li214 This volume presents a cross-disciplinary analysis

of academic poster presentations, taking into

li
214 li214 Linguistic Insights
Studies in Language and Communication

Larissa D’Angelo • Academic posters

consideration the text and visuals that posters
display depending on the discipline within
which they are created. As the academic poster
is a multimodal genre, different modal aspects
have been taken into consideration when ana-
lysing it, a fact that has somehow complicated
the genre analysis conducted, but has also
stimulated the research work involved and, in
the end, provided interesting results.
The analysis carried out here has highlighted
significant cross-disciplinary differences in
terms of word count, portrait/landscape orien-
tation and layout of posters, as well as disci-
pline and subdiscipline-specific patterns for
what concerns the use of textual interactive and
interactional metadiscourse resources and
visual interactive resources.
The investigation has revealed what textual and
visual metadiscourse resources are employed,
where and why, and as a consequence, what
textual and visual metadiscourse strategies
should be adopted by poster authors depend- Larissa D’Angelo
ing on the practices and expectations of their
academic community.

Academic posters
Larissa D’Angelo, PhD in Applied Linguistics
(University of Reading), is a Lecturer of English A textual and visual
at the University of Bergamo. Her main research
interests deal with EAP and multimodal genres metadiscourse analysis
employed in academic discourse. She is an active
member of the Research Centre on Languages
for Specific Purposes (CERLIS) and has been in-
volved in several national and international re-
search projects.

ISBN 978-3-0343-2083-2

Peter Lang
www.peterlang.com
Academic posters
Linguistic Insights
Studies in Language and Communication

Edited by Maurizio Gotti,

University of Bergamo

Volume 214

ADVISORY BOARD
Vijay Bhatia (Hong Kong)
David Crystal (Bangor)
Konrad Ehlich (Berlin / München)
Jan Engberg (Aarhus)
Norman Fairclough (Lancaster)
John Flowerdew (Hong Kong)
Ken Hyland (Hong Kong)
Roger Lass (Cape Town)
Matti Rissanen (Helsinki)
Françoise Salager-Meyer (Mérida, Venezuela)
Srikant Sarangi (Cardiff)
Susan Šarčević (Rijeka)
Lawrence Solan (New York)

PETER LANG
Bern • Berlin • Bruxelles • Frankfurt am Main • New York • Oxford • Wien
 Larissa D’Angelo

Academic posters

A textual and visual

metadiscourse analysis

PETER LANG
Bern • Berlin • Bruxelles • Frankfurt am Main • New York • Oxford • Wien
Bibliographic information published by die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
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Contents

List of Abbreviations.............................................................................9

Chapter 1: Introduction.......................................................................11
1.1 The poster session: the ‘open market’ of research .............11
1.2 Rationale for the study .......................................................15
1.3 Overview of the volume.....................................................17

Chapter 2: Review of the literature .....................................................19

2.1 Overview of the chapter .....................................................19
2.2 The academic community, its disciplines
and subdisciplines ..............................................................19
2.3 What is academic discourse? .............................................24
2.4 What are academic genres?................................................37
2.5 What is an academic poster presentation? ........................44
2.6 What is metadiscourse? .....................................................59
2.7 What is multimodality? ......................................................67
2.8 Principles underlying corpus design ..................................73
2.9 Summary of the chapter and Research Questions .............77

Chapter 3: Data collected ...................................................................81

3.1 Introduction ........................................................................81
3.2 Why a corpus of academic posters? ...................................81
3.3 Selection of subdisciplines ................................................82
3.4 Principles underlying my corpus design ............................83
3.5 The survey..........................................................................86
3.6 Retrieval of posters ..........................................................102
3.7 Interviews with poster presenters ...................................106
3.8 Naming and formatting of files ........................................110
3.9 Summary of the chapter ...................................................111
Chapter 4: Framework of analysis ....................................................113
4.1 Overview of the chapter ...................................................113
4.2 A new framework of analysis...........................................113
4.3 Metadiscourse resources in texts .....................................116
4.4 Metadiscourse resources in visuals ..................................123
4.5 Searching the corpus ........................................................141
4.6 The limits of description ..................................................144
4.7 Summary and conclusions ...............................................145

Chapter 5: Results and analysis by subcorpora ................................149

5.1 Introduction ......................................................................149
5.2 Textual and visual analysis of the High Energy Particle
Physics subcorpus ............................................................150
5.3 Textual and visual analysis of the Law subcorpus ...........175
5.4 Textual and visual analysis of the Clinical
Psychology subcorpus......................................................196
5.5 A cross-disciplinary comparison of academic posters.....214

Chapter 6: General discussion and conclusions ...............................231

6.1 Introduction ......................................................................231
6.2 Research question 1 .........................................................232
6.3 Research question 2 .........................................................245
6.4 Research question 3 .........................................................249
6.5 Research limitations and recommendations
for further research ..........................................................253
6.6 Conclusions ......................................................................257

Appendices
Appendix 1 ................................................................................261
Appendix 2 ................................................................................264
Appendix 3 ................................................................................265
Appendix 4 ................................................................................266
Appendix 5 ................................................................................269

6
 Appendix 6 ................................................................................282
Appendix 7 ................................................................................286

References .........................................................................................325

Index .................................................................................................361

7
List of Abbreviations

AALS Association of American Law Schools

ACE Australian Corpus of English
ACM Association for Computing Machinery
APA American Psychological Association
ARCHER A Representative Corpus of Historical English
Registers
BASE British Academic Spoken English
BNC British National Corpus
BPS British Psychological Society
CANCODE Cambridge and Nottingham Corpus of Discourse in
English
CDA Critical Discourse Analysis
CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research
CIP Classification of Instructional Programs
COCA Corpus of Contemporary American English
CP Conference Presentations
Interviewee from the Clinical Psychology
CPsy
subdiscipline
DDC Dewey Decimal Classification system
DIPP Digital Interactive Poster Presentations
DPS Design & Print Studio
EAP English for Academic Purposes
ESL English as a Second Language
FLOB Freiburg–LOB Corpus of British English corpus
IMRD Introduction Methods Results Discussion
INFN Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare
ISI Institute for scientific Information
L1 First Language (native language)
L2 Second Language (non-native language)
LCD Liquid-Crystal Display
LCSH Library of Congress Subject Headings
LHCb Large Hadron Collider beauty experiment
LOB corpus Lancaster-Oslo/Bergen Corpus
MDA Multimodal Discourse Analysis
MeSH Medical Subject Headings
MICASE Michigan Corpus of Academic Spoken English
NNS Non Native Speaker
NS Native Speaker
PACS Physics and Astronomy Classification Scheme
PPHY High Energy Particle Physics
Pphy Interviewee from the High Energy Particle Physics
subdiscipline
PSY Clinical Psychology
SCI Science Citation Index
SD standard deviation
SFL Systemic Functional Linguistics
SSK Sociology of Scientific Knowledge
TESOL Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages
UMLS Unified Medical Language System

10
Chapter 1: Introduction

This volume presents an intra-disciplinary analysis of academic poster

presentations, considering the text and visuals that posters display,
depending on the discipline within which they are created. Because the
academic poster is a multimodal genre, different modal aspects must
be taken into consideration when analysing it, a fact that has somehow
complicated the genre analysis conducted, but has also stimulated the
research work involved and, in the end, provided interesting results. The
present chapter begins by introducing the poster session event, what it
consists of and how it fits in the broader conference experience. The
rationale for the present study is then presented, followed by an over-
view of the book’s chapters.

1.1 The poster session: the ‘open market’ of research

In almost every discipline, a student or young researcher is bound

eventually to engage in the daunting task of presenting one’s research
work through an academic poster. As discussed by Swales and Feak
(2000) and Swales (2004), the poster session itself is often met with
mixed reviews from both participants and viewers because of several
physical limitations, (e.g., the often limited time and space to showcase
posters, as well as the limited space that a poster makes available to
writers, restricting the amount of text displayed), and the fact that still
today certain research genres, such as poster presentations, are valued
differently depending on the discipline. Poster sessions, on the other
hand, do play an important part in academic conferences because they
allow academics to present and discuss not only completed research
work but also ongoing research and preliminary findings, which would
often not be presented in a paper session. This fact alone distinguishes
the academic poster from other genres, making the poster session an
interesting and engaging event to participate in and a valid alternative
to other, more sophisticated genres, such as the conference plenary and
the paper presentation.
The poster presentation, unlike the more sophisticated genres
mentioned above, is a type of conference presentation that makes the
use of visuals pivotal. Posters display text and visuals so that viewers
can ‘glimpse’ into the research work of a colleague, having, in this case,
the freedom of ‘reading’ the poster at one’s own speed, of lingering on
a specific aspect of the work, a table, a graph or a picture displayed, and
finally, of having the unique opportunity to engage with the author in a
one-on-one discussion.
The poster session originates in and is unfortunately mostly lim-
ited to the conference that organises it. Often a daunting place to be,
the academic conference and the poster session, in particular, are a
remarkably rich arena where one can display one’s progress or findings
in research, practice one’s oratory skills while presenting the poster, or
simply participate as listeners/observers in the ever-flowing academic
discourse. As Swales (2004) and Shalom (2002) have vividly described,
poster presentations, paper presentations, and plenary lectures are not
really extractable or detachable from the broader conference experience
because they

[...] involve the travel to and from the venue, the meeting of old friends and the
making of new acquaintances, the plenaries, receptions, and book exhibits, and
the intangibles of the conference ‘buzz’ – its taut intellectual atmosphere, its
rush from one talk to another, its gossip, its job interviews, its hot topics, and its
‘in’ people (Swales, 2004: 197).

In 1985, Dubois started researching conference presentations (CPs)

(meaning here any oral presentation given during a conference, such
as a plenary, a paper presentation and a poster presentation) from a
discourse perspective, but it was not until the late 1990s that more
work was published, studying the CP genre from a wide range of fields,
including Applied Linguistics (Luukka, 1996; Shalom, 2002; Thomp-
son, 2002), Engineering (Räisänen, 1999, 2002), Geology and Med-
icine (Webber, 2002), Physics (Rowley-Jolivet, 1999; Rowley-Jolivet
& Carter-Thomas, 2005; Thompson, 2002), History (Ventola, 2002).

12
One feature of this research has been the considerable attention paid
to the complex multimodal semiotics of modern CPs, especially in
technical, medical and scientific arenas of enquiry. Dubois (1980) was
the first to point out the central role played by visuals, and since her
pioneering work, the attention to the non-verbal dimension of CPs has
been substantial. Rowley-Jolivet (2000, 2002), who investigated CPs in
petrology, oncology and physics at European conferences, for example,
observes:

Between the lab or field, and the written genres of science, however, lies the
relatively unexplored genre of the conference presentation […]. In the scien-
tific presentation, whatever the discipline, the visual channel of communication
is a major resource for meaning making: visuals are omnipresent throughout
the talks given, with slides or transparencies being continuously projected onto
the screen during the speaker’s monologue. Any investigation of how the con-
ference presentation genre makes and communicates meaning must therefore
address its visual dimension. (2000:134)

In certain humanities’ areas, such as Applied Linguistics, History or Phi-

losophy, the role of visuals may be minimal (Swales, 2004), but across
much of the disciplinary spectrum, a conference presenter is expected
to provide some visual support, whether in the form of a PowerPoint, a
poster or, simply, a handout. Given the limited time allotted to CPs, the
idea that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ is becoming more and
more widespread (Swales, 2004: 199). Although Swales (2004) recog-
nises that there are marked differences in the kind of visuals expected in
and by different disciplinary fields, it is still not very clear if the spoken
verbal commentary that the visuals evoke is markedly different depend-
ing on the discipline.
A second major strand of research has focused on the intermedi-
ate status of the CP, being somewhat a stage lying between the research
work itself and the final product of the research article (Swales, 2004:
199). As early as 1980, Dubois observed of her Biology CPs: “One
glimpses research as it is actually conducted, before it is sanitised to
present a picture of straight-line progress toward public knowledge”
(p. 143). Almost two decades later, Rowley-Jolivet reinforced the idea
by stating that

13
 [CPs] open a window, so to speak, onto the nature of scientific activity before
its formulation in the discourse conventions of the research article, enabling
one to draw a more precise topography of the ‘work’ accomplished by the latter
(1999:188).

During this process, listeners may be

Drawn into the presenters’ worlds as they narrate unexpected problems, reveal
various kinds of ad-hocery with materials and methods, and admit to the contin-
gent nature of the research process itself (Swales, 2004: 200).

CPs in general have been said to have an ‘intermediate status’ (Swales,

2004: 199), meaning that unpublished research work is presented, dis-
cussed and then revised. The poster session itself can be viewed as an
arena within the arena. Also in this smaller arena a number of research
projects, whether ongoing or concluded, are displayed, presented, dis-
cussed and often challenged. Although academics generally view the
poster session as less intimidating than the paper session (Crooks &
Kilpatrick, 1998), it is undeniably in the poster session that present-
ers have to showcase their knowledge and defend their work. Paper
presentations, for example, generally last between 20 and 30 minutes,
whereas a poster session can last for several hours, and there is no limit
to how long a single poster presentation can last because the interac-
tion that takes place between a presenter and an interested viewer is
spontaneous. It might end after a couple of minutes, or it might last
for an hour, if not more (Dubois, 1985). All these aspects will be con-
sidered and discussed in section 2.5, but it is worthwhile to mention
here that each poster, for example, if well designed, with clear con-
tent, can potentially have wide audience, much wider than a paper or
PowerPoint presentation. Having a wide audience, however, means that
inevitably, a very high number of questions and comments will be asked
by interested viewers, and the poster presenter is expected to answer all
the questions to the best of his/her knowledge and acknowledge all the
comments, and they may either be positive or negative.
Fortunately, this smaller arena is also traditionally more infor-
mal than other sessions. It is here that the presenter can engage, if nec-
essary, in longer discussions, describing the work done (or yet to be
done), admitting to mistakes and doubts, asking questions and receiving

14
answers from the viewer, and, finally, where researchers socialise and
the networking is done. Also, compared to genres with more rigid struc-
tures, such as the research article, these multimodal academic works
(i.e. works that comprise text, visual elements and a spoken compo-
nent) differ from most other academic genres because, although like
the research article they aim to both inform and persuade readers, they
also allow the author a certain amount of creativity, all the while lacking
precise and universally accepted poster presentation guidelines.
As Miracle (2003) noticed, thanks to the Internet, there is now a
great variety of material searchable online addressing issues in poster
design and presentation. These guidelines provide easy-to-use infor-
mation, which aids authors, even inexperienced ones, in presenting
discourse clearly and coherently. Unfortunately it is unclear whether
certain poster presentation rules and conventions are discipline-specific.
Are posters in the hard sciences similar to the posters in the so-called
soft sciences? Are there any unspoken rules and conventions that recur
within single disciplines and should, therefore, be openly known to
novice academics? These are the questions students and academics in
general pose themselves when they start using the genre.

1.2 Rationale for the study

After an extensive literature search on sources available in English, I

realised that a systematic linguistic and visual analysis had never been
carried out on the genre of academic poster presentations, and the
vision–language interaction has so far been overlooked in multimodal
genre analysis, though the need for multimodal corpora is increasing
more and more. Currently, a corpus comprising conference poster pres-
entations created in different disciplinary fields and systematically col-
lected and annotated does not exist. As a consequence, a consistent and
reliable textual and semiotic analysis, that is also interdisciplinary, has
been carried out yet on this ‘marginalised’ genre. The lack of confer-
ence poster presentation corpora made the need for such a study more

15
urgent and the creation of a poster corpus became vital to carry out a
consistent analysis of the genre.
Online forums and websites such as Better Posters (Faulkes,
2015), Pimp my Poster (Purrington, 2014), the AALS Poster Project
(Miller, 2013) and the Online Journal of Scientific Posters all gather
and display posters presented in different disciplines, mostly within the
hard sciences. These online resources are certainly a valuable resource
because they represent a varied pool of data and a point of reference
for the novice poster presenter who asks him/herself for the first time
what a poster is and what it should look like. However, because a corpus
gathering posters from different disciplines has never been devised and
methodically implemented, there is a lack of reliable and representative
data to carry out research on the genre. As a consequence, a thorough
linguistic and visual analysis has never been carried out on the genre of
academic posters.
Because of the lack of a systematic linguistic and visual analysis
on the genre of academic posters, there is a need for a study of poster
presentations that records and classifies the most common strategies
employed by poster presenters across disciplines and subdisciplines. To
carry out such analysis, an ad hoc framework of analysis must first be
established, capable of classifying the linguistic and visual resources
utilised by poster presenters.
Given the motivations above, the main aim of this volume is
to investigate which textual and visual reader-oriented strategies are
commonly employed in poster presentations in different academic dis-
ciplines, i.e. which elements are found in the text and in the visuals
of posters that help the reader understand concepts better, help him/
her follow the unfolding text and involve him/her in the evolving dis-
course. To explore this aspect of academic presentations, and answer
these research questions, a corpus of 120 posters gathered from three
subdisciplines has been produced, devised and analysed linguistically
as well as visually, considering the most common guidelines and rules
currently available online and offline to students and junior researchers.
The analyses have been carried out only on the visual and tex-
tual elements displayed in posters and not on the verbal presentation of
the research, which is also part of a poster presentation. This provided

16
enough potential for research because of the lack of a well-established
framework of analysis for visual elements and the lack of automatic
tagging software capable of processing visual material.

1.3 Overview of the volume

In Chapter 2, where I carry out my Literature Review, I introduce and

discuss the current theories evolving around academic discourse and
academic genres. The chapter then focuses on the academic poster
genre in particular and its visual and textual organisation. Metadis-
course is then introduced, followed by an overview of multimodality
and an explanation of the main principles underlying my corpus design.
In Chapter 3, I introduce the corpus of academic posters that was
collected for the study and I explain in detail the various reasons and
principles behind the design of the corpus. Fundamental corpus design
principles such as purpose, representativeness, balance and size are dis-
cussed, and the chapter explains/illustrates how these principles have
been applied to the present corpus. It is here that I explain how I con-
ducted my survey, how I selected the respondents for the survey as well
as how I selected and retrieved the academic poster presentations that
make up my corpus. Finally, I explain how I carried out the interviews
that accompany the corpus of poster presentations and how I named and
formatted the files collected.
In Chapter 4, I propose a framework for the analysis of academic
posters. I identify the textual resources in posters which can be clas-
sified as interactive or interactional metadiscourse elements (Hyland,
2004a, 2004b) and the visual resources that can be classified as inter-
active metadiscourse elements (Kress 2010; Kress & van Leeuwen,
2001, 2006). I continue by explaining how I searched for textual and
visual metadiscourse resources in the corpus. The chapter concludes by
expressing the limitations of the framework of analysis used.
Chapter 5 focuses on the analyses carried out and the results
obtained. Here I analyse the textual interactive and interactional resources

17
and the visual interactive resources found in three subdisciplines: High
Energy Particle Physics, Law, and Clinical Psychology. After a brief
introduction, I discuss the textual interactive and interactional resources
found in each subcorpus, followed by a discussion of the visual inter-
active and interactional resources utilised by poster authors. Finally, a
cross-disciplinary comparison of academic posters is carried out, focus-
ing on wordiness, orientation, layout and the use and recurrence of textual
and visual metadiscourse.
In Chapter 6, I carry out a Discussion drawing on the results
obtained and the interviews conducted with High Energy Particle Phys-
icists, Lawyers, and Clinical Psychologists. I discuss here the use and
recurrence of textual and visual metadiscourse across subdisciplines,
based on the results obtained in Chapter 5. Finally, I conclude the book
with a review of the research limitations and a few suggestions for fur-
ther research.

18
Chapter 2: Review of the literature

2.1 Overview of the chapter

In this chapter, I review the past and current research literature on

aspects pertaining to academic writing with a particular focus on issues
relevant to conference posters. I start by introducing the idea of an aca-
demic community and its disciplines, followed by five main questions I
pose myself and that I answer:

– What is academic discourse?

– What are academic genres?
– What is an academic poster presentation?
– What is metadiscourse?
– What is multimodality?

I attempt to explain the concepts relating to academic discourse, aca-

demic genres, academic posters, metadiscourse and multimodality, and
for each single topic mentioned, the current literature available is dis-
cussed. I conclude the chapter by presenting and discussing the main
principles underlying corpus design.

2.2 The academic community, its disciplines

and subdisciplines

Universities and Colleges are important organizations of higher learn-

ing, dedicated to research and the dissemination of knowledge. A defi-
nition of the academic world is provided by Caplow and McGee (2001),
who have described the university as a unique type of organization that
goes back to the Middle Ages and is organized hierarchically in such a
way that it can count on more know-how than any other type of organ-
ization.
This highly structured academic community comprises scholars,
researchers and teachers involved in research and teaching, affiliated to
a public or private institution (i.e. university, research institute/centre,
college, etc.). It is within this academic community that disciplines
are born, defined and researchers are formed. However, as Becher and
Trowler (2001) have recognised, it is very difficult to find a definition
valid for all disciplines, as each discipline is very different from the rest.
Also, as Krishnan (2009) noted, teaching a subject within a higher learn-
ing organization does not alone confer the status of ‘discipline’ on it. He
goes on to suggest a list of characteristics to recognise whether a field
of research is indeed a discipline. He suggests checking if researchers
work within this research field, which they may or may not share with
other disciplines, if they have a specific body of literature, if they base
their research work on theories and methodologies developed specifi-
cally for that discipline, if they use specialist language and finally, if the
discipline can count on a number of subjects taught at university level,
as well as on a Department and a number of associations that promote
its research (Krishnan, 2009). As Krishnan (2009) specifies, an area of
study might not comply with the above characteristics, but the more it
does, the more it can be recognised as a discipline.
Biglan (1973) also tried to explain the existing differences
between disciplines by interviewing its members and noting what
their beliefs were, regarding their own discipline. He consequently
developed a classification scheme that divides ‘hard’ disciplines from
‘soft’ disciplines, denoting a difference between natural sciences and
the humanities. He also distinguished between ‘applied’ disciplines
(e.g., Engineering), ‘pure’ disciplines (e.g., Mathematics), disciplines
that comprise ‘living systems’ (e.g. Biology) and those that comprise
‘non-living systems’ (e.g. Art).
What is particularly interesting about Biglan’s (1973) analysis is
that he combines the epistemological and the cultural dimension of dis-
ciplines, noting that, for example, ‘hard’ sciences are respected more,
researchers in the hard sciences publish articles in academic journals,
and there is a higher connection between specialists in these fields than

20
in others. On the other hand, he believes ‘soft’ sciences are valued less,
researchers within these fields are more focussed on publishing mon-
ographs as well as teaching and are not as connected as researchers in
the ‘hard’ sciences.
Hyland (2000) and Fløttum et al. (2006) have also provided a
relatively simple classification of disciplines. Hyland (2000), for exam-
ple, selected material from eight disciplines to compile his corpus
and he divided these disciplines into pure sciences, applied sciences,
humanities/social sciences and applied social sciences. The research-
ers at the University of Bergen (Fløttum et al., 2006), working on the
KIAP corpus, instead divide disciplines in only three categories: the
natural sciences, the social sciences and the humanities. They argue
that the natural sciences are objective and highly standardised, whereas
the humanities are subjective and favour the interpretation of texts. The
social sciences instead stand midway between the social and the natural
sciences, because they are sometimes based on an objective body of lit-
erature, and sometimes they rely on a more subjective and interpretative
methodology.
As Giannoni (2010) states, the way disciplines are classified
and recognised shows us just how difficult it is to force disciplinary
fields into rigid inventories and how problematic it is when we consider
fields that lie in an intermediate position. Giannoni (2010) depicts this
situation skilfully when he states that if white and black represent the
humanities and the natural sciences, the social sciences can instead be
represented by a new, in-between colour, which is grey. Although it is
still unclear how to define a discipline (Hyland, 2009a, 2009b; Maura-
nen, 2006) and the concept itself is still often questioned (e.g. Gergen &
Thatchenkery, 1996), linguists have focused on distinguishing between
disciplines by carrying out studies of rhetorical practices. As Hyland
and Bondi (2006) recognise, this is because writing within the academic
world means adapting one’s own way of thinking, researching and com-
municating research to the rules and conventions established by a wider
scientific community. Furthermore, disciplines can be perceived as
communities that use language to produce, discuss, support, express
collegiality, and spread knowledge. By taking part in the discussion of
our research community, we as academic writers and readers, gradually

21
acquire the competencies necessary to participate in a specialised dis-
course (Hyland & Bondi, 2006). Each scientific discipline has learned
to, over the years, see and understand the world differently, putting in
practice different procedures and conventions. The idea that each dis-
cipline develops its own type of discourse and sets its rules and con-
ventions, rendering texts meaningful, becomes then pivotal, and fuels
research into discourse analysis (Wells 1992, cited in Hyland, 2009a: 8).
If defining what a discipline is can be difficult, classifying disci-
plines and subdisciplines proves to be an even more complicated ordeal.
If a discipline is defined as ‘a branch of knowledge or teaching’1, a
subdiscipline can instead be referred to as ‘a specialist field of study or
work within a broader discipline’2. As simple as these definitions may
seem, the act of classifying science into a disciplinary (and subdisci-
plinary) structure is as old as science itself and centuries of construc-
tive research on this topic have unfortunately led to inconclusive results
(Glanzel & Schubert, 2003). Klein (1993) in fact writes that no matter
the numerous studies carried out on the subject over the years, delimit-
ing disciplines and subdisciplines based on the methodologies used, the
type of organization set and the background literature is still extremely
difficult if not impossible. It is also important to understand that dis-
ciplines and subdisciplines are far from static: although they may be
focussed on a particular school of thought, they are far from isolated
and constantly evolve with time thanks to sporadic contacts between
disciplines, or constant interdisciplinary work. Thanks to these contin-
uous (or sporadic) disciplinary contacts, disciplinary and subdiscipli-
nary fields may influence one another with different points of view and
methodologies (Easton & Shelling, 1991) and gaps and overlaps can
occur (Becher & Trowler, 2001). Boundary lines among disciplines and
subdisciplines therefore become ‘[…] ambiguous, flexible, historically
changing, contextually variable, internally inconsistent, and sometimes
disputed’ (Klein, 1993: 186).

1 American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copy-

right © 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
2 Collins English Dictionary Online, Retrieved August 14, 2015, from <http://
www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/subdiscipline>.

22
 Nonetheless, it seems we cannot manage without conceptually
organizing academic subjects into disciplinary and subdisciplinary
fields, because these help determine what exactly we can or cannot
study, the methodology we should or should not use and the amount
of interpretation allowed (Messer-Davidow et al., 1993). At one point
therefore, it was necessary to somehow provide academic institutions,
communities, publishers, encyclopaedias and libraries with a classi-
fication system that classified disciplines and their related subfields
in a more detailed way than the Biglan’s (1973) classification system
did (Glanzel & Shubert, 2003). The classification by Biglan in fact,
although it offers a good point of reference to analyse academic diver-
sity and has been revisited since its initial appearance (Stoecker, 1993),
it is not sufficient to categorize all the existing disciplinary subfields.
Since the 1970’s, a number of systems have been developed, such as
the Science Citation Index (SCI), the database of the Institute for scien-
tific Information (ISI) (today also known as ‘ISI Web of Knowledge’)
(Thomson Scientific, PA, USA), the UCSD map of science and classi-
fication system (Börner et al., 2012), the Classification of Instructional
Programs (CIP) and the more famous US Library of Congress (LCSH)
system and Dewey Decimal Classification system (DDC). Focusing
on the UCSD map of science and classification system (Börner et al.,
2012), which draws from the Web of Science database and the Scopus
database, with subdisciplines assigned by SciTech Strategies (Börner
et al., 2012), we see that researchers have identified 554 journal clus-
ters and the relative subdisciplines were aggregated into 13 high level
disciplines. Furthermore, many disciplines have their own official clas-
sification system. For example, the Association for Computing Machin-
ery (ACM) system is used in computing; in medicine we find that the
MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) or UMLS (Unified Medical Lan-
guage) systems are widely used and in physics, the PACS (The Physics
and Astronomy Classification Scheme) has now become popular (Fox
et al., 2014). Having attempted to provide a definition of an academic
discipline, let us now turn to another challenging term relevant in this
context: academic discourse.

23
2.3 What is academic discourse?

Academic discourse can be regarded as one of the many ways special-

ised discourse is realized textually (Bhatia, 2002; Flowerdew, 2002).
It is used within the academic world to communicate and disseminate
ideas to a specialised audience, which is capable of interpreting this dis-
course unambiguously. As Hyland (2004a) and Jolliffe and Brier (1988)
underline, academic discourse allows not only universities to carry out
teaching and research duties, but it allows researchers and students to
create roles and relationships that are vital to the survival of disciplines
and related knowledge. Academic discourse becomes indispensable, in
particular, to disseminate ideas, educate students and construct knowl-
edge through articles and essays, lectures and conference presentations.
It can also be considered the most important aspect of the academic
world, because it enables individuals to cooperate but also compete with
one another, to create new know-how, all the while outlining academic
allegiances (Hyland, 2009e). It is impossible to separate the academy
from its discourses, because it is only through its discourses, i.e. pub-
lished material that is made public and available to the wider scientific
community, that a discovery becomes significant.
Before considering academic discourse and the most recent lit-
erature on the subject, it is worthwhile to first approach the concept of
‘discourse communities’, which is an abstract, complex, and still con-
tested term.

2.3.1 Discourse communities

To understand what the term ‘discourse community’ means, and most of

all, what it entails, one can picture a group of people sharing a language
and its grammatical and lexical rules, as a result of their continuous
contact. The construct of discourse community has many definitions
indeed, but what all of these have in common is the idea that a language
is what holds a group together, acting as a sort of glue. A shared lan-
guage contributes to the creation of shared beliefs held by a community,

24
as well as the creation of shared expectations and common and accepted
ways of expressing oneself (Rafoth, 1990).
The term ‘discourse community’ therefore is often used in the
literature to emphasize the fact that we write differently depending on
characteristics such as our gender, our level of education, our disci-
pline as well as the genre and the register we use (see Bazerman, 1990;
Berkenkotter & Huckin, 1995; Porter, 1992; Swales, 1990a, 1998). A
discourse community can also be regarded as a group of individuals
with specific aims and commitments, that has commonly agreed to use
distinctive genres in order to fulfil these commitments (Swales, 1990a).
In particular, the following characteristics have been identified (Swales,
1990a), to define a community of discourse:

1. a community of discourse has a number of goals that are com-

monly shared and are known to the outside world;
2. a community of discourse has members that are able to com-
municate with each other (e.g. through a newsletter, emails and
journals);
3. a community of discourse has members that use genres to dis-
seminate research;
4. a community of discourse has members that are able to offer
feedback as well as information to peers;
5. a community of discourse has its own specialized lexis and its
own genres;
6. a community of discourse can count on a minimum number of
specialized members having an adequate and suitable qualifica-
tion in the area.

As Borg (2003) notes, the notion of ‘discourse community’ is closely

tied to the concepts of ‘speech community’ (Gumperz, 2001; Labov,
1989) and ‘interpretive community’ (Fish, 1980). On the one hand, the
term ‘speech community’ relates to communities that share the same
language variety, as is the case of different varieties of English. ‘Inter-
pretive community’ instead refers to a network of people, scattered
around the world, who share a common way of interpreting texts pro-
duced within the same community. What also distinguishes a ‘speech
community’ from an ‘interpretive community’ is also the fact that the

25
latter makes willingly the choice of sharing a common discourse and
common goals (Borg, 2003). To describe a typical discourse commu-
nity, Swales (1990a) uses a very simple yet effective image: he com-
pares a discourse community to a group of stamp collectors spread
around the world, who are interested in collecting one particular type of
stamp. They may never meet physically, but they share the same interest
and probably a specific means of in-group communication, such as a
newsletter. This genre is what they use to communicate, to reach their
goals and ultimately is what keeps them united.
The notion of discourse community has also triggered a vast
research effort within the Writing for Specific Purposes (WSP) field
(see Killingsworth & Gilbertson (1992), Olsen (1993), Orlikowski &
Yates (1994) among others) as well as the English for Specific Pur-
poses (ESP) field (see, for example, Offord-Gray & Aldred, 1998).
However, the notion of discourse community is still igniting numerous
questions and discussions regarding, for example, its optimal size and
stability; whether oral discourse is necessary to a discourse community
and finally, whether or not the goals and genres shared by the members
define the discourse community itself (Borg, 2003).
Some of these questions find an answer in the study carried out
by Swales (1998), who recognised that ‘place discourse communities,’
unlike simple ‘discourse communities,’ are characterized (and united)
by both oral and written language. This suggests the idea that a com-
munity is maintained through written and oral discourse and that new
members need to learn these written and spoken languages to comply
with the shared norms and expectations of the community. Lave and
Wenger (1991) vividly describe the process that students experience
once they arrive on campus as a metamorphosis that allows them to
gradually distinguish between different discourse communities, differ-
ent tools, meanings and ways of interpreting texts. Ultimately, students
are able to enter a specific discourse community by learning its lan-
guage.
Different levels of discourse communities also exist, depending
at what levels professionals decide to affiliate. When they do affiliate at
a higher, more heterogeneous level, they also have to share language as
well as background knowledge, never forgetting the smaller, more spe-
cialized group they belong to (Johns, 1997). A linguist, for example,

26
may be interested in genre analysis and belong to a particular research
group, but he or she may also be a member of a wider association,
such as the British Association of Applied Linguistics, which gathers
experts in different aspects of linguistics and language studies. Also,
although a linguist works within a specific discipline, s/he also shares
a number of linguistic and rhetorical rules (e.g. the use of the IMRD
format, the use of hedges and boosters, citation rules, etc.) with the rest
of the scientific community, regardless of the disciplinary field (Hyland,
2009a). After providing a working definition of ‘discourse community’,
the closely related concept of academic community and its importance
will be introduced and discussed.

2.3.2 Working definition of ‘discourse community’

For the present study, I will use the definition of ‘discourse community’
coined by Rafoth (1990):

If there is one thing that most of [the discourse community definitions] have
in common, it is an idea of language [and genres] as a basis for sharing and
holding in common: shared expectations, shared participation, commonly (or
communicably) held ways of expressing. Like audience, discourse community
entails assumptions about conformity and convention. (p. 144)

The term ‘discourse community’ in the present work thus identifies a

group of people who share common rules of language, because of their
continuous contact and communication activities.

2.3.3 The academic community and the importance

of academic discourse

Over time, academic discourse has not only dominated the university
world but has also colonized very different non-academic domains
(Hyland, 2011), so much so that the way academics communicate in
the world has changed. Examples of academic discourse can be found
everywhere, from advertisements to documentaries, to periodicals and
leaflets. Those who are able to use this type of discourse are regarded

27
as experienced and knowledgeable academic writers and hold a prestig-
ious position within the community (Hyland, 2011).
Hyland (2011) also identifies three main reasons that caused, within
a period of 20 years, a greater interest in academic discourse, especially
academic writing in English. The first reason is that writing skills have
become more important due to a number of changes in higher education;
the second reason is that English has become the language of research,
so much so that in order to publish and succeed academically, one has to
publish in English. Finally, linguistic theories have recognised the impor-
tance of academic discourse in the development of knowledge (Hyland,
2011). Each of these three main reasons for the development of academic
discourse will be discussed more thoroughly hereafter.
First of all, the changes in higher education mentioned above are
actually the result of a great expansion of higher education in countries
within Europe, Asia and Australasia. An increasing number of students
are now travelling abroad, often covering very long distances and paying
full fees, to receive a university education. If the number of international
students is rising fast, so is international migration. These elements
together can help account for the creation of a linguistically and cultur-
ally heterogeneous student body in many countries (Hyland, 2011).
This international student body needs to be aware of the linguistic
competencies required by students, whether native speakers of English
(NS) or speakers of English as a second language (ESL). Their skills in
written English must be adequate so that they are able to demonstrate
they fully understand the subjects taught at a University level (Hyland,
2011). In other words, because students come from different cultures
and have different competencies and also different ways of interpreting
reality, teachers need to verify if students have the abilities and com-
petencies to successfully follow a university course. EAP (English for
Academic Purposes) programmes have thus been reinforced, expanded
and researched in order to better help students reach the required lan-
guage level (Hyland, 2009a, 2009c, 2011).
The second reason mentioned above for this increased attention
in EAP and TESOL pedagogies is the fact that English language has
an enormous influence in the ‘publish or perish’ dilemma experienced
by researchers around the world. As many recognise, the only way to

28
climb the academic ladder and gain recognisance in one’s disciplinary
field is to publish in English, because these publications get cited more
frequently than if they were written in the L1 of the author (Bakewell,
1992; Curry & Lillis, 2004; Burrough-Boenisch, 2006; Lillis & Curry,
2010; Hyland, 2011). The fact that online journals are now widespread
also fuels publications in English, since it is thanks to these online pub-
lications that researchers become highly visible. For example, a study
by Björk et al. (2009) has shown that in 2007 alone, a total of 1,350,000
peer-reviewed research articles were published globally in English,
and the growth rate is estimated to augment by 4% annually. Also, the
number of papers published in English by NNS of English is far higher
than the number of papers published by ESL authors (Lillis & Curry,
2010; Swales, 2004). As a consequence, researchers wishing to publish
in English often seek highly specialized courses that train writers in
academic English (Burrough-Boenisch, 2006; Cooke, 1993).
The third major reason for studying academic discourse lies in the
sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK). As Hyland (2011) explains,
in the last few years, SSK has challenged the traditional view of aca-
demic discourse: it is now no longer considered an objective demon-
stration of absolute truth. The world is always filtered through the eyes
of the researcher, and there are multiple ways of seeing and interpreting
things, and it is up to the writer to argue his/her claim, anticipating
possible challenges from readers. In this sense, studies on academic
discourse have analysed how academic writers use persuasion to induce
readers to accept an idea, all the while shaping and changing the entire
disciplinary community (Stubbs, 1996).

