Scientific Technical Report and Patent: A Comparative Analysis of Genres Using a Corpus-Based Approach

Abstract

The article analyses the metastructures of modern English scientific and technical discourse within the framework of two genres: scientific technical report and patent. The paper aimed to compare the metastructures of these genres while highlighting such functions as dialogization, linear order and confirmation of what is being said by means of visuals, as well as evaluation, commentary, interpretation, and attracting attention. The relevance of this article is determined by the necessity to diversify metastucture characteristics of the genres under study. Moreover, it presents the first comparative analysis of the genres of scientific technical report and patent by means of the AntConc corpus analysis toolkit in order to identify the functional features of metastructures. This allows us to study the ways of scientific and technical discourse construction with the emphasis on the category of metadiscursivity. Based on the results of the analysis, the authors draw conclusions about the frequency of use of metastructures in these genres and the genres’ level of metadiscursivity. Moreover, common functions of metastructures and functions only typical of the scientific technical report genre are described. Further, the most and less popular functions of metastructures in both genres are pointed out; the reasons behind their frequency of use are suggested. The research material includes texts of modern scientific technical reports and patents presented as corpora with the total volume of 360 thousand words each. The theoretical significance of the research lies in diversifying metastructures and their use in the genres of scientific and technical discourse. The results can be applied in writing texts in the genres under study with the aim of improving communication at the scientific level.