Lexical bundles in Biology

Publisher： John Benjamins Publishing Company

E-ISSN： 2254-6774|27|2|492-513

ISSN： 0213-2028

Source： Revista Española de Lingüística Aplicada/Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics. Published under the auspices of the Spanish Association of Applied Linguistics, Vol.27, Iss.2, 2014-01, pp. : 492-513

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Abstract

On the basis of previous lexical bundle studies, this paper examines the forms, structures and functions of 4-word bundles in a corpus of textbooks and a corpus of research articles in Biology. The study includes the main biological disciplines and focuses on three major features: the overall distribution of bundles, their typical structures, and their functions in discourse in Biology. The findings support the idea that lexical bundles are a basic linguistic construct with important functions for the construction of discourse in this area. Concluding discussion highlights the pedagogical implications of using research journals and/or textbooks to teach English to biologists in a second language context. Furthermore, the importance of explicit instruction in these word combinations in courses on English for Biologists is emphasized.