2.3.4 Research into academic discourse

Discourse analysis studies the way texts function and are written
depending on the social context. In academic contexts, in particular,
discourse analysis has focused on academic genres such as the research
article (Hartley, 2008, 2012; Hyland, 1998a, 2001; Swales & Feak,
2000; Thompson, 2001; Thompson, 2005), conference presentation
(Swales, 2004), book review (Hartley, 2006), Ph.D. thesis (Hyland,
2004; Thompson, 2005, 2009a, 2009b, 2012a, 2012b), student essay

29
(Thompson, 2009b), and final reports (Hyland, 2012). Academic genres
will be discussed more in detail in Section 2.4, but it is important to note
here that within the wider field of discourse analysis, genre analysis
examines recurrent lexical and grammatical patterns found in language.
These patterns are of interest to linguists because they reveal the rhetor-
ical practices in use in different academic communities. Hyland (2011)
uses a perfect metaphor when he writes that genres are like contracts
between writers and readers: writers adhere to a standardized form and
a set of rhetorical forms, so that readers know exactly what to expect.
Genre analysis, therefore, highlights what emerges as typical in
collections of texts gathered from different disciplinary communities
and academic genres. As Hyland (2011) explains, genre analysis is
mainly influenced by Halliday (1994) and Swales (1990), who believe
that deliberate lexico-grammatical and rhetorical choices made by
authors connect texts to particular social contexts and discourse com-
munities, whose members share the same purposes. The exploration of
the lexico-grammatical regularities found in particular genres has been
one of the most fruitful applications of discourse analysis to academic
texts (Hyland, 2011).
By analysing these recurrent rhetorical forms and linguistic fea-
tures, researchers have acquired a more thorough knowledge of aca-
demic genres, i.e. how they are formed and used. In this sense, Swales’
(1990a, 1990b) move analysis has been a pioneering work, followed
by many others, such as Hyland (2004c), who analysed dissertation
acknowledgments and Bruce (2009, 2010), who analysed the methods
sections in research articles. Other researchers have instead concen-
trated on particular linguistic features, either functional, grammatical
or rhetorical, found in different genres, such as hedges in research arti-
cles (Hyland, 1998a), circumstance adverbials in student presentations
(Zareva, 2009) and evaluation in book reviews (Hyland & Diani, 2009).
To easily identify these recurrent linguistic patterns in different
types of texts, researchers have been using corpora, which, as Hyland
(2009c) notes, enable the researcher to carry out more informed analy-
ses, based on a much greater number of texts. The use of specific corpus
linguistics software and tools also contribute to more precise and accu-
rate results. Because of the data collection and the possibility to quickly
scan through the corpus in search of frequent linguistic patterns, corpus

30
linguistics provides important insights in discourse analysis, highlight-
ing disparities across disciplines, genres and languages (Biber, 2006;
Hyland, 2004a, 2005; Swales, 2004). If the quantitative analysis, Hyland
(2011) adds, is accompanied by a qualitative analysis, the linguistic and
rhetorical patterns found will be better interpreted because of the per-
sonal insights researchers provide.
Aside from corpus linguistic analyses, since the 1980s, several
ethnographic-oriented studies have explored the cultures of academics
and have provided a more accurate and authentic description of the lan-
guage they use (Dressen-Hammouda, 2013). Swales’ (1998) study on
the different discourses coexisting within one single building at the Uni-
versity of Michigan is perhaps the best known of these. Thanks to eth-
nographic/linguistic tolls such as field observations, recordings, surveys
and interviews, Swales was able to paint a detailed picture of academics
working in different fields, all coexisting within the same building. The
analysis of these different types of data allows us to understand how
diverse academic practices are as well as the fact that the roles played by
mentors, supervisors and peers have an influence on the writing process
of academics. These written and oral texts are far from detached and
impartial and, as Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) has demonstrated,
they work to create academic knowledge, identity and power (Paltridge,
1995, 1996, 2002, 2008).
These approaches and strands of research have been producing
interesting results that inform us of how academic communities func-
tion and how we should educate university students to enable them to
participate in the on-going disciplinary discourses. The volume of this
research makes it inevitably difficult to summarise, but Hyland (2011:
177) was able to identify four main findings:

1. That academic genres are persuasive and systematically struc-

tured to secure reader’s agreement;
2. That these ways of producing agreement represent disciplinary
specific rhetorical preferences;
3. That language groups have different ways of expressing ideas and
structuring arguments;
4. That academic persuasion involves interpersonal negotiations as
much as convincing ideas.

31
2.3.5 Academic discourse across disciplines

As the Biglan (1973) classification presented in section 2.2 demon-

strates, the epistemological and cultural dimension of disciplines is not
only varied but is also unstable, as discipline and subdiscipline clas-
sifications change and evolve over time and are subject to continuous
debate. It is under this influence that research in academic discourse has
evolved, giving light to a number of schools of thought or approaches to
the study of disciplines (Lillis & Scott, 2007).
For example, in the USA, the teaching of writing can count on
a long tradition and different disciplinary and epistemological frame-
works that guide the study of discipline-specific rhetoric (Ede, 1999;
Flower, 1994; Horner and Lu, 1999; Russel, 2002). In Australia instead,
interest in the way students and academics write is a recent phenome-
non and has been influenced mainly by two approaches: the systemic
functional linguistics approach (Skillen, 2006) and the New Literacy
Studies approach (Candlin and Plum, 1998). In the UK, in the last few
years, there has been on the other hand a marked interest in EAP (e.g.
Hyland, 2004a, 2004b; Hyland & Bondi, 2006), an area of research,
which has been fuelled by a growing influx of international students to
Anglophone universities who now have an easier access to higher edu-
cation institutions (Crowley, 1998; Horner & Lu, 1999). These interna-
tional students, who join the already growing local student body, are the
force behind a widely recognized ‘globalization’ of higher institutions
(Lillis & Scott, 2007). This ‘globalization’ of higher education forces
universities to face evident literacy and language problems (McKinney
and van Pletzen, 2004; Thesen and van Pletzen, 2006). At the centre of
attention of literacy activities we find student writing, because on the
one hand, the written text produced by a student is still the most valua-
ble form of assessment in the hands of teachers and, on the other hand,
because learning to write within one’s academic discipline means being
able to participate in a specific scientific community (Lillis & Scott,
2007; Swales & Feak, 2004).
The EAP approach has been influenced by research in applied
linguistics, genre analysis (Dudley-Evans, 2000; Swales, 1990, 2004)
and discourse analysis (e.g., Hyland, 2000, 2004; Thompson, 2005)
focusing on specific textual features of academic texts. Research on

32
academic discourse was able, in particular, to reveal the distinctive ways
disciplines have of asking questions, addressing a literature, criticis-
ing ideas and presenting arguments. The literature on cross-disciplinary
analyses is vast and varied and much could be said on the research that
has been carried out in this field. Hereafter I will provide examples of
research studies that have enriched cross-disciplinary comparisons of
academic discourse in the last three decades.
In experimental sciences, for example, Hyland (2009e) has
revealed that the IMRD format is used to present findings, starting from
an Introduction section, followed by a Methodology, Results and Dis-
cussion section. In the humanities, in contrast, writers rely on strength
of argument and the rhetoric of persuasion to make claims, whereas in
the social sciences writers can rely on scientific methods but still need
to pay attention to the interpretation of less-predictable human data.
Looking at genres such as scientific letters (Hyland, 2004a), writing
assignments (Gimenez, 2009) and Ph.D. dissertations (Hyland, 2004c),
research has discovered considerable rhetorical variation across dis-
ciplines. For example, Hyland (2011) notes that an example of how
language is used differently across fields is the use of hedges such as
possible, might, probably and so on. Because in the humanities writers
cannot count on experimental data and controlled variables, they seem
to avoid making strong claims regarding their assumptions and tend
to recognize possible alternative views (Hyland, 2009e). In the hard
sciences, instead, Hyland (2008, 2011) has found that writers tend to
be linguistically objective, in the sense that they let their data speak
for themselves, and they limit the author’s presence in the text. A mile-
stone in cross-disciplinary comparisons of academic genres is Hyland’s
(2004) work, which considers five different genres produced in eight
different disciplines, totalling 1,426 texts. This work has revealed
numerous disciplinary variations when it comes to, for example, cita-
tion practices (researchers in the hard sciences taking a more neutral
position than writers in the soft sciences); evaluation (soft discipline
writers being more critical than writers in the hard sciences) and the
structure of abstracts (soft scientists including the Introduction move
and hard scientists focussing instead on the Methodology move).

33
 Nesi and Gardner’s (2012) work is also an important contribu-
tion as it compares student writings that have been distinguished in 13
different genre families, all represented in the BAWE corpus. These
assignments have been produced in different disciplines, belonging to
four main disciplinary groupings: Arts and Humanities, Life Sciences,
Physical Sciences and Social Sciences. Nesi and Gardner (2012) were
able to develop a detailed classification of university writing and group
genres together depending on the similarities they displayed across
disciplines, thus constructing genre networks. Their impressive work
demonstrated that although Essays have traditionally been considered
the main genre utilized by students across disciplines, actually all 13
genre families are used across the curriculum. Students therefore have
to be able to modify the way they write depending on the discipline they
belong to, the genre they are experimenting with and the task at hand
(argumentation, evaluation, personal reflection, etc.).
Further interesting work has been carried out by Samraj
(2002, 2005), who researched the differences in the organization and
lexico-grammatical features of research abstracts and research article
introductions drawn from two related fields: Wildlife Behaviour and
Conservation Biology. In his first work, as far as rhetorical moves are
concerned, some differences do appear between the abstracts collected
from the two disciplines. For example, although all four moves con-
sidered by Samraj (2002) are utilized in the two sets of abstracts, the
‘Results’ move occupies more space and is present in all abstracts. The
‘Conclusion’ and ‘Methods’ moves are utilized less in both disciplines,
whereas the ‘Situating the Research’ and ‘Purpose’ moves are utilized
more in Conservation Biology abstracts than in Wildife Behaviour ones.
In a later work, Samraj (2005) revealed that the structure and function
of research article introductions and abstracts in Conservation Biology
are very similar, something that does not happen in Wildlife Behavior.
Bunton (2002) concentrated on the moves present in 45 Ph.D.
thesis introductions (written by native and non-native speakers of Eng-
lish), drawn from the Faculties of Science, Engineering, Arts, Education
and Social Sciences. In this work, the author confirmed that all 14 steps
of Swales (1990) and Dudley-Evans (1986) moves model are present
in his corpus and he identified 10 additional steps. Another interesting

34
finding was the disparity found between the introductions written by
NS and NNS of English. More specifically, in the Arts and Education
faculties the Introductions written by NS of English displayed a wider
range of steps than NNS of English, whereas in the faculties of Science
and Social Sciences the situation is reversed: NNS of English have been
found to use more steps than NS of English. Bunton (2005) contin-
ued his research on PhD theses and dissertations by analysing the con-
cluding chapters of 45 PhD theses drawn from various disciplines. The
majority of the chapters have been found to follow the same functional
moves such as restating the purpose of the research, consolidating a
research space, recommending future research and stating implications
and recommendations. A small number of these however displayed a
problem-solution move structure instead.
Another author interested in cross-disciplinary analyses is Bruce
(2008), who investigated the organization of Methods sections found
in research-reporting articles published within the Social Sciences
and the Physical Sciences. His study revealed that Methods sections
employing a means-focused discourse structure are common in the
Physical sciences, whereas Methods sections following a chronological
and non-sequential descriptive structure are found mostly in the Social
sciences. A year later, utilizing the cognitive genre model, Bruce (2009)
focused on the Results sections of research-reporting articles from two
disciplines, Sociology and Organic Chemistry, and found that Sociol-
ogy papers mainly employ the Report cognitive genre, whereas Chem-
istry papers mainly employ the Explanation cognitive genre.
Holmes (1997) focused instead on the Discussion session found
in research articles belonging to the disciplines of History, Political
Sciences and Sociology and established that these three disciplines dis-
played different moves. In particular, History texts displayed a mark-
edly different move structure to Sociology and Political Sciences texts.
Groom (2005) compared research articles and book reviews collected
from two different disciplines (History and Literary Criticism) and ana-
lysed them from a phraseological point of view. His main finding is that
the two grammar patterns it v-link ADJ that and it v-link ADJ to-inf con-
sistently vary across the two disciplines and the two genres considered.

35
 Research on writing within the medical field is abundant and sees
numerous publications focusing on genres such as the research arti-
cle, the abstract and even personal statements. For example, inspired by
Swale’s (1981, 1990) genre analysis model, Nwogu (1997) developed
an eleven-move schema to analyse medical research papers. Another
interesting and more recent analysis of medical research articles has
been carried out by Li and Ge (2009) who have considered how the 11
moves identified by Nwogu (1997), as well as the use of verb tenses and
first person pronouns has changed from 1985 to 2009. Also analysing
medical abstracts is the work by Salager-Meyer (1990) who carried out
a move analysis of 77 ME abstracts and found that half of the abstracts
considered were missing a fundamental move, two or more necessary
moves were incomplete, or displayed an illogical order of moves or
an operlapping pharagraph structure. In a later study, Salager-Meyer
(1992) concentrated on the use of finite verb tense and modality and
revealed that the past was the predominant tense in her corpus, whereas
the present tense was utilized mostly in the conclusions and in reviews.
The present perfect was the third most frequent tense found in the corpus
and was utilized to mark the author’s disagreement with previous find-
ings. Finally, modality was more frequently noticed in review articles.
Anderson and Maclean (1997) also carried out a study of medi-
cal research abstracts, comparing them with the abstracts described in
textsbooks. The abstracts were drawn from four different medical fields
(Clinical Medicine, Surgery, Epidemiology, Basic Sciences) and the
author focused on the structure of the abstracts and the different linguis-
tic elements present. The study indicated that research article abstracts
and abstracts in textbooks are similar but the latter tends to be simplis-
tic, rigid and lacks several linguistic elements.
Ding (2007) carried out instead a hand-tagged move analysis
and a computerized analysis of lexical features in personal statements
written to apply to medical and dental schools. Five moves were iden-
tified by Ding (2007: 368): “explaining the reason to pursue the pro-
posed study”, “establishing credentials related to the fields of medicine/
dentistry”, “discussing relevant life experience”, “stating future career
goals”, and “describing personality”. Genre lexical-grammatical anal-
yses have also considered single disciplines, all the while contributing

36
to the mapping of academic discourse. Just as an example of the wide
literature available, I mention here Badger (2003), who carried out a
study focusing on the lexicon, grammar and text structure of news-
paper Law reports, a genre that is particularly important for Law stu-
dents and teachers. The author here first identified important social
and cultural factors influencing newspaper reports, and then tried to
understand whether these social and cultural factors could be linked
to textual factors. The lexico-grammar and text structure of newspaper
Law reports were analysed in particular to determine if and how they
guided the identification of the ratio decidendi (2003: 251). Gerofski’s
(1999) work instead is a discourse and genre analysis of mathematical
education texts. The author first establishes that there is a relationship
between this type of texts and word problems, parables and riddles and
then reveals that there are substantial similarities between the language
of initial calculus luctures and the language of the conjurer, the salesper-
son and even the nurse. Finally, Flowerdew (2000) concentrated on the
organizational structure of engineering undergraduate project reports,
using Swales’ (1990) genre-based framework. The Problem–Solution
pattern was recurrently found in these texts and examples of exercises
to expose students to the genre structure and the Problem–Solution pat-
tern were proposed.

2.4 What are academic genres?

The term ‘genre’ is utilized to group texts together depending on how

these texts are constructed and where and how they are utilized by writ-
ers, depending on the situation (Hyland, 2005, 2006; Martin & Veel,
2005; Swales, 2004;). Each genre has a number of characteristics that
are shared by all users of the genre and that make it unique from the
point of view of its purpose, its structure and the linguistic elements
present (Hyland, 2009a). Persuasion is at the heart of every academic
text, may it be a research article, a book review or a poster. Whatever the
genre employed, writers tend to draw on the same repertoire of linguis-
tic resources for each genre again and again, because readers also draw

37
from this known repertoire to understand the text and make assump-
tions on what the writer’s aim is (Hyland, 2011).
Hoey’s (2001) metaphor compares this aspect of writing (i.e.
connecting one text to a previous one) to dancers following each oth-
er’s steps, knowing beforehand which moves will be made. Readers
and writers, each following and expecting each other’s move, perform
exactly the same choreographed dance, i.e. they follow established forms
and patterns. Academic writers belonging to a disciplinary community
are usually able to recognise the structure of genres they often use and
the moves present in them, so that they can read, understand and use
them effectively (Hyland, 2006). The special relationship that develops
between readers and writers establishes, over time, specific discourse
communities (Duszak, 1994; Rowley-Jolivet & Carter-Thomas, 2005).
Learning to work with academic genres while building a disci-
pline-specific know-how, is not a simple process and can only be done
through formal learning and/or a repeated contact with discipline-re-
lated texts. In time, and with much practice, writers gradually acquire
the ability to produce texts that are clear to their audience. In this
sense, language has been compared to a very refined ‘form of tech-
nology’ that makes the text work correctly and enables participants to
interact successfully (Hyland, 2011: 177). It is important to understand
that these communicative conventions, as well as the ‘technical’ lan-
guage mentioned by Hyland, on the one hand, are meant to allow and
facilitate communication between members, and, on the other hand,
have a gatekeeping function (Swales, 1990) that requires and presup-
poses a minimum level of discoursal expertise held by each member
in order to be able to interpret and understand the texts produced by
the community.

2.4.1 Research into academic genres

The field of genre analysis has developed progressively since the

1980s thanks, among others, to the work of Swales (1990a, 1990b,
1998, 2000, 2004), Miller (1994,), Bhatia (1993, 1997, 2001, 2004,
2008), Berkenkotter and Huckin (1995), Hyland (2004), Thompson P.
(2009a, 2009b, 2012a, 2012b), Thompson S. (1994); Thompson and

38
Nesi (2001), Thompson and Tribble (2001), Gillaerts and Van de Velde
(2010). These numerous studies are just part of the flourishing domain
of genre analysis and they have given an important impetus to the anal-
ysis of specialised discourse.
Central to genre analysis is the existing relationship between dif-
ferent kinds of genres. Swales (2004) views this relationship as a hier-
archical one and explains that academic genres are viewed and judged
differently depending on the academic community within which they
are generated. Because of the many differences and divisions found
among disciplines, it is impossible to impose common standards across
the academic world (Belcher, 1989), which explains the rise of different
conventions and values concerning genre use. However, a hierarchy of
genre can be delineated across a broad section of the life science, sci-
ence, and social science fields. This hierarchy of genre sees the research
article placed ‘at the privileged centre of a spider’s web of interlocking
genres’ (Swales, 2004: 13). In contrast, other genres such as the aca-
demic poster or the book review still hold a marginal position within
this hierarchy of academic genres.
To comprehend the different hierarchies and values assigned to
academic genres, it is useful to consider the notions of genre chains,
genre sets and genre networks (Swales, 2004: 18–25). From Swales’
(2004) point of view, research genres can be ordered chronologically
forming short or long chains. If a researcher is invited to make a ple-
nary, the chain begins with an invitation letter or email, followed by a
presentation (including perhaps a PowerPoint, handout, overheads, etc.),
a thank you letter by the Department and payment arrangements. These
genres, preceding and following the ‘official’ plenary presentation, have
been defined as occluded genres (Swales, 1996), that is, they remain
hidden from outsiders and novices. Below is a partial list (Swales, 2004:
18) of these occluded genres in academic contexts, arranged depend-
ing on their importance and visibility within the academic community.
If senior researchers are involved in all eight types of genre, junior
researchers are expected to work their way up the list:

39
A. External evaluations (for academic institutions)
B. Evaluation letters for tenure and promotion (for committees)
C. Book or grant proposal reviews
D. Reviews of articles submitted to refereed journals
E. Discussions between examiners
F. Research grant proposals
G. Application, invitation, request, submission, and editorial-response letters
H. Initiating or responsive calls and emails

Knowing how a genre chain works and the rules that govern it, can
be very useful for a researcher. For example, knowing that a poster
is devised and presented before a research is concluded and a paper
written and published enables the author of the poster to focus on the
on-going research, rather than on the results.
Swales (2004) also re-elaborates the concept of genre set, orig-
inally developed by Devitt (1991). This concept sees different genres
utilized by different categories of academic writers, depending on their
academic position and experience. Academics that are at the beginning
of their career will probably engage in seminars, conference presenta-
tions, academic posters, research articles etc., whereas more senior
academics will probably be asked to present plenaries and publish mon-
ographs, as well as engage in less visible genres such as research or
grant proposals and reviews of articles for academic journals. This path
can be seen as a sort of apprenticeship that forces graduate and PhD
students as well as junior researchers to fully understand how genres
work within their academic field and they are forced to practice in these
genres until they develop an individual voice and enough authority to
proceed with other, more prestigious genres (Swales, 2004).
The concept of genre network has also been considered by Swales
(2004) but is actually a notion that originates with Bakhtin (1986) and
has been explored by Fairclough (1991, 1995) and Devitt (1991). The
main idea here is that a network exists between genres, because one
genre often re-elaborates elements from another genre. For example, a
poster can be seen as incorporating elements from the research article,
such as an abstract, an introduction, a methodology and results section.
At the same time it incorporates visual elements typical of PowerPoint
presentations, so that the poster genre can be seen as a re-elaboration
of two different genres. Traces of other genres can also be found in a

40
new text through quotations, paraphrases and citations. For example,
in a poster, one can find traces of previous research articles, through
citations, quotations, paraphrases and the reference list.
In the last two decades, increased attention has been dedicated to
genre analysis and how genres have been applied in language teaching
and learning. Genre approaches, in particular, have impacted consid-
erably on the ways language use is considered and on how language
teaching is carried out worldwide (Hyland, 2009b). Hyland (2002: 114)
also thinks that language should be seen as grounded in social real-
ities because by repeating over and over again forms (that therefore
become conventions), communities of practice are formed and individ-
uals establish relationships. Genre theorists (Bhatia, 1993, 1997, 2001,
2004, 2008; Berkenkotter & Huckin, 1995; Gillaerts & Van de Velde,
2010; Hyland, 2004a, 2004b; Miller, 1994; Swales 1990, 1998, 2000,
2004; Thompson, 2009a, 2009b, 2012a, 2012b; Thompson & Nesi,
2001; Thompson & Tribble, 2001) consider the context in which the
text is created as extremely important and, most of all, they believe
every individual is well aware of the context and the potential readers.

2.4.2 Different approaches to genre theory

Although theorists generally agree on the nature of a genre, they either

focus more on the role of texts in discourse communities or on how these
texts are organised. Three schools of genre theory, encouraging differ-
ent types of analyses, can be identified (Hyon, 1996; Johns, 2003). First
is the New Rhetoric group, which regards genre as ‘a socially standard
strategy, embodied as a typical form of discourse that has evolved and
responded to a recurring type of rhetorical situation’ (Coe & Freedman,
1998: 137). This orientation was initially inspired by Miller (1984) and
its main representatives are Bazerman (1988), Berkenkotter and Huckin
(1995) who have tried in the past three decades to uncover the attitudes
and values of the academic communities that employ these genre types.
Their approach does not address the classroom because it is considered
an inauthentic environment that lacks complex negotiations and multiple
audiences. Other contributions, however, have suggested pedagogic

41
applications for academic writing (Adam & Artemeva, 2002; Coe,
2002).
Another school of thought, developed in Australia, known as the
‘Sydney School’ and grounded on Halliday’s (1994) theoretical work of
systemic functional linguistics (SFL), sees genres as ‘system of staged
goal oriented social processes through which social subjects in a given
culture live their lives’ (Martin, 1997: 13). Researchers in this field have
identified and analysed the different stages of genres, as well as the
recurrent grammatical and lexical choices made by authors. Cope and
Kalantzis (1993), Martin (1992, 1997) and Rothery (1996) have con-
tributed significantly to this approach, which is motivated by a commit-
ment to language and literacy education, particularly in the context of
schools and adult migrant programmes (Feez, 2001).
The ESP approach, which is the third school of thought, stands
between the previous two. It is a teaching approach that is based solely
on learners’ needs and motivations (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987). In
this sense, it is a student-centred approach that aims at giving students
the skills necessary to function in a specific working environment.
Like the New Rhetoricians, it is mainly based on Bakthtin’s theories of
intertextuality and dialogism and on Systemic Functional Linguistics
(Bloor, 1998). Much of the research in this field is strongly motivated by
the pedagogical applications of findings (Swales 1990a, 1993; Bhatia,
1993, 1999; Johns, 1997) and has therefore focussed on the creation
of teaching material for LI and L2 tertiary students and professionals
(Swales & Feak, 2000, 2004).
What these three approaches have in common is the desire to
describe and explain how genres function and how and why they are
used. The Australian and ESP schools also wish to use the research
results obtained to provide teachers with new, informed material and
methodologies to use in class.
It is important now to mention a considerable amount of litera-
ture on the move-analysis theory, initially established by Hopkins and
Dudley-Evans (1988), Swales (1990a) and Bhatia (1993). In particu-
lar, Connor and Mauranen (1999) and Connor and Upton (2004) have
focused on grant proposals; Dubois (1997) and Holmes (1997) have
analysed sections of the research article and Hyland (2000) has focused

42
on abstracts. Other studies have explored instead genres that are less
academic and more related to business such as application letters (Henry
& Roseberry, 2001), and business faxes (Akar & Louhiala-Salminen,
1999). Move analyses have also interested those working within an SFL
framework, describing the rhetorical stages of various macro-genres
such as narratives, dissertations and reports.
Research on move analysis has therefore identified different
types of register, and recurring rhetorical features, which characterize
particular genres, pertaining for example to the academic and techni-
cal world, or to other more generic genres. Researchers have focused
for example on how authors construct their persona and how and to
what extent they use persuasion (Dafouz-Milne, 2008; Fuertes-Olivera
et al., 2001; Hyland, 2008). Swales et al. (1998) have instead focused
on the use of imperatives in research articles, whereas Kuo (1999), in
the same genre, has analysed the use of personal pronouns. The use
of hedges has instead been the topic of one of Hyland’s (1998) works.
Others have addressed theme choices in engineering reports (McKenna,
1997), grammatical sentence types in email memos (Price, 1997), mit-
igation in teacher-written feedback (Hyland & Hyland, 2001, 2006)
and reader-oriented features of functional healthcare texts such as
medicine-bottle labels (Wright, 1999). As a reaction to Stubbs’ (1996)
criticism that genre analysts had until then conveniently analysed short
texts, linguists turned their attention to longer and more complex genres,
such as popular science books (Fuller, 1998), school textbooks (Coffin,
1997; Veel, 1998) and PhD dissertations (Bunton, 1999; Thompson,
2009a, 2009b, 2012a, 2012b).
Eggins and Slade’s (1997) analysis of casual conversation, as
well as Thompson’s (2001) analysis of spoken academic interaction, is
also important because of the uncertain status of conversation as a genre
(Swales, 1990a). Further insights into spoken genres have emerged
thanks to the analyses of data held in the British Academic Spoken Eng-
lish (BASE) corpus, at the Universities of Warwick and Reading, and
the Michigan Corpus of Academic Spoken English (MICASE).
Finally, research has also begun to explore the intricate inter-
actions existing between visual and textual elements of a text (Kress
& van Leeuwen, 2006). Much of this work has explored text–visual

43
interrelations in academic genres, particularly as visual elements in
science textbooks and papers have become more important and more
widely used with the passing of time (e.g. Bazerman, 1988; Berkenkot-
ter & Huckin, 1995; Lemke, 1998; Miller, 1998; Myers, 2000).

2.4.3 A working definition of ‘academic genre’

For the present research I will consider an ‘academic genre’ as a genre

displaying a number of characteristics shared by all users of the genre,
which make it unique from the point of view of its purpose, its structure
and the linguistic elements present (Hyland, 2009a). The users of an
academic genre typically use the genre within an academic setting, for
academic purposes.

2.5 What is an academic poster presentation?

Numerous definitions of what a poster presentation is and what it entails

are available nowadays online, such as the following: “a poster pres-
entation consists of a visual display of research highlights on a fibre
board background combined with an interpersonal question and answer
period” (IKDS2015, American Heart Association). It is the ‘interper-
sonal question and answer period’ that renders the poster presentation
a genre of its own, differentiating it from paper and PowerPoint pres-
entations, as well as plenaries. Therefore the poster presentation can
be considered a multimodal communicative event, where not only text
and images play a role, but also graphics, colour, speech and even ges-
ture all collaborate in conveying meaning. Because each single element
present in the poster can also be found in other academic genres, we can
borrow Bhatia’s (2004: ix) view of ‘hybrid (mixed or embedded) forms
of genres’ and define the academic poster genre as a typical example of
‘hybrid’ academic product. The academic poster genre will be discussed
in detail in Section 2.5.1, but what can be anticipated here is that when
we work with posters, we work with a genre that does not have a rigid

44
structure as, for example, the research article. It is also a genre that
comprises a written, visual and spoken component. Still today, there is
a lack of precise prescriptive guidelines and, in most cases, students and
researchers alike rely on a kaleidoscope of tips and techniques as well
as first-hand experiences written by poster presenters which are easily
available online, e.g. Pimp My Poster (Purrington, 2014). These tips
and first-hand experiences of poster presenters, in most cases, indicate
that poster presentations should not only be creative, but also inform-
ative and persuasive. Already in the early 1990s, researchers realised
that the poster genre required numerous artistic and stylistic skills from
authors and that it is not a genre to be taken lightly. Matthews (1990) for
example describes the process of poster design as a detailed process that
requires the researcher to act not only as a writer but also as an editor
and a graphic designer who must be able to condense the message and
render it appealing, all the while displaying functional visual elements
that aid communication. This process is meant to render complex infor-
mation easily accessible by readers, a task that is very difficult to carry
out (Tufte & Graves, 1983).
Notwithstanding the difficulties they pose, posters do play an
important part in scientific conferences, or at least they have the poten-
tial to do so, for various reasons. For example, preliminary findings have
a chance to be showcased before the research is complete, therefore
allowing the researcher to receive feedback from peers. In this sense, as
already mentioned in Section 1.1, a poster can be said to have an ‘inter-
mediate status’ (Swales, 2004: 199), a characteristic that distinguishes
it from other genres and makes the poster presentation an engaging and
often highly productive event to participate in. Most of all, the poster
presentation is a relatively safe place to test the presentation skills of
the speaker and the soundness of his/her research. It is during poster
presentations that students and young researchers can in fact learn by
trial and mistake, because they are protected by an informal setting
that allows minor mistakes and omissions and that, most of all, allows
researchers to build and strengthen their academic persona. As these
characteristics demonstrate, the academic poster can be an interesting
and engaging disseminating tool at conferences, but its importance is
not always recognised as will be further explained in Section 2.5.1.

45
 Because the use of text and visuals is so important in the poster
genre, these aspects will be taken into consideration in the following
sections and will help define what the poster genre is and how it can
effectively be used to disseminate and negotiate scientific knowledge.

2.5.1 The academic poster presentation genre

As mentioned in the previous section, the academic poster genre sets

itself apart from other academic genres for various reasons. First of all
it is a multimodal way of presenting research findings (Archer, 2010;
Curwood, 2012; Doering et al., 2007; Kawahara et al., 2008), whether
partial or complete. It combines different modes and the written, spoken
and visual dimensions need to effectively work together to create mean-
ing (Alley, 2003). Because of all these elements intersecting, the poster
genre is difficult and several elements must be taken into consideration
when working with this genre. Bhatia’s (2004:23) genre-based view of
discourse provides a good start, especially if we take into consideration
two of the points he makes, when defining what a genre is:

Genres are recognizable communicative events, characterized by a set of com-

municative purposes identified and mutually understood by members of the
professional or academic community in which they regularly occur.

This first generalization made by Bhatia can be applied to the poster

genre, because it is a tool utilized by the academic community at large
and is no longer a genre limited to the hard sciences. Another point
made by Bhatia is that also the academic poster genre is capable of
responding to the various disciplinary needs and practices. Although
academics tend to consider genres as something that never changes over
time and is highly standardized (Bhatia, 2004), it is crucial to specify
here that genres in general, and the poster one in particular, continually
develop and change over time.
If it is clear that the poster genre develops and changes with tech-
nology, it is yet to be ascertained whether it is immune or not from
disciplinary variations. As explained in Section 2.4, where academic
genres were introduced, although academic genres are transversal to

46
disciplines, we do often find differences in the same genre depending on
the discipline (Bhatia, 2004). Also Dudley-Evans (1994) found that the
organization of lectures and plenaries may vary significantly depend-
ing on the discipline and the same can be said for the research article
(Bhatia, 2002; Hyland & Bondi, 2006). A number of linguists agree
therefore that disciplinary fields can be more or less different depending
on the conventions utilized to interpret data, construct arguments, the
type of evidentiality used and how knowledge is disseminated (Berk-
enkotter & Huckin, 1995; Bhatia, 2004).
The present investigation will hopefully clarify if also the poster
genre can be said to reflect disciplinary conventions and interpreta-
tions. What can be stated with certainty is that it is a genre that is
subject to change and developments, triggered mostly by technological
innovations, which have an influence not only on the way posters are
written and organized, but also on how they are presented (Bach et al.,
1993; De Simone et al., 2001; MacIntosh-Murray, 2007; Powell-Tuck
et al., 2002). In this sense, the poster genre can be said to experience
the changes that other academic genres also experience. It would be a
mistake, in fact, to picture all genres as static and highly integral. They
are actually very dynamic and they change depending on the context in
which they are used (Berkenkotter & Huckin 1995; Bhatia 1997).
In Section 2.5.2 the technological development of the academic
poster genre will be taken into consideration and the most recent liter-
ature, documenting the many transitions that the poster genre is experi-
encing, will be reported.
Having said this, a description of the poster genre necessarily has
to take into consideration three different components: the written com-
ponent, the visual component and finally, the spoken component. The
combination of these three elements is what renders the poster such an
eclectic and interesting genre and for this reason, each element will be
hereafter described.

2.5.1.1 The textual component in academic poster presentations

In the academic poster genre, information is presented on a single large
panel, a fact that semiotically distinguishes this type of genre from other
academic genres, such as the research article. What in a research article

47
can be described, explained and debated in several pages, in a poster, it
must be condensed in few words and a very limited amount of space.
Brevity and conciseness become fundamental when writing the text of
posters (Matthews, 1990). In fact, the most recurring advice is that the
number of words in a poster should be limited (APHA, 2014; Brown,
1996; Erren & Bourne, 2007; Hay & Thomas, 1999; Masek, 2003; Van
Der Meer, 1982; Wood & Morrison, 2011); also, a balance between text
and images should be obtained in order to reach a sufficient amount of
blank space which renders the poster more legible and less ‘crowded’
(Woolsey, 1989; Zerwic et al., 2010).
However, like research articles and other academic genres, post-
ers should follow a clear structure and content organisation in order
to achieve both coverage and intelligibility (Holmes, 1997; Pho, 2008;
Samraj, 2005; Swales & Najjar, 1987). This is the reason why, in most
posters a title, an abstract as well as an introduction, a methodol-
ogy, results and conclusions section are found (Alley, 2003; Nicol &
Pexman, 2003), providing readers and authors with a clear ‘map’ of the
content displayed.
Cianflone (2011), Driskill et al. (1998), Matthews (1990), Maci
(2010) and Tardy (2005) have noted that the structure of posters dis-
playing results of experimental studies usually follows the scientific
‘IMRD’ format (i.e. a standardized structure displaying an Introduction,
a Methodology section, a Research section, and a Discussion section).
Also among the posters collected in my previous study (D’Angelo,
2012), 65% used the IMRD format, 23% divided the text in similar
sections, whereas only 12% of posters did not follow a clear format in
the organisation of the text, meaning that the text was not divided into
numbered or not-numbered sections, nor it was presented in any logical
order.
Guidelines available online and through departments and writ-
ing centres (e.g. Alley, 2015; ATM University Writing Centre, 2015;
UW-Madison Writing Centre, 2015; MCB, University of Califor-
nia, 2015; Stanford University – Department of Physics, 2015) usu-
ally advise to pay much attention to the written part of the poster, as
it often ends up being the most difficult part to master. Students are
advised, for example, to consider sentence length in posters, as short-
or medium-length sentences are visually more effective than long

48
sentences (Maimon et al. 2007). The analysis I carried out in 2012 on
academic posters confirms that the average sentence length is, indeed,
quite short, averaging 17 words per sentence. The tendency to pro-
duce shorter, less articulated sentences has also been found in other
genres and disciplines such as medical and economic texts (Fløttum et
al, 2006), research articles in Applied Linguistics and Law (D’Angelo,
2010; Sala & D’Angelo, 2009) and book acknowledgements in the soft
and hard sciences (Giannoni, 2006).
Also MacIntosh-Murray (2007: 358), drawing on a number of
observations by Swales and Feak (2000) and Woolsey (1989) suggests
that poster authors should use a ‘compressed’ type of language. Woolsey
(1989) in particular advises authors to consider attentively the amount
of white space on the poster panel. To achieve this, MacIntosh-Murray
(2007) writes, guidelines seem to frequently advise presenters to use
bullet points instead of full sentences. The fact that posters are often not
adequately abbreviated is stressed unequivocally by Stoss (2003, cited
in MacIntosh-Murray, 2007: 352):

The poster is NOT the pasting of a scholarly article on poster board or foam-
core and standing by to defend results reproduced in miniature on the ‘poster’.
(His emphasis)

The poster may instead be considered as a sort of ‘illustrated abstract’

(Brown, 1987, cited in Matthews, 1990: 227), where we find not only
a short text summarizing a research project but also images. When we
create a text that will be inserted in a poster, we are often advised to
divide information in units, something that we do, for example, when we
organize information into paragraphs. Matthews (1990) also describes
this technique as dividing bits of text so that it can be easily assimilated.
These bits of information, however, should be carefully organized and
edited so that the final textual product is coherent and of immediate
effect, thanks also to a correct use of white space. In this way, we avoid
long and dense columns of text that are extremely tiresome for readers
to read. Chunking therefore provides readability and a clearer organi-
zation of information. The ‘chunking’ technique (Matthews, 1990: 226)
however, does not come easily for the novice writer, because discourse
must be carefully organized conceptually. Each unit of information

49
must be coherent so that discourse flows correctly. Units of texts should
be linked one to another through cued headings, which also help readers
locate immediately the part of the text that interests them most (Mat-
thews, 1990). Besides using chunked text, a poster presenter can also
decide to display information in lists, as it is considered another effec-
tive way to improve readability. From a lexical point of view, it seems
that the use of gerunds and nominalisation is highly recurrent in posters
(D’Angelo, 2012a).

2.5.1.2 The visual component in academic poster presentations

The visual component in academic poster presentations inevitably plays
an extremely important role, because like PowerPoints, poster presenta-
tions display text and visuals and are organized in such a way that view-
ers are able to ‘glimpse’ into the research work of a colleague, having
in this case, the freedom of ‘reading’ the poster at one’s own speed,
of lingering on a specific aspect of the work, a table, graph or picture
displayed, and finally, having the rare opportunity to engage with the
author in a one-to-one discussion (Matthews, 1990). This colloquial,
almost intimate aspect of the poster presentation is what makes the
genre so unique and challenging at the same time.
If visuals play a primary role in poster presentations, also the
way textual and visual elements are displayed is important to render
content easily accessible and comprehensible. The flow of information,
for example, might either be aligned vertically or horizontally as well as
divided in sections by columns helping the viewer read and understand
the information displayed (Design & Print Studio, University of Read-
ing, 2013; Purrington, 2014). Within each column, the text can also be
divided in blocks of text, which are often numbered, inviting the reader
to follow the stream of information going from top to bottom as sug-
gested by the vertical columns and the sequential numbering (Univer-
sity of Reading, Study Advice: Poster presentations, 2015). In the study
I conducted in 2012, the majority of the posters considered followed
either a horizontal or vertical alignment, making the vertical and hori-
zontal structure the most recurrent and popular solution for presenting
data. The rest of the posters, instead, divided content into sections or did
not display any logical organization of information (D’Angelo, 2012a).

50
 Like in research articles and abstracts, information is often pre-
sented following a standardised structure (e.g. the IMRD format). How-
ever, a poster author also needs to design a presentation that stands out
from the rest of the poster presentations, which are also competing for
attention (MacIntosh Murray, 2007). This is why posters are almost
always a mix of text and colourful images – all meant to gather and
keep alive the interest of the public for as long as possible (Wittich &
Schuller, 1973), trying at the same time, to adhere to the norms and
conventions of the discipline (Russell et al., 1996). However, it is diffi-
cult to stand out when the genre imposes strict physical limitations and
authors are advised to follow a standard structure when organizing con-
tent. Creating a poster therefore can be challenging not only because the
text must be condensed like in an abstract but also because the poster is
accompanied by visual elements that become very important in render-
ing the presentation clear, effective and interesting. Reaching a balance
between the visual and textual component (i.e. incorporating the right
amount of visuals and text so that the poster presentation is clear and at
the same time, harmonious) becomes essential.

2.5.1.3 The spoken component in academic poster presentations

What renders the poster presentation experience unique is the fact that
a poster presenter might or might not have an audience and that, when
an interaction between the poster author and an interested viewer does
take place, it is usually informal and does not have any time constraints
apart from the beginning and the end of the poster session. Also, it
is an experience that is shared, in the sense that all presenters occupy
the same room and share the same experience. As Matthews (1990)
and Gosling (1999) explain, the major advantage of presenting one’s
research results through a scientific poster is that this academic genre
sets the viewer free in the sense that he is free to linger on details or
quickly skim through the text. Also, he is free to leave the poster pres-
entation after just one or two minutes, or engage in a fervent discussion
with the author. This reader-centred interaction is less formal and does
not force viewers to continue reading the poster or speak with the pre-
senter, if they are not interested in the information displayed (Serkey,
1982).

