TAKING A STANCE IN RESEARCH WRITING: CHALLENGES FOR RUSSIAN-SPEAKING UNDERGRADUATES

Writing and Writing Instruction in Different Academic Contexts

TAKING A STANCE IN RESEARCH RUSSIAN­SPEAKING UNDERGRADUATES

WRITING:

CHALLENGES

FOR

Svetlana N. Kucherenko

National Research University­Higher School of Economics, Saint­Petersburg, Russia

The research investigates the issue of taking a stance in academic writing in a second language. The purpose of this paper is to identify and discuss challenges experienced by Russian students in stance­taking in research writing. The particular research questions that I answer in my paper are the following: a) what are Russian students’ perceptions of native academic culture, b) what are Russian students perceptions of taking a stance in English research writing, c) what are Russian students’ perceptions of the most challenging aspects of stance­taking, d) what are perspective strategies for English language instructors to deal with the challenges identified. The analysis based on questionnaires and interview responses from Russian undergraduates at National Research University – Higher School of Economics, Saint­Petersburg, Russia shows that most students do not regard taking a stance as an important feature of English academic writing and, thus, avoid using even most common indicators of stance such as modal expressions. On the contrary, taking a stance in English academic writing is perceived by Russian­speaking students as a sign of being too personal, a feature strongly discouraged in Russian academic writing. Thus, the major finding of our research suggests that Russian academic culture hinders taking a stance properly in English academic writing. It is necessary for academic writing instructors a) to place more focus on highlighting the differences between Russian and English academic writing and b) provide more intensive training in stance­taking for Russian­speaking students to become effective academic writers in English regarding stance­taking.