Given the importance of disciplinary specificity in terms of the potential differences in the functionality of nominalizations in scientific textbooks and the dearth of studies of this type, the current study explores the extent to which nominalization is realized across two disciplines. To this aim, eight academic textbooks from Physics and…

Since mathematical English (ME) differs from ordinary English (OE) in the number of symbols used, this research investigated sequential constraint (constraints on symbol choice attributed to preceding textual material) of excerpts from 18 mathematics books, both traditional and modern, to determine its relationship to readability. Findings…

Describes how a teacher revised his public speaking textbook by altering the style to "E-Prime" (a form of English that eliminates all forms of the verb "to be"). Summarizes the arguments against the use of E-Prime and provides responses that might come from E-Prime's supporters. (HB)

Examines the two rules of intonation most commonly found in English language teaching textbooks: those concerning intonation in lists and intonation in questions. The article suggests that teachers and materials writers must provide learners with descriptions of intonation allowing them to understand the communicative significance of intonation…

It is shown that, although native English speakers routinely use subject-verb-object questions for specific functions and in informal discourse, this question form rarely appears in textbooks or presentations used in English-as-a-Second-Language classrooms. Thus, language presented in these classes may not expose students to the complete range of…

Analyzes the use of language in two British and Australian secondary school textbooks and a corpus of written British English of one million words. Significant differences were found in the distribution of syntactic patterns in the two books, and these differences are discussed as evidence of the ideological stances expressed in the books.…

This paper reports on an investigation into the discourse features of seven dialogues published in coursebooks between 1981 and 1997, and contrasts them with comparable authentic interactions. It finds that the textbook dialogues differ considerably from their authentic equivalents across a range of discourse features: length and turn-taking…

This paper has a two-fold aim: first, to report on some findings as to the ways in which textbook authors construe their argument in the introductory chapters to linguistics textbooks; second, to discuss some concerns which are central to descriptions of academic prose and register variation in the light of what the data under study provide us…