51
 In theory, a poster should contain the essence of a research inves-
tigation and should be organized and displayed in such a way that it is
self-explanatory (Matthews, 1990). This (in theory) should free the pre-
senter from answering basic, obvious questions regarding the research
topic, so that he can focus on the details of the research, supplementing
perhaps additional information to viewers (Tham, 1997). In this sense,
spoken language, written text and images all work together to create
meaning.
What makes it a difficult task to master is the fact that it is the
casual viewer that controls the beginning and the end of the pres-
entation, deciding the exact entry-point and exit-point (Martin, 1994).
Because of this aspect, inexperienced researchers might find it hard
to master a poster presentation, whereas they might feel ‘safer’ pre-
senting a paper or a PowerPoint. Here the presenter, although bound to
face a five-ten minute question time, can always count on the fact that
a limited amount of time is allotted to a presentation (usually 20–30
minutes) and that he controls not only the entry and exit points of the
presentation, but the entire performance (MacIntosh-Murray, 2007).
The poster presenter instead has to know his subject well enough
to quickly move from general, abstract matters, to details about the
research, thus displaying a great amount of flexibility and expertise.
This high-paced, informal, yet dynamic type of oral interaction is what
mostly differentiates the poster presentation from other genres such
as the paper presentation, PowerPoint presentation and plenary. Aside
from the difficulties mentioned here, it is indisputable that the poster
presentation session offers its participants a valuable opportunity for
networking (Martin, 1994) and the chance to interact personally with
interested peers (Gosling, 1999).

2.5.2 Research into the academic poster presentation genre

Although research on new types of digital posters is still in its infancy

and should be developed in the near future, thanks to the Internet there
is now a considerable amount of material searchable online on academic
poster presentations. This informative material ranges from simple tuto-
rials (Alley, 2003; Block, 1996; Briscoe, 1996; Day, 2006; Miller, 2007;

52
Purrington, 2014) to a vast kaleidoscope of downloadable templates.
Besides the numerous tips on poster construction, there are a number
of publications focusing on the use of poster presentations in the work-
place, by professionals in various fields. Miracle (2003, 2008) for
example explains how posters can be used to communicate and discuss
effectively (yet still informally) important decisions between hospital
units. Other authors, mostly belonging to the medical field, have also
commented on the use of poster presentations in professional settings
(see for example Boullata & Mancuso, 2007; Briggs, 2009; Campbell,
2004; Cleary & Walter, 2004; Halligan, 2008; Hardicre et al., 2007;
Keely, 2004; Price, 2010; Roberts, 2013; Singh, 2014) and Nemcek
et al. (2009) even considered extending its use to improve communica-
tion between patients and doctors.
The use of poster presentations however is no longer limited to
the hard sciences or the medical field, but is spreading to other fields as
diverse as Marketing (Brownlie, 2007), Law (Heller, 1999), Psychology
(Beins & Beins, 2011; Marek et al., 2002; Welch & Waehler, 1996), Sta-
tistics (Moreno & Schollenberger, 1998) and Geography (Vujakovic, P.,
1995). An extensive literature also exists describing how, in the past two
decades, poster presentations have been utilized as in-class activities at
university (Baird, 1991; Bracher et al., 1998; Denzine, 1999; Duchin &
Sherwood, 1990; Hay & Miller, 1992; Hay & Thomas, 1999; Howens-
tine et al., 1988; MacAndrew & Edwards, 2003; Remi & Bolalne, 2013;
Summers, 2005; van Naerssen, 1984) and how they have been usefully
employed to evaluate undergraduate and graduate students (Akister
et al., 2000; Berry & Houston, 1995; Billington, 1997; Handron, 1994;
Lowe, 2012; Marino et al., 2000; Menke, 2014; Moneyham et al., 1996;
Moule et al., 1998; Orsmond et al., 1996; Orsmond et al., 2002).
Just to provide an example of the kind of varied research carried
out on this subject, Billington (1997) compared students’ achievements
in different assessment exercises demonstrating that by using poster
presentations as an assessment tool, next to written and oral exams, it
is possible to provide a diversity of assessment strategies so as to assess
students fairly and avoid discrimination. Akister et al. (2000) described
how the genre became a valuable tool to develop the skill of social work
students to verbally support assessments undertaken in the workplace.
Finally, Menke (2014) explained how online poster sessions used in

53
class eliminate, on the one hand, the need for large rooms (inevitable,
in the case of traditional paper poster presentations) and, on the other
hand, allows one instructor to quickly evaluate a large number of poster
presentations in a short period of time.
Other aspects related to academic poster presentations have been
considered over time, such as the selection process of posters at con-
ferences (Bushy, 1991; Ector et al., 1995; Kemp & Goddard, 1998;
Rubin et al., 1993; Timmer et al., 2001), the publication rate of post-
ers after they have been presented at conferences (Boldt & Maleck,
1999; Eloubeidi et al., 2001; Scherer et al., 2007) and the habit, in the
hard sciences, of presenting the same poster at different conferences
(Bhandari et al., 2005; Salzi et al., 2008; Wang et al., 1999). Other inter-
esting and valuable studies have considered the motivation that leads
authors to produce poster presentations (Tulsky & Kouides, 1998), or
how much time conference participants dedicate to poster presentations
(Wright & Moll, 1987).
Although not numerous, a number of linguistic/semiotic analyses
of the poster presentation genre have also started to appear after the
pioneering exploration of the genre carried out by Matthews (1990). For
example, Morin (1996a, 1996b) evaluated the choices made by authors
on the use of color, design and typography. Maci (2011) investigated
the macrostructure of medical posters and what relevance images have
in relation to text, whereas in Maci (2012) the diachronic evolution of
abstracts in medical posters was analysed and it was revealed that poster
abstracts have changed from narrative to non-narrative style, which
represents a significant shift towards the IMRD format. Archer (2006)
focused instead on the multimodal academic writing practices of Engi-
neering students and how they develop written discourse through poster
presentations, in comparison to other genres. An interesting work that
also considers visual communication in poster presentations is the one
by Rowley-Jolivet (2002) who seeks to identify and classify different
visuals and communicative strategies present in poster presentations.
These strategies, she explains, facilitate communication and under-
standing between NS and NNS of English and are based on the visual
knowledge that they share.

54
 Shifting the attention to the way poster presentations are per-
ceived and valued by the scientific community, MacIntosh and Murray
(2007) take into consideration for the first time, the forms, norms and
values associated with poster presentations – an analysis also under-
taken by Salzi et al. (2008). Also, Rowe and Ilic (2009) have analysed
how the poster session is perceived, addressing in particular, attitude
and opinion items. Their study revealed that the academic poster genre
is widely regarded as a good genre to communicate research and is con-
sidered an effective type of academic publication. Given the shortage of
empirical studies evaluating the effectiveness of posters (Ilic & Rowe,
2013), this survey provided interesting initial results and future research
on this subject will hopefully provide further insights into the academic
poster medium.
Because the poster presentation genre is closely linked with tech-
nology, it is subjected to rapid changes and technological innovations
(Bach et al., 1993). With the aim of transforming poster sessions into
wider, more appealing events, a number of disciplines have been inves-
tigating, for example, different ways of conducting academic poster ses-
sions (MacIntosh-Murray, 2007). Among these non-traditional poster
presentations, we find posters projected on a screen, accompanied by
two-three minute oral presentations, as well as online poster sessions,
Digital Interactive Poster Presentations (DIPP) and virtual science
fairs that use online conferencing or weblogs (De Simone et al., 2001;
Powell-Tuck et al., 2002).
As De Simone et al. (2001) explain, the DIPP is a PDF version
of a traditional paper poster, which is usually projected on a screen
during specific DIPP sessions that precede (or replace) traditional
poster sessions featuring paper versions of posters. During these DIPP
sessions, presenters are asked to project their PDF posters on a screen
for 3–5 minutes, and summarize their research work. The audience
can then look for the poster(s) that interested them most, during the
regular poster session. The chance to take the floor, even for a few
minutes, is undeniably precious as it gives presenters the possibil-
ity to showcase their work even before the poster session starts and
probably attract a greater number of interested viewers. During the
brief presentation, the presenter can enlarge parts of the posters, such

55
as tables, graphs and images so that s/he can concentrate on certain
aspects of the presentation. A DIPP can also be made available online
by conference organizers, not only after but also before a conference
takes place, so that participants can browse through a database of post-
ers presented (or to be presented) and retain the information they are
mostly interested in. As De Simone et al. (2001) have noted, by creat-
ing an interactive poster presentation, DIPPs allow a greater number
of participants and facilitate discussions among them. Because of
these innovative features, the audience generally views these digital
poster presentations positively.
Powell-Tuck et al. (2002: 261) coined the term ‘e-poster’, which
resembles a DIPP and is handled and displayed in the same way. Their
work is however interesting because it provides an initial appraisal of
this ‘technological’ version of poster presentations provided by con-
ference participants attending the e-poster session. As Powell-Tuck
et al. (2002) write, with e-posters presenters are invited to send their
PDF versions of posters to the organizers. Like the DIPP, authors can
zoom in and out of different sections of the poster, thereby focusing
on specific data, tables or information displayed. To evaluate whether
e-poster are favourably accepted by the public or not, and if the medium
is clear, attractive and informative, Powell-Tuck et al.asked conference
participants attending the e-poster sessions to answer a questionnaire.
The survey revealed that viewers are favourable to the use of e-posters
because of the increased amount of information they displayed and the
grater chances for discussions during the conference as well as after
the conference has ended because of an improved e-mail exchange pro-
gramme. This is possible especially when the digitalized poster is no
longer just projected on a wall and is instead shown through a computer
or LCD screen. In this case, numerous features, such as QR Codes,
hyperlinks and email addresses that allow instant messaging can be
added, enhancing the passage of communication between the presenter
and the audience (D’Angelo, 2012a). Also the amount of information
provided by the presenter is in this case greatly increased. For exam-
ple, e-posters can be quickly scrolled through and viewers can email
comments and feedback to presenters immediately, a feature that allows
communication and feedback to instantly reach the poster presenter,

56
even if s/he is not physically present or the e-poster session has already
closed. Smart phones can scan the image of the QR Code displayed
on the e-poster to receive further visual, audio or textual data, note the
author’s contact information or be re-directed to a specific web page.
The possibility to hyperlink a poster’s content is particularly useful,
because it eliminates the space limitation problem typical of posters.
A few years after e-posters started to be used, Rowe and Ilic
(2009, p.5) reported on the development of another interesting and
innovative type of interactive poster called ‘MediaPoster’, which was
meant to mix the static characteristics of a traditional poster presenta-
tion with multimodal elements. Just like the e-poster, the ‘MediaPoster’
is presented on an interactive LCD or whiteboard screen, and displays
embedded links to additional information. Like the e-poster, viewers
can select a particular area on the poster and instantly access additional
data, images, video and audio material, as well as texts. The novelty in
this case is that this additional material opens at the side of the screen,
so that the original poster presentation always remains in sight (Rowe
& Ilic, 2009). Viewers are not redirected to a webpage, which would
force them to virtually leave the poster presentation, but instead remain
within the same media, with the original poster always open and acces-
sible. In this case, as Rowe and Ilic (2009, p.6) have noted, authors are
given the chance to ‘assign their own academic ‘depth’ to the medium’.
Likewise, readers are free to browse through as much information as
they wish, concentrating on a single aspect of the research displayed
or retaining all the additional information provided through the hyper-
links. This digital system is currently being utilized by electronic poster
software companies such as ePosterLive and is rapidly gaining a wide
acceptance by academics (PR Newswire, 2012). What is important to
note here is that with systems such as the one mentioned, the poster ses-
sion experience changes enormously. Large monitors replace traditional
paper posters and boards are no longer needed. By presenting posters in
sequence and on-demand, more posters can be viewed at different times.
Also, the strategic use of dedicated workstations allows attendees to
find, review and download posters during the entire conference.
Despite the numerous studies mentioned so far, it seems that a
cross-disciplinary linguistic and visual analysis has never been carried

57
out on the genre of academic poster presentations. This lack of data
makes it unclear whether certain poster presentation rules and con-
ventions are discipline-specific. Are poster presentations in the hard
sciences similar to poster presentations in the so-called soft sciences?
Are there any unspoken rules and conventions that recur within single
disciplines and should, therefore, be openly known to novice academ-
ics? These are just some of the unanswered questions that still revolve
around the eclectic and fascinating poster presentation genre. Because
a fast and efficient dissemination of scientific knowledge is the ultimate
goal of poster sessions ‒ may they be traditional, digital or virtual‒ one
can only hope that further investigations will be carried out on this new
genre type.

2.5.3 Working definition of ‘academic poster’

As the present research will demonstrate, academic posters can come in

different forms, colours, and dimensions. They can display and present
information as well as discourse differently, depending on the discipli-
nary community the author belongs to. Nonetheless, a definition that I
believe is valid for all posters is the following:

A poster is a visual presentation that showcases your scholarly research. The

purpose of a poster is to present a piece of work that colleagues can easily view
and which can stimulate an exchange of ideas between the presenter and the
audience reading the poster. A poster is different from a paper or a talk, and so
distinct techniques need to be employed in its preparation. (Writing Centre –
University of Adelaide, 2009: 1)

The techniques used by writers in different disciplines will be the object

of the present investigation. In the following section I concentrate
on the concept of metadiscourse, as it plays a fundamental role in my
framework of analysis.

58
2.6 What is metadiscourse?

As Hyland (2005) notes, the term ‘metadiscourse’, was coined by

Zeilig Harris in 1959 and was further developed by Williams (1981),
Vande Kopple (1985), and Crismore (1989). It is a field of study that
analyses how writers are able to intrude into their own texts, guiding
and influencing the reception and understanding of the text by readers,
thanks to the careful use of several discourse features such as hedges,
boosters and connectives. Central to this theory is the idea that commu-
nication within a text can be far from aseptic and impersonal; rather,
the personality, attitude and personal assumptions of the author play
an important role in constructing and articulating discourse. These lin-
guistic and rhetorical elements, that can be found in every text, reveal
how authors align themselves with regard to the issues considered and
what their attitudes are. It also conveys the personality, credibility and
authority of the writer, making it possible for the author to render a
difficult and dense text much more reader-friendly (Hyland, 2000). We
should never forget that a text is never neutral and can impact the audi-
ence differently depending not only on the content but also on how it
is written. Knowing our audience well, anticipating its needs and using
forms of engagement and persuasion, enables us, as Hyland (1998a,
1999b, 2005) writes, to build a credible and effective academic persona.
Being able to relate to an audience is thus crucial, because it renders
the text easier to understand, more interesting and it evokes a positive
response from readers.
Metadiscourse permeates every aspect of our lives and comes
into play every time we need to communicate with the outside world,
through a variety of genres and settings (Hyland, 2005). It is a lan-
guage aspect that can be traced back to the Middle Ages (Taavit-
sainen, 1999) and can be found in different domains, such as poetry,
science and biographies as well as different languages and cultures
(Crismore et al., 1993; Mauranen, 1993b; Valero-Garcés, 1996). Over
the years, the importance of metadiscourse has been revealed through
studies that analysed popular and professional science discourse
(Crismore & Farnsworth, 1990), L1 and L2 graduate and postgrad-
uate writing (Crismore et al., 1993; Hyland, 2004c; Swales, 1990a),

59
academic lectures (Thompson, 2003), newspaper discourse (Dafouz-
Milne, 2008), textbooks (Crismore, 1984; Hyland, 1999b), CEO’s
letters (Hyland, 1998b), research articles (Dahl, 2004) and advertis-
ing (Fuertes-Olivera et al., 2001). Researchers have also recognised
the important role metadiscourse plays in ESL, ESP and EAP pro-
grammes, as it helps L2 students to effectively address and engage
with their audience (Camiciottoli, 2003; Cheng & Steffensen, 1996;
Crismore & Farnsworth, 1990; Hyland, 1999a, 2004b, 2004c; Intara-
prawat & Steffensen, 1995).

2.6.1 Initial definitions and categorizations of metadiscourse

Despite the research work mentioned above, Hyland (2005:16) recog-

nises that the term ‘metadiscourse’ has always had a ‘fuzzy’ connota-
tion and has frequently been defined simply as ‘discourse about dis-
course’. This fuzziness is also underlined by Nash (1992: 100), who
notes its unclear boundaries, much like those of rhetoric and style.
Often what is considered metadiscourse by a reader is simply cate-
gorized as automated language by another. Hyland (2005), however,
argues that although the writing process may seem automatic, authors
do make important stylistic and rhetorical choices while writing. They
may decide to use an active instead of a passive verb, or use more
hedges than boosters, and so on, changing the impact and the reada-
bility of the message.
It is thanks to the study of metadiscourse that we are able to
identify the relationship between the language choices we make
(consciously or not) and the situation in which these utterances are
made (Hyland, 2005). The concept of metadiscourse however has
been viewed and defined differently by linguists, revealing a certain
degree of uncertainty. For example, Bunton (1999), Mauranen (1993a,
1993b) and Valero-Garcés (1996), consider only elements appearing
in a metatext (i.e. a text providing an explanation of or a reflection
on another text) as metadiscourse. Others also simplify the notion
of metadiscourse by, as Beauvais (1989, cited in Hyland, 2005:17)
notes, taking into consideration only illocutionary predicates, such as
‘I believe that’ and ‘we demonstrate that’. Linguists and rhetoricians

60
however, mostly use metadiscourse in a wider sense, to denote “the
various linguistic tokens employed to guide or direct a reader through
a text so both the text and the writer’s stance is understood” (Hyland,
2005: 18). In this sense, metadiscourse refers to non-propositional
material, i.e. “whatever does not refer to the subject matter being
addressed” (Williams, 1981: 226). This distinction, as Hyland (2005)
notes, was established since the term ‘metadiscourse’ began to be
used by, for example, Lautamatti (1978) and Vande Kopple (1985).
Metadiscoursal elements found in text have been clearly identified in
the past with the actual presence of the writer in the text, who may
decide to intrude more or less explicitly in the developing discourse
(Crismore, 1983).
As the various definitions mentioned so far suggest, metadis-
course has been categorized in different ways. Vande Kopple’s (1985)
categorization, consisting of seven different metadiscourse markers
divided into textual and interpersonal types, is most often taken as a
model. This metadiscourse model is summarised in Hyland (2005: 32)
and hereby proposed (Table 2.1).

Table 2.1. Vande Kopple’s (1985) metadiscourse taxonomy summarised by Hyland

(2005: 32).

Textual metadiscourse
Text connectives Used to help show how parts of a text are connected to one
another. Includes sequencers (first, next, in the second place),
reminders (as I mentioned in chapter 2) and topicalizers,
which focus attention on the topic of a text segment (with
regard to, in connection with).
Code glosses Used to help readers to grasp the writer’s intended meaning.
Based on the writer’s assessment of the reader’s knowledge,
these devices reword, explain, define or clarify the sense of a
usage, sometimes putting the reformulation in parentheses or
marking it as an example, etc.
Validity markers Used to express the writer’s commitment to the probability or
truth of a statement. These include hedges (perhaps, might,
may], emphatics (clearly, undoubtedly], and attributors, which
enhance a position by claiming the support of a credible other
(according to Einstein).

61
 Textual metadiscourse
Narrators Used to inform readers of the source of the information pre-
sented – who said or wrote something (according to Smith,
the Prime Minister announced that).
Interpersonal metadiscourse
Illocution markers Used to make explicit the discourse act the writer is perform-
ing at certain points (to conclude, I hypothesize, to sum up,
we predict).
Attitude markers Used to express the writer’s attitudes to the prepositional
material he or she presents (unfortunately, interestingly, I
wish that, how awful that).
Commentaries Used to address readers directly, drawing them into an
implicit dialogue by commenting on the reader’s probable
mood or possible reaction to the text (you will certainly agree
that, you might want to read the third chapter first).

The categories proposed by Vande Kopple however, are somewhat

vague and have been judged difficult to apply in practice (Berkenkot-
ter & Huckin, 1995; Hyland, 2005). As a consequence, Vande Kopple
(2002) later revised his taxonomy and the same was done by Crismore
et al. (1993) as well as by Hyland (1998a, 1998b, 1998c, 1999b). In
Crismore et al.’s (1993) taxonomy the two main metadiscoursal cate-
gories (textual/interpersonal) were maintained but the textual category
was divided into two new subcategories (textual markers and interpre-
tive markers) and Vande Kopple’s original categories were reorganized
and relabelled, with the exception of ‘narrators’, which was eliminated.

Table 2.2. Crismore et al.’s categorisation of metadiscourse (1993: 47–54).

Category Function Examples

Textual metadiscourse
1. Textual markers
Logical connectives Show connections between ideas therefore; so; in addition;
and
Sequences Indicate sequence/ordering of first; next; finally; 1, 2, 3
material
Reminders Refer to earlier text material as we saw in Chapter one

62
Category Function Examples
Textual metadiscourse
Topicalizers Indicate a shift in topic well; now I will discuss
2. Interpretive markers
Code glosses Explain text material for example; that is
Illocution markers Name the act performed to conclude; in sum; I
predict
Announcements Announce upcoming material in the next section
Interpersonal metadiscourse
Hedges Show uncertainty to truth of might; possible; likely
assertion
Certainty markers Express full commitment to certainly; know; shows
assertion
Attributors Give source/support of infor- Smith claims that…
mation
Attitude markers Display writer’s affective values I hope/agree; surprisingly…
Commentary Build relationship with reader You may not agree that…

Although Crismore et al.’s (1993) taxonomy is an attempt to improve

Vande Kopple’s (1985) original taxonomy, problems remained. For
example, the division of textual metadiscourse between textual and
interpretive markers is not completely clear as well as the collocation of
reminders among textual markers or the collocation of announcements
among interpretive markers. Finally, it is not clear why logical connec-
tives have been placed in the ‘textual markers’ category (Hyland, 2005).

2.6.2 A new metadiscourse model

As the previous section has shown, the concept and categorization of

metadiscourse needed further work and a number of ambiguous points
had to be clarified. In this respect, Hyland’s (2005) work proved cru-
cial, as it provided a more robust and reliable taxonomy and offered
a much clearer explanation for how elements were categorized. First
of all, Hyland (2005: 37) provides readers with his own definition of
metadiscourse:

63
 Metadiscourse is the cover term for the self-reflective expressions, used to nego-
tiate interactional meanings in a text, assisting the writer (or speaker) to express
a viewpoint and engage with readers as members of a particular community.

He then clarifies that three key principles are at the basis of his metadis-
course taxonomy (Hyland, 2005: 38):
1. that ‘metadiscourse is distinct from propositional aspects of discourse’;
2. that ‘metadiscourse refers to aspects of the text that embody writer-reader
interactions’;
3. that ‘metadiscourse refers only to relations which are internal to the dis-
course’.

Each principle will be hereby further explained, followed by a working

definition of metadiscourse.

2.6.2.1 Metadiscourse must be distinguished from propositional

aspects of discourse
The first distinction Hyland (2005) makes is that from his point of view,
metadiscourse does not concern things in the world (propositions) but
is instead used to refer to things in the discourse (metadiscourse). As
he later clarified in 2013, it is important to understand that both propo-
sitional matters and metadiscourse matters serve a very important role
in meaning making and one is not secondary to the other. Propositional
and metadiscoursal elements are so complementary to each other that
they are both frequently found in texts, sometimes even in the same
sentence. We are however capable of distinguishing one from the other,
because they play different roles: one describes what happens in the
world, whereas the other is concerned with how a text is constructed and
how it is received by the public. We can see the metadiscoursal elements
in the text as a sort of ‘glue’ (Hyland 2005: 41) that holds together
different parts of the discourse, but not only. It can also contextualize
a text, taking into consideration readers’ background knowledge and
expectations. Metadiscourse then becomes an invaluable tool to discern
how writers communicate with their readers on their subject matter and
most of all, the strategies they employ depending on the social and aca-
demic community they belong to.

64
2.6.2.2 Metadiscourse is used to express writer–reader interactions
Metadiscourse is capable of successfully managing writer-reader inter-
actions in the sense that writers can signal their attitude towards content
as well as readers thanks to an array of rhetorical markers; at the same
time, readers are made aware or the writer’s intention and attitude and
are guided along the text (Hyland & Tse, 2004). Metadiscourse can in
fact also be realised by conjunctions, adverbials, or similar metaphori-
cal expressions and they can either deal with the logic of discourse (i.e.
they function as a glue, helping cement the text together) or they are
concerned with the outside world (i.e. they elaborate and extend prop-
ositional meanings) (Hyland, 2005). Thompson (2001) and Thompson
and Thetela (1995) further elaborate this concept by distinguishing
between two main types of interaction and labelling these interactions
either as ‘interactive’ or ‘interactional’.
Interactive resources, they write, are those textual elements that
help arrange, organize the information contained in the text, and thus
anticipate readers’ needs and reactions. Interactional resources are
instead used to involve the reader, inviting him to collaborate in the
understanding and the acceptance of the text. It is with interactional
resources that writers opt, at one point, to make themselves visible
to readers and engage them in a conversation (Thompson, 2001). By
using interactional metadiscourse, writers also demonstrate solidarity
towards readers and in a way, they manipulate the way they understand
and accept the writer’s point of view (Hyland, 2005).

2.6.2.3 Metadiscourse differentiates external and internal relations

As stated in Section 2.6.2.1, many textual elements can either have an
interpersonal or propositional purpose depending on the context. It is
important therefore to distinguish between the internal and external
relations of metadiscourse. An example that clarifies the distinction
between internal and external relations is the one proposed by Bunton
(1999), who distinguishes between researcher acts and writer acts.
The author of an academic text plays the role of the researcher when
s/he simply describes the process of the experiment undertaken. It is
an objective and mere description of facts and processes, and can be
defined as a description of events in the world. If the author instead does

65
not simply describe the experimental process but also constructs an
argument, taking into account his/her audience, then the author trans-
forms him/herself into a writer and metadiscourse is used to present and
defend arguments.

2.6.3 A working definition of ‘metadiscourse’

In the present study, I will consider metadiscourse as the way writers

construct the text, address and involve readers and make the writer’s
persona visible or not. This approach employs Thompson and Thete-
la’s (1995) distinction between interactive and interactional resources,
which highlights those elements capable of organizing discourse or
expressing a stance. Although the model is based on Thompson and
Thetela’s concept, it has been further developed so as to include both
stance and engagement features (Hyland, 2001a) as well as elements
from other models of metadiscourse (Hyland, 1998a, 2000; Hyland &
Tse, 2004).
Hyland’s (2004a) model of metadiscourse will be discussed in
detail in Chapter 4 (Section 4.2 and 4.3). It is sufficient here to mention
the two dimensions of interaction recognised by the model:

1. The interactive dimension, in which the writer is aware of his

potential readers and tries to accommodate their needs, taking
into account their background knowledge, their expectations and
their ability to process information.
2. The interactional dimension, in which the writer intrudes more or
less explicitly into the text, aligning himself/herself (or not) with
readers. It also concerns the way writers allow readers to partici-
pate in the unfolding text by engaging with them and responding
to an imagined dialogue.

66
2.7 What is multimodality?

In the last decade, the role of images as well as the use of space, gaze
and gesture have attracted the attention of numerous academics (Jewitt,
2009). Disciplines as diverse as linguistics, musicology, sociology and
anthropology are all increasingly considering multimodality when com-
menting on texts and media-related products. Multimodality, which
can be seen as a complex interaction among texts and media, has been
increasingly considered across different disciplines. But what is really a
multimodal text and how has multimodal communication been studied
in the past years?
What should be clear from the start is that multimodal communi-
cation is not a new concept. Jewitt (2009) explains in his Handbook of
Multimodal Analysis that people have always used images to commu-
nicate (especially at a time when most people were illiterate) and the
fact that today we have technology as an ally simply means that images
and non-verbal forms of communication can be more widely and easily
employed and circulated. Kress and van Leeuwen (2001) define multi-
modality as a semiotic product that is created by using different semi-
otic modes and Jewitt (2009) likewise writes that, when it comes to
multimodality, it is necessary to engage with the different modes that
are employed to create meaning, such as speech, writing, image and
even gestures and posture.
In fact, communication is often multimodal (i.e. it uses more than
one semiotic mode). For example, when we read a newspaper we see
that the text is accompanied by images or when we speak, we ‘com-
plete’ our verbal message with facial expressions and hand gestures.
We send emails every day, containing text, pictures as well as video and
audio clips. The modes and semiotic resources we choose to use (or not
to use) every day, inevitably help shape communication and meaning
(Kress & van Leeuwen, 2001). Unfortunately, as O’Halloran (2004)
notes, linguistics has concentrated mainly on language and has not real-
ized the importance of the role played by other communicative modes.
In the following section, I will summarize the major shift language
studies underwent, thanks to the stimulating research mentioned above.

67
2.7.1 Research into multimodality

Because of the intrinsic nature of multimodality, this is a field that can

be explored and analysed by employing different disciplinary and the-
oretical perspectives, coming from the field of Psychology, Sociology,
Anthropology (Bezemer & Jewitt, 2010). Indeed, multimodal commu-
nication intersects with the study of language (Erickson, 2004; Goff-
man, 1974; Mirzoeff, 1999; Mitchell, 1995), visual studies (Barton
et al., 2000; Street, 1998), literacy studies (Lea & Street, 2006), and
conversation analysis (Goodwin et al., 2002; Heath & Luff, 2012). At
the same time, multimodality has been influenced, among others, by
research in fields such as Linguistics, Sociology, Semiotics, Art History,
Cultural Studies, and New Media Studies.
As Jewitt (2009) suggests, the term ‘multimodality’ is strongly
linked with three main approaches: a social semiotic approach (Kress &
van Leeuwen, 2001; van Leeuwen, 2005), a multimodal discourse anal-
ysis (MDA) approach (O’Halloran, 2004, 2011) and a multimodal inter-
actional analysis approach (Scollon & Scollon, 2003; Norris, 2004).
These three perspectives should not be considered three distinct meth-
odological approaches, because they share many theoretical assump-
tions. What is interesting is that they shed light on different aspects of
multimodality and they emphasise different methodologies and differ-
ent ways of handling data, giving rise to a rich variety of results and
analyses.
Social semiotics, as van Leeuwen (2005) writes, is mostly con-
cerned with understanding how different semiotic modes are used,
depending on the context and the user. MDA instead extends the field
of discourse analysis and focuses on the study of language in combi-
nation with different modes, such as music, images, colour, gesture,
etc. (O’Halloran, 2011). A central area of MDA is in fact the so-called
intersemiosis (Jewitt, 2009: 25), i.e. a type of relationship arising from
the interaction of different semiotic modes. For example, Norris (2004)
carried out a study revealing that verbal actions should always be ana-
lysed side by side with non-verbal interactions, as they give important
clues on the interaction and can lead to different interpretations. Along
the same line, O’Halloran (2011) writes that a range of multimodal
discourses and genres that have been examined go beyond the written

68
and spoken mode. These multimodal genres include genres as varied as
student drawings, websites and mathematical documents and they have
been drawn from various contexts, including workplaces, the home,
museum exhibitions and online environments. MDA however, is cur-
rently facing a number of challenges (O’Halloran, 2011). In particular,
Scollon and Scollon (2003) warn against the influence traditional lan-
guage studies have had on the analysis of multimodal discourse. In this
respect, Jewitt (2008: 357) comments, “Using a multimodal approach
means looking at language as it is nestled and embedded within a
wider semiotic frame, rather than a decision to ‘side-line’ language”.
We should also consider how communication is changing rapidly and
radically thanks to technological innovations in visual representations
(Jewitt, 2006). Kress (2004) shares the same opinion when he notes
that image is now dominating instead of writing, just like screens have
taken over the role played so far by books. These two facts alone have
revolutionized literacy at all levels. Technology advances so rapidly that
in different fields spoken and written texts no longer suffice to commu-
nicate effectively. The spoken and written mode therefore need to be
implemented by ‘non verbal’ modes and this new interaction needs to
be fully understood (O’Halloran, 2011).

2.7.2 Multimodal genres

The idea of a multimodal genre springs from a number of works by Kress

and van Leeuwen (1995, 1998, 2001, 2006) that have demonstrated that
linguistic modes of analysis can also be applied to other modes, such as
images, pictures, pages containing text as well as images displayed fol-
lowing a particular layout. Every element featured in a multimodal text
should be analysed individually so that its function and contribution to
meaning making becomes clear (Bateman et al., 2007). From this ini-
tial idea, we can define a ‘multimodal genre’ a genre comprising more
than one mode and these modes can range across a variety of semiotic
modes. Multimodal genres however, do display the same regularities
that other genres display, so that certain genres are only used in certain
contexts. It is also undeniable that modern technology enables users
to experiment with images, layout and typographical elements, giving

69
them the ability to invent new multimodal genres at a very fast pace
(Bateman et al, 2007; Tardy, 2011). It is therefore crucial that we under-
stand the possibilities that multimodal genres entail so that we can make
sense of this rapid development and map the creation of new genres.

2.7.3 Multimodal genre analysis

As described in the previous section, today’s texts are increasingly char-

acterised by an integration of verbal and visual modes. Because of the
rhetorical power of images, texts like presentation slides, posters, or
so-called new media texts cannot be analysed without paying the just
amount of attention to the visual elements displayed. As Tardy (2011)
notes, a number of authors, such as Delin, Bateman & Allen (2002);
Bateman (2008); Rowley-Jolivet (2002, 2005), Kress and van Leeuwen,
(2001, 2006), Fahnestock (2003), Caple (2009), Caple and Knox (2012)
and Knox (2009) have offered interesting new methods to analyse mul-
timodal genres.
Delin, Bateman & Allen (2002) and Bateman (2008) in particu-
lar have provided an innovative framework (GeM), developed from an
initial framework by Waller (1987, cited in Bateman, 2008: 17) capa-
ble of analysing all the different visual and verbal modes at play in a
multimodal genre, may it be language, layout, typography and image.
Four types of multimodal genres in electronic and paper form have been
considered (newspapers, websites, instruction manuals and illustrated
books) and all the possible (and future) realizations of multimodal
genres have been explored using a computerized analytical framework.
The primary layers of analysis of the GeM framework were content
structure, genre structure, rhetorical structure (based on the Rhetori-
cal Structure Theory (RST) by Mann and Thompson (1988)), linguistic
structure, layout structure and navigation structure. Besides being able
to analyse different multimodal genres at different structure levels, the
GeM also allowed researchers to identify any systematic relationship
between these levels of description. By identifying these systematic
relationships, and recurring layout decisions, Delin, Bateman & Allen
(2002) and Bateman (2008) have been able to distinguish and codify in
great detail the multimodal structure of certain genres and micro-genres

70
(e.g. newspapers, websites, instruction manuals, and illustrated books)
and, even more importantly, they have demonstrated that “genres can
change and grow, as well as colonise and subvert each other” (Delin,
Bateman & Allen, 2002: 65).
Other authors have also tried to analyse multimodal genres apply-
ing different frameworks. Rowley-Jolivet (2002, 2005) for example has
analysed conference presentations in the sciences and has categorised
the visual elements found as scriptural (i.e. text-based), graphical (e.g.
graphs, diagrams or maps), figurative (e.g. photographs) or numerical
(e.g. equations). Thanks to Kress and van Leeuwen (2001, 2006) instead,
visuals have been categorized depending on their meaning-making
functions: ideational (conveying meaning about states of affairs), inter-
personal (conveying meaning about attitudes and relations of users) or
textual (guiding the reader through text itself). These two frameworks
are of primary importance to the field of MDA because visuals and tex-
tual elements can finally be analysed separately as well as contextually.
Texts containing written texts as well as images and other visual ele-
ments are now considered texts and are analysed linguistically (Tardy,
2011).
Other interesting studies are the ones by Fahnestock (2003), who
draws a parallelism between verbal and visual elements found in scien-
tific texts, and the study by Caple (2009), who analysed the relationship
between headlines found in online newspapers and their corresponding
images. Finally, also Royce and Bowcher (2007) provide an interest-
ing social semiotic view of multimodal communication, using mainly
a Systemic Functional Linguistic approach (see section 2.4.2) and offer
precious directions for future research in multimodal discourse analysis.

2.7.4 A new model of visual semiotics

As Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) recognise, researchers in visual

semiotics have mostly concentrated on the significance of visual ele-
ments of depicted images and have tried to compare these visual ele-
ments to single words or what could be defined as ‘visual lexis’ (p.1).
Kress (2010) and Kress and van Leeuwen’s work (2006), by contrast,
focuses on a ‘visual grammar’, i.e. on the way in which these visual

71
elements are able to create meaning, much like grammar and syntax
work to create meaning in language. Until their work was published,
visual elements were analysed and considered from a different perspec-
tive, taking into account composition, layout and aesthetics and con-
centrating on the visual and aesthetic elements that attract the public’s
attention, especially when it comes to advertising and marketing (Kress
& van Leeuwen, 2006). What went unnoticed were a number of recur-
ring visual elements and the consistency in the way those elements were
utilized, much recalling the concept of a ‘visual grammar’. Kress and
van Leeuwen (2006) explain that these recurring visual elements are
in reality elements that, put together, create something very similar to
grammatical sentences: choosing between different colours for exam-
ple, is like choosing between word classes. How colour and layout is
used therefore changes the meaning of the text, just like the difference
between oral, written and visual productions. Knowing, understanding
and correctly applying this new visual grammar is becoming essential,
because as Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) note, visual communication
is no longer the exclusive domain of visual specialists, but is becoming
an important element in several public domains as well and whoever is
not knowledgeable in this new visual grammar will not be able to func-
tion in society, especially in the workplace.
This concept, however, has attracted some criticism (Force-
ville, 1999; Prior, 2005) on the part of semioticians, who believe that
by imposing a visual grammar, the freedom of visual communication
is limited at the expense of creativity. Kress and van Leeuwen (2006)
argue instead that learning a number of visual rules allows writers to
improve their communicative skills, and at the same time it does not
limit their creativity. Just like we need to learn grammar rules before
being able to create poems and novels, we also have to learn a visual
grammar before we are able to produce either very artistic products,
such as paintings and sculptures, or simply to create handouts and post-
ers for work.
After having briefly discussed current research on multimodality
and multimodal genre analysis, I will now reflect on the most important
principles underlying corpus design, so as to explain the literature on
which I based the construction of the corpus utilized for the present
research.

72
2.8 Principles underlying corpus design

Before designing a corpus of academic posters, it was necessary to pin-

point the most important principles underlying corpus design. Much
has been written on the subject (Biber, 1993; McEnery, 2001; McEn-
ery et al., 2006; Sinclair, 2004a; Thompson, 2005; Wynne, 2005),
especially with the advent of specialised corpora, and numerous are
the best-practice rules concerning design, construction and applicabil-
ity. However, the main concept that stands out is that however large a
corpus is, it becomes a useful tool in the hands of linguists only if it was
designed and implemented carefully (Sinclair, 2004b). Corpus linguis-
tics has in fact become a very useful instrument to analyse large quan-
tities of texts, and because of its applicability in many fields of study it
is not only changing the way many disciplines are practicing scientific
research but it is also offering new and valuable teaching materials to
University language teachers (Aston et al., 2004; Bennet, 2010; Biber
et al., 1998; Conrad, 2012; O’Keeffe et al., 2007; Tognini-Bonelli,
2001). A corpus has, therefore, the potential of becoming a most valu-
able tool for language research and language teaching, if it is carefully
designed and constructed.
A reasonably extensive literature exists concerning principles of
corpus construction, design and applicability (Biber, 1993; McEnery,
2001; Sinclair, 2004b; Thompson, 2005; Wynne, 2005); the origins of
corpus design can be traced back to the 1980s. A linguistic corpus, for
example, has been initially described as a collection of written or oral
material stored on a computer and analysed linguistically with the aid of
specific software (Renouf, 1987). Over the years the concept of corpus
linguistics became clearer and numerous theories of what a corpus
should or should not be were drawn (e.g. Atkins et al., 1992; Biber
et al., 1998; Johansson, 1985, 2008; McEnery, 2001) and more impor-
tant details were added to its definition, such as the one by Sinclair
(2004b) and Rizzo (2010) who regard an electronic corpus as a small
representation of reality in which elements are carefully selected and
representative of a linguistic variety. As Rizzo (2010) clearly explains,
different corpora can serve different functions depending on whether
they are specialised or general. A general corpus is generally used to

73
reflect general language and therefore is most often made up of texts
coming from different genres and subject areas. Specialised corpora are
instead used to study a particular register or variety of language and are
therefore made up of samples of texts drawn within the same genre or
text-type.
The present study has followed the principles mentioned above
as much as possible and, in particular, has followed the four criteria
listed below, set by McEnery (2001) and further developed by Kennedy
et al. (1998) and Sinclair (2005):

1. Purpose
2. Representativeness
3. Size
4. Balance

Before introducing the Corpus of Academic Posters and its contents,

I will now describe why and how these four corpus design principles
have been followed.

