Discourse features in deontic verb phrases as an indicator of Omani attitude towards academic authority

• Main Author: MacDonald, Jonathan Robert
• Published: University of Sussex 2018
• Subjects: PJ6001 Arabic
• Online Access: https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.759582

This study investigates Omani academic writing in English as an example of English for Special Purposes produced by authors in an Arab context. Specifically, it explores the differences in attitudes towards academic authorities/sources manifested in the construction and use of deontic verb phrases within the particular academic genre on the topic of English Language Teaching (ELT). In response to the perceived threats from the spreading of English as an international language in academia to the cultural values of the Sultanate of Oman, this conservative Islamic nation has stated aims to modernise itself but still preserve its inner cultural thrust by producing ‘global workers with local values'. However, the difficulties experienced by many Omani novice academic writers in engaging with the wider academic community are well documented and a difference in attitudes towards authority has been mooted as a potential cause for their pragmatic failures. In addressing this issue, this project uses a qualitative evaluation to compare the work of locally published Omani writers alongside established authors, i.e. (non)native speakers using English systematically in the Western world. The results identify a number of key differences between the two sets of authors in the construction and use of deontic verb phrases which reveal the culturally embedded values and attitudes towards academic authority of the Omani writers.