Studies of Scientific Writing--E Pluribus Unum?

[14] patterns involving larger numbers of community is perceived as one of the participants in comparative major sources of power in studies.2 contemporary society. T~e final sociological approach A different tradition of work on focuses on the individual scientist scientific writing, not so visible rather than the specialty or larger to readers of this journal, comes social system of science. In order out of applied language studies. to account for scientific activity The fields of technical writing, without considering science as any composition, and English for different from any of the other specific purposes, have begun communal activities that looking into the character, role, sociologists study, investigators in and acquisition of written language this approach have concerned skills within scientific and themselves with how individuals and technological communities in order groups advance their interests to prepare students linguistically within the scientific community. for such careers. Accordingly, analysis has aimed at deconstructing the naive "scientific Technical writing until recently account" of the meaning of defined its task in ahistorical, scientific texts, and showing how asociological terms: to foster scientific communications advance clear, precise, efficient personal interests. Features of communication in essentially fixed language indicating persuasion, genres. Following this tradition indexicality, and other forms of and bolstered by the plain language social presentation of the self are movement, the Document Design Center most readily found in individual in the United States and the Primary texts and case studies, for at this Communications Research Unit in level of analysis we can most Britian promote and disseminate readily see the hand-to-hand combat studies into formats and styles most of individual and group readily understood.5 Recently in advancement.3 technical writing, however, some attention has turned to the actual This latter approach has strong ties role played by writing in technical to a broader sociolinguistic organizations, the writing choices movement to analyse community made by technical writers, and the organization and interaction through processes by which they make these the study of discourse, sometimes choices. Questionnaire, interview, associated with ethnomethodology as and observation studies have begun well as with an interests/power to reveal the social dynamics of model of interactions. Oral technical communication--that language has generally received most writers are strategic social of this kind of attention, but reasoners, that texts are indexical written language has recently been forms of social action, and that looked at more. Service writing processes are shot through professions--such as law, medicine, with collaborative and agonistic clinical psychology, and social social processes.6 Recently, as work-- which establish through well, the writing across the interactions a power relationship curriculum movement has made between professional and client have particular disciplinary forms of provided the primary research writing an issue for all teachers of sites.4 One motive for examining writing. Studies in composition are scientific discourse within this beginning, largely following the tradition is that the scientific cognitive psychology model, which [15] has dominated composition research particularly poignant in nineteenth in the last decade. As in the century studies. The movement techni'cal writing studies, towards seeing scientific writing as investigation into the process has literary creations has been aided by begun to reveal its socially contemporary theories of literature imbedded quality. 7 which have devalued referentiality and thus returned scientific texts English for specific purposes, a to the realm of human imaginative specialization of English as a constructions, though more subtle second language, in general follows formulations that go beyond the a linguistic model. It treats primitive opposition of naive scientific English as a special positivism and naive relativism have register of standard English, yet to be made forcefully. Such incorporating particular more subtle formulations, I believe, vocabularies and grammatic/syntactic are necessary to defined the special features. Catalogues of such characteristics of scientific texts features in different disciplines which maintain referential ambitions and professions--gathered with an whether or not they achieve the instructional aim--provide epistemological magic of referential suggestive comparative material certainty. 10 about the character of communication in different fields, as do a few A limited amount of work has explicitly comparative studies. attempted to bridge the three Studies of the strategic rhetorical approaches presented so far: social use of particular linguistic studies, applied language, and features, such as the use of verb literary. The purveyors of this tense in reviews of literature to work have had literary training and indicate evaluative attitudes, also thus are aware of the complexity of shed light on the dynamics of textual meaning and the variety of communication.8 Recent interest in dimensions on which meaning is the larger forms of organization and conveyed. In attempting to address genre and in the kinds of contextual more practical issues of knowledge to be gained from composition, they have seen the informants, again suggests a growing necessity of providing a richer interest in a historical, socially description of the kinds of texts active understanding of texts.9 the students are being taught to write and of the processes of Literary studies provides a third creating these texts. To help tradition recently taking notice of enrich their understanding of text scientific writing. Scientific and process, they have turned to texts, particularly the more overtly social studies of science and have evocative ones such as The Origin of adopted ...sociological models of Species, are now being examined as scientific community. Their special forms of literature, as are analyses reveal how the complex scientific popularizations. Studies features of text and textual change of the cross-influences of science embody and realize social and literature which previously had dynamics. 11 been most concerned with the influence of science on imaginative Individuals in both the history and writing have started to look at the philosophy of science have, as well, influence of literary practice on been drawn to the reexamination of scientific formulation. This classic scientific texts, driven by connection between scientific and issues and dynamics of their own imaginative literature has seemed fields. In the history of science, [16] the deepening understanding of the formulation. Perelman most variety of intellectual projects explicitly reopens rhetoric as the engaged in by scientists and the centerpiece in the understanding of changing intellectual and social human rationality. 13 contexts which individual scientists have worked in has led to a more In philosophy's rediscovery of the rhetorical understanding of certain importance of rhetoric, texts. That is, the texts are no contemporary rhetoricians (in longer seen as a series of American universities exiled to propositions to be placed within the speech departments for the last framework of emerging scientific half-century) have regained vigor knowledge, but are rather seen as and started to engage in philosophic integrated wholes, imaginative combat on behalf of their position. constructs portraying complex world In only a few instances however, has views (which would lead to more this resulted in close rhetorical humanistic literary readings), but analyses. Most notable has been even more, most recently as Campbell's studies of Darwin's particular ways of addressing the rhetorical situation and rhetorical world, audience and problems (which response. 14 might be thought of as situated rhetorical readings)--seeing the Perhaps the largest potential symbolic formulations as a result of impetus for textual studies of epistemology, local disputes, and knowledge these days lies in social relations.12 practitioners of various disciplines who, by various means, have come to The philosophy of science has also be interested in the discourse of given rise to a few attempts to look their own field with the aim of at scientific texts as complex somehow improving work in their communicative documents, written field. These individuals range in documents embodying choices. These their stance from the meticulous studies have been driven by the more craftsman who simply wishes to general philosophic problem of understand his linguistic tools, to rationality and rational procedures, the sensible human who wishes to get which seem increasingly hard to find his colleagues to understand they in the complex world of actual human are only speaking in prose, to the relations and even harder to tie ironic critic who would puncture the down in the world of abstractions. prose balloons, to the radical In the turn to history and actual reformer who would create new ones. practice to see what procedures The social sciences have been more scientists and other people engaged interested in this linguistic in rational enterprises engage in, self-examination than the natural the fine grain of textual structure sciences in the past twenty years, and textual interactions gain new largely motivated by internal significance. Rather than trying to debates

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