2.8.1 Purpose

Because of the use I decided to make of my corpus, I have chosen

to gather a certain type of material (academic posters); I decided the
amount of material necessary to make reliable generalisations after the
corpus was analysed; and finally, the criteria to select the material for
the corpus were selected. A number of well-known corpora gather only
sections of texts and not entire documents, as for example, the LOB
Corpus (Johansson, 1985), Brown Corpus (Kjellmer, 1994), FLOB
Corpus (Leech & Smith, 2005), Frown Corpus (Hundt et al., 1999).
Others are specialised and represent a specific type of text or language
(e.g. the Michigan Corpus of Academic Spoken English – MICASE)
(Simpson-Vlach & Leicher, 2006). Certain corpora are diachronic
because the analysis points at differences within texts over time, such as
the Helsinki Corpus (Kyto et al., 2000) and the ARCHER Corpus (Biber
et al., 1994). Others are synchronic, that is, gather texts within a limited
time frame, such as the Australian Corpus of English (ACE) (Green &

74
Peters, 1991). Right from the start, the purpose with which a corpus
is created forces the researcher to make specific choices regarding the
selection of texts, the size of the corpus and tagging, always keeping
in mind that its complexity depends only on its purpose (Thompson,
2001).

2.8.2 Representativeness

If a corpus is representative, it means that it gathers enough authentic

data to represent, on a smaller scale, “the full range of variability in a
population” (Biber, 1993: 243). Representativeness is always considered
a key concept in corpus design, because on the one hand, how much a
corpus needs to be representative depends on its purpose, i.e. what the
corpus is created for. On the other hand, depending on the degree of
representativeness, a certain type of research question can be set and
the results can or cannot be generalizable (Biber et al. 1998). Although
some researchers doubt whether a corpus can really be fully represent-
ative of a linguistic variety (Atkins et al., 1992), others make represent-
ativeness a priority when designing and implementing a corpus, so that
the data they gather can be said to be truly authentic and representative
of reality (McEnery, 2001; Tognini-Bonelli, 2001). To represent reality
means that the material gathered is a sample of the real world data, that
all the varieties are represented and that the correct proportions of these
varieties are represented in the corpus. To do this, the researcher needs
to gather a wide range of data, so that he takes a ‘snapshot’ of the real
world or just the language variety under examination.
Although the size of the corpus will be dealt with separately in
Section 2.8.3, it is important to mention here that the size of a corpus is
closely connected to its purposes as well as its representativeness. Put
in simple terms, the larger the corpus is, the more representative it is.
If the corpus is too small, there are higher risks of obtaining unreliable
data (Atkins et al., 1992; Friedman et al., 1997).
By setting precise parameters regarding text collection, size, and
balance, it is possible to reproduce and generalise on the research work.
It is with this in mind that specific parameters have been set for the
construction of the present corpus (these parameters will be explained

75
in detail in Chapter 4). Also related to the notion of representativeness
is the notion of corpus size, which will now be explained.

2.8.3 Size

As explained in the previous section, the size of the corpus depends

on its purposes as well as its representativeness. As Rizzo (2010) rec-
ognises, even if we still do not know how many words a corpus should
contain to be considered representative, several corpus linguists have
stated their opinion on the subject. According to Pearson (1998), for
example, a specialised corpus should contain a million words. On the
contrary, Sinclair (1991) believes that although a 10 or 20-million-word
corpus can be considered a useful small corpus, it will not provide a
reliable and representative description of language. Along the same
line, Rizzo (2010) stated that even a large corpus is still a very small
sample of a language variety.
Sinclair (2005) proposes a ‘monitor corpus’, where material
keeps on being added so that the corpus never really becomes out-
dated. Hunston (2002) echoes him by stating that if a corpus is not
updated and if new material is not added regularly, it quickly becomes
unrepresentative of the language under study and is no longer reliable.
Nonetheless, the majority of today’s corpora are ‘reference corpora’, as
for example the Brown Corpus (Kjellmer, 1994), with the exception of
two well-known monitor corpora: The Bank of English (Moon, 2010)
and the Corpus of Contemporary American English – COCA (Davies,
2009).
Also Kennedy et al. (1998, cited in Rizzo, 2010: 6) believe that
just because a corpus is considerable in size, it does not necessarily
mean that it is capable of representing a register better than a smaller
corpus and admits that: “At this stage we simply do not know how big a
corpus needs to be for general or particular purposes”. Pearson (1998)
agrees by stating that the only factors limiting the size of a corpus
should be the number of texts available that respect the selection crite-
ria established.

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2.8.4 Balance

As noted in Section 2.8.2, representativeness and balance are two closely

connected concepts, so that if a corpus is well balanced, it is also repre-
sentative. As with representativeness, the balance of a corpus depends
on what the corpus is created for and if it proportionately covers differ-
ent text categories (Sinclair, 2005) so that “it offers a manageably small
scale model of the linguistic material which the corpus builders wish to
study” (Atkins et al., 1992: 6). An example is the BNC (a written and
spoken corpus), the Brown and LOB corpora (which contain different
genres and text types) and the CANCODE (a spoken corpus). Although
balance is considered an essential feature of corpus design, Sinclair
(2005) also states that the corpus designer might decide to deliberately
create an imbalance (therefore a bias) in the corpus by favouring one
variety of texts over another. However, in this case, users should be well
informed of the bias present in the corpus.

2.9 Summary of the chapter and Research Questions

In this chapter, I reviewed the most important literature on academic

discourse, academic genres, academic posters, metadiscourse, and
multimodality. I provided working definitions of ‘discipline’, ‘subdis-
cipline’ and ‘discourse community’, as well as a working definition of
‘academic poster’ and ‘metadiscourse’.
This literature review mainly confirms that the concepts of disci-
pline, genre and discourse community are multifaceted and not always
easy to define. Thanks to research in discourse analysis it is now clear
that different disciplines produce different texts because authors are
expected to comply with discipline-specific rules and conventions when
they write. The chapter has also highlighted the differences between tra-
ditional and multimodal genres and how these texts present information
visually as well as textually, requiring authors to learn a ‘new type of
literacy’ and linguists to use a new type of visual and textual analysis.

77
The chapter has then discussed the main principles underlying corpus
design.
Arising from my consideration of the literature, I can now pres-
ent the four research questions that have guided my exploration of aca-
demic posters:

1. What cross-disciplinary differences are there between three dis-

ciplinary subcorpora, in terms of word count, portrait/landscape
orientation and layout of posters?

This research question arises from the lack of standardized analyses

of posters, taking into consideration the number of words in posters as
well their orientation and layout (see Section 2.5.2). By carrying out
this analysis on a corpus with comparable subcorpora and on posters
that not only represent the hard sciences but also the soft and applied
sciences, I hope to fill a gap in current literature.

2. What cross-disciplinary differences are there between three dis-

ciplinary subcorpora, in terms of textual interactive and interac-
tional metadiscoursal resources found in posters?

This research question arises from the lack of metadiscourse analyses

applied to the academic poster genre. Although Hyland’s (2005) frame-
work of analysis has been applied to other academic genres (see Sec-
tions 2.4.1 and 2.6.2), there is a gap in the literature when it comes to
metadiscourse analysis applied to the academic poster genre.

3. What cross-disciplinary differences are there between three disci-

plinary subcorpora, in terms of visual interactive metadiscoursal
resources found in posters?

Like the previous research question, question 3 arises from the lack
of standardized visual analyses of academic posters. By assembling a
framework of analysis that considers and categorizes visual interactive
elements in academic posters, which represent the hard, soft and applied
sciences, this research aims to satisfy a need in current literature (see
Sections 2.5.2, 2.7.3 and 2.7.4).

78
4. Drawing from the interviews conducted across three subdisci-
plines, what are the possible motivations for these cross-discipli-
nary differences in the poster presentation genre?

This research question arises from the awareness that if disciplinary

differences in the way researchers write and design academic posters do
exist, it is crucial to also understand why this happens. Past literature
(Hyland, 2000; 2004a; 2009a, 2009c; Hyland & Bondi, 2006; Hyland
& Tse, 2004) has proved that by seeking informed feedback from the
participants involved, who represent the users of the genre, one is able
to successfully re-elaborate and comprehend the statistical data at hand
(see Sections 2.3.4, 2.4.1 and 2.6.2).
How a corpus of academic posters was devised and organised will
be explained in Chapter 3, and in Chapter 4 I will present and describe
the framework of analysis used to analyse the corpus and answer the
four research questions identified.

79
Chapter 3: Data collected

3.1 Introduction

The present chapter first introduces the corpus of academic posters and
then explains in detail the various reasons and principles behind the
corpus design. Fundamental corpus design principles such as purpose,
representativeness, balance, and size have driven the implementation
of the corpus and these were applied to the present work. The reasons
behind the choice of discipline and subdisciplines are explained and
the background information study, a central element in the construction
of the present corpus, is explained in Section 3.5. The results from the
background information study set important parameters and justify the
selection of posters; these parameters are described in Section 3.5.3.
The retrieval of posters is explained in Section 3.6, where I
describe the various databases, websites, and online journals consulted
for the selection of the posters. The final section of the chapter describes
the various decisions taken regarding the naming, formatting, and stor-
age of files.

3.2 Why a corpus of academic posters?

As explained in Chapter 1, the present study analyses academic poster

presentations belonging to two different subdisciplines (Clinical Psy-
chology, High Energy Particle Physics) and one discipline (Law). The
reason for constructing a specialised corpus of academic posters is that,
as explained in Chapter 2 (Section 2.5.4) there are currently no cor-
pora that collect and annotate academic posters drawn from different
disciplines so as to permit a cross-disciplinary linguistic and semiotic
analysis. This gap in the literature has prevented, so far, the realiza-
tion of consistent textual and semiotic analyses of this ‘marginalised’
genre. Because of the now widespread use of posters and multimodal
representations of knowledge, a corpus that collects visual and written
elements present in poster presentations and maps the use of academic
posters in different disciplines and subdisciplines is essential to carry
out relevant linguistic and semiotic analyses in this previously under-re-
searched academic genre.
In response to this need, following the criteria explained in Sec-
tion 3.3 below, posters belonging to two different academic subdisci-
plines and one disciplne were selected, each representing a separate
subcorpus. Poster presenters from each discipline and subdiscipline
were also contacted first to organise the poster selection and then to
gather relevant data on poster creation (the selection of the respond-
ents is explained in Section 3.5.1). The corpus was, therefore, preceded
by a survey on the use of posters (discussed in Section 3.5). Hereaf-
ter the discipline and subdiscipline selection process is explained and
described.

3.3 Selection of subdisciplines

There are two main reasons for choosing specifically the subdisciplines
of High Energy Particle Physics and Clinical Psychology, and the disci-
pline of Law for the present study. First, I wished the corpus to represent
a wide spectrum of knowledge domains, which sees a divide between
hard, soft, and social sciences (Becher & Trowler, 2001; Hedges, 1987;
Smart & Elton, 1982; Stoecker, 1993; Storer, 1967). I wanted at least
one discipline represented belonging to the soft (or social) sciences,
one subdiscipline from the hard sciences, and at least one subdiscipline
standing midway between this soft/hard dichotomy. The distinction
between hard, social, and soft sciences has been a debated topic for cen-
turies and is still a problematic aspect to consider when selecting fields
of study for linguistic analysis.

82
 Taking into account these views (Becher & Trowler, 2001;
Hyland, 1999; Kertesz, 2001; Stotesbury, 2003), I will consider the
hard/soft distinction as a continuum rather than as a one-dimensional
scale, in which High Energy Particle Physics is the ‘hardest’ of the sub-
disciplines chosen, Clinical Psychology stands midway, within blurred
demarcations, and Law represents a soft discipline.
The second reason for choosing these discipline and subdisci-
plines in particular is quite practical and somewhat opportunistic. Since
2007, I have been collaborating with the Departments of Clinical Psy-
chology and of Law at the University of Bergamo as an English lec-
turer, and since 2008, I have been collaborating with the INFN (Istituto
Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare [National Institute of Nuclear Physics])
in Milan, Italy, as an English translator. Knowing staff within these
departments and research centres has made it easier to contact per-
sonally researchers, PhD students, and postdocs in Italy and abroad.
More specifically, as I already worked with the same people who use the
genre selected for this research, it gave me the chance to enrich my sta-
tistical data, when needed, with first-hand ethnographical information
on the use of posters and the value given to the genre, depending on the
discipline and subdiscipline. Most importantly, colleagues in these dis-
cipline and subdisciplines have put me in touch with international spe-
cialists in the field, who, in turn, have agreed to participate in the study
and have been contacted whenever necessary. Furthermore, colleagues
from the INFN have given me access to posters and research presenta-
tions databases at CERN (European Centre for Nuclear Research) not
available to the public. Such valuable collaboration would probably not
have been achieved, at least to the same degree, if I had chosen different
academic fields.

3.4 Principles underlying my corpus design

As mentioned in Chapter 2, a reasonably extensive literature exists con-

cerning principles of corpora construction, design, and applicability

83
(Biber, 1993; Wynne, 2005; Sinclair, 2005; McEnery, 2001; Thompson,
2005). Hereafter, I explain the principles I took into consideration when
designing and constructing my corpus, drawing on relevant literature
in the field (see Chapter 2, Section 2.8). Following Thompson’s (2001),
Kennedy’s (1998), and McEnery’s (2001) theories, the present study has
followed the four criteria listed below:

• Purpose
• Representativeness
• Size
• Balance

I will hereafter describe how these four corpus design principles have
been followed.

3.4.1 Purpose

The purpose of the present research (see research questions in Chapter 2,

Section 2.9) is to analyse the text itself as well as the text layout and
images contained in academic posters, belonging to two different sub-
disciplines and one discipline. Because of this purpose, I had to include
the entire posters and not only the text they displayed. I also had to
make sure that the texts collected belonged to the chosen discipline
and subdisciplines, and were created by authors who met the standards
set and described in Section 3.5. What initially appeared to be a simple
and straightforward collection process became instead meticulous and
extremely selective work. Although burdensome, the accuracy in the
poster selection process was necessary to meet the purposes set as well
as to guarantee the representativeness of the corpus.

3.4.2 Representativeness

As explained in Chapter 2 (Section 2.8), by setting precise parameters

regarding text collection, size, and balance, it is possible to reproduce
and generalise on the research work in terms of the three subcorpora.

84
In particular, I have noted that for a specialised corpus to be reliable, it
must be maximally representative of the varieties under examination.
Because of this, the corpus designer must search for an array of authors
and text types that together, provide a reasonably accurate picture of the
entire language variety under study. It is with this in mind that specific
parameters have been set for the construction of the present corpus.
These parameters are explained in detail in Sections 3.4.3 and 3.4.4. In
Section 3.5, the results of a survey carried out prior to the poster com-
pilation laid the basis for the selection of posters. The survey conducted
for the present corpus is the main instrument used to achieve the best
representative corpus possible and will be described in detail in section
4.5. Also related to the notion of representativeness is the notion of
corpus size, which will now be explained.

3.4.3 Size

Based on the literature in Chapter 2 (Section 2.8.3), a number of aca-

demic posters have been gathered to form a corpus. Table 3.1 specifies
the number of posters collected after detailed criteria had been specified
(as discussed in section 3.5.4) and the number of words gathered in
each discipline and subdiscipline, depending on the linguistic data.

Table 3.1. Total number of posters and total number of words collected for the
present study.

Discipline/Subdiscipline Posters number of words

Soft Sciences Law 40 22,769

Social Sciences Clinical Psychology 40 38,898
Hard Sciences High Energy Particle 40 32,280
Physics
Total 120 93,947

As Table 3.1 shows, the corpus gathers a total of 120 posters. The corpus
is also accompanied by interviews carried out with twelve authors (four
per subdiscipline). A total of 32 surveys (of the use of posters in High

85
Energy Particle Physics, Law and Clinical Psychology) have also been
conducted to understand why and how the poster genre is used within
the discipline and subdisciplines considered. The survey and interview
design and data collection will be explained respectively in Sections
3.5 and 3.7.

3.4.4 Balance

Following the theory of balance in corpus construction (see Chapter

2, Section 2.8.4), I have tried to maintain an accurate proportioning of
the various sections of the corpus. More specifically, within each disci-
pline/subdiscipline, 40 posters have been collected and classified, total-
ling 120 posters. The number of interviewees is also balanced, counting
four interviews per discipline/subdiscipline. Respectively, 13 and 10
respondents from the subdiscipline of High Energy Particle Physics and
Clinical Psychology, and 9 respondents from the discipline of Law have
been considered for the survey, for a total of 32 survey participants.
Aside from the number of posters and interviews in the corpus
which have purposely been set to be balanced, the criteria specified in
Section 3.5.4, regarding the selection of the posters (such as author’s
experience and academic standing, type of conference where the poster
has been presented, the use of a conference-led or institution-led tem-
plate, or the use of guidelines) differs from discipline to discipline and
follows the results of the survey described in the following section.

3.5 The survey

Because there were no available corpora of academic posters to employ

for this study, a new, ad hoc one had to be designed, keeping well in
mind that the posters included in the corpus had to be representative of
the wide variety of posters presented at conferences within the disci-
pline and subdisciplines selected. Well before the actual poster collec-
tion started, it was necessary to know who exactly uses the academic

86
poster genre in each discipline and subdiscipline (e.g. graduate stu-
dents, PhD students, young researchers, tenured professors), in which
arenas posters are typically presented (e.g. in small, local, specialised
conferences or in large, international, multidisciplinary symposiums),
and, finally, if any other variables exist (such as nationality, use of con-
ference template, use of templates downloaded from the Internet, use
of poster guidelines). Put simply, it was necessary to take a snapshot
showing how the poster genre is used and by whom within the disci-
pline of Law and the subdisciplines of High Energy Particle Physics and
Clinical Psychology. Asking field experts for advice is almost always
necessary if one intends to devise a specialist corpus, but in this case, it
was a fundamental requirement to make sure the right poster selection
was made.
The survey questions were carefully designed, taking into con-
sideration Dörnyei’s (2007) idea that to generalize on an entire popu-
lation and in particular on its opinions and behaviours, it is enough to
analyse and describe the behaviour of a small part of this population. In
the present research, the population considered consists of users of the
academic poster genre. Following Dörnyei’s (2012: 78) guidelines, in
the design of the survey, I

– Aimed for short and simple items, not exceeding 20 words.

– Used simple and natural language;
– Avoided ambiguous or emotionally loaded words and sentences;
– Avoided negative constructions;
– Avoided double-barrelled questions

The survey included only six closed (multiple-choice) questions (see

Appendix 1 to view the survey’s questions) to augment the probability of
a high return rate. A longer survey, as well as a survey with open-ended
questions would probably have received a lower return rate. Thanks
to the answers given by the respondents, I was given an indication of
how the poster genre is utilised within each discipline/subdiscipline.
How the survey informed the collection of posters is described in detail
in Section 3.5.3.

87
 Because the survey saw the involvement of human participants,
it was necessary to apply to the School Ethics Committee to receive
permission to carry out as explained in the following section.

3.5.1 Selection of respondents for the survey

Informants from the three disciplinary fields selected were involved

from the outset and they were asked to respond to a survey. Following
suggestions by Hyman (1955), Moser and Kalton (1985), and Hayes
(1998), the survey was piloted on two researchers working at the Depart-
ment of Foreign languages and Literatures, University of Bergamo
(Italy). Both researchers were familiar with the academic poster genre,
because they are both experts in genre analysis and one of them has
published articles on the use of posters in Medicine (Maci, 2010, 2011,
2012). After minor amendments, the survey was then ready to be sent
to a number of informants (see Appendix 1 to read the questions con-
tained in the survey). For each discipline and subdiscipline, informants
have been selected by contacting staff members of Clinical Psychology,
Law, and Physics departments in 25 universities in five different conti-
nents: Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia together with Oceania, and
Europe. Five universities were contacted per continent, based on their
geographical location and on the fact that they were listed among the
top 50 universities around the world (TES Global, 2015).
The informants represent two broad categories within academia:

1. Researchers with extensive experience in their field who could be

considered as ‘experienced’ academic members. Typically, ten-
ured staff members, with several years of experience and several,
well-known published works, would fall into this category.
2. Researchers who have not yet received tenure, assistant lectur-
ers, research assistants, PhD students, and postdocs, who could
be considered as ‘novice’ staff members, with a more limited
amount of research/publishing experience with respect to the
previous group.

88
Although academic positions vary greatly from one country to another,
the academic positions listed in Table 3.2 have been considered during
the search for informants. Table 3.2 also shows how academic ranks
have been divided into two main groups depending on the academic
standing and amount of experience each rank supposedly entails.

Table 3.2. Division of academic ranks between ‘experienced’ and ‘novice’.

Experienced academics Novice academics

– Professor – PhD student
– Associate Professor – Post Doc
– Assistant Professor – Assistant lecturer
– Senior lecturer – Research fellow
– Senior research fellow – Lecturer

Between the beginning of December 2010 and the end of January 2011,
an email with the survey in an attachment was sent to 120 academics
from a selection of universities around the world, who in the staff page of
their department were defined as having the academic ranks mentioned
above. Depending on the discipline and subdiscipline a range of academ-
ics replied (with most, 13, from High Energy Particle Physics and least,
9, from Law) (see Table 3.3). Among the 34 surveys received, two sur-
veys were incomplete (missing one or two answers) and were therefore
discarded. The remaining surveys were categorised as shown in Table 3.3.

Table 3.3. Number of completed surveys received per discipline and subdiscipline.

Number of Number of Return No. of sur- Number of Return

Discipline/ surveys sent completed rate veys sent completed rate
Subdisci- to ‘expe- surveys to ‘novice surveys
pline rienced received from academics’ received
academics’ ‘experienced from ‘novice
academics’ academics’
High Energy 20 6 30% 20 7 35%
Particle
Physics
Law 20 4 20% 20 5 25%
Clinical 20 5 25% 20 5 25%
Psychology
TOTAL 60 15 25% 60 17 28%

89
Following is a list of the 13 respondents belonging to the subdiscipline
of High Energy Particle Physics, who responded to my background
information survey. Table 3.4 specifies their contact details, nationality,
affiliation, and academic position at the time of the survey. To avoid
having all respondents from one or two countries, participants have
also been selected so that Asia, the Middle East, North America, South
America, and Europe are represented.

Table 3.4. Survey respondents from nine different countries, working in the field of
High Energy Particle Physics.

Respondent number Affiliation Academic position

Respondent 1 – PHY Oxford University (UK) Novice academic
Respondent 2 – PHY Oxford University (UK) Novice academic
Respondent 3 – PHY University of Arizona (USA) Expert academic
Respondent 4 – PHY University of California, Department of Novice academic
Physics (USA)
Respondent 5 – PHY University of New South Wales, Depart- Expert academic
ment of Physics (Australia)
Respondent 6 – PHY Institute of High Energy Physics (China) Novice academic
Respondent 7 – PHY Carleton University (Canada) Novice academic
Respondent 8 – PHY University of Tokyo (Japan) Expert academic
Respondent 9 – PHY Middle East Technical University Novice academic
(Turkey)
Respondent 10 – Middle East Technical University Expert academic
PHY (Turkey)
Respondent 11 – Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina) Novice academic
PHY
Respondent 12 – Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina) Expert academic
PHY
Respondent 13 – Moscow Institute of Physics and Tech- Expert academic
PHY nology (Russia)

Table 3.5 shows the nine respondents belonging to the discipline of

Law, who have responded to the survey.

90
Table 3.5. Survey respondents from seven different countries, working in the field
of Law.

Respondent number Affiliation Academic position

Respondent 1 – LAW University of London (UK) Expert academic
Respondent 2 – LAW University of Chicago (USA) Novice academic
Respondent 3 – LAW Harvard Law School (USA) Novice academic
Respondent 4 – LAW University of Tokyo (Japan) Expert academic
Respondent 5 – LAW Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina) Novice academic
Respondent 6 – LAW The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Novice academic
(Israel)
Respondent 7 – LAW The University of Hong Kong (Hong Novice academic
Kong)
Respondent 8 – LAW Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru Expert academic
(Peru)
Respondent 9 – LAW Berlin School of Economics and Law Expert academic
(Germany)

Finally, Table 3.6 shows the ten respondents belonging to the subdisci-
pline of Clinical Psychology, who have responded to the survey.

Table 3.6. Survey respondents from eight different countries, working in the field of
Clinical Psychology.

Respondent number Affiliation Academic position

Respondent 1 – PSY University of Colorado at Boulder Novice academic
(USA)
Respondent 2 – PSY University of Colorado at Boulder Expert academic
(USA)
Respondent 3 – PSY University of Tokyo (Japan) Expert academic
Respondent 4 – PSY University of Berlin (Germany) Novice academic
Respondent 5 – PSY UNAM Universitat (Mexico) Expert academic
Respondent 6 – PSY ATILIM University (Turkey) Expert academic
Respondent 7 – PSY The University of Hong Kong (Hong Novice academic
Kong)
Respondent 8 – PSY ATILIM University (Turkey) Expert academic
Respondent 9 – PSY Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru Novice academic
(Peru)
Respondent 10 – PSY Universita’ di Milano Bicocca (Italy) Novice academic

91
3.5.2 Results from the Survey on Poster Use

The following table summarizes the results gathered from the survey on
the use of academic posters. The table shows the percentages of answers
received for each question in the survey and in the following sections I
will report on the results obtained to summarise the main information I
gained from the survey and justify the criteria followed for the selection
of posters for the corpus. Concluding each section are the final criteria
utilised to select posters for the corpus. To these criteria, two other gen-
eral characteristics that posters should have had in order to be selected,
have been added for each discipline/subdiscipline:

1. Posters must be written in English to allow the metadiscourse

analysis of the text.
2. Posters must have been presented at a poster session between the
years 2007 and 2012, so as to construct a relatively recent poster
database.

Table 3.7. Percentage of respondents that have selected each answer, per subcorpus.

Number of Number of Number of

Question Answer respond- respond- respond-
ents that ents that ents that
have have have
selected selected selected
the answer the answer the answer
and and and
relative % relative % relative %
(PAR- (LAW) (CLINI-
TICLE CAL PSY-
PHYSICS) CHOLO-
GISTS)
Q. 1: Where is the a) Large International 13 (100%) 5 (60%) 10 (100%)
genre of academic Conferences (>100
posters MOSTLY participants)
used in your disci- b) Large National Con- – 4 (40%) –
pline? ferences (>100 partici-
pants)

92
 c) Small International – – –
Conferences (<100
participants)
d) Small National Con- – – –
ferences (<100 partici-
pants)
e) Workshops – – –
f) Group meetings – – –
g) Classroom – – –
h) Other – – –
…………………
a) PhD students 9 (70%) – 8 (80%)
Q. 2: In your b) Post Docs 4 (30%) 1 (10%) 2 (20%)
discipline, who c) Untenured Faculty – 3 (30%) –
MOSTLY presents members
posters? d) Tenured Faculty – 5 (60%) –
members
a) Never – – –
Q. 3: In your dis- b) Once every two or – 6 (70%) 3 (30%)
cipline, how often more years
do academics (with c) Once a year 10 (80%) 3 (30%) 7 (70%)
your academic d) Two times or more 3 (20%) – –
standing) present a year
posters?
a) Never 4 (30%) 8 (90%) 8 (80%)
Q. 4: In your dis- b) Sometimes 9 (70%) 1 (10%) 2 (20%)
cipline, how much c) Often – – –
do poster presenters d) Always – – –
rely on conference
templates or institu-
tion templates when
devising a poster?
a) Never – 5 (60%) –
Q. 5: In your dis- b) Sometimes 3 (20%) 4 (40%) 3 (30%)
cipline, how much c) Often 10 (80%) – 7 (70%)
do poster presenters d) Always – – –
rely on generic
templates down-
loaded from Internet
or made available by
specific software?

93
 a) Never 6 (70%) –
Q. 6: Within your b) Sometimes 3 (30%) –
discipline, how often c) Often 13 (100%) – 10 (100%)
do poster presenters d) Always – –
rely on available
(non–template)
guidelines or the
experience of peers/
supervisors when
devising a poster?

3.5.2.1 High Energy Particle Physics subcorpus

In the following three sections I list and explain the eight main results
obtained from each disciplinary field (i.e. for each subcorpus), thanks
to the survey conducted. Each result is accompanied by an explanation.
Result 1: It is possible to exclude a national bias for High Energy Par-
ticle Physics posters
The survey for the physics subcorpus showed homogeneous answers
from all of the respondents, in the sense that for each question asked,
more than 50% of respondents in this discipline, no matter the national-
ity, chose the same answer. It is therefore possible to exclude a national
bias, when one considers the common practices of poster presentation
(i.e. the size of conferences where posters are used, the subjects who
mostly use the genre of posters, the average number of posters presented
by PhDs, postdoc students, and experienced authors, and template use).
Result 2: Physicists present at large international conferences
From the feedback received, it is clear that, within the subdiscipline of
High Energy Particle Physics, poster authors present at large interna-
tional conferences, counting more than 100 participants. As no other
option was selected, I gather that poster presentations appear only in
symposiums or large, international conferences, with a high number of
participants.

94
Result 3: PhD students and postdoc students in High Energy Particle
Physics present posters
Academic posters are mainly presented by PhD students and postdoc
students, no matter the nationality. Authors with a lot of experience,
who have reached higher positions within universities and have (or have
not) received tenure, seem to rarely (or never) present posters at confer-
ences, as none of the respondents have marked this option.
Result 4: Physicists present a poster at least once a year
When asked how often authors present posters, respondents replied that
PhD students and postdocs generally present posters at least once a year.
Result 5: Physicists use conference poster templates
Most respondents (see Table 3.7) have also indicated that researchers in
their field are sometimes obliged to use the conference poster template,
that is, a template created either by conference organisers (not just
simple instructions or sizes) or by universities. In these cases, poster
presenters must use a poster template when submitting and presenting a
poster. An example of a conference poster template is shown in Appen-
dix 2. In the example, we see the banner with the logo and the title of
the conference. The conference banner in this poster is horizontal and
vertical, occupies the upper and left part of the poster, and contains
the title of the poster as well as the sponsors’ logo. In this case, confer-
ence organisers seek to standardise their poster presentation sessions
by making specific choices regarding font type, font size, use of colour,
poster orientation (portrait/landscape), and layout.
Result 6: Physicists use university poster templates
Physicists have indicated that sometimes researchers in their field use
the university template made available by their institution. The univer-
sity to which the presenter is affiliated could in fact enforce a poster
template. For example, the University of Reading’s Design & Print
Studio (DPS) provides poster presenters with a variety of templates dis-
playing the university logo and predefined sections such as department
name, poster title, author(s), headings, and reference and contact infor-
mation block (see Appendix 3). The choice of colour as well as font

95
type, font size, as well as the layout is standardised and studied as to
achieve maximum readability.
Result 7: Physicists use generic poster templates
Because the majority of the respondents have admitted that researchers
in their field frequently make use of a template downloaded from the
Internet or available through software (e.g. Scribus.net, LaTeX beamer-
poster, POSTER 8), I have deliberately included a relevant number of
posters (70%), which have been generated totally or just partially from
a generic template. Avoiding these posters, in fact, would not have made
this subcorpus representative. To ascertain whether a poster was gener-
ated partially or totally from a template, authors have been contacted
by email.
Result 8: Physicists often use guidelines or suggestions by peers and/
or supervisors
All of the respondents have answered that researchers in High Energy
Particle Physics often use guidelines or suggestions by peers and/or
supervisors while devising the poster. Because of this, only posters by
presenters that admit to having used guidelines and/or suggestions by
peers, supervisors, and writing centres have been included in the corpus.
To ascertain this, authors have been, once again, contacted by email.
Following the results of the survey and in line with the comments
made above, the criteria for the selection of High Energy Particle Phys-
ics posters to include in the corpus have been set:

1. academic posters presented at large international conferences,

featuring more than 100 participants (see result 2);
2. academic posters designed by PhD or postdoc students (see
result 3);
3. academic posters whose authors have presented a poster at least
twice in the last 3 years (see result 4);
4. academic posters whose authors have followed guidelines or sug-
gestions by peers (see result 8).

During the construction of the High Energy Particle Physics subcor-

pus, authors have been contacted by email to establish whether they

96
had used a template to help them devise the poster, to confirm their aca-
demic position, to know whether they were tenured or not, to know if
the author had presented at least two posters in the last three years, and,
finally, to know if he/she had used a guideline or had relied upon the aid
of a peer and/or a supervisor while devising the poster.

3.5.2.2 Law subcorpus

Result 1: It is possible to exclude a national bias for Law posters
Also for what concerns the discipline of Law, respondents to the survey
have answered homogeneously to the given questions (i.e. for each
question asked, more than 50% of respondents in this discipline, no
matter the nationality, chose the same answer). This demonstrates that
nationality and affiliation are not intervening variables when it comes
to determining the common practices of a discipline (at least for what
concerns poster presentations).
Result 2: Lawyers present at large international and national confer-
ences
The survey subjects have declared that Lawyers mostly present posters
at large international and national conferences with more than 100 par-
ticipants.
Result 3: Tenured and untenured faculty members in Law present post-
ers
Within Law, the majority of authors using posters to present their
research seem to be well-established researchers and professionals,
having reached a high academic standing and tenure (60%). Untenured
researchers (30%) also present posters but less frequently. PhD students
seem to rarely present posters, as only one respondent (a PhD student
himself) has selected this option in the survey.
Result 4: Lawyers present a poster every two or more years
70% of the subjects have declared that, in the discipline of Law, where
the use of the poster genre is in its initial stages, researchers present
a poster once every two or more years. The frequency with which

97
Lawyers use this genre is therefore lower than the one found in High
Energy Particle Physics.
Result 5: Lawyers rarely use conference poster templates and university
poster templates
The use of conference-led and institution-led templates does not seem
to be frequent, as most respondents (90%) have indicated that Lawyers
are ‘never’ obliged to use them.
Result 6: Lawyers use generic poster templates
The use of generic templates downloaded from the Internet and avail-
able software is rare, as 60% of respondents indicated that Lawyers
‘never’ use downloaded templates.
Result 7: Lawyers occasionally use guidelines or suggestions by peers
and/or supervisors
The use of (non-template) guidelines and the assistance by a peer or
supervisor in the design of the poster are occasional (70% of respond-
ents indicated that Lawyers ‘sometimes’ ask for assistance and rely on
guidelines).
Following the results of the survey, a criterion for selecting Law
posters to include in the corpus has been set:

1. academic posters presented at large international or national

conferences, featuring more than 100 participants (see result 2);
2. academic posters designed by ‘experienced’ or ‘novice’ authors
(posters by ‘novice’ authors represent 1/3 of the subcorpus) (see
result 3);
3. academic posters whose authors have presented a poster at least
once in the last three years (see result 4).

During the construction of the Law subcorpus, as happened with the

previous subcorpus, authors have been contacted by email to establish
whether they had used a template to help them devise the poster, to con-
firm their academic position, to know whether they were tenured or not,
to know how often he/she had presented a poster in last three years, and,
finally, to know if he/she had used a guideline or had relied upon the aid
of a peer and/or a supervisor while devising the poster.

98
3.5.2.3 Clinical Psychology subcorpus
Result 1: It is possible to exclude a national bias for Clinical Psychol-
ogy posters
Also for the subdiscipline of Clinical Psychology, the poster selection
has taken into consideration the results of the background information
survey to achieve a ‘representative’ corpus for this field of study. As for
the High Energy Particle Physics and Law subcorpora, the results of the
background information survey showed homogeneous answers from all
of the Clinical Psychology respondents, regardless of the nationality
(i.e. for each question asked, more than 50% of respondents in this sub-
discipline, no matter the nationality, chose the same answer).
Result 2: Clinical Psychologists present at large international confer-
ences
From the answers gathered (see Appendix 4), it is clear that a repre-
sentative Clinical Psychology subcorpus must feature academic posters
mainly presented at large international conferences, counting more than
100 participants.
Result 3: In Clinical Psychology, PhD students and postdocs present
posters
In Clinical Psychology, posters are mostly presented by PhD students
and postdocs (80% of respondents have chosen answer A, whereas 20%
of respondents have chosen answer B) (see Appendix 4).
Result 4: Clinical psychologists present a poster at least once a year
When asked how often authors present posters, respondents replied that
PhD students and postdocs generally present posters at least once a year.
Result 5: Clinical psychologists rarely use conference poster templates
and university poster templates
The survey indicates that Clinical Psychologists are rarely obliged to
use a conference or university template (80% of respondents indicated
that Clinical Psychologists ‘never’ use one and 20% indicated that they
‘sometimes’ do so).

99
Result 6: Clinical psychologists use generic poster templates
The majority of the respondents (70%) have admitted that researchers
in their field frequently make use of a generic template downloaded
from the Internet or available through software. Because of this, I have
included a relevant number of posters (70%) that have been generated
from a template, and, to ascertain this, authors have been contacted by
email.
Result 7: Clinical psychologists often use guidelines or suggestions by
peers and/or supervisors
All of the respondents have confirmed that researchers in their field
often use guidelines or suggestions by peers and/or supervisors while
devising the poster. Because of this, only presenters who confirmed to
having used guidelines and/or suggestions by peers, supervisors, and
writing centres have been included in the corpus. To ascertain this,
authors have been, once again, contacted by email.
Given the results described above, only posters with the follow-
ing characteristics have been considered for this specific subcorpus:

1. academic posters presented at large international conferences,

featuring more than 100 participants (see result 2);
2. academic posters designed by PhD students or postdocs (posters
by PhD students represent 2/3 of the subcorpus) (see result 3);
3. academic posters whose authors have presented a poster at least
twice in the last three years (see result 4);
4. academic posters generated from generic templates downloaded
from Internet or made available by specific software (see result 7);
5. academic posters whose authors have followed available guide-
lines or suggestions by peers (see result 8).

Also during the construction of the Clinical Psychology subcorpus,

poster authors have been contacted by email to ascertain whether they
had used a template or not, to confirm their academic position and
tenure, to know how often he/she presented a poster in the last three
years, and, finally, to know if he/she had used a guideline or had relied
upon the aid of a peer and/or a supervisor while devising the poster.

100
3.5.3 Summary of the poster selection criteria

To better summarise and compare the criteria used for the selection
of posters, depending on the disciplinary field, Table 3.8 illustrates the
main selection requisites for each subcorpus:

Table 3.8. Summary of criteria for poster selection.

