resolving the uncertainty of research matters:
uncertainty is thus an essential part of the logical construction of argumentation in academic
writing. To illustrate, let us consider how this assumption is reflected in the case of unsure
about wh-:
A further possibility however might be that speakers were unsure about which primes were correct,
grammatically, when associated with the words in different classes, leading to these slightly
paradoxical patterns of priming and grammaticality effects. (ALC: Speech2004_4)
It recognizes that some decisions are very complex and that the decision maker may well be
unsure about how to proceed. (BC: Law2001_5)
In the first example, the speaker's uncertainty throws light on a further possibility which the
applied linguist then duly identifies. In the second example, the decision makers uncertainty
is recognizable in the process of business research. Both examples show how uncertainty can
be harnessed to positive effect; the pattern is used to promote the writers own claims and
construct logical arguments through the identification of uncertainty about actions, processes
or ideas.
6.2.4. The ENTHUSIASM group
The ENTHUSIASM group in the current study is comparable to the PASSIONATE and COOL group
in Francis et al. (1998, p. 413). As might be expected from the label, this group indicates
whether and to what extent people are passionate about a particular thing. Table 6.11 below
summarizes adjectives in this group in the pattern A DJ about N in ALC and BC.
Order ALC Freq. BC Freq.
1 enthusiastic 6 enthusiastic 4
2 passionate 1
3 crazy 1
Total 6 6
Prop. 50% 50%
Table 6.11. The ENTHUSIASM group in A DJ about N
82