Subcorpus Requisite Boolean

operator
Academic posters written in English AND
HIGH Academic posters presented between 2007 and 2012 AND
ENERGY
Academic posters presented at large international confer- AND
PARTICLE
ences, featuring more than 100 participants
PHYSICS
Academic posters whose authors have followed guidelines AND
or suggestions by peers
Academic posters designed by PhD students OR
Academic posters designed by Post doc students AND
Academic posters whose authors present a poster once OR
a year
Academic posters whose authors present a poster two times AND
or more a year
Academic posters whose authors relied on a conference OR
template or institutional template
Academic posters generated from generic templates down-
loaded from Internet or made available by specific software
Academic posters written in English AND
LAW Academic posters presented between 2007 and 2012 AND
Academic posters presented at large international confer- OR
ences, featuring more than 100 participants
Academic posters presented at large national conferences, AND
featuring more than 100 participants
Academic posters designed by Post doc students OR
Academic posters designed by tenured faculty members AND
Academic posters whose authors present a poster once OR
every two or more years
Academic posters whose authors present a poster once AND
a year

101
 Subcorpus Requisite Boolean
operator
Academic posters generated from generic templates down- AND
loaded from Internet or made available by specific software
Academic posters whose authors have followed guidelines
or suggestions by peers
Academic posters written in English AND
CLINICAL Academic posters presented between 2007 and 2012 AND
PSYCHOL-
Academic posters presented at large international confer- AND
OGY
ences, featuring more than 100 participants
Academic posters designed by PhD students OR
Academic posters designed by Post doc students AND
Academic posters whose authors present a poster once OR
every two or more years
Academic posters whose authors present a poster once AND
a year
Academic posters whose authors relied on a conference OR
template or institutional template
Academic posters generated from generic templates down- AND
loaded from Internet or made available by specific software
Academic posters whose authors have followed guidelines
or suggestions by peers

3.6 Retrieval of posters

The retrieval of posters has been a key aspect of the corpus construction
process. After the parameters described in the previous section were set,
it was necessary to find posters that had the necessary characteristics,
were publicly available, or were handed to me directly from respondents.
The majority of the posters contained in the corpus were found online,
thanks to available research databases, conference databases and online
poster journals. Aside from these posters downloaded from the Inter-
net, twelve posters were sent to me by email, directly from the subjects
selected for the interviews. It should be mentioned that although all

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academics believe that scientific information presented through posters
at conferences is a precious resource, it is also a type of information that
irremediably vanishes once the conference is over (F1000Posters). Only
a limited number of people are able to see the original poster and the
research done, until the actual paper is written and published. The fact
that posters are removed after a conference has ended means that a great
amount of information and data is lost ‒ data that could be extremely
valuable to the scientific community. This loss of valuable scientific
work has been the hardest problem to overcome, while retrieving the
posters for the present work in general, and, in particular, for the disci-
pline of Law and the subdiscipline of Clinical Psychology.
In the following sections, I describe the databases, websites, and
online poster journals I consulted, to gather the posters for the three
sucorpora. I decided to explain the retrieval process for each single sub-
corpus because depending on the disciplinary field, different choices
were made regarding sources.

3.6.1 Retrieval of High Energy Particle Physics posters

The majority of the posters for the High Energy Particle Physics subcor-
pus were downloaded from CERN’s Document Server (<http://cdsweb.
cern.ch/collection/Posters?ln=en>). CERN, the European Centre for
Nuclear Research founded in 1954, astride the Franco-Swiss border
near Geneva, is a European research organization that runs the largest
High Energy Particle Physics laboratory in the world (Johnson, 2009).
CERN over the years has come to be the hub of high-energy physics
research and, as a result, thanks to fruitful international collaborations,
numerous experiments have been carried out. The research centre hosts
about 10,000 visiting scientists and engineers, coming from 608 uni-
versities and research centres all the world and 113 different national-
ities (Heuer & Schopper, 2009). Because CERN operates strictly with
public resources, its research databases are, for the most part, open to
the public. In particular, CERN’s Document Server offers public access
to papers and posters presented by researchers working or collaborating
with CERN, at both large and small national and international confer-
ences around the world.

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 Because an impressive number of particle physicists ‒ who may
they be students, PhD students, postdocs or more experienced aca-
demics from all over the world ‒ collaborate with CERN, I believed its
Document Server was an ideal source for the retrieval of High Energy
Particle Physics posters. Following the parameters described in Sec-
tion 3.5.3.1, only posters presented at large, international conferences
(counting more than 100 participants) were taken into consideration. In
order to fulfil the other parameters to decide whether to include or not a
poster in the corpus (see the poster selection criteria in Section 3.5.4.1)
the authors’ CVs were consulted to retrieve all relevant information. The
authors’ CVs were made available by CERN’s LHCb (Large Hadron
Collider beauty experiment) research database, which is available to the
public (open-access source). A total of 36 posters were retrieved from
CERN’s Document Server.

3.6.2 Retrieval of Law posters

For this discipline, 34 posters were provided by the Association of

American Law Schools (AALS), which maintains an online conference
database (<http://www.aals.org/>) offering public access to posters pre-
sented in North America. Although an increasing number of confer-
ences around the world are beginning to offer poster sessions within this
discipline, it is still rare to find conference organisers making available
academic posters online. The variety of posters is nonetheless assured
by the fact that the AALS sponsors large, international conferences, in
which also Lawyers from around the world participate, as stated on the
association’s website (<http://www.aals.org/>):

As AALS considers its role as a scholarly membership organization in support-

ing the global engagement of its members, its annual meetings will provide
opportunities to define and expand our understanding of our shared needs in a
globalized world, inviting participants from International Law Schools.

Two posters were also provided by the ‘Learning in Law 2010 Confer-
ence’, which took place at the University of Warwick (UK) (UKCLE,
2000–2010). Conference organizers provided a conference website

104
collecting and displaying presenters’ abstracts and session reports, as
well as downloadable papers, slides and posters. Posters were down-
loaded directly from the conference website (<http://www.ukcle.ac.uk/
learning-in-law-annual-conference/2010/papers/>). These posters were
included in the corpus as they respected the selection criteria estab-
lished for the Law subcorpus (see Section 3.5.4.2). Other online sources
such as F1000Posters and the Online Journal of Scientific Posters were
not used to retrieve Law posters because they do not display posters
from the humanities.
Finally, four posters were provided by subjects participating in
the interview process (see Section 3.7.) and working within the field of
Law. These last four posters also respect the selection criteria listed in
Section 3.5.4.2.

3.6.3 Retrieval of Clinical Psychology posters

The Clinical Psychology posters were downloaded from four different

sources. Following the poster selection criteria in Section 3.5.4.3, 17
Particle Clinical Psychology posters were downloaded from F1000Post-
ers (http://posters.f1000.com/posters) and 17 posters were downloaded
from the Online Journal of Scientific Posters (<http://www.eposters.
net/>). Faculty of 1000 Posters, an open-access source that stores post-
ers and PowerPoints presented at conferences is also a website that
allows viewers to comment on the posters posted online so that authors
can receive feedback on the work produced. The Online Journal of Sci-
entific Posters is also an open-access repository, dedicated to poster
presentations only. These two online sources are the only examples of
journals making available full PDF versions of posters to the public.
Aside from the posters mentioned above, four posters were pro-
vided by subjects involved in the interview process and two posters
were downloaded from the British Psychological Society (BPS) Annual
Conference website (<http://www.bps.org.uk/ac2013/submissions>).
Although the use of academic posters is widespread in the field
of Clinical Psychology (see Section 3.5.4.3), after a thorough search of
websites provided by Psychology Conferences (that took place from the
year 2007 to 2012), it became clear that within this subdiscipline full

105
posters are not made available to the public. Conference organisers make
available summaries of poster presentations, single poster abstracts or
just poster titles and contact details. For example, the American Psy-
chological Association (APA), for its Annual Meeting, provides only
abstracts of the posters presented. The sole exception found was the
British Psychological Society Annual Conference website that makes
available for download two winning posters from the year 2011 and
2012. Unlike the High Energy Particle Physics and Law subcorpora
that could rely on two main sources, the present subcorpus had to rely
on four different sources, two of which constitute the only online poster
journals available to the academic community. Like the other subcor-
pora, after an initial selection based on the criteria listed in Section
3.5.4.3, each poster author was contacted to confirm the information
found online and in their CVs.

3.7 Interviews with poster presenters

As mentioned at the beginning of the chapter, the present corpus is sup-

ported by twelve interviews carried out with subjects belonging to the
subdisciplines of High Energy Particle Physics and Clinical Psychology
and the discipline of Law. These interviews are not part of the corpus
i.e. they do not form a subcorpus, but accompany the main corpus and
provide additional information for the analysis of the posters. This
additional input was used for the qualitative part of the research; that is,
it helped me understand why certain textual and visual resources were
used, and interviewees’ comments have been used to discuss results in
Chapter 6. In the following sections, I describe the interview questions,
how interviewees were selected, and how the interview was organised
and carried out.

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3.7.1 Selection of interviewees

Table 3.9 shows the affiliation of the twelve authors interviewed for
the present research. These poster authors did not participate in the
survey described in Section 3.5. They instead provided valuable data to
better comprehend and interpret results and each one of them provided
a poster to be included in the relevant subcorpus, which respected the
poster selection criteria summarised in Section 3.5.5.
For each discipline and subdiscipline, four authors were chosen
depending on their academic standing; that is, for each discipline
and subdiscipline I interviewed two ‘experienced’ researchers, with a
high academic ranking and tenure, and two ‘novice’ authors, namely a
researcher who has not yet received tenure, an assistant professor, a PhD
student, or a postdoc. Because the survey on the use of posters showed
that that the nationality of the poster author is irrelevant, the nationality
or affiliation of interviewees was not taken into consideration.

3.9. List of poster authors interviewed.

Discipline/Subdis- Name Academic position Affiliation

cipline
PPhy 1 Associate Professor CERN
High Energy Parti- PPhy 2 Researcher CERN
cle Physics
PPhy 3 Post Doc INFN of Milan (ITALY)
PPhy 4 PhD student CERN
Law 1 Associate Professor Southern Illinois University
(USA)
Law2 Associate Professor Suffolk University Law School
(USA)
Law
Law3 Research fellow University of Houston Law
Centre (USA)
Law4 Assistant Professor University of Georgia Law
School (USA)

107
Discipline/Subdis- Name Academic position Affiliation
cipline
CPsy1 Tenured Professor Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health
(USA)
CPsy2 Associate Professor Center for Neuroscience, Vrije
Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
Clinical Psychology CPsy3 PhD student Department of Clinical Health
and Psychology, University of
Leeds (UK)
CPsy4 PhD student Department of Clinical Health
and Psychology, University of
Leeds (UK)

All of the interviewees were referred to me by personal contacts within

the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare in Milan and the Department of
Law and the Department of Human and Social Sciences at the Univer-
sity of Bergamo. The INFN contact, in particular, allowed me to come
in contact with ‘expert’ and ‘novice’ researchers working at CERN, in
Geneva, and arrange personal meetings with them, over the summer
of 2011. Although they are physicists affiliated with universities and
research centres in Italy, Germany, and Canada, they were all collabo-
rating, at the time, in a research project based at CERN. The respond-
ents from the fields of Clinical Psychology and Law instead have no
connection between them and were initially contacted by email, after
colleagues at the University of Bergamo referred their contact details
to me. These respondents were then interviewed online, as described in
Section 3.7.3. All of the subjects interviewed respected the criteria set
for their discipline and subdiscipline and provided me with a poster that
was inserted in the corpus.

3.7.2 Interview questions

When devising the interview, an open-ended interview protocol was

chosen to allow participants a certain degree of flexibility when deliver-
ing the responses (Ballou, 2008; Dörnyei, 2007; Lavrakas, 2008). The
interview questions were piloted on three researchers working in the

108
subdisciplines of Clinical Psychology and High Energy Particle Physics
and in the discipline of Law, belonging to the Department of Human
and Social Sciences of the University of Bergamo, the Department of
Law of the University of Bergamo, and, finally, the INFN of Milan. The
four interview questions (see Appendix 5) were deemed clear enough
by the subjects participating in the pilot and no changes were made. The
interviews for the main study have been audio-recorded, and the parts
that were relevant for the discussion in Chapter 6 have been transcribed
(see Appendix 5). As can be seen from the interview questions and the
comments that appear in Chapter 6, interviewees were asked to focus
and comment on the general use of the poster genre in their own disci-
pline/subdiscipline and the choices they made when devising the poster
(which, as mentioned before, was included in one of the subcorpora).

3.7.3 How interviews were carried out

Each interview lasted between 12 and 26 minutes (see Appendix 5 for

the length of each interview). The interviews with the High Energy par-
ticle physicists took place in person at CERN in June and July 2012
and each person was interviewed once. The Lawyers and clinical psy-
chologists were also interviewed individually, but in this case, I used an
online conferencing system (Skype), because interviewees were located
in different countries. After contacting them by email, a virtual meeting
was arranged within two or three days, taking into consideration differ-
ences in time. All the participants had access to Skype and a webcam,
which was necessary to discuss the material at hand (examples of post-
ers, interview questions, additional data, etc.). Interviews conducted
via Skype lasted between 35 and 40 minutes. The interviews with the
Lawyers took place in May and June 2012; the interviews with clinical
psychologists took place in April and May 2012.
Before the interview, subjects were contacted by email, and a
date and time for the virtual meeting were decided. During the inter-
view, each respondent was asked to send by email a poster that com-
plied with the requisites listed in Section 3.5.3.2, so that I could include
it in the relevant subcorpus and analyse it linguistically as well as semi-
otically, using the framework of analysis described in Chapter 4. To be

109
sure that communication between the interviewer and the interviewees
proceeded without too many technical interferences, at the beginning
of the Skype session I provided respondents with a written list of the
open-ended questions I was going to ask them. Aside from occasional
technical glitches, due to a faulty Internet connection or temporary
loss of audio, the interviews conducted via Skype were successful.
Whenever a loss of audio occurred, the relevant question or answer was
repeated as soon as the connection was re-established.

3.8 Naming and formatting of files

In order to render the present corpus useful for different types of anal-
yses and accessible for a long time, a series of measures were adopted.
First, a backup of all the material collected was created as the retrieval
of the posters proceeded. PDF and PowerPoint copies (if available) of
the material selected were stored on several CDs, so that in the case of a
disk crash or corruption of files the corpus could be restored.
The text contained in the posters was saved not only in PDF
format, but also in Plain Text Format, because, as Wynne (2005) notes,
software is subject to continuous changes and upgrades so there might
come a time when users will not be able to read the files in this format
anymore. Saving a copy of the file in Plain Text is therefore highly rec-
ommended (Leech & Smith, 2004). For the present research, data has
been kept in three different levels, called Archive, Database, and Bank.

Table 3.10. Levels in which data were kept.

Level Description
Archive Original files
The text is extracted from the poster and
Database files are converted into. txt,. doc and. pdf
format
Bank Analysis was carried out on files

110
The Archive gathers original texts without any conversion or modifica-
tion. In Database, posters have been converted into .txt, .doc, and PDF
formats, suitable for most word-processing software, such as Word-
Smith Tools and ATLAS.ti. Also at this stage, the text was extracted
from posters and saved in .txt format, so that each document in the
Archive generated a number of files in the Database. Apart from the
conversion and the extraction of posters’ texts, nothing else was done
at this stage. The analysis was carried out instead at the Bank stage:
each file in the Database had a corresponding file in the Bank, to which
additional linguistic information was added. It is at this stage that texts
have been analysed qualitatively and quantitatively, through ATLAS.ti,
as described in Chapter 4, Section 4.5.
In the corpus, each poster selected, converted, and analysed was
identified with a simple code that makes it easily recognisable. An
example of such code is [PPHY01], whose single parts ‒ [PPHY] and
[01] ‒ stand respectively for a poster in the subdiscipline [High Energy
Particle Physics] and the number of the poster in progressive order. The
subjects interviewed were identified in a similar manner, using lower
case; for example, to identify a subject interviewed within the High
Energy Particle Physics subdiscipline, the following code was given:
[pphy01]. Every poster, accompanied by its code, was listed in a sepa-
rate Excel file in which all relevant information about each single text
stored was added, thus providing a quick reference guide.

3.9 Summary of the chapter

In the present chapter, the corpus of academic posters was presented

and the most important principles of corpus design that were followed
during the implementation of the corpus were described. In particular,
the purpose of the corpus was clarified and the principles of represent-
ativeness, balance, and size were first explained and then applied to
the present corpus. The reasons that drove the choice of discipline and
subdisciplines were clarified and the various steps taken to carry out a
background information survey were explained in detail. Subsequently,

111
the results of the background information study were presented, and so
were the parameters for the selection of posters. Because the corpus
consists not only of academic posters drawn from different disciplines/
subdisciplines but also of interviews carried out with informants within
each discipline/subdiscipline, the interview process was described. The
retrieval process concerning the posters was also explained, detailing
the databases, websites, and online journals consulted for the selection
of the posters. Finally, the decisions taken regarding the naming, for-
matting, and storage of files were reported and justified.

112
Chapter 4: Framework of analysis

4.1 Overview of the chapter

In this chapter, I present the framework of analysis that will be used

later in Chapters 5 and 6 for the textual and visual analysis of posters.
I begin here by explaining why a new type of framework of analysis is
needed, and I describe its various components, that is, the metadiscourse
resources in text and the metadiscourse resources in visuals. I include
an example of how the framework of analysis is used with a poster, and
I continue by explaining how the corpus has been searched. I conclude
by reflecting on the limits of description inherent to the framework of
analysis.

4.2 A new framework of analysis

As explained in Section 2.5.1, the academic poster is a multimodal

genre that is capable of simultaneously employing three different com-
ponents: the written, the visual and the spoken components (Kress &
van Leeuwen, 2001). In the present research only the written and visual
components are analysed, but to do so, we need to apply a framework
of analysis that is capable of understanding how the different written/
visual parts present on a poster are somehow capable of creating
meaning together or, as Kress and van Leeuwen’s (1998) explain, to
create semantic relations. Each semiotic mode does it differently, but
the semantic result is the same. For example, we can express the idea
of an ‘action verb’ (e.g. look, read, see, consider) by using a visual
element such as a ‘vector’ (e.g. an arrow or line) pointing at or con-
necting something. In this way, we can express with images what we
normally express through writing and vice versa. In other cases, this
is not possible. Because of this, the relationship between images and
text can be seen as complementing each other, but at the same time the
two semiotic codes can work independently (Kress and van Leeuwen,
2006). Because text and pictures are semantic codes that sometimes
are not interchangeable, to carry out a complete analysis of posters, the
researcher should consider both semiotic codes at the same time, focus-
ing on how they work together to achieve unity and clarity.
The metadiscourse model (Hyland, 2005: 49) summarised in
Table 4.1 can be employed to analyse the textual elements found in
posters. It relies on a theoretical approach that considers the way writ-
ers refer to texts, as well as to themselves and their audience. As was
explained in Chapter 2, Section 2.6, this model is based on Thompson
and Thetela’s (1995) early model of metadiscourse, which distinguishes
between interactive and interactional resources (Hyland, 2001a; Hyland
& Tse, 2004). Although Hyland’s (2001a) model is heavily influenced
by Thompson and Thetela’s theoretical framework, it provides linguists
with a more detailed framework of analysis that also includes stance and
engagement features (Hyland, 1998a, 2000, 2001a, 2005) (see Chapter
2, Section 2.63).

Table 4.1. Hyland’s (2005: 49) model of metadiscourse.

CATEGORY FUNCTION EXAMPLES

Interactive Help to guide the reader Resources
through the text
Transitions Express relations between main In addition; but; thus; and
clauses
Frame markers Refer to discourse acts, Finally; to conclude; my
sequences or stages purpose is
Endophoric markers Refer to information in other Noted above; see Fig; in
parts of the text section 2
Evidentials Refer to information from other According to X; Z states
texts
Code glosses Elaborate propositional mean- Namely; e.g.; such as; in
ings other words

114
CATEGORY FUNCTION EXAMPLES
Interactional Involve the reader in the text Resources
Hedges Withhold commitment and open Might; perhaps; possible;
dialogue about
Boosters Emphasize certainty or close In fact; definitely; it is clear
dialogue that
Attitude markers Express writer’s attitude to Unfortunately; I agree;
proposition surprisingly
Self mentions Explicit reference to author(s) I; we; me; our
Engagement markers Explicitly build relationship Consider; note; you can
with reader see that

The model recognises that metadiscourse involves two different com-

municative dimensions:

1. The interactive dimension. This dimension of interaction con-

cerns the ability of the writer to adapt to the needs of his/her
audience. It is within this dimension that writers take into consid-
eration readers’ “probable knowledge, interests, rhetorical expec-
tations, and processing abilities” (Hyland, 2005: 49). In short, by
using the resources in this category, writers reveal “the extent to
which the text is constructed with the readers’ needs in mind”
(Hyland, 2005: 49).
2. The interactional dimension. This dimension takes into consider-
ation the way authors overtly express their personal point of view
and to what extent they are willing to involve readers in the devel-
opment of discourse. It is through these metadiscourse resources
that we hear the writer’s “textual voice, or community-recognised
personality, [which] includes the ways he or she conveys judge-
ments and overtly aligns him- or herself with readers” (Hyland,
2005: 49).

115
4.3 Metadiscourse resources in texts

In the following section I will elaborate more on the interactive and

interactional dimension of written discourse, introduced above.

4.3.1 Textual interactive resources

Textual interactive resources are employed by a writer not simply to

organize the text in a coherent manner, but also to develop a text that
a real or imagined reader is able to understand, depending on his/her
background knowledge, and rhetorical expertise. The writer takes these
needs into consideration during the unfolding of the text. The five broad
sub-categories identified by Hyland (2005) are hereby described:

• Transition markers are those textual elements that aid readers in

understanding connections between parts of text and the various
steps of an argumentation. They mostly consist of conjunctions
and adverbial phrases. They indicate either a relation of addi-
tion, comparison and consequence between parts of discourse.
However, to really be considered as metadiscourse elements,
they must relate to an internal discourse, rather than an external
world (Hyland, 2005). Looking at the three main roles (originally
devised by Martin & Rose, 2003: 127), Hyland (2005) divides
transition markers into

– Addition markers: markers that allow the addition of arguments (e.g. and,
also, moreover)
– Comparison markers: markers that signal if two arguments are similar or
not (e.g. likewise, similarly vs. on the contrary, but)
– Consequence markers: markers that signal that a conclusion will follow
(e.g. as a consequence, in conclusion) or that a counterargument will be
presented (e.g. however, nevertheless)

• Frame markers are those textual elements that signal a sequence

or a change in argument. As with transition markers, these meta-
discourse resources, to be considered as such, must deal with

116
 the internal world rather than the outside world (Hyland, 2005),
e.g. frame markers can be used to label stages within the dis-
course presented, signal a specific goal or purpose or announce
topic shifts in the text.
• Endophoric markers are used typically to indicate other mate-
rial within the same text (e.g, as can be seen below, as noted
above). They help readers follow the developing discourse by
making connections with material mentioned earlier in the text
or by anticipating information that will be displayed later in the
text.
• Evidentials provide valuable support to arguments presented, by
making reference to a literature shared by members of a commu-
nity of practice. These textual elements play an important role in
academic discourse, because they help build an academic per-
sona and they “guide readers through the discussion and help
steer them to a preferred interpretation o reading of the dis-
course” (Hyland, 2005: 51).
• Code glosses, as Hyland (2005: 52) states, “reflect the writer’s
predictions about the reader’s knowledge-base” and are used to
clarify something so that it becomes clearer to the reader. Typi-
cal examples are expressions such as that is to say, e.g., and this
means.

4.3.2 Textual interactional resources

Textual interactional resources are used to render a writing persona

explicit by overtly expressing a point of view, hedging or boosting a claim
but also by acknowledging the point of view of others. As White (2003,
cited in Hyland, 2005: 52) writes, they “act to anticipate, acknowledge,
challenge or suppress alternative, potentially divergent positions and so
work to expand or restrict opportunities for such views”. Here too we
find five sub-categories identified by Hyland (2005):

• Hedges are textual elements (e.g. modal verbs such as perhaps,

might and could) that allow writers to express possibility instead
of certainty regarding information, and recognise alternative

117
 points of view. Hedges, as Hyland (2005) explains, allow the
writer to present an idea as subjective and negotiable, thereby
anticipating the possible reaction of readers.
• Boosters instead allow writers to express their opinion and con-
viction regarding a point of view or a fact, by using, for example,
adverbs and verbs such as clearly, certainly, show(s) and demon-
strate(s) (Hyland, 2005)
• Attitude markers reveal the writer’s attitude towards a proposi-
tion. They can convey surprise, frustration, commitment, etc. and
can take the form of attitude verbs (e.g. agree, disagree), adverbs
(e.g. interestingly, correctly) and adjectives (e.g. suitable, coher-
ent, noteworthy) (Hyland, 2005).
• Self-mentions indicate the use of first person pronouns and pos-
sessive adjectives that signal explicitly the presence of the author
in the text. It is a deliberate choice of the author to self-represent
himself or not while s/he writes, and consequently demonstrate a
stronger or weaker persona (Hyland, 2001, 2005).
• Engagement markers are used to involve readers in the text
and render them participants in the evolving discourse. They
explicitly address readers by using the pronouns you, your or
the inclusive we and by using interjections such as by the way.
Also questions, imperatives, obligation modals and reference
to shared knowledge can be regarded as engagement markers,
because they rhetorically position the audience by ‘pulling
readers into the discourse at critical points, predicting possi-
ble objections and guiding them to particular interpretations’
(Hyland, 2005: 54).

4.3.3 An example: textual metadiscourse in an academic poster

The following is an example of how a text in a poster effectively employs

interactive and interactional metadiscourse elements. The academic
poster belongs to the subdiscipline of Applied Linguistics (see Figure
4.11 below) and was presented at an international conference by a staff
member of the Department of Applied Linguistics at the University of

118
Reading3. The text of the poster has been extracted, whereas the com-
plete poster is in Figure 4.11 below. Textual interactive resources are
underlined, textual interactional resurces found are in bold and each
interactive and interactional element is followed by its respective code
written in red and in parenthesis. The resources found have been com-
mented and raw occurrences appear in Table 4.2.

Short-term changes in Complexity, Accuracy and Fluency: Developing Pro-

gress-sensitive Proficiency Measures
Alan Tonkyn
Department of Applied Linguistics, University of Reading, UK.

BACKGROUND
There is continuing uncertainty about the nature and extent of progress that
instructed second/foreign language (L2) (CG) learners can make in a given
period. Recent e-mail correspondence to the LTEST-L list has indicated that
(EVI) language assessors are often (HED) pessimistic about being able to
measure progress, even on intensive courses, with one scholar (A. Huhta) (EVI)
citing as reasons: the insensitivity of the tests, the shortness of the courses, the
relatively (HED) high level of initial proficiency of the students and the lack of
explicit language teaching. Alderson (2000) (EVI) has urged language testers
to develop progress-sensitive proficiency tests, and (TRA) this study aims to
(FMg) contribute to that.

Theory (EVI) suggests (HED) that instruction and feedback should (HED)
promote attention to form (Schmidt, 2001) (EVI), and thereby (TRA) complex-
ity and accuracy; more frequent use of forms in and out of class should (HED)
promote fluency (Ellis 2002; Johnson, 1996) (EVI). However (TRA), theory
(EVI) also (TRA) suggests (HED) that skill-focused courses may (HED) pro-
vide fewer opportunities for noticing and intensive practice, and (TRA) that
pressure to use the existing interlanguage in the L2 country may (HED) autom-
atise error (Klein, 1986)

THE QUESTIONS
1. (FMs) What changes in the oral proficiency of instructed intermediate/upper
intermediate learners of English as L2 occur during a typical intensive EAP
course?

3 The same poster has been utilized for the analysis carried out in the following
publication: D’Angelo, L. (2010). Creating a framework for the analysis of aca-
demic posters. Language Studies Working Papers, 2, 38–50.

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2. (FMs) How are objective measurements of the pre-and post-instruction perfor-
mances of such learners related to subjective ratings?

THE DATA

• (FMs) 24 learners on a university pre-study English course, 19 male, 5

female, median age: 30
• (FMs) 2 parallel structured interviews (Int 1 & 2), 9 weeks apart, based on
data regarding the Ss’ own discipline and their English language learning
experiences
• (FMs) Audio recordings of data transcribed, segmented into Analy-
sis-of-Speech Units (ASU’s) (CG) (Foster et al. 2000) (EVI) and 66 ASU’s
analysed for the features shown in Table 1 (EnM)
• (FMs) Ratings of the recordings (in random order) by a panel of 4 IELTS
assessors: overall IELTS band, and C, A and F ratings.

Figure 1: (FMs) Significant gains in overall complexity (Group av.s)

Figure 2: (FMs) Significant gains in specific complexity features (Group av.s)
Figure 3: (FMs) Significant accuracy gains (Group av.s)
Figure 4: (FMs) Significant fluency gains (Group av.s)
Figure 5: (FMs) Significant band group differences (Int1): Overall complexity
(Group av.s)
Figure 6: (FMs) Significant band group differences: specific complexity fea-
tures (Group av.s)
Figure 7: (FMs) Significant band group differences: accuracy features (Group
av.s)
Figure 8: (FMs) Significant band group differences: fluency features (Group
av.s)

RESULTS and DISCUSSION

Complexity: The more general complexity measures (Words, Subordinate

clauses, or the BDG measure, which draws on several complexity features)
(CG) seem to be (HED) better progress-sensitive indices and better aligned
with judges’ assessments of adjacent proficiency levels than specific VP, NP or
Adverbial features. (Fig.s 1, 2, 5 and 6) (EnM)
Accuracy: Overall Error density, and Error frequency in the VP seem to be
(HED) promising indices of progress, and (TRA) to be aligned with judges’
views of level. Syntax errors (e.g. word order errors or constituent omission) are
less likely (HED) to show short-term gains, but seem (HED) very influential in
judges’ assessment of level. (Fig.s 3 and 7) (EnM)
Fluency: These data showed surprisingly (AM) limited fluency gains over
time, with Fluent runs and Turn length the only significant cases of short-term

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 progress. However (TRA), Speaking rate and frequencies of ‘weighty’ Pause
clusters appeared to be (HED) strong influences on judges’ assessments of
band group. (Fig.s 4 and 8) (EnM)

Progress-sensitive rating:

This study (EVI) revealed again the problematic nature of ‘on-line’ subjec-
tive assessment of proficiency if sensitivity to progress is important. Judges’
comments revealed, for example (CG), that high Complexity may (HED)
not be perceived if turns are short, if speech is disfluent, or if a particular
structure is repeated frequently. On the other hand (TRA), relatively (HED)
simple syntax may (HED) be over-rated if it is delivered in a confident and
fluent manner. These ‘halo’ effects suggest (HED) that, if subjective ratings
of speaking are used for progress assessment, such features as Complexity,
Accuracy and Fluency need to be rated in series, rather than in parallel, and
raters’ attention needs to be drawn to the sort of indices of development high-
lighted in this study.

Key to tagging and abbreviations:

Underlined text: textual interactive resources
Text in bold: textual interactional elements
(AM): Attitude Marker
(CG): Code Gloss
(EM): Engagement Marker
(EnM): Endophoric Marker
(EVI): Evidential
(FMs): Frame Marker (sequencing)
(HED): Hedge
(TRA): Transitions

Table 4.2. Textual interactive and interactional resources found in the text of one aca-
demic poster (D’Angelo, 2010b: 45).

INTERACTIVE no. of raw INTERACTIONAL no. of raw

RESOURCES occurrences RESOURCES occurrences
frame markers 15 hedges 17
evidentials 10 attitude markers 1
transitions 8 engagement mark- 0
ers

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INTERACTIVE no. of raw INTERACTIONAL no. of raw
RESOURCES occurrences RESOURCES occurrences
code glosses 4 boosters 0

endophoric markers 4 self mentions 0

TOTAL 41 TOTAL 18

From the analysis of the poster it is immediately evident that interactive

resources are more numerous than interactional resources. As explained
in section 4.3.1, interactive resources are used to organize discourse
coherently so that the reader knows what to expect and understands the
logic of the text. More importantly, the needs of the writer are antici-
pated and his interpretation of the text is skilfully guided. In particular,
frame markers, the most recurring device used in the poster, guide the
reader in the logical reading of the text, for example, by listing the fol-
lowing elements (D’Angelo, 2010b: 46):

1. What changes in the oral proficiency of instructed intermediate/upper interme-

diate learners of English as L2 occur during a typical intensive EAP course?
2. How are objective measurements of the pre- and post-instruction performances
of such learners related to subjective ratings?

The second most frequent interactive resource utilized in this poster are
evidentials, which help establish the author’s command of a given sub-
ject and the reliability of his sources by referring to a community-based
literature. Examples of how this poster author uses this resource are the
following:

Alderson (2000) has urged language testers to develop progress-sensitive profi-

ciency tests, and this study aims to contribute to that.

However, theory also suggests that skill-focused courses may provide fewer
opportunities for noticing and intensive practice, and that pressure to use the
existing interlanguage in the L2 country may automatise error (Klein, 1986)

Transitions, the third most frequent interactive resource found, favour

the flow of information, linking sentences and paragraphs in a manner
that renders the flow of argumentation smooth, without abrupt jumps

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between concepts. Two examples of how transitional devices can be
used are the following, taken from the poster analysed (D’Angelo,
2010b: 46):

However, speaking rate and frequencies of ‘weighty’ pause clusters appeared to

be strong influences on judges’ assessments of band group.

On the other hand, relatively simple syntax may be over-rated if it is delivered

in a confident and fluent manner.

By using interactional resources, writers choose to overtly engage the

reader, making himself visible and by addressing his potential readers
directly, thereby involving them in the unfolding discourse. The writer
tries to establish a relationship with the reader, which can be intimate
or detached, all the while following the norms of a disciplinary com-
munity. In the poster analysed, we find numerous hedges, whereas no
boosters are found, suggesting that the author is trying here to carefully
negotiate agreement (D’Angelo, 2010b: 46):

Judges’ comments revealed, for example, that high Complexity may not be per-
ceived if turns are short, if speech is disfluent, or if a particular structure is
repeated frequently.

These ‘halo’ effects suggest that, if subjective ratings of speaking are used for
progress assessment, such features as Complexity, Accuracy and Fluency need
to be rated in series, rather than in parallel, and raters’ attention needs to be
drawn to the sort of indices of development highlighted in this study.

4.4 Metadiscourse resources in visuals

As interactive and interactional forms can be found in the text of aca-

demic posters, we can also search for those visual components, also
found in posters, which play a similar semantic role. Kress and van
Leeuwen (1996, 2006) and Kress’ (2010) framework of analysis can
be applied to academic posters to categorise which visual elements
play an interactive role. The following sections will explain in detail

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the framework of analysis utilised to analyse the academic posters of
my corpus.
Kress and van Leeuwen (1996:13), drawing from Halliday’s the-
ories, believe that visual elements are used to realize three main func-
tions: “an ‘ideational’ function, a function of representing ‘the world
around and inside us’ and an ‘interpersonal’ function.” With Kress and
van Leeuwen’s (1996, 2006) concept in mind, I have devised a frame-
work of analysis to classify visual interactive resources. Much like
Hyland’s interactive metadiscourse elements found in texts, authors of
posters can use visual interactive elements to organise information and
help the viewer understand the multimodal text. This concept will be
described in detail in the following section, where each single category
of interactive visual elements will be explained. This part of the frame-
work of analysis relies heavily on Kress and van Leeuwen’s (2006) and
Kress’ (2010) work, and frequent reference will be made to their stud-
ies throughout the sections (Kress & van Leeuwen, 1996, 2006; Kress
2004, 2009, 2010; van Leeuwen, 2005).

4.4.1 Visual interactive resources

As mentioned in the previous section and as discussed in D’Angelo

(2010b), visual interactive resources serve to organise the flow of
information and help the viewer in the comprehension of the multi-
modal text. As shown in Table 4.3, interactive resources are consti-
tuted by the following related systems: information value, framing,
connective elements, graphic elements and fonts. The elements in the
column on the right are drawn from Kress and van Leeuwen’s (1996,
2006) and Kress’ (2010) visual analysis of images but I have grouped
them into different categories (on the left), depending on the interac-
tive function they enact, that is, how they help organise discourse in
academic posters.

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Table 4.3. Visual interactive resources (drawn from Kress & van Leeuween, 1996,
2006, and Kress, 2010).

CATEGORY Subcategory Function

INTERACTIVE Achieved through
RESOURCES
Information Value – Left–Right Organize the layout of
– Top–Bottom information in a poster
– Left–right + top–bottom
– Centre–Margin
– Triptych
Framing – Frame lines Distinguish sections of text
– Colour contrast
– Empty space between
elements
Connective Ele- – Vectors Connect ideas and parts of visual
ments – Repetition of shapes and textual discourse
– Repetition of colour
– Alignment
Graphic Elements – Conversion processes Clarify and organize data for the
– Taxonomies viewer, aiding the immediate
– Flowcharts retention of information
– Networks
– Tables
– Figures (pie charts, graphs)
– Pictures
– Schematic analytical
Pictures
Fonts – Type Enhance legibility;
– Size Help clarify parts of discourse,
– Colour highlighting the most important
parts of the text;
Clarifies the organization of text

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4.4.1.1 Information value
As Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) explain, depending on where ele-
ments are placed (i.e. in which ‘zone’ of the image: left/right, top/
bottom, centre/margin), a different kind of information value is cre-
ated. If the vertical axis is predominant so that elements are placed
on the right or on the left of the vertical axis, the elements found
on the left are defined as Given, the elements found on the right are
defined instead as New (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006: 181). The ele-
ments defined as Given are elements that the viewer is deemed to
already know, something that does not need explaining and is con-
sidered as background knowledge. The elements labelled as New are
instead those elements that are a novelty for the viewer and should be
considered with more attention.
Kress and van Leeuwen’s (2006) theory can also be applied
when analysing the layout of academic posters. Figure 4.1, for example,
shows a poster constructed following a Given and New layout. If we
draw a vertical axis, we see that the author of the poster has positioned
on the left the introduction and the methodology section, because this is
the type of information that forms the ‘knowledge base’ and the point
of departure when discussing this particular research topic. This is the
section of the poster that could be considered as ‘Given’. On the right,
we see instead the results and conclusion sections, i.e. the information
that is considered ‘New’, innovative and thus, particularly relevant for
the viewer.

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Figure 4.1. Example of a poster displaying a Given and New information layout (but
also an IMRD format) along the vertical axis [PSY38].

As Myers (1994) has noted, in numerous advertisements and websites

pictures and layouts can also be arranged along the horizontal axis. In
these texts, the upper section visualises ‘Given’ information, whereas
the lower part visualizes ‘New’ information. The same technique can
be found in academic posters if they develop vertically. In this case the
Given role is played by the text in the upper part of the poster, which
provides background knowledge, whereas the New role is played by the
graphs and table placed in the lower part of the poster, which provide
new results, therefore new information.
Sometimes posters, like advertisements, are structured along the
vertical as well as the horizontal axis. In this case, we have a vertical as
well as a horizontal axis dividing the layout into Given–New sections.
When this happens, connections are more difficult to make between the

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various elements of the visual and the general organisation is less distin-
guishable. I have defined this type of layout as ‘left–right + top–bottom’.
Information can also be displayed following a centre and margin
layout. In this case, whatever is placed at the centre of a composition
is considered more important than the other elements present, so that
the centre functions as a sort of nucleus and the ancillary concepts are
placed all around it. Although Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) believe
that in the Western world, central composition is fairly unusual, a
number of posters analysed in Chapter 5 polarise elements as Given and
New using a centre–margin layout. Figure 4.2 provides an example of
a poster in which a central element (centre) is surrounded by ancillary
textual and visual elements (margin).

Figure 4.2. Example of a poster displaying a centre–margin layout [PPHY01].

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Another way of displaying information is the triptych (Kress & van
Leeuwen, 2006), which combines the Given/New layout with the centre/
margin one. In magazines and newspapers, Triptychs are typically ‘polar-
ised, with a ‘Given’ left, a ‘New’ right, and a centre, which bridges the
two and acts as ‘Mediator’ (Kress & van Leewen, 2006: 198). In other
cases, the triptych can be structured as a simple and symmetrical Margin–
Centre–Margin. In both alternatives, the triptych can either be aligned
vertically (see Figure 4.3) or horizontally (see Figure 4.4).

Figure 4.3. Example of a poster displaying a vertical triptych layout [PPHY22].

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Figure 4.4. Example of a poster displaying a horizontal triptych layout [PSY06].

4.4.1.2 Framing
Another key element in composition, which can be classified as a visual
interactive element, is framing. Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) describe
framing as a something that is capable of uniting or disconnecting ele-
ments, forming a kind of rhythm. The same concept can be applied
to visual compositions: the elements of a poster for example, can be
either disconnected or connected. Elements can also be connected in
varying degrees as happens for example with visual framing. Elements
of the composition may be strongly or weakly framed depending on
how much ‘single elements of a composition are presented as sepa-
rate units of information’ (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006: 203). There are
many ways in which framing can be achieved – by actual frame lines,
by white space between elements and so on. For example, in Figure 4.5
we see a Clinical Psychology corpus that utilises frames to divide con-
tent into clear, well-defined, sections. Each frame contains a part of the
discourse, such as the Abstract, the Introduction, the Participants, etc.,

130
making it clear for the reader that once s/he proceeds to read another
‘box’ or frame, s/he will move on to another section of the research.

Figure 4.5. Example of framing in a Clinical Psychology poster [PSY01].

4.4.1.3 Connective elements

If Frames underline individuality and differentiation, connectedness,
too, can be realised in many ways. It can be emphasised by vectors,
repetition of shapes, repetition of colour, and alignment. Vectors (of dif-
ferent sizes, shapes or colours) connect different elements of the visual
and aid the reader understand the flow of information and create a rela-
tionship between visual elements or between text and visuals, as will be
seen in Chapter 5.
In Figure 4.6, we see instead that the repetition of shapes, repe-
tition of colour, and alignment (of elements) creates a sense of connec-
tion between the elements present in the poster. First of all we see the
two rectangular pictures aligned left, followed by two tables in which
the colours yellow, red and green signal different data. In the first cat-
egory titled ‘lifetime transfers’ the colour green signals ‘no tax’, the
colour red signals ‘tax’ and the colour yellow signals ‘possible tax’.

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The same colours are used in the second category titled ‘death-time
transfers’, so that we know that the numbers in this table still refer to
the tax/no tax/possible tax distinction. Because of the repetition of col-
ours, the repetition of shapes (the rectangular shape of pictures as well
as the yellow, green and red rectangles) and the alignment of visual
and textual elements, an overall sense of unity and cohesion is created.
This technique is also used in advertisements to conceptually connect
elements in the ad (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006).

Figure 4.6. Example of connective elements in a Law poster [LAW30].

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4.4.1.4 Graphic elements
Graphic elements can help the writer summarise content (for example
with tables and figures) and can aid the reader in understanding the
content of the text. The reader skips from table or graph to the text so
as to understand the content better and faster. This skipping implies
a difference between linear and non-linear reading (Gledhill, 1994,
cited in Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006:205). We commonly employ this
non-linear reading, for example, when we skim and scan a text for rel-
evant information that we then proceed to read linearly. If a text dis-
plays tables, graphic elements and parts of text that are underlined, in
italics or in bold type, we are more likely to use non-linear reading and
therefore scan the text for relevant information, rather than read it from
beginning to end (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006).
I have considered here eight types of graphic visual elements that
can aid the reader in processing data: conversion processes, taxono-
mies, flowcharts, networks, tables, figures (pie charts, graphs), pictures
and schematic analytical pictures. I have categorized them as interac-
tive visual elements and have grouped them under the heading ‘Graphic
elements’. I now clarify these interactive visual elements.
To begin explaining conversion processes, it is useful to men-
tion Shannon and Weave’s (1949) communication model that represents
communication as a chained process. Kress and van Leeuwen (2006)
specify that a chained process can also be visualized as a cycle and they
define this way of representing communication a ‘conversion process’
(p. 205). These types of conversion processes are frequently utilized in
posters, as will be demonstrated in Chapter 5. An example is the follow-
ing (see Figure 4.7), which is a detail of a poster belonging to the Law
subcorpus. A taxonomy instead is a type of classification process that
connects and puts into relationship different elements so that some are
considered subordinate to others, which are given the status of superor-
dinate (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006).
Taxonomies can be represented by formal diagrams with simple
lines or by a ‘family tree’ (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006: 80). If all the
subordinates have equivalent importance, then a symmetrical composi-
tion will be realised by the author: subordinates will be placed at equal
distance from each other and will be of the same size. Taxonomies can

133
also take various forms: the branches of the tree structure can be par-
allel, straight, oblique or curved (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006: 82).
In Figure 4.8, for example, we see a taxonomy with (straight) oblique
branches used.

Figure 4.7. Example of conversion processes used in a poster [LAW09].

134
Figure 4.8. Example of taxonomy used in a poster [PPHY14].

Finally, as Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) explain, classificational dia-

grams may be oriented along the horizontal axis. When arrows are added
to these horizontal and vertical taxonomies, they become ‘dynamic and
narrative’ (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006: 84). However, because they
still move from general to specific, they still distinguish themselves
from flowcharts.
Taxonomies and flowcharts, as Kress and van Leeuwen (2006)
note, provide two different kinds of knowledge. If taxonomies are used
to rank elements in hierarchical order, flowcharts instead describe an
active process having a beginning and an end. Most importantly, a
flowchart, unlike a taxonomy, follows a ‘sequential progression’ and is
‘goal-oriented’ (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006: 84).
Another type of graphic visual element is the Network, which is
used to show multiple interconnections between elements. Any element
present in a network is called ‘node’ and can be linked to a number of
other nodes. In fact, Sharples and Pemberton (1992: 22) state that the
network allows the writer “to form ideas into an associative network”.

135
This means that readers are provided with many choices and paths to
follow, but ultimately these choices are limited. Kress and van Leeuwen
(2006) distinguish between taxonomies, networks and flowcharts by
stating that if taxonomies establish a hierarchy among elements, a net-
work simply shows the connection between these elements. Flowcharts,
on the other hand, would put these elements into a sequence.
Other types of interactive visual elements that a writer can use
to better communicate his or her data are Tables and other types of
Figures, such as pie charts and column charts. These elements play a
very important role, because they help the reader understand the data
provided in the main text. Also in this case the viewer switches back and
forth from the Table or Graph to the main text, enacting a non-linear
reading process. Because these visual elements aid the communication
of ideas by re-elaborating visually the data in the main text, they carry
an interactive function.
The same can be said concerning the use of schematic analytical
pictures. For example in Figure 4.9, which shows a detail of a High Energy
Particle Physics poster, a detector has been schematised and each part
constituting the detector has been labelled. Likewise the picture utilized
in a High Energy Particle Physics poster (Figure 4.10) aids the viewer in
understanding content by visualizing the information found in the text.

Figure 4.9. Example of schematic analytical picture used in a High Energy Particle
Physics poster [PPHY02].

136
Figure 4.10. Example of picture used in a High Energy Particle Physics poster to
visualise content [PPHY02].

4.4.1.5 Interactive fonts

Finally, I have included font colour, font type, and font size among
the visual interactive elements that a writer can use to help the reader
understand discourse. When it comes to poster design, the University of
Reading’s Design & Print Studio (2013: 4), for example, recommends
using ‘Rdg Vesta’ (a sans-serif font) as the display font because render-
ing a text legible is important and using different font styles and sizes
may decrease legibility.
Professionals working in the field of advertising as well as psy-
chologists and type designers have dwelled on typographical issues for
the last century, trying to decide which font types and font sizes are
able to aid the reading process (Bernard et al., 2002; Beymer, Russel &
Orton, 2008; Sanocki & Dyson, 2012; Tinker, 1963a, 1963b). Unfor-
tunately, clear and conclusive results regarding the type of fonts and
the associated readability have yet to be obtained; therefore the present
framework of analysis classifies both serif fonts and san serif fonts as
interactive visual elements. Considering the advice available on font
size in posters (Bach et al., 1993; Boullata & Mancuso, 2007; Durbin,
2004; Shelledy, 2004; Taggart & Arslanian, 2000;), in order to be clas-
sified as interactive, the size of the font used in postershas to range
between 70 and 91 pt for headings, 36 and 41 pt for subheadings and

137
between 24 and 28 pt for the main body of the text. This can be justified
by the fact that posters displaying these font sizes can easily be read by
the viewer, even if he/she stands 2 meters away from the poster or looks
at the title from an even greater distance (Davis et al., 2012:194).
For what concerns font colour, it is important to choose the cor-
rect palette, so that there is sufficient contrast between the text and its
background (Design & Print Studio, 2013; Ellerbee, 2006; Forsyth &
Waller, 1995). Most typographical tips suggest using either a white
background and text or black text on a light background (Makesigns –
Scientific Posters, 2014). Alternatively poster authors can use white or
coloured text on a dark background, but this second choice is consid-
ered slightly more tiring (Ellerbee, 2006; Forsyth & Waller, 1995).
Interactive fonts can also help clarify part of discourse and the
layout of information by using the same font type, font colour and font
size to title sections of the poster. In Figure 4.5, for example, we see
this technique applied to the titles of sections, which appear in orange,
making it clear (together with the use of frames) that each section is
separate from the other and are of equal importance. Whenever an ele-
ment in the text is more important than the rest, the writer can use type
font, size and colour to highlight that part of discourse, warning readers
to pay special attention to it. In a poster, for example, the aim and the
conclusions of the research might appear in red instead of black.

4.4.2 An illustration: visual interactive metadiscourse in

an academic poster

As mentioned in the previous sections, by adopting a specific frame-

work of analysis, certain visual elements used in posters can be identi-
fied and classified as interactive forms. For example, in the following
poster (Figure 4.11), several visual elements that can be defined as
‘interactive’ are used to make the poster content clearer to the reader
(see Table 4.4). To show how the poster has been visually coded, the
visual interactive elements found have been circled in red and to each
element a code has been assigned. Each feature, as will be explained in
Section 4.5, has been counted only once, following a binary code (+/-).

138
Table 4.4. Visual interactive resources found in the visual of an academic poster
(D’Angelo, 2010: 47).

INTERACTIVE RESOURCES Achieved through +/–

Information Value Left–Right –
Top–Bottom –
Left–right + top–bottom –
Centre–Margin –
Triptych +
Framing Frame lines +
Colour contrast +
Empty space between elements –
Connective Elements Vectors –
Repetition of shapes –
Repetition of colour +
Alignment +
Graphic Elements Conversion processes –
Taxonomies –
Flowcharts –
Networks –
Tables +
Figures +
Pictures –
Schematic analytical pictures –
Fonts Type +
Size +
Colour +
TOTAL +10

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Figure 4.11. Example of a visual analysis and coding of a poster with the aid of Atlas.ti

As Figure 4.11 shows, the author here has divided the poster into three
main columns (triptych), so that the reader has to move his or her gaze
vertically from top to bottom, and then from left to right, so that he
reads all columns. The repetition of colours in the text and in the graphs
as well as the vertical alignment of the graphs also helps the viewer in
making logical connections and in following a pre-established order of
thought. Relevance is given to certain elements in the poster through
the use of framing, achieved through frame lines as in the framed

140
information placed in the bottom left corner of the poster, and colour
contrast, visible in the aligned graphs displaying coloured columns on
a grey and white background (D’Angelo, 2010).

4.5 Searching the corpus

The textual component and visual components of the posters collected

in the corpus were analysed quantitatively and results are reported in
Chapter 5. As explained in Chapter 3 (section 3.8), the original poster
files found in the Archive were converted in the Database into .txt, .doc,
and PDF formats. The converted files were copied in the Bank and it
was at this stage that the analysis was carried out. Texts were analysed
qualitatively and quantitatively, through ATLAS.ti, as described in
Chapter 4, Section 4.5.
Textual metadiscourse markers were categorised as either inter-
active or interactional (qualitative analysis) and single instances (raw
frequencies) were counted in order to determine the different levels of
textual modality in posters (quantitative analysis). In Chapter 5, raw
frequencies are accompanied by normalised frequencies (per 100,000
words). The quantitative and qualitative analyses have been based on
both automatic and manual searches. For the computer-based counts,
the Atlas.ti search options have been used and each instance was then
checked manually, within its context, to exclude errors and misinter-
pretations. In the following two sections, I will explain in more detail
how manual and computer-based searches have been carried out using
Atlas.ti.
The interactive visual components of posters were identified
(qualitative analysis), and each poster was considered having binary
features (+F/-F) (e.g. frame lines/no frame lines; vectors/no vectors;
pictures/no pictures). To calculate the level of visual modality in post-
ers (quantitative analysis), positive single binary features were added
(e.g. frame lines + vectors + pictures) (see section 4.4.2 for an example
of how visual metadiscourse features were counted).

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4.5.1 Using Atlas.ti as a poster database and
concordancing software

The posters selected have been saved in PDF format and categorised
depending on the academic discipline and subdiscipline. The PDF files
have been uploaded unto Atlas.ti (Muhr, 2004), which has been used
as a database as well as coding and concordancing software. The quan-
titative analysis has been based on both automatic as well as manual
searches, whereas the qualitative analysis has been carried out only
manually.
As Muhr (1991: 350) explains, Atlas.ti offers

[…] qualitative oriented social researchers support for their activities involving
interpretation of text. This includes the capacity to deal with large amounts of
text, as well as the management of annotations, concepts, and complex struc-
tures including conceptual relationships that emerge in the process of interpre-
tation.

It however “leaves the creative, intellective tasks with the human

interpreter” (Muhr, 1991: 350), so that the researcher still needs to
understand the complexity and contextuality of the material processed.
Although Atlas.ti was not designed specifically for quantitative analy-
ses, the software can also be used to carry out text searches, word counts
and create word lists. More specifically, for the computer-based counts,
the Hermeneutic Unit Editor of Atlas.ti has been used, together with the
software’s Code Manager tool and the Object Crawler and Query Tool
search options. Because a metadiscourse analysis entails the distinc-
tion between propositional and metadiscoursal material (Hyland, 2004),
each case has been examined in context.
The textual metadiscourse markers listed in Appendix 6 were
searched and coded, and the frequency of textual metadiscourse mark-
ers found in this study was calculated per ‘word’. Other studies meas-
uring the occurrence and distribution of metadiscourse (Butler, 1990;
Hyland, 1998c, 1999b, 2005) have also utilized a ‘word’ unit, because
using a T-unit would have been unfeasible. The raw frequency counts
found in texts have been presented in normalised figures (per 100,000
words) so that significant comparisons could be made between sub-
corpora. Normalised frequency comparisons of textual interactive

142
and interactional markers were then made between subcorpora (see
Chapter 6).
The visual components of posters have been necessarily analysed
qualitatively; that is, each single element has been found and catego-
rised manually. Visual elements having an interactive characteristic
have been identified and each resource was considered as having binary
features (+F/-F), so for example, either a poster uses frames (+F) or it
does not (-F). By determining the total number of resources (+F) an
author used in a poster we can determine the level of visual interactive
modality of the poster. The use of single resources is counted only once.
Because the three sub-corpora contain the same number of posters (and
are, therefore, comparable), raw frequencies of visual resources have
not been normalised.
To ascertain that also the visual qualitative analysis was statis-
tically sound and that a ‘subjective’ bias did not exist (or if it did, that
it was reasonably low), an inter-rater reliability test was carried out for
the visual analysis. To determine inter-rater reliability, a sample of five
posters (representing 4% of the posters in the corpus) was randomly
extracted from the main corpus and analysed by two trained research-
ers beside myself. The two raters, aside from myself, were experienced
researchers in English Language and Linguistics and were conjunc-
tively trained by me before carrying out the inter-rater reliability test. To
train them, I provided them with the list of visual interactive resources
to be searched and a set of visual examples drawn from ten posters that
did not belong to the present corpus. Raters were instructed to judge
whether each single visual interactive feature listed was present in the
sample of posters provided, and they were told to follow a binary classi-
fication (+F/-F), annotating their answers on an answer sheet provided.
Because raters were more than two, it was necessary to calculate
Fleiss’ Kappa (Fleiss, 1971) instead of Cohen’s Kappa. Since multiple
variables had to be analysed, I annotated the rating of each coder in sep-
arate text files and I uploaded the annotated files onto IRA, an Online
Calculator for Inter-Rater Agreement (Geertzen, 2012). The inter-rater
reliability for the raters was found to be Kappa= 0.72, demonstrating that
there was substantial agreement between raters (Landis & Koch, 1977).

143
4.6 The limits of description

As Hyland (2005: 58) writes, when it comes to analysing text, “[…]

no taxonomy or description will ever be able to do more than partially
represent a fuzzy reality”. Metadiscourse is concerned with the writer’s
persona surfacing in the text, through deliberate and conscious verbal
choices. Explicitness is of central importance in this case, because as
Hyland (2005) further explains, when the writer surfaces we under-
stand that he takes a specific standing on a topic and we are induced
to reflect on it as well. We can say therefore, that metadiscourse helps
us understand how authors are able to present their research in a clear
and involving manner, how the writer positions himself regarding the
issues at stake and most of all, the way potential readers are involved in
the developing discourse. Nonetheless, it is a taxonomy that has been
defined as “indicative rather than comprehensive” (Hyland, 2005: 58).
In fact, it is sometimes difficult to categorize language into a rigid struc-
ture. Overlaps between categories can occur and distinguishing prop-
ositional functions from metadiscourse functions is not always easy,
leading to frequent confusions between the two roles.
Other confusing textual elements are, as Hood and Forey (1999)
note, contrastive connectives (e.g. but and however), which can be
sometimes used interactively, to organize discourse or interactionally,
to overtly shift to a negative judgement. Also Hyland (2005) recognises
this specific limitation and reports Hood and Forey’s (1999) criticism
of his taxonomy. Barton (1995) as well recognises that distinguishing
the interactive and interactional role of contrastive connectives can be
difficult, because besides being used interactively they can also be used
interactionally to introduce a counter-claim. Finally, as Hyland (2005)
notes, code glosses can constitute a problem during a metadiscourse
analysis because they can be used both interactively (revealing the writ-
er’s evaluation of shared knowledge) and interactionally (denoting an
authoritative position towards the reader).
In conclusion, I can only agree with Hyland (2005) and recog-
nise that an all-inclusive metadiscourse taxonomy is not feasible and
that the classification used here can only “estimate the complexity of
natural language use” (Hyland, 2005: 59). The same concept applies

144
to the visual analysis of posters and the visual interactive elements
searched. Great care was given in the elimination of subjective judge-
ments from the analysis, and to do so, possible salient visual elements
(which supposedly have the potential to render a poster attractive for
an audience) were deliberately not considered. Only visual elements
that clearly help render the poster clearer, more structured and organ-
ized, have been classified and searched in posters. Nonetheless, the
classification can still be improved and more interactive visual ele-
ments could be considered, taking into consideration graphic design
and typographical know-how.

4.7 Summary and conclusions

This chapter has described a model capable to categorize textual and

visual metadiscoursal elements in academic posters (see Table 4.5 and
Table 4.6 for a summary of the model). Essentially, my argument has
been that in academic posters we have to consider not only how writers
employ textual metadiscourse to organise texts clearly and to convey
their authority and credibility, all the while involving readers into the
discourse, but also how these writers employ a number of visual fea-
tures to organize discourse and render it more clear and coherent for
viewers.
By applying the frameworks of analysis described above, aca-
demic posters can therefore be analysed in their entirety, taking into
consideration the visual as well as the textual elements they display.
These two aspects become especially important when dealing with
the poster genre ‒ a genre that provides authors with limited textual
space on the one part, but a substantial amount of freedom when it
comes to choosing and utilizing visual elements and creativity on the
other.

145
Table 4.5. Metadiscourse model to analyse texts (Hyland 2005: 49)

CATEGORY FUNCTION EXAMPLES

Interactive Help to guide the reader Resources
through the text
Transitions Express relations between main In addition; but; thus; and
clauses
Frame markers Refer to discourse acts, Finally; to conclude; my
sequences or stages purpose is
Endophoric Refer to information in other Noted above; see Fig; in
markers parts of the text section 2
Evidentials Refer to information from other According to X; Z states
texts
Code glosses Elaborate propositional mean- Namely; e.g.; such as; in other
ings words
Interactional Involve the reader in the text Resources
Hedges Withhold commitment and open Might; perhaps; possible;
dialogue about
Boosters Emphasize certainty or close In fact; definitely; it is clear
dialogue that
Attitude markers Express writer’s attitude to Unfortunately; I agree; sur-
proposition prisingly
Self mentions Explicit reference to author(s) I; we; me; our
Engagement Explicitly build relationship with Consider; note; you can see
markers reader that

Table 4.6. Metadiscourse model to analyse visuals (drawn in part from Kress (2010)
and Kress & van Leeuween, 2006).

CATEGORY Subcategory Function

INTERACTIVE Achieved through
RESOURCES
Information Value – Left–Right Organize the layout of infor-
– Top–Bottom mation in a poster
– Left–right + top–bottom
– Centre–Margin
– Triptych

146
CATEGORY Subcategory Function
Framing – Frame lines Distinguish sections of text
– Colour contrast
– Empty space between
elements
Connective Elements – Vectors Connect ideas and parts of
– Repetition of shapes visual and textual discourse
– Repetition of colour
– Alignment
Graphic Elements – Conversion processes Clarify and organize data for
– Taxonomies the viewer, aiding the immedi-
– Flowcharts ate retention of information
– Networks
– Tables
– Figures (pie charts,
graphs)
– Pictures
– Schematic analytical
Pictures
Fonts – Type Help clarify parts of discourse,
– Size highlighting the most impor-
– Colour tant parts of the text;
Clarifies the organization of
text

Having said this, in the next chapter I will present the results obtained
by applying the framework of analysis just described to the posters col-
lected. Each subcorpus will be described singularly, whereas in Chapter 5
an interdisciplinary analysis will be carried out.

147
Chapter 5: Results and analysis by subcorpora

5.1 Introduction

The present chapter analyses the textual interactive and interactional

resources and the visual interactive resources found in the discipline
and subdisciplines considered: High Energy Particle Physics, Law, and
Clinical Psychology. As explained in Chapter 2 (Section 2.6.2), all types
of communication, whether spoken or written, are characterised by an
interactive and interactional dimension, expressed through a range of
rhetorical features. Interactive features (i.e. transitions, frame mark-
ers, endophoric markers, evidentials, and code glosses) help the reader
understand the development of the text, whereas interactional fea-
tures (i.e. engagement markers, hedges, boosters, attitude markers and
self-mentions) are used mainly to engage and interact with the reader
throughout the text. After a general analysis of the corpus of posters
collected, I discuss the textual interactive and interactional resources
found in each subcorpus, followed by the visual interactive resources
utilised by poster authors. Throughout this chapter I will draw on exam-
ples from the corpus. Metadiscourse resources will be highlighted in
examples from the corpus, by using italics. Each discipline and subdis-
cipline involved shows a different distribution of textual interactive and
interactional resources and different trends in the use of visual interac-
tive resources. An interdisciplinary comparison between the use and
occurrence of textual and visual metadiscourse will be carried out in
Chapter 6.
5.2 Textual and visual analysis of the High Energy Particle
Physics subcorpus

5.2.1 Textual interactive resources

The analysis conducted on the subcorpus clearly indicates the impor-

tance of metadiscourse in High Energy Particle Physics posters, as it
has revealed a total of 1,389 instances of metadiscoursive devices (947
interactive resources plus 442 interactional resources), with an average
of 35 per poster. As Table 5.1 shows, High Energy Particle Physicists
tend to use far more interactive features than interactional, the former
being more than twice as frequent as the latter. Interestingly, research
articles (Hyland, 1998), textbooks, and postgraduate dissertations
(Hyland, 2004) also seem to display several occurrences of interactive
resources (Hyland & Tse, 2004). This is probably because interactional
resources, by engaging readers directly and revealing the writer’s stance
on a topic are capable of being more face threatening than interactive
resources (Hyland, 2004; Tse & Hyland, 2004) and are consequently
less frequently used by writers. Interactive devices are used to connect
sentences and paragraphs and to construct a fluent and coherent text, so
that the reader is guided from one point to another and is able to easily
follow the discourse.

Table 5.1. Interactive and interactional occurrences in the text of High Energy Particle
Physics posters (in frequency order).

Normalized frequency (per

INTERACTIVE RESOURCES  Raw frequency
100,000 words)
Transitions 163 503
Code glosses 119 367
Frame markers 114 353
Endophoric markers 29 90
Evidentials 19 59
TOTAL 444 1,372

150
 Normalized frequency (per
INTERACTIONAL RESOURCES Raw frequency
100,000 words)
Boosters 136 421
Hedges 129 400
Engagement markers 86 266
Self mentions 74 229
Attitude markers 17 53
TOTAL 442 1,369

Amongst the interactive resources found, transition markers, frame

markers, and code glosses are the devices most frequently found,
whereas endophoric and evidential markers are rarely utilised. The fre-
quency results found for each type of interactive resource are hereby
reported followed by specific examples.

5.2.1.1 Transitions
Transitional devices are the most recurring metadiscourse resources
used in discourse and the role that they play is very important. They
can be compared to bridges between sentences and paragraphs, so that
parts of texts are coherently connected and the reader is able to follow
the reasoning of the writer easily (see Chapter 4, Section 4.3.1). In the
present subcorpus a number of transitions have been searched for, total-
ling 163 instances, and the frequency results per type of transition are
summarised in Appendix 7 (Table 1).
The most recurring transition device is and (87 instances), fol-
lowed by but (16 instances) and also (14 instances). It is important to
note that the three different discourse roles played by transitions, that
is, Addition, Comparison, and Consequence (see Chapter 4, Section
4.3.1), are all found in the subcorpus (see Appendix 7, Table 1). More
precisely, ‘addition words’ such as and and also, which recur most fre-
quently, are used to add elements to an argument, whereas the Compar-
ison but is used here to mark different or similar elements. The Conse-
quence role, instead, is recurrently present with the transition marker so
(4 instances). The examples below, drawn from the High Energy Par-
ticle Physics subcorpus, show the Addition role (1), the Comparison

151
role (2), and the Consequence role (3) (4) played by transitions in the
development of the argument:

(1) Detailed studies of the background suggest that the background is mainly com-
binatoric and its parameters can be extracted from data (2fb-1) with reasonable
precision [1]
[PHY31]

(2) The predicted inclusive branching ratio is in agreement with the measured one
[2], which casts a strong constraint on NP models. However, NP can show up in
more subtle ways like the photon polarization (helicity)
[PHY31]

(3) The task is of iterative nature because found correction constants depend on the
constants used for reconstruction of the calorimeter, and therefore a number of
re-reconstructions is needed to achieve convergence.
[PHY04]

(4) Each minimization is independent from the others, so the process of minimiz-
ing can be fully parallelized.
[PHY21]

5.2.1.2 Code glosses

Code glosses provide supplementary information to the reader by
rephrasing, clarifying, and re-elaborating a point in the text or by
including additional information in parentheses (see Chapter 4, Sec-
tion 4.3.1). The code glosses more frequently used by Physicists are
the code gloss or (43 instances), followed by parentheses or commas
(32 instances), and e.g. (10 instances) (see Appendix 7, Table 2, for full
results). After transitions, code glosses are the second most frequent
interactive resources found in the subcorpus, indicating that authors
have a marked desire for readers to understand their texts, so much so
that they add information, rephrase, and explain in other words what
has already been said. The following are examples of the commonest
code glosses found in the subcorpus:

(7) Example 1: <Detector occupancy> = 30% #channels/GBT link = 15 -> ~ 4.5

channels/GBT after ZS Derandomizer depth = 16 Channel size = 12 (e.g. ADDR
= 4bits + ADC_DATA = 8bits)

152
 Example 2: <Detector occupancy> = 30% #channels/GBT link = 21 -> ~ 6.3
channels/GBT after ZS Derandomizer depth = 16 Channel size = 12 (e.g. ADDR
= 5bits + ADC_DATA = 7bits)

Example 3: <Detector occupancy> = 30% #channels/GBT link = 21 -> ~ 6.3

channels/GBT after ZS Derandomizer depth = 24 Channel size = 12 (e.g. ADDR
= 5bits + ADC_DATA = 7bits)
[PHY29]

(8) FmDST (femto-Data Summary Tape)

[PHY04]4

(9) DIM (Distributed Information Management system) developed at CERN

[PHY37]

(10) The detector installation phase (2006–2009) was followed by an extensive com-
missioning and events were acquired with pulse trigger to perform a careful
detector timing.
[PHY11]

(11) Nice Presentation OSSIM is a compilation of well-known administrating tools,

such as arpwatch, Nessus, Snort ntop, nagios, ossec, Osiris and tcptrack.
[PHY03]

(12) ATLAS, one of the LHC detectors, is made up of a crowd of millions of sensors,
looking together at a 3D pitch of over 10,000 cubic meters.

5.2.1.3 Frame markers

As Table 5.1 shows, frame markers are the third most recurring inter-
active device employed in High Energy Particle Physics posters. The
frequent use of frame markers indicates that in this subdiscipline authors
demonstrate their expertise by constructing arguments clearly, and
highlighting the unfolding text (see Chapter 4, Section 4.3.1). However,
not all four functions of frame markers, that is, sequencing, labelling
stages, announcing goals, and topic shifts, are found in the subcorpus
(see Appendix 7, Table 3). More precisely, frame markers signalling
topic shifts (e.g. well, right, OK, now, let us return to) are completely
absent, and frame markers announcing goals (e.g. My/the aim/pur-
pose, I would like to) and labelling stages (e.g. so far) are scarcely

4 This example can also be found in D’Angelo (2011: 18)

153
present. This might be because other visual devices are used to label
stages and announce topic shifts, such as arrows, connectors, frames,
and highlighted text. The most recurring frame markers are instead of
the sequencing type (102 instances), especially when the text is in the
form of listings and numberings. The following are examples drawn
from the text of High Energy Particle Physics posters, which show how
frame markers function to sequence (14) (15) (16), label stages (17),
and announce goals (18) (19), making the development of discourse
clear to readers:

(14) Actual data variables: temperatures, calibration parameters, etc.

[PHY37]

(15) Starting from the Kali nTuple and for each cell:

1. 6 histograms are filled (signal and background for 3 different energy cuts).
2. Each histogram is fitted with a combination of gaussian (for the peak)
and 2nd order polynomial (for the background). This is an involved, sever-
al-step procedure:
• Parameters are fitted one by one
• Reference histograms with big number of entries are used to estimate ini-
tial parameters’ values
• Background histograms are used to estimate the initial background fit
parameters for the signal histograms
In the end, an average of ~6 fits per cell are performed.
3. Several iterations are needed to achieve convergency (4–5 are usually
enough)
[PHY04]5

(16) During our experiments we added almost 5GB/day more. Even with that traffic,
log server performed quite. As for the deployment, we used Quattor. To keep the
services (rsyslog, FMClogViewer) we used Nagios. And finally, for the moni-
toring Munin. Transfer Standard Syslog: UDP, Without Authentication, Without
failover capabilities.
[PHY03]

(17) Lightweight foam for the thermal insulation + Al foil for electrical shielding:
the only ‘beam’ induced particles seen so far.
[PHY01]

5 This example can also be found in D’Angelo (2011: 18).

154
(18) The aim is to measure the X (3872) JPC quantum numbers.
[PHY01]

(19) The authors would like to acknowledge the LHC collimator group for providing
the loss rates for the cleaning and Y. Inntjore Levinsen for the distant beam gas
estimates and for fruitful discussions.
[PHY01]

5.2.1.4 Endophoric markers

Endophoric markers are textual resources that refer to material pre-
sented earlier in the poster or by anticipating material yet to come. Their
role is important because they help the reader comprehend the logic of
the argumentation (see Chapter 4, Section 4.3.1). In the present sub-
corpus, endophoric markers are rarely used, only 29 instances of them
being found (see Appendix 7, Table 4). The most recurring endophoric
markers are the ones referring to an example, a table, or a figure, which
is not surprising considering the experimental nature of the subject.
Physicists, like many other authors working within the hard sciences,
mainly display tables, figures, and mathematical formulae on their post-
ers, as an interviewee commented during an interview: “We [Physicists]
are not really concerned with text […] it’s not really important for us
I guess … maybe because we have lots of data to show. Data is what
counts for us so ideally you could have a poster with only figures, tables
and maybe charts on it.” (PPhy1, ln 20–22). The following are examples
drawn from the subcorpus, depicting the few instances of endophoric
markers found:

(20) Example 1: <Detector occupancy> = 30% #channels/GBT link = 15 -> ~ 4.5

channels/GBT after ZS
Derandomizer depth = 16 Channel size = 12 (e.g. ADDR = 4bits + ADC_DATA
= 8bits)

Example 2: <Detector occupancy> = 30% #channels/GBT link = 21 -> ~

6.3 channels/GBT after ZS Derandomizer depth = 16 Channel size = 12
(e.g. ADDR = 5bits + ADC_DATA = 7bits)

Example 3: <Detector occupancy> = 30% #channels/GBT link = 21 -> ~

6.3 channels/GBT after ZS Derandomizer depth = 24 Channel size = 12
(e.g. ADDR = 5bits + ADC_DATA = 7bits)
[PHY29]

155
(21) The efficiencies for triggering, reconstructing and selecting two benchmark
radiative decays at LHCb are shown in the following table [3].
[PHY01]

(22) An example of such a region is shown in Figure 2 for one of the trackers located
at about 9.5 m from the IP.
[PHY01]

5.2.1.5 Evidentials
Evidentials establish an authorial command of the subject and provide
important support for arguments by referring to a community-based lit-
erature (see Chapter 4, Section 4.3.1). However, only 19 instances of
evidentials (23) (24) (25) are found in High Energy Particle Physics
posters (see Appendix 7, Table 5), revealing that Physicists tend not to
cite literature in posters; instead, they mainly report new and/or prelimi-
nary data. This is probably due to the fact that, within this subdiscipline,
posters are mainly used to presenting the technical procedure followed
and preliminary results, as a postdoc interviewed has explained: “We
[Physicists] present posters to show mainly our methodology and initial
results. When we have all the data, and the experiment is concluded,
then we might try to present a paper instead.” In (26) we see, for exam-
ple, the methodology described, and in (27) the section in the poster
where preliminary results are displayed in the form of a table, a picture
of a pyrolitic graphite ‘cold finger’, and two graphs showing the differ-
ence in stability after the device were used.

(23) Irradiation shows strong degradation of breakdown voltage for Nee001.

[PHY23]

(24) Detailed studies of the background suggest that the background is mainly com-
binatoric and its parameters can be extracted from data (2fb-1) with reasonable
precision [1]
[PHY31]

(25) Systematic studies suggest the following explanation of the half-moon shape:
[…]
[PHY30]

(26) Several electrical and mechanical aspects of the system were checked: elec-
trical and optical connections, grounding, absence of leaks in the cooling

156
 circuit, mapping of the RTDs in the DCS, unintentional use of magnetic mate-
rial, etc. As expected, we found several problems in the assembly that had to
be fixed. The software, too, had to be improved in many aspects together with
the development of new procedures. We measured the detector performance
in terms of number of dead channels and noise at two different temperatures,
‘warm’ runs at +22°C and ‘cold’ runs at -10°C. The forward pixel system
had the same excellent performance it had during the production phase and,
in particular, it presented a negligible number of dead channels, lower than
0.04%, and an average noise of ~100 electrons compared to a signal of 22000
electrons.
[PHY32]

(27)

[PHY32]

5.2.2 Textual interactional resources

Textual interactional resources are used by authors to involve and

engage readers. By using these resources, writers acknowledge read-
ers, establishing a contact, which can be more or less personal. These
resources are also pivotal in acknowledging the possible points of view
of readers and renders (or not) the text open to different perspectives
(see Chapter 4, Section 4.3.2). In the High Energy Particle Physics sub-
corpus, boosters, hedges, and engagement markers are found to be the
most frequently used interactional devices, followed by self-mentions
and attitude markers. The raw and normalised occurrences found in the
High Energy Particle Physics subcorpus are summarised in Table 5.2,
and each type of interactional resource is considered in the following
sections.

157
Table 5.2. Interactional occurrences in the text of High Energy Particle Physics posters.

INTERACTIONAL Normalized frequency (per 100,000

Raw frequency
RESOURCES words)
Boosters 136 421
Hedges 129 400
Engagement markers 86 266
Self mentions 74 229
Attitude markers 17 53
TOTAL 442 1,369

5.2.2.1 Boosters
When considering the use of boosters, the most interesting result is
that within this subdiscipline, boosters are slightly more numerous than
hedges. This suggests the idea that, within this subdiscipline, authors of
posters have more liberty to make bolder statements, draw conclusions,
or argue for controversial positions. Four examples found in a poster by
a postgraduate student are an example of this bold, upfront writing style:

(28) An additional magnetic field in the muon system allows a precise measurement
of the muon momentum.
[PHY25]

(29) One can clearly see that the signal from beam 1 MIB is on-time with the
proton-proton signal, while beam 2 MIB is separated by about 10 ns.
[PHY07]

(30) […] Such a DAQ system will certainly employ 10 Gigabit or similar technolo-
gies and might also need new networking protocols such as customized, light-
weight TCP or more specialised protocols.
[PHY06]

(31) As the muons are charged, minimum ionising particles, the detection is always
based on the ionisation of material.
[PHY25]

158
Other boosters found are summarised in Appendix 7, Table 6, which
shows the tendency to use the epistemic modal auxiliary verb will (51
instances), preceded by the first person plural we. The fact that the pro-
noun we recurs very frequently reveals that in High Energy Particle
Physics, researchers rarely work by themselves, but are instead used to
working in large, often international research groups. The frequent use
of the future tense also confirms the idea that posters are used, at least
within this subdiscipline, to present preliminary data instead of com-
plete research works. The text therefore points to future results, future
data, and equipment to be used or built in the near future:

(32) […] Resolution will improve with better alignment. […] Fine-timing will be
redone for 2010 run.
[PHY10]

(33) With 500pb-1, a few thousand BK candidates will become available, so the
study of the dalitz plot of the 3 kaon system can be started, apart from improv-
ing the precision on the other measurements.
[PHY31]

(34) A large number of ȥ will also be collected at LHCb: ± 2–4 % of the J/ ȥ’s
number.
[PHY36]

Another booster utilised within this subcorpus is the verb show

(11 instances), which can be justified by the fact that Physicists work
primarily with mathematical data and results obtained by carrying out
experiments. A few examples showing how this booster is used in the
subcorpus are the following:

(35) Measurements at < -40°C show clear degrading for sensors glued with Staystik
and Nee001, Elastosil leads to no differences in breakdown voltage.
[PHY23]

(36) Simulation studies show differences in the expected angular distributions in the
hypotheses 1++ or 2-+.
[PHY36]

159
5.2.2.2 Hedges
As explained in detail in Chapter 4 (Section 4.3.2), hedges are impor-
tant epistemic elements of academic writing, because they allow the
author to present information as personal points of view, which are open
to debate. In the High Energy Particle Physics subcorpus, hedges have
been found to be less numerous than boosters (see Table 5.2). The most
frequent hedges found are about (22 instances), around (10 instances),
and most (10 instances), which is peculiar given the exact nature of the
science involved. Hard sciences usually rely on precise data, and the
frequent use of hedges does not correspond to the idea non-specialists
have of the subdiscipline, that is, hard scientists need exact measure-
ments and data to work and, most of all, when presenting research
results. One of the High Energy Particle Physicists interviewed has in
fact commented that

[…] contrary to what people think, Physics is not an exact science. Mathemati-
cians, chemists and engineers are probably accustomed to working with precise
data, but Physicists need to be a bit more creative. The way we work is at times
approximate, so to speak. By that I mean that it is not always clear how to pro-
ceed and instruments are calibrated as we go along with the project. We make
corrections and yes, a great deal of mistakes along the way. That’s the beauty of
it all … it’s s trial and error process.
[PPhy4)

This imprecision in the data handled is shown in the following exam-

ples:

(37) The job distribution within the Nordic countries should only be done with the
local software ARC.
[PHY26]

(38) Several iterations are needed to achieve convergency (4–5 are usually enough).
[PHY04]

(39) The Kali framework: It’s the framework used for fine calorimeter calibration,
and it is mainly useful for iterative calibration scenarios.
[PHY04]

160
(40) ECAL fine calibration consists in determining a multiplicative energy correc-
tion for each cell. This coefficient may be found through measurement of some
well-known value, namely the mass of the resolved neutral pion in its decay into
two photons.
[PHY04]

(41) In first LHC proton-proton collisions in December 2009 about 6000 muon
tracks were reconstructed that allowed a direct evaluation of the System perfor-
mance.
[PHY11]

(42) First full calibration with Kali: end of May 2010:

80M MinBias events
Processing time: ~2 full days
Remaining miscalibration estimated from MC: ~2-2.5%
[PHY04]

5.2.2.3 Engagement markers

The relatively high frequency of engagement markers suggests that
within this discipline, the reader is actively involved. Engagement mark-
ers, in fact, contribute not only to engage the reader in the text, but also
to establish solidarity among scholars (see Chapter 4, Section 4.3.2).
Several types of engagement markers have been found (see Appendix 7,
Table 8), with a total of 86 instances. Above all, High Energy Parti-
cle Physicists frequently pose questions to readers (29 instances), to
involve them in the argument, and occasionally include extra informa-
tion within parentheses (11 instances). The way these Physicists employ
question marks, in particular, demanding the attention of the reader and
forcing him/her to come up with a possible answer, can be seen in the
following examples:

(43) How does this affect the detector properties? Is there a glue radiation hard
enough for this purpose?
[PHY23]

(44) What? A synthesizable ‘clock level-fidel’ simulation of S-TFC component and

links [1][2][3] clock level emulation of FE+ROB model with variable parameters
Why? Implement and test the TFC functionality and to study the optimum
design parameters for the different sub-detector FEs
[PHY01]

161
(45) Where did the ball end up? What’s going to happen next?
[PHY24]

Another popular way for High Energy Particle Physicists to involve and
engage readers is to use the inclusive pronoun we (16 instances) and the
second person pronoun you, directly addressing the viewer in this case:

(46) The asymmetry is defined as a function of the decay rate, however, we could alter-
natively define the decay rate (or lifetime distribution) as a function of the asym-
metry. […] In the transfer stage, non Syslog and PVSS (LHC control system) are
transformed to syslog Messages, so we can store them in the same way.
[PHY01]

(47) Usually a log is the only clue you have to track a problem.
[PHY03]

5.2.2.4 Self-mentions
When researchers write, they cannot avoid displaying a writing persona
and taking a stance on the issues considered. By doing so, they place
themselves within their community of practice and they take a stance
regarding the arguments debated (Ivaniþ, 1994; Hyland 2001b). Ren-
dering themselves visible is generally a deliberate decision that writers
make, and in doing so they create a clear authorial identity (Hyland,
2001b), for example by using first person pronouns (Ivaniþ, 1994). Pos-
sessive adjectives also serve this purpose. High Energy Particle Physi-
cists are no exception to the rule and they project themselves explicitly
in the text by using the first person plural pronoun we (29 instances)
and the possessive pronoun our (6 instances) (see Appendix 7, Table
9). The first person singular pronoun is almost absent (only 1 hit found)
probably because, as mentioned before, in High Energy Particle Phys-
ics researchers work collaboratively, involving usually entire research
groups. Examples of how self-mentions are used by High Energy Par-
ticle Physicists are:

(48) Assuming the Standard Model scenario, we expect a measurement of the cross
section with a relative uncertainty of ±20% for unintegrated luminosity of
200pb-1 at a center of mass energy of 10 TeV.
[PHY19]

162
(49) We analyzed the main causes of delay for starting the application and we reduced
this time with several optimizations for distributing the program files.
[PHY08]

(50) About 4% of our samples are coming from diffractive pp events, i.e. non-relevant
for hadronization processes.
[PHY35]

(51) During our experiments we added almost 5GB/day more.

[PHY03]

(52) When testing CASTORFS with the latest kernels we observe significantly
better.
[PHY03]

5.2.2.5 Attitude markers

Attitude markers are used to express surprise, frustration, importance, or
agreement related to the information given (see Chapter 4, Section 4.3.2).
The attitude markers within this subcorpus are ! (14 instances), inter-
esting(ly) (10 instances), and must (9 instances), as shown in Appendix
7, Table 10. Exclamation marks, in particular, are frequently used in the
High Energy Particle Physics posters analysed, which confirms the idea
that authors are allowed to express surprise and happiness on occasion,
such as in the following examples:

(53) IT station design installation: > 99% working channels!!

[PHY28]

(54) Small particles might not sound that impressive, but everything else in the
world is built of these fundamental pieces. Also, the smallest players tend to do
craziest things!
[PHY24]

(55) Particle collisions, like a scrum, are both gruesome and beautiful!
[PHY24]

(56) Although we had to deal with about 30000 sources of various logs, we managed
to do it completely FREE (!) by using a combination of Splunk, Ossec Rsyslog,
LogRotate.
[PHY03]

163
(57) Size of truncated events follows occupancy PDF, no bias!
[PHY29]

Other examples of attitude markers found in the subcorpus are the fol-
lowing:

(58) The CASTOR name server stores some interesting file meta-data, for example:
a filechecksum, a status of migration to tapes (migrated or not).
[PHY18]

(59) Regarding the Log Server, the usual log traffic is about 3GB/day. During our
experiments we added almost 5GB/day more. Even with that traffic, log server
performed quite.
[PHY03]

(60) Starting and initializing a large scale application is a complex task that must be
done very quickly and reliably.
[PHY08]

(61) It’s very important to keep them organized in a centralized server for security.
[PHY03]

5.2.3 Visual interactive resources

As Table 5.3 shows, 268 examples of visual interactive resources

were found in the High Energy Particle Physics subcorpus. Chapter 4
(Section 4.4.1), in fact, explains that interactive visual elements, such
as the division of the poster into sections (information value), frames,
connective elements such as arrows and lines, graphs, and different font
size, colour, and type, all serve to organise information and guide the
viewer in the comprehension of the text. Table 5.3 shows the distribu-
tion of different visual interactive resources within the subcorpus.

Table 5.3. Visual metadiscourse occurrences in High Energy Particle Physics

subcorpus.

INTERACTIVE RESOURCES Occurrences %

Graphic elements 105 39
Fonts 46 17

164
INTERACTIVE RESOURCES Occurrences %
Framing 44 16
Connective Elements 42 16
Information Value 31 12
TOTAL 268 100

A more detailed table, specifying the frequency of each type of inter-

active visual resource, is Table 5.4. Each interactive element will be
explained in detail in the following sections.

Table 5.4. Visual interactive resources used in High Energy Particle Physics posters.
Number of post-
INTERACTIVE Relative % in the
Achieved through ers displaying
RESOURCES subcorpus
the resource
Schematic analytical
26 9.7
Figures
Chart 23 8.6
Pictures 22 8.3
Graphic Elements Table 14 5.3
Networks 8 3
Flowcharts 5 1.8
Conversion process 4 1.3
Taxonomies 3 1.2
Subtotal 105 39.2
Font style 21 7.8
Fonts Font colour 15 5.6
Font size 10 3.7
Subtotal 46 17.2
Colour contrast 27 10.1
Framing
Frame lines 17 6.4
Subtotal 44 16.5
Vectors 20 7.4
Connective Ele- Repetition of colour 9 3.3
ments Alignment 7 2.6
Repetition of shapes 6 2.2
Subtotal 42 15.5

165
 Number of post-
INTERACTIVE Relative % in the
Achieved through ers displaying
RESOURCES subcorpus
the resource
Top–Bottom 9 3.3
Left–right + top–
8 3
bottom
Information Value
Centre–Margin 6 2.2
Triptych 5 1.8
Left–Right 3 1.1
Subtotal 31 11.4
Total 268 100

5.2.3.1 Graphic elements

In Table 5.3 we see that, within the High Energy Particle Physics sub-
corpus, the most numerous visual interactive resources are graphic ele-
ments, and, in particular, schematic analytical figures, charts and tables.
This is probably due to the fact that this is an experimental subdisci-
pline, where experimental data are predominant; In fact, 39,1% of post-
ers in this subcorpus display one or more graph, picture, table, or chart.
As explained in Chapter 4 (Section 4.4.1), graphs and tables are impor-
tant visual elements because they help explain content visually, making
data more easily comprehensible. Of the different types of graphs avail-
able, High Energy Particle Physicists prefer using schematic analytical
figures (26 recurrences), charts (23 recurrences), pictures (22 recur-
rences) and tables (14 recurrences). Networks, flow charts, conversion
processes, and taxonomies are also present in the subcorpus, but seldom
used. Figure 5.1 is an example of poster where numerous schematic
analytical figures, charts, tables, and networks are displayed simultane-
ously, underlining the highly experimental nature of the subdiscipline.

166
Figure 5.1. Example of a poster displaying different graphic elements [PPHY38].

167
5.2.3.2 Interactive use of fonts
Other frequently used interactive devices are fonts, whose type, style,
colour, and/or size are used to guide the reader through the text, making
it more comprehensible, perhaps highlighting which parts are connected
or underlining the most important textual elements. The most recurrent
font-related technique in the High Energy Particle Physics subcorpus
is to distinguish different parts of the text by using different font styles
(7.8%), as in Figure 5.1, where we see that the author distinguished the
titles of the different sections from the rest of the text by writing them
in a bigger font size.
An example of font colour used interactively (5.6%) is also found
in Figure 5.2, depicting a detail of a poster, where the text that should be
read with particular attention is in red or blue.

Figure 5.2. Font colour used as an interactive device [PPHY04].

The use of different font sizes is also effective in distinguishing ele-

ments in the text, such as titles from the rest of the text (Figure 5.1), but
it is the least frequent font technique utilised in the subcorpus (3.7%).

168
5.2.3.3 Framing
Framing is the third most popular interactive resource utilised within
the High Energy Particle Physics subcorpus and is a very useful graphic
technique to logically divide the information displayed in the poster. By
framing sections of the posters, the author makes it clear that certain
parts of the text are separated from others, much like a book can be sep-
arated into ‘chapters’. As Table 5.4 shows, the most recurring type of
frames found is the one created by colour contrast (10.1%). In Figure 5.1,
for example, we see blocks of text standing out from the background,
thanks to a difference in colour tonality: that is, the background of the
poster is yellow and contrasts with the white rectangles in which text,
images, and tables are inserted. High Energy Particle Physicists also
frame sections of the poster by tracing lines, but it is a technique that
occurs less often in the subcorpus (6.4%).

5.2.3.4 Connective elements

Connective elements in the form of vectors, repetition of colour, align-
ment, and repetition of shapes are the fourth most frequently utilised
visual interactive resources in the present subcorpus, representing
15.5% of the interactive resources found (see Table 5.4). Amongst
these, vectors are the most common of all (7.4%). Vectors can be used
in various ways, either to visually indicate to the reader the flow of
information, that is, in which direction to read the text or to invite the
reader to focus his/her attention on a specific detail (Figure 5.3). In this
case, the arrow and circle invite the reader to ‘look’ more attentively at
a certain detail and help explain what is being represented.
Another reason vectors are frequently used is to create relation-
ships and logical connections between images present on the poster
(Figure 5.4), and between text and images (Figure 5.5).

169
Figure 5.3. Example of connective elements drawing attention to a detail of the poster
[PPHY32].

In Figure 5.4, we see an image-image relationship, where one image

is connected to the next through arrows and the text simply plays an
accompanying role, in the sense that there is no connection between the
text, but there is between images.

170
Figure 5.4. Example of connective elements creating an image-image relationship
[PPHY39].

In Figure 5.5, we see instead a text-image connection created through

arrows. The text displayed on the right is logically and semantically
connected to the images on the left, so that the reader is given a visual
representation of what is written.

171
Figure 5.5. Example of connective elements creating a text-image relationship
[PPHY15].

5.2.3.5 Information value

Although frames are widely used in this subcorpus to separate or con-
nect blocks of text, units of data, or images, posters within this disciple
do not always display a clear format. A well-thought-out organisation
of images and text would help the reader follow and anticipate the flow
of information, as happens in other genres such as the research arti-
cle, where the traditional IMRD format is often utilised. Looking at the
High Energy Particle Physics subcorpus, 11.4% of the posters analysed
use the interactive resource called ‘information value’, a layout that
organises information coherently. The preferred ‘information value’
layout in the subcorpus sees the flow of information aligned vertically,
with a top/bottom distribution of information. The second most popu-
lar choice of ‘information value’ layout by Physicists is a mix between
the top–bottom and left–right division of the poster. In Figure 5.6 for
example, we see a poster in which the top part of the poster follows a
top–bottom organisation of the text, because we read the text from the
top, scrolling down; the lower part of the poster instead is organised in a
left–right manner, so that we read the text from left to right.

172
Figure 5.6. Example of a poster following a mix between a top–bottom, left–right
organisation of content [PPHY27].

5.2.4 Summary

The analysis carried out in the High Energy Particle Physics subcorpus
has revealed that, in the text of posters, textual interactive and interac-
tional resources are utilised in equal quantity. These results show that
within the subdiscipline of High Energy Particle Physics, the same
importance is given to the development of a clear and coherent dis-
course, and to the involvement and engagement of the reader.
Looking at the normalised recurrences found (per 100,000
words) in Figure 5.7, we can see that the top three textual metadis-
cource resources found in the subcorpus are transitions (503), followed
by boosters (421) and hedges (400). The bottom three textual metadis-
course resources found are instead endophoric markers (90), evidentials
(59), and attitude markers (53).

173
 Transitions
Boosters
Hedges
Code glosses
Frame markers
Engagement markers
Self mentions
Endophoric markers
Evidentials
Attitude markers

0 100 200 300 400 500 600

Figure 5.7. Distribution (in order of frequency) of textual interactive and interactional
normalized occurrences in High Energy Particle Physics posters.

The analysis has also shown that several visual interactive elements can
be identified in this subcorpus, suggesting that High Energy Particle
Physicists also try to present information clearly with the aid of visuals.
Among the visual interactive resources found (Figure 5.8), we can see
that the top two visual resources utilised are Graphic elements (39%)
and Fonts (17%), followed by Connective elements (16%), Framing
(16%) and Information value (12%).

Graphic elements

Fonts

Connective Elements

Framing

Information Value

0 10 20 30 40 50

Figure 5.8. Distribution (in order of frequency) of visual interactive occurrences in

High Energy Particle Physics posters.

174
5.3 Textual and visual analysis of the Law subcorpus

5.3.1 Textual interactive resources

The linguistic analysis conducted on the Law subcorpus found a total

of 1,541 instances of interactive and interactional devices, with an aver-
age of 38 per poster. As Table 5.5 shows, Lawyers tend to use interac-
tional resources more frequently than interactive resources, revealing
that Lawyers are concerned more with engaging the reader and making
him/her participate into the developing discourse rather than construct-
ing a fluent and coherent discourse, so that the text unfolds easily and
comprehensibly.

Table 5.5. Interactive occurrences in the text of Law posters.

Normalized figures (per

INTERACTIVE RESOURCES N. of occurrences
100,000 words)
Transitions 320 1405
Code glosses 143 628
Frame markers 104 457
Evidentials 66 290
Endophoric markers 9 40
TOTAL 642 2,820
INTERACTIONAL Normalized figures (per
N. of occurrences
RESOURCES 100,000 words)
Hedges 342 1502
Boosters 208 913
Engagement markers 164 720
Self mentions 109 479
Attitude markers 76 334
TOTAL 899 3,948

175
The most recurring interactive devices are transitions (320 instances),
followed by code glosses (143 instances) and frame markers (104
instances). These resources have an important metadiscoursal purpose,
because they are used to connect sentences and paragraphs, explain
concepts more clearly by adding examples, and refer to parts of texts
so that the reader follows the unfolding discourse easily. The results
found for each type of interactive resource are hereby reported in order
of frequency, and are accompanied by examples drawn from the Law
subcorpus.

5.3.1.1 Transitions
In the Law subcorpus, a great number of transitions have been found,
totalling 320 instances. The most recurrent transitions found in the Law
subcorpus are the conjunctions and (203 instances), but (9 instances),
and also (16 instances) and the adverb because (12 instances) (see
Appendix 7, Table 11). These results show that, like in the previous
subcorpus analysed, also in the Law subcorpus, the three different dis-
course roles played by transitions, that is, Addition, Comparison, and
Consequence (see Chapter 4, Section 4.3.1), are all found. The follow-
ing examples demonstrate how each type of transition marker is used
within Law posters and, in particular, how the role of Addition (62) (63),
Comparison (64) (65), and Consequence (66) is played out in the text.

(62) Not only were the students able to reinforce their trademark knowledge, but
they also got a peek into how difficult working with survey evidence can be.
[LAW29]

(63) The concept of separation of powers within the university is both ancient and
novel. It is ancient in the sense that it reflects the way that the university has
operated for hundreds of years, and reflects well-established theories and under-
standings about how the university works and what it is for.
[LAW32]

(64) SPs felt cases were challenging and emotionally draining; however, they per-
ceived the assessments to be valuable to the students and the larger community.

(65) Although their surveys and results were highly unscientific, the students learned
about the types of surveys used, how the composition of the survey universe

176
 alters the results, how poorly framed questions can affect the survey, and how
most surveys can be interpreted in multiple ways.
[LAW29]

(66) Academic freedom is not a privilege, but a necessary feature of a proper sep-
aration of powers within the university. […] Therefore a university should be
regarded as a community, but not of like-minded individuals.
[LAW32]

5.3.1.2 Code glosses

Code glosses are the second most frequent interactive metadiscoursal
device found in the Law subcorpus, indicating a clear tendency, within
this discipline, to provide readers with additional information. By
rephrasing or elaborating what has been written the reader is able to
clarify complicated or possibly difficult concepts. The most recurring
type of code gloss is text within parentheses (65 instances), as in exam-
ples (67) and (68).

(67) Nearly half of Americans age fifty or older have executed a durable pow-
er-of-attorney (DPOA), and almost three- quarters of those age 80 or older have
done so. The popularity of the DPOA reflects the fact that it is a powerful and
cost-effective tool for planning for future incapacity.
[LAW01]

(68) The role of the agent, or “attorney-in-fact” (AIF), is characterized by two

underlying problems in the DPOA relationship: (1) lack of clarity as to the
decision-making rule that an AIF is to use to make decisions on behalf of a
principal, and (2) exceedingly broad autonomy afforded to the AIF.
[LAW01]

Another very frequent type of code gloss is the conjunctive or

(43 instances), used to connect two alternative terms to define some-
thing. Giving more than one term increases the chance of the reader
understanding a new concept, as can be seen in example (69):

(69) Nebraska—release with approval from the governing body that approved the
conservation easement where the conservation easement “no longer substantially
achieves the conservation or preservation purpose for which it was created.
[LAW23]

177
Finally, adverbs such as (11 instances), for example (6 instances), and
e.g. (8 instances) appear in Law posters to better explicate a concept and
provide useful examples (70) (71).

(70) Whether these issues are due to external factors (such as budget shortages
affecting court reporters or public counsel) or internal factors (such as court
culture or the productivity of individual judges), it is clear from the data col-
lected that intermediate courts of appeal are being challenged to identify sys-
tems for improved performance in the face of limited resources.
[LAW02]

(71) The students also were reminded about human behavior and how the fact that
consumers are indeed human can affect surveys. For example, one group picked
a trademarked antacid remedy as their subject and were surprised to learn
that most random people do not like being asked about their recent stomach
ailments.
[LAW45]

5.3.1.3 Frame markers

Frame markers rank third within the interactive resources utilised by
Lawyers. They are probably numerous, because bullet and numbered
lists are frequently used in Law posters to communicate information
quickly. As Matthews (1990: 226) states, “the condensed message of a
list, in fact, appeals to the reader’s need to gather information efficiently:
the information is laid out, unadorned, for quick comprehension”, as in
a poster displaying most of the content through bullet points.
Amongst the frame markers searched, the ones signalling a
sequence are the most numerous, totalling 44 instances (see Appen-
dix 7, Table 13). The frequent use of numbers or letters (1, 2, 3; I, II,
III; A, B, C; etc.) to signal a list or a sequence indicates that Lawyers
tend to use precise and schematic textual elements to organize con-
tent (72).

(72) We identified the following issues:

5. All courtroom participants should be able to move about the courtroom without
highlighting their physical limitations.
6. All courtroom participants should be able to understand the roles played in the
courtroom.

178
7. All courtroom participants should be able to hear and see all proceedings with-
out limiting their ability to move about the courtroom.
[LAW07]

The use of lists is so common in this subcorpus that a number of posters

simply display a short, schematic text, such as one or more lists. Exam-
ple (73) illustrates the entire text of a poster, which simply consists of
three separate lists:

(73) I. Potential sources of miscommunication between clinical professors and their

student-attorneys.
A. Supervision style
B. Difference in level of experience
C. Difference in type of experience
D. Cultural differences
E. Assumptions on the part of the student and/or professor

II. Consequences of miscommunication.

A. Frustration on part of student and/or professor
B. Client’s goals not effectively served
C. Confusion in case development

III. What can we do, if anything, about mis-communication?

– Shedding of assumptions
– Setting boundaries for student performance
– Identify miscommunication when it occurs
[LAW12]

Another, more peculiar use of sequencing frame markers can be seen

in the poster depicted in Figure 4.7, where the sequencing numbers are
embedded in the visual. Here, we see two cycles displaying a number
of points in sequence; the reader knows in which order he/she should
read the text thanks to the numbering and the arrows following a clock-
wise direction. Furthermore, on the right of the poster, written in very
small characters, we find two numbered lists that accompany and fur-
ther explain the two cycles:
(74) Studies have proven animal abuse is both a PREDICTOR and CO-INDICATOR
of domestic violence by demonstrating that in homes where there is DV there
isa higher incidence of animal abuse. The abuse is FAMILY abuse and all mem-
bers are affected—physically and emotionally.

179
 1. Children exposed to family violence are at risk of suffering from emotional
and behavioral problems, very often engaging in animal abuse themselves.
In turn, childhood animal abuse is linked to aggressive behavior and vio-
lent criminal activity as an adult.
2. A child from an abusive family is more likely to become an adult abuser
and create a new abusive family.
[LAW09]

(75) AVOID all abuse by teaching compassion and respect for all living creatures to
young students.
1. AVOID human abuse by enacting effective animal cruelty Laws, prosecut-
ing aggressively, and imposing serious sanctions.
2. DETECT family abuse early by:

• Separating data on animal cruelty in FBI UCR program.

• Reporting child and animal abuse by physicians, humane Law enforce-
ment, and veterinarians.
• Cross-reporting abuses among child protective services, adult protective
services, and humane Law enforcement. IMPROVE protection for all
family abuse victims by:
• Identifying needs of all victims—is there a pet who needs protection?
• Authorizing issuance of intrafamily abuse protective order upon show-
ing of good cause to believe that the alleged abuser has committed, or is
threatening to commit, animal cruelty against the pet with the EFFECT of
emotionally or physically injuring a human family member.
• Providing for ‘the care, custody, or control of the pet’ in a protective order.
• Establishing safe havens for human and non-human victims.

3. ENHANCE prosecution of abuser by prosecuting for all abuses and allow-

ing introduction of evidence of pet abuse in cases of human abuse.
4. AVOID future abuse by:

9 Imposing appropriate sentence for animal abuse reflecting significance of

crime.
9 Mandating counseling in animal cruelty prevention programs (AniCare).
9 Forbidding ownership of animals thus removing tool from abuser’s arsenal.
9 Allowing evidence of animal abuse in related child custody and visitation
proceedings.
[LAW09]

The types of frame markers that are utilised the least are instead topic
shifts (only 3 instances), probably due to the shortage of space, which
leads authors to rely on the use of bullet points and lists.

180
5.3.1.4 Evidentials
Unlike endophoric markers, evidentials are frequently used by Law-
yers to refer to community-based literature and offer evidence for their
arguments. The fact that evidentials are recurrent in the Law subcor-
pus is a clear indication that within this discipline authors prefer rely-
ing on previous literature to demonstrate the soundness and reliability
of their research. A common strategy to refer to a reliable source is
to cite dates and periods of time (12 instances) as in the following
examples:
(76) A survey of priorities, opinions about impediments and concerns was con-
ducted August 27, 2009, a day of the United Nations Meeting of Experts.
[LAW13]

(77) A nationwide survey of biodefense researchers about their opinions and per-
ceptions concerning the select agent regulations, 42 CFR §73, and other regu-
lations and the effectiveness of these rules in achieving their regulatory goals of
national security and protecting public health, was conducted from September
2007 through August 1, 2008.
[LAW13]

(78) These findings of researcher anxiety with compliance was cited by the White
House in the support of President Obama’s Executive Order, July 2, 2010.
[LAW13]

Other frequent evidentials found in posters are verbs such as indicate,

demonstrate, suggest, claim, and show preceded by a person’s name or a
noun such as research, literature, and studies (see examples (79), (80),
and (81)):

(79) Research on surrogate decision-making in the health care context indicates that
agents are significantly more likely to respect elders wishes when agents are
explicitly instructed to do so.
[LAW01]

(80) Several empirical studies have found that eyewitness error is a major contribut-
ing cause to over half of wrongful convictions.
[LAW39]

(81) Preliminary data analysis also suggests that certain subcategories of charities
(Environmental Education and Outdoor Survival Programs and organizations

181
 that focus on specific religions), for example do not exist as very well-funded
charities and may only exist as smaller charities.
[LAW08]

5.3.1.5 Endophoric markers

Although endophoric markers facilitate the comprehension of the text
by referring to earlier material or material that will follow, they are
rarely utilised in the subcorpus and they appear as the least frequent
textual interactive resource found (see Table 5.5). This is probably
because a number of posters display their text as conversion processes
(Figure 4.7), networks (Figure 5.9), or taxonomies (Figure 5.10). The
text contained in these charts necessarily has been condensed, chunked,
and fragmented. The result of this process is a text that, compared for
example to texts produced in High Energy Particle Physics posters, is
easily and quickly readable but lacks endophoric markers.

Figure 5.9. Text presented in the form of a network [LAW11].

182
Figure 5.10. Text presented in the form of a taxonomy [LAW16].

In these cases, the text is organised in such a way that without the aid
of visuals, it would not be possible to fully comprehend the content of
the poster. Below are three examples of endophoric markers found in
the Law subcorpus, which are used to refer to an example (82), section
(83), or chart (84) given before or later in the text:

183
(82) Which insurance policy responds to a loss caused by parallel concurrent causes,
like the tort in Example B?
[LAW03]

(83) Section 2(a) of the UCEA explains that conservation easements may be released,
modified, terminated, or otherwise altered or affected in the same manner as
other easements.
[LAW15]

(84) To determine whether there is a substantive difference in focus between the

Smaller Charities Group and the Larger Charities Group, I compared NTEE
codes of the top five charitable subcategories for the two groups. There is a
distinction between the main areas of focus between the two groups (see charts
below).
[LAW21]

5.3.2 Textual interactional resources

In Law posters, textual interactional resources are more frequent than

interactive resources. In fact, 899 occurrences of interactional resources
were found in the subcorpus, whereas interactive resources, as we have
seen in Section 5.3.1, were 642. Among the resources listed in Table
5.6, hedges (342 instances), boosters (208 instances), and engagement
markers (164 instances) are the most commonly used.
Table 5.6. Interactional occurrences in the text of Law posters.

Normalized figures (per

INTERACTIONAL RES. N. of occurrences
100,000 words)
Hedges 342 1502
Boosters 208 913
Engagement markers 164 720
Self mentions 109 479
Attitude markers 76 334
TOTAL 899 3,948

184
The results found for each type of interactional resource are hereby
reported in order of frequency, and are accompanied by examples drawn
from the Law subcorpus.

5.3.2.1 Hedges
As Table 5.6 shows, hedges are the most recurring interactional meta-
discourse resources found in Law posters, indicating that Lawyers
tend to avoid strong statements and the act of presenting arguments
with absolute conviction. The most recurring hedges are the adjective
most (26 instances) and the modal verbs would (35 instances), may
(31 instances), and could (22 instances). The following examples are
drawn from the subcorpus analysed:

(85) Similarly, the cost of human & intellectual capital used to produce information
may be high.
[LAW34]

(86) […] it means that fundamental disagreement may exist amongst professors in
an environment of cooperative independence.
[LAW32]

(87) It thus protects citizens from the tyranny that could result if the power to make
Laws was held in the same hands as the power to enforce them.
[LAW32]

(88) About one half of the respondents said that their countries had either or both a
biosafety or biosecurity code.
[LAW13]

(89) The separation of the judicial function is perhaps the most crucial because it
ensures that government must be conducted in accordance with the rule of Law.
[LAW32]

(90) Your university quite likely has some sort of license for this product which will
reduce the cost quite substantially, possibly to zero.
[LAW34]

185
5.3.2.2 Boosters
Boosters are the second most frequent interactional device used by
Lawyers. The boosters found in the subcorpus show that the most recur-
ring boosters are the verb will (53 instances), the auxiliary must, and the
adverb clearly (14 instances). The following examples are drawn from
the Law posters and demonstrate how researchers, within this disci-
pline, express certainty in what they say.

(91) To determine whether conditions have changed significantly enough to merit

terminating a servitude, one must examine the language of the agreement and
how it articulates its purposes.
[LAW22]

(92) If your presentation focus in on the rule of Law, students will be looking up at
the screen rather than down at their books.
[LAW36]

(93) On the other hand, conservation easement holders may wish to continue pro-
tecting the land and will have to argue against application of the doctrine as
justification for dissolving the conservation easement.
[LAW23]

(94) There is a clear need for training and information with regard to biosafety and
biosecurity codes of conduct, particularly for countries which have not yet
adopted codes of conduct for biosafety and biosecurity.
[LAW13]

5.3.2.3 Engagement markers

In Law posters, a very high frequency of engagement markers was
found (164 recurrences), indicating that for these writers it is important
to involve readers and establish solidarity among scholars. Lawyers fre-
quently use the pronoun one (40 instances), include extra information
meant for the reader within parentheses (32 instances), pose questions
to the reader, involving him/her in the argument (24 instances), and
occasionally use the pronoun you (29 instances), as well as the posses-
sive pronoun your (20 instances). The following are examples drawn
from the Law subcorpus, showing how researchers, within this field,
utilise engagement markers:

186
(95) One first downloads and installs in the conventional way a free copy of Math-
ematica Player, available at <http://www.wolfram.com/prod-?ucts/player>.
Once this is done, one goes to <http://demonstrations>. Wolfram.com, browses
or searches for the desired Demonstration and downloads it. […] One then
double-clicks on the downloaded file and, voila, one has a fully interactive
Demonstration with the ability to change all the possible settings in the model.
[…] And, if one wants to investigate how the Demonstration was created, you
can just click on a request for the source code. […] One can then modify the
Demonstration, create snapshots from the Demonstration for use elsewhere,
create bookmarks to interesting settings of the controls in the Demonstration.
[LAW37]

(96) Your university quite likely has some sort of license for this product which will
reduce the cost quite substantially, possibly to zero.
[LAW37]

(97) See what level of care proves optimal and the associated level of insured wealth
for each optimal insurance contract you create. How does the optimal contract
vary with the accuracy with which the insurer can determine the level of care
taken by the insured?
[LAW04]

(98) Coco Chanel visually taught us the wisdom of the little black dress pearls. You
already teach pearls of legal wisdom, now address the visuals. Are they effec-
tively articulating your message? Are they engaging your audience? Are they
readable and visually legible? Take a full-length view at your visual aids: Do
they aid long-term memory?
[LAW35]

5.3.2.4 Self-mentions
If we look at the use Lawyers make of self-mentions, we notice that they
seldom refer to themselves or to their work, both individually as well
as a group. When they do, the self-mention which recurs more often
is the pronoun I (32 instances), revealing that, unlike Physicists, Law-
yers tend to work independently and not in large research groups. The
second most frequent resource is the plural pronoun we (26 instances),
followed by the possessive pronoun my (19 instances). As the examples
below demonstrate, the writing style that Lawyers use for posters is
very personal and direct, effectively engaging readers and establishing
a close, almost intimate, relationship.

187
(99) We examine whether having a dedicated levy impacts the number of children in
state care over time, the numbers of adoptions finalized and the mean number
of days spent awaiting adoption.
[LAW33]

(100) We concluded that educational intervention should include interviewing and

communication skills training in order to improve student scores.
[LAW28]

(101) Overall, I was very pleased with the outcome of the project.
[LAW29]

(102) Although I believed in this project from the outset, I wasn’t sure that the stu-
dents would be enthusiastic about an out-of-class project that was so different
from usual Law school tasks. I was thrilled that the students’ feedback was
generally positive and every group put significant effort into the project, some
going well beyond the requirements.
[LAW29]

(103) My students were very engaged this semester and the level of classroom dis-
course was at an all-time high.
[LAW25]

(104) Our research raises a cautionary call to advocates and policymakers who focus
on the substance of the mandates governing the intimate family relations in the
child welfare system or the type of funding stream available at the federal level.
[LAW33]

5.3.2.5 Attitude markers

Attitude markers are the least frequent interactional device used by Law-
yers; therefore, it can be said that Lawyers rarely convey surprise, agree-
ment, importance, obligation, or frustration in their texts, related to the
information given. Amid the few attitude markers found within this sub-
corpus are the auxiliaries should (32 instances) and must (9 instances),
followed by the adverb important(ly) (6 instances). Hereafter are four
examples drawn from the posters analysed, showing how attitude mark-
ers are used within the discipline of Law and in posters in particular:

(105) If attributed, the fair use exception to the copyright Laws should allow you to
display the images in class.
[LAW36]

188
(106) PR Profile should describe the kind of Lawyer you want to be and why you want
to be that kind of a Lawyer.
[LAW38]

(107) In these instances, the Law must allocate responsibility among the insurers.
[LAW37]

(108) Unfortunately, while it is often appropriate to advise elders to execute broad,

immediately effective DPOA, such documents can jeopardize elders’ financial
and personal well-being.
[LAW01]

5.3.3 Visual interactive resources

As Table 5.7 shows, if we apply the framework of analysis explained in

Chapter 4 to the visual components of Law posters, we find that research-
ers within this discipline, to create well-organised and visually compre-
hensible posters, make use of a number of visual resources. Connective
elements and interactive fonts are the most popular resources utilised by
authors, followed by graphic elements and framing. Information value,
instead, is utilized less frequently.
Table 5.7. Visual metadiscourse occurrences in the Law subcorpus.

INTERACTIVE RES. Occurrences % on total

Connective elements 66 30.8
Interactive Fonts 52 24.2
Graphic elements 36 16.8
Framing 34 15.8
Information value 26 12.1
TOTAL 214  100

A more detailed table, specifying the frequency of each type of inter-

active visual resource, is Table 5.8. Each interactive element will be
explained in detail in the sections that follow.

189
Table 5.8. Visual interactive resources used in Law posters.

INTERACTIVE Achieved
Frequency %
RESOURCES through
Colour contrast 20 9.3
Framing
Frame lines 17 7.9
Subtotal 34 15.8
Repetition of shapes 21 9.8
Repetition of colour 18 8.4
Connective Elements Allignment/Disallignment 16 7.4
Vectors (size, colour, shape, attenu-
11 5.1
ated/amplified (density/frequency))
Subtotal 66 30.8
Font size 24 11.2
Fonts Font colour 16 7.4
Font type 12 5.6
Subtotal 52 24.2
Use of schematic
13 6
analytical pictures
Pictures 8 3.7
Chart 8 3.7
Graphic elements Taxonomies 1.8
4
(Covert/Overt)
Conversion process 1 1.8
Networks 1 1.8
Table 1 1.8
Flowcharts 0 0
Subtotal 36 16.8
Triptych 11 5.1
Left–Right 6 2.8
Information Value Left–right + top–bottom 5 2.3
Top–Bottom 4 1.8
Centre–Margin 0  0
Subtotal 26 12.1
Total 214  100

190
5.3.3.1 Framing
The most recurring visual interactive resource used is framing, a tech-
nique that recurs 94 times in the posters analysed. About half the posters
in the subcorpus highlight part of the visual or the text by using line
frames. The other half of the subcorpus (20 posters) distinguishes certain
sections of the poster by contrasting colours, as in Figure 5.11, where we
see coloured blocks of text that are not framed by a line but by the con-
trast between the white background and coloured boxes. What divides
the blocks of text is, in this case, not a line but simply white space.

Figure 5.11. Example of a poster using colour contrast to create frames [LAW29].

5.3.3.2 Connective elements

The second most recurring visual interactive resources are connective ele-
ments, which recur a total of 66 times in the subcorpus. Researchers within
this discipline very often use the repetition of shapes (21 occurrences)
and colours (18 occurrences), the alignment or disalignment of elements

191
(16 occurrences), and/or vectors (11 occurrences) in the poster to create
logical connections. In Figure 5.12 for instance, we see the concept ‘Using
visual aids to demonstrate legal analysis’ connected to three blocks of
text: ‘Flow charts’, ‘Sentence diagrams’, and ‘Propositional logic’. We are
able to connect elements thanks to the vectors utilised, and also because a
number of elements are repeated, such as the red frames, the black rectan-
gles containing the examples, and the graphs framed in yellow.

Figure 5.12. Example of a poster using vectors, repetition of shapes, and colour to
create logical connections [LAW20].

192
5.3.3.3 Interactive fonts
Much attention is also given to the use of font size, font colour, and font
type to guide the reader in the comprehension of the poster (52 recur-
rences). In Figure 4.7 for example, we see four font colours depending
on the content of the text. The title of the poster is dark blue, the text
related to the conversion process graph on the upper left part of the
poster is orange, whereas the text related to the conversion process
graph on the bottom right part of the poster is green. The remaining
text is black. By using different colours the reader is visually helped in
understanding that the phrase ‘The Link between Animal Abuse and
Human Violence in the Family Creates Problems for Victims’ refers to
the orange graph, whereas the phrase ‘The Law Must Target the Link
between Animal Abuse and Human Violence in the Family’ relates to
the green graph.

5.3.3.4 Graphic elements

As explained in Section 4.4.1, Graphic elements can help clarify the
content of the text by picturing data and representing it visually. For
example, as happens with High Energy Particle Physics posters, sche-
matic analytical pictures help viewers understand and retain content and
they are the most frequent graphic resource used within this subcorpus
(13 instances). The second most frequent graphic resource is pictures
(8 instances), followed by charts (8 instances). Other types of graphs
found, although much less frequently, are taxonomies (4 instances),
whereas conversion processes, networks and tables are only found once
among the poster searched.
The scarcity of graphs is not surprising because Law is not an
experimental discipline and does not rely heavily on statistics and
numerical data. What is instead interesting to note is that pictures are
used to show visually the message contained in the text, so that readers
immediately associate what they read with what they see. Like in adver-
tising, many Law posters do not use real people but actors. Figures are
therefore ‘staged’, and actors pose in front of the camera. The result is
an image that serves more easily the message of the author, as in Figure
5.13, where we see two actors playing the role of a warrior and a wise
man. The connection between the figure and the title is immediate, and

193
the text found on the left and right side of the poster further explains
the concept.

Figure 5.13. Example of a poster displaying a picture, serving an interactive purpose

[LAW40].

5.3.3.5 Information value

Less noticeable in Law posters is the information value resource (11
instances), which ensures that the poster is organised coherently and
that the reader knows which information to process first. In Law posters
we mostly find a triptych layout, which divides logically the poster into
three main sections, the most important one being the centred one (see
Chapter 4, Section 4.4.1).
As Table 5.8 specifies, we seldom find Law posters in which the
flow of information moves from left to right (6 instances), from left
to right and from top to bottom (5 instances), and from top to bottom
(4 instances). Instead, no posters with a centre–margin layout were
found.

194
5.3.4 Summary

The analysis carried out on the Law subcorpus has revealed that in these
posters, textual interactive resources are utilised less than textual inter-
actional resources. The percentage of textual interactional resources
(58%) is slightly higher than the percentage of interactive resources
found (42%). These results show that within the discipline of Law,
preference is given to the involvement and engagement of the reader
rather than rendering the text comprehensible and the development of
discourse clear and coherent.
Looking at the normalised occurrences found (per 100,000
words) in Figure 5.14, we can see that the top three textual metadis-
cource resources found in the subcorpus are hedges (1,502), followed
by transitions (1,405) and boosters (913). The bottom three textual
metadiscourse resources found are instead attitude markers (334), evi-
dentials (290), and endophoric markers (40).

Hedges

Transitions

Boosters

Engagement markers

Code glosses

Self mentions

Frame markers

Attitude markers

Evidentials

Endophoric markers

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600

Figure 5.14. Distribution (in order of frequency) of textual interactive and interac-
tional occurrences in Law posters.

195
If we take into consideration the visual interactive elements present in
Law posters (Figure 5.15), we see that the top three visual resources
utilised are framing (35%), connective elements (24%) and interactive
fonts (20%). The bottom two visual resources utilised by Lawyers are
instead graphic elements (12%) and information value (9%).

Framing

Connective elements

Interactive Fonts

Graphic elements

Information Value

0 10 20 30 40

Figure 5.15. Frequency of visual interactive occurrences in Law posters.

5.4 Textual and visual analysis of the Clinical Psychology

subcorpus

5.4.1 Textual interactive resources

As Table 5.9 indicates, in the Clinical Psychology subcorpus we find

that interactive resources are much more frequent than interactional
resources. The strikingly lower amount of interactional resources might
also be due to the frequent use of bullet points to make lists and the
recurrence of chunked text. As happens in Law posters, fragmented text
results in condensed, straightforward discourse, which is comprehensi-
ble but unadorned and does not need many interactional elements. The

196
few interactional resources found will be analysed in the sections that
follow.

Table 5.9. Interactive and interactional occurrences in the text of Clinical Psychology
posters (in order of frequency).

INTERACTIVE Normalized frequency (per 100,000

Raw frequency
RES. words)
Frame Markers 345 887
Transitions 121 311
Code Glosses 115 296
Evidentials 100 257
Endophoric Markers 14 36
TOTAL 695 1,787
INTERACTIONAL Normalized frequency (per 100,000
Raw frequency
RES. words)
Hedges 78 200
Boosters 25 64
Self Mentions 19 49
Engagement Markers 9 23
Attitude Markers 5 13
TOTAL 136 350

5.4.1.1 Frame markers

Unlike in the other two corpora analysed, the text in Clinical Psychology
posters is mainly organised through bullet point lists. An example of
bullet point list found in a Clinical Psychology poster is (112) but also
numbered lists ((113) and (114)) are frequently found. The frequency
of sequencing frame markers is therefore extremely high, with a total of
210 listings, 120 numberings, and only 1 instance of the frame marker
last(ly) found in the subcorpus (see Appendix 7, Table 21). Examples
(115) and (116) instead show the use of frame markers to announce
goals and to label stages. No instances of topic shifts have been found.

197
(112)

• Results from the DARTEL-normalized VBM analysis were consistent with

increased registration accuracy.
• Treatment of global effects in the model significantly influences magni-
tude and spatial distribution of results, and must be carefully considered in
interpreting the data.
• Because linear global effects dominate age-related cortical change, whole
brain proportional scaling may be a reasonable approach to identifying
regional differences in age-related GM loss.
[PSY05]
(113)

STUDY AIMS:

1. Investigation of the risk for compassion fatigue/secondary traumatic stress

(CF/STS – the trauma suffered by the helping professional due to secondary
exposure to extremely stressful and frightening experiences at work) and burn-
out (BO – emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced sense of per-
sonal accomplishment that can be associated with a very high workload or a
non-supportive environment), and the potential for compassion satisfaction (CS
– the fulfilment from helping others and positive collegial relationships) among
ICU nurses.
2. Exploration of the relationship between nurses’ characteristics (demographic
and occupational) and CF risk.
[PSY03]

(114)

Study Questions:

1. Which factor models of psychopathy provide the best fit to our sample?

2. How do the psychopathy factors generated by two rival factor models correlate
with a self-report personality measure, the MACI?
[PSY04]

(115) The aim of the present study is to evaluate quality of life and sexual satisfaction
in an Italian group of women affected by endometriosis.
[PSY39]

(116) In conclusion: CaMKII is elevated in both humans with schizophrenia and in an

animal model of the disease.
[PSY20]

198
5.4.1.2 Transitions
Transitions are the second most recurring interactive device found in
the text of Clinical Psychology posters. A very high number of transi-
tion markers render a text more comprehensible because connections
are created between parts of text. The transition which is most often
used is, as always, the conjunction and (72 instances), as in example
(117). Other transitions used much less frequently are the adverb also
(8 instances) as in example (118) and (119), the conjunctions however
(6 instances) (example 120), and therefore (3 instances) (example 121).
Hereafter are five examples showing the frequent use of transitions in
the corpus:

(117) A comparative analysis of biochemical bases of natural and pharmacologically

induced aggression indicates that the natural aggression is genetically predeter-
mined and is a manifestation one of the type of activity of central nerve system.
[PSY02]

(118) It might also be beneficial to collaborate with ethnic community ‘leaders’

(faculty, administrators, counselors) in providing information, facilitating
dialogues to build relationship networks, and developing alternative activities
(stress-reducers and distracters) to reduce the use of alcohol as a coping mech-
anism.
[PSY01]

(119) Provoking role of serotonin in suicide cases also emerged.

[PSY02]

(120) E treatment may enhance the recovery of schizophrenia in women1. However,

adverse effects on uterine and breast tissue and other physical side effects may
limit its long-term therapeutic use.

(121) […] women with endometriosis, compared with the CG, showed lower level
of sexual and relational satisfaction and a high presence of pain during inter-
course. […] Therefore, it is important to implement an integrated work between
physicians and psychologists to provide support for women in their daily lives.
[PSY39]

199
5.4.1.3 Code glosses
Code glosses are the third most frequent interactive resource utilised
in the present subcorpus. The reason for this is that Clinical Psycholo-
gists frequently add extra information for the reader within parenthe-
ses (85 instances), most of the time indicating abbreviations, such as
in example (121), where technical terminology such as Experimental
Group, Control Group, and McCoy Female Sexuality Questionnaire is
abbreviated as (EG), (CG), and (MFSQ), respectively. At times, we find
additional information included in parentheses or signalled by the code
glosses e.g. and i.e., as in examples (122), and (123):

(121) The Experimental Group (EG) is made of 60 participants who had been diag-
nosed with endometriosis, recruited at the Endometriosis Outpatient Clinic
at Policlinico Agostino Gemelli of Rome from January to March 2012. The
Control Group (CG) is composed by 60 healthy women matched for age
and relational status. Both groups received a protocol with: an informative
questionnaire for socio-demographic data, the McCoy Female Sexuality
Questionnaire (MFSQ) and the World Health Organization Quality of Life
(WHOQOL-BREF).
[PSY39]

(122) The sensory processing deficits associated with SPD and Autism result in com-
mensurate responses (e.g. feed-forward) based upon the ways various areas of
the brain process information.
[PSY08]

(123) Interventions at 60bpm appear to have aided in redirecting or reducing repet-

itive behaviors and ‘fear’ aspects during sessions. Entrainment to slow pulse

appears to have taken place, e.g. less frequent hand-over-hand prompting was
required as sessions progressed.
[PSY08]

5.4.1.4 Evidentials
A total of 100 evidentials have been found in Clinical Psychology post-
ers, mostly citations (39 instances), quotations (19 instances), and the
evidentials studies, research, and literature (22 instances), followed by
verbs such as show, claim, and found (see Appendix 7, Table 24, for
the complete set of evidentials found). These results indicate that for

200
psychologists it is important to refer to previous literature so that the
writer is able to demonstrate an authorial command of the subject and
the reader’s interpretation is well guided, as in the following examples:

(125) Although studies have shown a main effect for pubertal timing on depressive
symptoms in adolescents, recent research supports a vulnerability-stress model
(Ge & Natsuaki, 2009); stressful life events may trigger latent vulnerability
conferred by early pubertal timing to result in increased depression (Ge et al.,
2001).
[PSY34]

(129) Coping style was related to alcohol use among APIs and Hispanics, but not
among Caucasians, which is consistent with a recent finding that drinking
motives were different for ethnic minority versus White college students (Mar-
tens, Rocha, Martin, & Serrao, 2008).
[PSY01]

(128) Research into the psychosocial needs of transplant patients has produced mixed
findings.
[PHY10]

(130) Endometriosis is a chronic gynecological disease affecting women in repro-

ductive age; it is generated by endometrial tissue growth (glands and stroma)
outside of the uterine cavity, causes intractable pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea,
dyspareunia, and infertility (1). The numbers of women being diagnosed with
the disease is increasing. The etiology of the disorder is still unknown. The
most accepted theory is the one of retrograde menstruation, according to which
during menstruation small pieces of endometrial tissue move backwards in the
tube implanting themselves in the abdomen outside of the uterine cavity (2).
Endometriosis is one of the most common causes of CPP (Chronic Pelvic Pain),
it is associated with symptoms of pelvic pain, painful sexual intercourse and
infertility (3). The disorder has negative effects on women quality of life and
sexual satisfaction (4).
[PSY39]

5.4.1.5 Endophoric markers

Only 14 endophoric markers were found in the Clinical Psychology
subcorpus, and they were related to figures (see examples (131) and
(132) and (133)). This seems to be characteristic of the poster genre: it
does not require endophoric markers to refer to parts of text because the
entire document is displayed on a panel and the viewer does not need

201
to flip pages as in a research article. The table or figure is right below,
above or next to the text, so that the reader does not necessarily need
any textual element to make the connection between the content and the
figures, tables, or images displayed on the poster. A connection could
instead be done through interactive visual elements such as connectors,
as explained in Section 4.4.1. The few examples of textual endophoric
markers found, making reference to figures (131) (132) and tables (133)
displayed on the poster, are shown hereafter:

(131) As expected, the levels of CaMKII mRNA were reduced by 50% in heterozy-
gous CaMKII knock-out animals (+/-), as compared to their wild-type litter-
mates (+/+), in both the frontal cortex and the striatum (Fig. 1).
[PSY20]

(132) KN-93 completely inhibited D2High in rat striatum (inactive analog, KN-92,
had no effect) (Fig. 4).
[PSY20]

(133) Table 1 shows descriptive statistics of the MFSQ and the WHOQOL-BREF
total scores.
[PSY39]

5.4.2 Textual interactional resources

The scarce number of interactional resources found in the Clinical Psy-

chology subcorpus (see Table 5.10) suggests the idea that within this
subdiscipline, authors prefer communicating their research results in a
formal and rather impersonal manner, thus avoiding the use of attitude
markers, engagement markers, and self-mentions. As can be seen from
Table 5.10, amongst the interactional resources found, hedges are the
most numerous, followed by boosters and self-mentions. Engagement
markers and attitude markers, as mentioned before, are scarcely found
in Clinical Psychology posters.

202
Table 5.10. Recurrence of textual interactional resources in Clinical Psychology posters.

INTERACTIONAL RES. Raw frequency Normalized frequency

(per 100,000 words)
Hedges 78 200
Boosters 25 64
Self Mentions 19 49
Engagement Markers 9 23
Attitude Markers 5 13
TOTAL 136 350

5.4.2.1 Hedges
Boosters and hedges are scarcely found in Clinical Psychology post-
ers, and boosters in particular are very rare (only 25 instances found
in the subcorpus). Hedges are three times as numerous as boosters (78
instances found), but still less frequent than in the other discipline and
subdiscipline analysed. This suggests the idea that psychologists tend to
avoid expressing a stance, and when they do, they prefer hedging their
results by using hedges such as may (11 instances), most (11 instances),
and likely (7 instances) as in the following examples:

(134) Taken together, these findings suggest that the implications of pubertal timing
may be different for African American and Caucasian girls, and thus may pro-
vide insight into the mechanisms through which puberty contributes to the
gender difference in depressive symptoms that emerges during this time.
[PSY34]

(135) The most accepted theory is the one of retrograde menstruation, according to
which during menstruation small pieces of endometrial tissue move backwards in
the tube implanting themselves in the abdomen outside of the uterine cavity (2).
[PSY39]

(137) Therefore, upregulation of CaMKII? (or of CaMKII ratio) is likely a key com-
ponent of schizophrenia.
[PSY20]

(138) It is therefore likely that different alcohol prevention and intervention strategies
would be effective for these disparate populations. It might be useful to adapt

203
 the Brief Motivational Intervention (BMI; Monti, Tevyaw, & Borsari, 2008) for
use with this population, given its reflective listening and empathy components
and specific techniques for change; it would be possible to use a brief group/
cohort model with a prevention or early intervention focus.
[PSY01]

5.4.2.2 Boosters
As mentioned above, Clinical Psychologists utilise boosters less fre-
quently than hedges but this type of metadiscourse resource still ranks
second among the textual interactional resources searched. Only 4
instances of the booster show (examples (139), (141), and (142)) and
3 instances of the booster essential were found (example (140)). Other
boosters utilised are the verbs confirm, determine, found + that, must,
and perceive and the adverbs actually, indeed, and clearly, the adjec-
tives apparent and clear, the preposition more + than, the phrase it is
clear, and the noun evidence.

(139) Heterozygous CaMKII? knock-out mice show a 50% reduction in CaMKII

mRNA and features analogous to schizophrenia.
[PSY20]

(140) Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) plays an essential

role in neurodevelopment and in neural function.
[PSY20]

(141) Multivariate Analysis of Variance also shows a significant correlation between

total score obtained by the two groups in both questionnaires.
[PSY39]

(142) Table 1 shows descriptive statistics of the MFSQ and the WHOQOL-BREF
total scores. […] Our results provide evidence that women with endometriosis
have a reduced quality of life and a negative perception of their health confirm-
ing data literature and our hypothesis. Furthermore, women with endometriosis,
compared with the CG, showed lower level of sexual and relational satisfaction
and a high presence of pain during intercourse. It is clear that the disease has a
strong negative impact on women’s life. Therefore, it is important to implement
an integrated work between physicians and psychologists to provide support for
women in their daily lives.
[PSY39]

204
5.4.2.3 Self-mentions
Only 20 instances of self-mentions were found in the posters analysed
‒ a clear indication that the writing style of Clinical Psychologists
tends to be impersonal and objective instead of subjective. As can
be seen in Appendix 7 (Table 28), the only instances of self-mention
found are the first person plural pronoun we (10 instances) (see exam-
ple (143)), the first person singular pronoun I (6 instances), as in
example (144), and the possessive adjective our (3 instances), as in
example (145).
(143) CaMKII knockouts satisfy a large list of behavioural parameters of a schizo-
phrenia animal model (12) and have an elevated level of D2High, a biomarker
of all schizophrenia animal models we have examined thus far (8).
[PSY20]

(144) I hypothesized that: 1) early pubertal timing in interaction with peer victimiza-
tion would predict increased symptoms of depression for boys and girls of both
races, and 2) the effect of the Pubertal Timing x Peer Victimization interaction
on depression symptoms would be strongest.
[PSY34]

(145) Our results provide evidence that women with endometriosis have a reduced
quality of life and a negative perception of their health confirming data lit-
erature and our hypothesis. Our results provide evidence that women with
endometriosis have a reduced quality of life and a negative perception of their
health confirming data literature and our hypothesis.
[PSY39]

5.4.2.4 Engagement markers

Like attitude markers, engagement markers are an important indication
of the involvement of the reader and the creation of solidarity among
scholars. In the case of psychologists, instances of questions directed to
the potential reader were found (4 instances), as well as of the verb note,
and the possessive pronoun our. Hereafter are examples of few engage-
ment markers found in the subcorpus. Extracts (146) and (147) are
examples of how readers can be addressed directly through a question,
and (148) shows how the reader is included in the on-going discussion
through the pronoun our.

205
(146) What role might ‘everyday’ sounds play as sensory triggers? At what par-
ticular times of the day/night can ‘startle’ responses or elevated anxiety be
observed?
[PSY33]

(147) Issue: Is the deficit in configural processing of faces in DP due to atypical LSF
processing?
[PSY09]

(148) With our ears we can pick up particular frequencies and yet others are transmit-
ted to the brain by vibrations collected through the physical organism ‘the body’
and all its parts.
[PSY33]

5.4.2.5 Attitude markers

Surprisingly, within the whole subcorpus, only 5 instances of attitude
markers were found, indicating that within this subdiscipline, authors
very rarely convey surprise, agreement, importance, obligation, or
frustration related to the information given. The only attitude marker
utilised within this subcorpus is the adjective/adverb important(ly)
(4 instances) (examples (149) and (150)) and the auxiliary verb must
(1 hit), as shown in Appendix 7, Table 30.

(149) Since schizophrenia is thought to be a disease of neurodevelopment, it is impor-

tant to note that CaMKII plays an essential role in the establishment and mod-
ulation of the GABA, AMPA and NMDA pathways, which have been shown to
be central to the etiology of the disease, and that abnormal CaMKII activity was
shown to permanently alter neurodevelopment (1).
[PSY12]

(150) Importantly, CaMKII also controls one of the most important neuropathological
phenomena present both in humans with schizophrenia and in animal models of
the disease, an enhanced amphetamine-induced dopamine release (4, 5).
[PSY12]

206
5.4.3 Visual interactive resources

Table 5.11 highlights the use of visual interactive resources in Clinical

Psychology posters, which help in creating clear and organized posters,
easy to read and understand.

Table 5.11. Visual interactive resources found in the Clinical Psychology subcorpus.

INTERACTIVE RES. Occurrences % on total

Interactive Fonts 89 31.4
Graphic elements 76 26.8
Framing 52 18.3
Information value 37 13
Connective elements 29 10.2
TOTAL 283  100

The most frequent visual interactive resources used are interactive

fonts (31.5%), graphic elements (26.8%), and framing (18.4%). The
two visual interactive devices that are used less frequently, but are
still quite recurrent, are information value (13%) and connective ele-
ments (10.3%). Looking at Table 5.12, we see the preferred use Clinical
Psychologists make of every type of visual interactive resource. Each
single resource will be analysed in the sections that follow.

Table 5.12. Visual interactive resources in Clinical Psychology posters.

INTERACTIVE Achieved through Frequency %

RESOURCES
Font size 38 13.4
Interactive Fonts Font colour 37 13
Font type 14 4.9
Subtotal 89 31.4

207
 INTERACTIVE Achieved through Frequency %
RESOURCES
Chart 29 10.2
Table 21 7.4
Use of schematic analytical pictures 9 3.1
Pictures 9 3.1
Graphic elements
Taxonomies (Covert/Overt) 4 1.4
Flowcharts 2 0.7
Conversion process 1 0.3
Networks 1 0.3
Subtotal 76 26.8
Colour contrast 30 10.6
Framing
Frame lines 22 7.7
Subtotal 52 18.3
Left–Right 31 10.9
Top–Bottom 3 1
Information
Left–right + top–bottom 2 0.7
Value
Triptych 1 0.3
Centre–Margin 0 0
Subtotal 37 13
Allignment/Disallignment 10 3.5
Repetition of shapes 8 2.8
Connective
Elements Repetition of colour 8 2.8
Vectors (size, colour, shape, attenu-
3 1
ated/amplified (density/frequency))
Subtotal 29 10.2
Total 283 100

5.4.3.1 Interactive fonts

As noted in Table 5.11, Clinical Psychologists use first and foremost
interactive fonts to guide the reader in the comprehension of the poster.
These authors often use different font colours, font types, and font sizes
to immediately signal different sections of the poster. In Figure 5.16 for
example, we see text in four colours: the title is in red, the authors’ names
are in orange, the sections in the text titled ‘Aim’ and ‘Conclusions’

208
are in red, and the rest of the text is in black. When we look at the poster
we immediately understand that the reader wants us to concentrate on
the title and the authors’ names first, followed by the aim of the research
and the conclusion, as they stand out from the rest of the text. The same
poster also uses font size and font type as interactive devices, because
the titles of the sections contained in the poster are written in a bigger,
underlined font, so that the reader immediately grasps that those are the
main sections of the poster.

Figure 5.16. Example of font colour, font size, and font type used as visual interactive
resources in a Clinical Psychology poster [CPSY09].

5.4.3.2 Graphic elements

The number of tables found in posters is high, which indicates that this
subdiscipline, as High Energy Particle Physics, provides experimental
data and places itself midways along the continuum from hard sciences
to soft sciences. It retains the typical wordiness of soft sciences, but also
provides experimental data in the form of tables and graphs. Graphs
recurred 58 times, charts and tables being the most popular choice of

209
poster authors. Of the 40 posters in the subcorpus, 38 displayed either a
table or a chart or both. Schematic analytical pictures, pictures, taxono-
mies, flow charts, conversion processes, and networks also appear in the
subcorpus, but much less frequently. Schematic analytical pictures and
pictures are the second most recurring visual interactional resources
found. Indeed, they help the reader understand the data presented by
visualizing it schematically.
Focusing on pictures used as an interactive resource, it can be
said that they are scarcely used in Clinical Psychology posters, because
they represent only 3.1% of the visual resources available. As will be
further explained in Chapter 6, this tendency is in sharp contrast with
the results found in the High Energy Particle Physics subcorpus, where
interactive pictures are widely utilised. Of the 40 posters analysed,
9 displayed at least one picture that clarified or visualized what was
explained in the text, as in Figure 5.17, where we see the picture of the
actual experiment setting, as described in the methods section.

Figure 5.17. Detail of a Clinical Psychology poster depicting an interactive picture

[CPSY25].

210
5.4.3.3 Framing
As can be seen in Table 5.11, and more clearly in Table 5.12, the third
most popular interactive resource used is framing, which encases text
in frames, clearly separating discourse into sections. As explained in
Chapter 4 (Section 4.4.1), framing can be realised by framing part of
the text with a line or by creating a contrast in colour. In the Clinical
Psychology subcorpus, 31 of the 40 posters selected displayed either
frames created by contrast in colour (11.3%) or frame lines (8.3%) or
both resources.

5.4.3.4 Information value

Clinical Psychology posters are certainly the most organised of the
entire corpus: within this subdiscipline the vast majority of authors
(77.5%) organise content using the ‘left–right’ type of information
value. Only 7.5% of the Clinical Psychology posters collected displayed
an unclear organisation of content, not following any of the information
value types considered. Also important is the fact that no centre–margin
information value has been found in the subcorpus, revealing that this
type of layout is not a popular choice among Clinical Psychologists.

5.4.3.5 Connective elements

Connective elements are the least utilised visual interactive resources.
In the 10 posters in which the alignment/disallignment resource was
found, tables and graphs are aligned so that the content of the tables and
graphs is clearer by association and the entire poster is well organised
and balanced. In Figure 5.18 for example, we see four two-dimensional
graphs aligned vertically, one above the other, so that we know that data
should be compared and contrasted.

211
Figure 5.18. Example of a Clinical Psychology poster displaying aligned elements
[CPSY20].

Repetitions of shapes and colours are two other visual interactive

resources that have been found in the posters analysed, although less
frequently (they each represent 3% of the visual interactive resources
found in the subcorpus).

5.4.4 Summary

The analysis carried out in the Clinical Psychology subcorpus has

revealed that in these posters, textual interactive resources are utilised
much more than textual interactional resources. The percentage of tex-
tual interactive resources (84%) is markedly higher than the percentage
of interactional resources found (16%). These results show that within
the subdiscipline of Clinical Psychology, preference is given to making
the text comprehensible and the development of discourse clear and
coherent, than it is to involve and engage the reader.

212
 Looking at the normalised recurrences found (per 100,000
words) in Figure 5.19, we can see that the top three textual metadis-
cource resources found in the subcorpus are frame markers (887), fol-
lowed by transitions (311) and code glosses (296). The bottom three
textual metadiscourse resources found are instead endophoric markers
(36), engagement markers (23), and attitude markers (13).

Frame Markers
Transitions
Code Glosses
Evidentials
Hedges
Boosters
Self Mentions
Endophoric Markers
Engagement Markers
Attitude Markers

0 200 400 600 800 1000

Figure 5.19. Distribution (in order of frequency) of textual interactive and interac-
tional occurrences in Clinical Psychology posters.

Among the visual interactive resources found, we can see in Figure 5.20
that the top three visual resources utilised are interactive fonts (31.5%),
graphic elements (26.8%), and framing (18.4%). The bottom two visual
resources utilised by clinical psychologists are instead information
value (13%) and connective elements (10.3%).

213
 Interactive Fonts

Graphic elements

Framing

Information value

Connective elements

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Figure 5.20. Percentage (in order of frequency) of visual interactive resources in

Clinical Psychology posters.

5.5 A cross-disciplinary comparison of academic posters

In this section I compare the distribution of textual interactive and inter-

actional features, as well as visual interactive resources found in post-
ers, belonging to the subdisciplines of High Energy Particle Physics and
Clinical Psychology, and the discipline of Law. A number of features
that are not directly related to a metadiscourse analysis but offer addi-
tional information on the content and organisation of posters are also
analysed here and later discussed in Chapter 6 (Section 6.2). In particu-
lar, I briefly discuss the amount of text contained in each subcorpus, the
average number of words per poster, and the average length of a sen-
tence in High Energy Particle Physics, Law, and Clinical Psychology
posters. I then consider the ‘orientation’ of the poster, meaning whether
the poster is horizontally (or ‘landscape’) oriented or is vertically (or
‘portrait’) oriented. Finally, I consider the number of posters following
the IMRD format (Burrough-Boenisch, 1999).

214
 After this general analysis of the content and organisation of
posters, in Section 5.5.4, I report on the differences found in academic
posters, depending on the discipline and subdiscipline, in the use of
textual interactive and interactional resources found. In Section 5.5.5, I
instead report on the differences found, depending on the discipline and
subdiscipline, in the use of visual interactive resources in posters. The
data presented here will be discussed in Chapter 6, where I answer my
research questions (Sections 6.2, 6.3 and 6.4).

5.5.1 Wordiness in posters

If one looks at the size of the three subcorpora under study, a number
of important characteristics emerge. First, based on a mere word count,
the biggest subcorpus is the Clinical Psychology one, amounting to
38,898 words. The average sentence length in this subdiscipline is 14
and the average words per poster are 972. As Table 5.13 shows, clin-
ical psychologists are the ‘wordiest’ authors on posters of the entire
corpus, followed by particle Physicists and Lawyers. High Energy Par-
ticle Physicists have been found to write less than Clinical Psycholo-
gists when it comes to the poster genre, but they produce longer, more
articulated sentences that are 27 words in length on average. Lawyers
are the ones who display less text in posters, so much so that the total
number of words in the subcorpus (22,769) is nearly half that found in
the Clinical Psychology one.

215
Table 5.13. Total and average number of words per poster and sentence in the three
subcorpora.

Clinical High Law Mean Variance Standard

Psychology Energy Devia-
Particle tion (SD)
Physics
Total
number of 38,898 32,280 22,769 31,315.6 65,733,614.3 8,107.6
words in
subcorpus
Average
words in 14 27 18 19.6 44.3 6.6
sentence
Average
words per 972 807 569 782.6 41,046.3 202.5
poster

If clinical psychologists on the one hand produce textually dense post-

ers, Lawyers on the other hand are more brief and succinct. In the Law
subcorpus, the average number of words per poster is 569 ‒ about half
the one found in Clinical Psychology posters, and much less than the
text found in High Energy Particle Physics posters. Table 5.13 also
reveals which figures are above standard deviation (SD) and which
figures are below SD. Any value above SD (resulting from medium +
SD) or below SD (resulting from medium – SD) is considered
non-standard and, therefore, relevant for this research because it high-
lights significant differences between disciplines. Having said this, we
note that the Law subcorpus shows non-standard values for the total
number of words contained in the subcorpus as well as the average
number of words per poster (both with values below SD). The High
Energy Particle Physics subcorpus instead shows a value above SD for
what concerns the average words contained in sentences and therefore
is statistically relevant. All the remaining values shown in Table 5.13
are within SD.

216
5.5.2 Landscape/portrait orientation of posters

A poster author can choose between two types of orientation: a ‘land-

scape orientation’ versus a ‘portrait orientation’. A landscape orienta-
tion sees the poster oriented horizontally, whereas a portrait orienta-
tion sees the poster oriented vertically. As Table 5.14 shows, the High
Energy Particle Physics subcorpus contains only 8 landscape-oriented
posters (i.e.  20% of the subcorpus) and 32 portrait-oriented posters
(i.e.  80% of the subcorpus), where the flow of information develops
from top to bottom. A more detailed analysis of how the content of the
poster is organised using interactive visual markers such as columns,
a central image, or contrastive sections will be carried out in Section
6.2.2. It is sufficient here to state that the great majority of poster pre-
senters within this subdiscipline prefer working with a vertically ori-
ented poster instead of a horizontal one.

Table 5.14. Number and percentages of portrait- or landscape- oriented posters in

each subcorpus.

Subcorpora Portrait-oriented % Landscape-oriented %

High Energy Particle 32 50 8 14
Physics
Law 18 28 22 39
Clinical Psychology 14 22 26 46
TOTAL 64 56

Regarding the orientation of Law posters, 22 posters are ‘landscape’

oriented and 18 posters are ‘portrait’ oriented, revealing no marked
preference for one orientation or the other. Concerning the orientation
of Clinical Psychology posters instead, 26 posters out of the 40 col-
lected displayed a landscape orientation, suggesting that within Clinical
Psychology, the disciplinary convention is to design landscape-oriented
posters or choose landscape-oriented templates.

217
5.5.3 Poster layout

In the present research, each subcorpus has been analysed individually,

and results in Table 5.15 show significant differences in the way posters
are organised. In the High Energy Particle Physics subcorpus for example,
only 3 posters follow the IMRD format whereas 34 posters simply divide
the text into numbered sections, which aid the reader in the comprehension
of the content displayed. Finally, another 3 posters do not follow a clear
format in the layout of the text. In these rare cases, the reader is not guided
by an IMRD format or any textual or visual feature (headings, numbers,
icons, etc.), leaving the reader guessing how the discourse develops. Ear-
lier in the chapter, for example, we have seen a High Energy Particle Phys-
ics poster displaying a high number of figures, tables, and a few notes, but
the reader is given no indication in which order he/she should follow while
looking at the information displayed (see Figure 5.13).

Table 5.15. Type of poster organisation present in each subcorpora.

Subcorpora IMRD format % Use of % No clear %

separate organization
sections
High Energy 3 5 34 56 3 100
Particle Physics
Law 17 30 23 38 –
Clinical Psy- 36 65 4 6 –
chology
TOTAL 56 61 3

The Law subcorpus is more balanced from the point of view of content
organisation. Of the posters analysed, 17 Law posters follow completely
or in part the IMRD format, displaying an introduction, a methodology,
results, and conclusions. The remaining 23 Law posters divide the text
by numbering sections or by dividing parts of the posters in different
sections. There are no posters here lacking a clear organisation of con-
tent. Likewise, we see the Clinical Psychology posters, the vast major-
ity of which (36 posters) present content organised in an orderly way,
separated into titled sections and following the IMRD format.

218
5.5.4 Distribution of textual interactive and interactional
resources across subcorpora

5.5.4.1 Distribution of textual interactive resources

across subcorpora
If we consider the overall distribution of textual interactive resources,
we notice that these resources are not distributed quite evenly among
the discipline and subdisciplines considered. Of the textual interactive
resources searched, 47% were found in Law posters, 30% in Clinical
Psychology posters, and 23% in High Energy Particle Physics posters.
Interdisciplinary differences are also visible in Figure 5.21,
where the value for each type of interactive resource is shown in a his-
togram. Differences emerge when we consider the use of transitions,
code glosses and endophoric markers. Transitions and frame markers in
particular are more recurrent in Law posters, whereas endophoric mark-
ers are more frequently found in Law and Clinical Psychology than
High Energy Particle Physics. Finally, evidentials are rare in all of the
disciplines considered.

1600

1400

1200

1000 CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY

800
HIGH ENERGY PARTICLE
PHYSICS
600
LAW
400

200

0
Transitions Frame Code Evidentials Endophoric
markers glosses markers

Figure 5.21. Distribution of textual interactive resources, per type, among subcorpora.

In Table 5.16 discipline and subdisciplines are listed according to their

total frequency (last row), which ranges from a minimum of 1,372

219
interactive resources found in the High Energy Particle Physics sub-
corpus to a maximum of 2,820 interactive resources found in the Law
subcorpus. Table 5.16 also shows a full breakdown of results. SD is
the square root of variance and any value above SD (resulting from
medium + SD) or below SD (resulting from medium – SD) is consid-
ered non-standard.

Table 5.16. Data found for textual interactive resources in the three subcorpora.

HIGH
Standard
ENERGY CLINICAL Variance
  LAW Mean Deviation
PARTICLE PSYCHOLOGY
(SD)
PHYSICS

Transitions 503 887 1,405 931.6 452.6

204,897.3
Frame
353 296 457 368.6 6,664.3 81.6
markers
Code 28,624.3
367 311 628 435.3 169.1
glosses
Evidentials 59 36 40 45 151 12.2
Endophoric 11,496.3
90 257 290 212.3 107.2
markers
TOTAL 1,372 1,787 2,820 1,993 556,003 745.6 

Table Key:
figures in bold: figures above standard deviation (SD)
figures in italics: figures below SD)

The figures in Table 5.16 indicate that figures above SD are mostly
found in Law posters, and are for transitions, frame markers and code
glosses. The value for evidentials is instead above SD only in the High
Energy Particle Physics subcorpus. A below-SD value is found only
in the High Energy Particle Physics subcorpus, concerning the use of
endophoric markers. Looking at the total amount of textual interactive
resources found in each subcorpus, we see that it is in the Law posters
that these textual metadiscourse resources are mostly used, as the total
amount found here (2,820) is above SD.

220
5.5.4.2 Distribution of textual interactional resources
When we consider the distribution of textual interactional resources in
the corpus, we note that marked differences emerge, particularly in the
Law subcorpus where the use of these resources is significantly higher.
Of the textual interactional resources searched, 70% were found in Law
posters, 24% in High Energy Particle Physics posters, and 6% in Clini-
cal Psychology posters.
Table 5.17 reveals in detail which interactive resources are used
the most and where they are mostly found. The table offers a full break-
down of results. The discipline and subdisciplines are listed according
to their total frequency (last row), which ranges from a minimum of 350
(Clinical Psychology) to a maximum of 3,948 (Law). The difference
between the two ends of the spectrum is the first indication of a great
variation in the use of textual interactional resources, as the amount of
textual interactional resources in Law posters is more than eleven times
the amount found in Clinical Psychology posters.

Table 5.17. Data found for textual interactional resources in the three subcorpora.

Clinical High Energy Law Mean Variance Standard

Psychology Particle Deviation
Physics (SD)
Boosters 200 421 1,502 707.6 485,434.3 696.7
Hedges 64 400 913 459 182,811 427.5

Engagement 345 117,241 342.4

49 266 720
markers
Self mentions 23 229 479 243.6 52,145.3 228.3

Attitude 133.3 30,600.3 174.9

13 53 334
markers
TOTAL 350 1369 3948 1889 3,439,201 1,854.5

Table Key:
figures in bold: figures above standard deviation (SD)
figures in italics: figures below SD)

221
In Table 5.17 a significant degree of variation is observed in the use of
each type of textual interactional resource. Data indicate that figures
above standard SD are only found in Law posters, concerning the use
of all textual interactional resources, that is, hedges, boosters, attitude
markers, engagement markers, and self-mentions. No below SD-values
have been found, instead, in the three subcorpora. Looking at the total
amount of textual interactional resources in each subcorpus, we see that
it is in the Law posters that these textual metadiscourse resources are
mostly used, as the total amount found here is above SD and therefore,
non-standard.
To better comprehend interdisciplinary differences we can look
at Figure 5.22, where we graphically see that hedges, boosters, attitude
markers, engagement markers, and self-mentions are used most often
in Law posters, whereas they are scarcely found in Clinical Psychology
posters. Figure 5.22 also graphically shows how, in all three disciplines,
the number of textual interactional resources diminishes gradually from
boosters to attitude markers.

1600

1400

1200

1000

800

600 Clinical Psychology

High Energy Particle Physics
400
Law
200

Figure 5.22. Distribution of interactional resources, per type, among subcorpora.

222
5.5.5 Distribution of visual interactive resources
across subdisciplines

When researching the use of visual resources that render a poster more
comprehensible, results have shown that there is no difference in the
amount of visual interactive resources among the discipline and subdis-
ciplines considered. All three fields have been found to produce post-
ers that are comprehensible to their public, by using visual interactive
resources that successfully manage and organize the flow of informa-
tion. However, a disparity in the distribution of each type of resource
has emerged and is visible in Table 5.18 and, graphically, in Figure 5.23.
As Table 5.18 shows, in Law posters, figures above SD have been found
for the visual interactive resources defined as framing and connective
elements.

Table 5.18. Data found for visual interactive resources in the three subcorpora.

HIGH LAW CLINICAL Mean Vari- Standard

ENERGY PSYCHO- ance Deviation
PAR- LOGY
TICLE
  PHYSICS
Information 12% 1 1%
12 %
value 11 % 13 %
Framing 16 % 33 % 18 % 22.3% 86.3 9.2%
Connective 16.6% 49.3 7%
elements 16 % 24 % 10 %
Graphic 26.3% 169.3 13%
elements 39 % 13 % 27 %
Fonts 17 % 19 % 32 % 22.6% 66.3 8.1%

Table Key:
figures in bold: figures above standard deviation (SD)
figures in italics: figures below SD)

The Clinical Psychology subcorpus is characterised by an above-SD

value for fonts, which reveals that Clinical Psychologists prefer using
fonts (font type, size, and colour) to signal important textual elements
and guide the reader in understanding content. No below-SD values

223
have been found for visual interactive resources. Figure 5.23 shows how
the use of visual interactive resources diminished depending on the type
of resource. In the table we see that the most utilized visual resource
are graphic elements, followed in decreasing order, by fonts, framing,
connective elements and lastly, information value.

45
40
35
30
25
20
High Energy Particle Physics
15
Law
10
Clinical Psychology
5
0

Figure 5.23. Distribution of visual interactive resources, per type, among subcorpora.

Table 5.19 summarises the results found for each type of visual inter-
active resource in each subcorpus, showing not only the percentage for
each category, but also the percentage of each single resource and the
SD for each value. We see that graphic elements are the visual resources
most frequently utilised in the corpus, followed by interactive fonts,
framing, connective elements, and information value.

224
Table 5.19. Visual interactive resources, per type, among the three subcorpora.

% in the
HIGH
% in the
ENERGY % in the Variance
CLINICAL  
    PAR- LAW Mean
PSYCHO- SD
TICLE subcor-
LOGY
PHYSICS pus
subcorpus
subcorpus
Frame lines 6,4 6.5 6.8 0.5 0.7
Framing Colour
10.1 7.7 10.6 9.4 2.4 1.5
contrast
Subtotal 16.4 36.4 18.3 27.3 121.87 11
Font types 7.8 5.6 4.9 6.1 2.29 1.5
Inter-
active Font color 5.6 7.4 13 8.6 14.8 3.8
Fonts 13.4 25.8
Font size 3.7 11.2 9.4 5
Subtotal 17.2 24.2 31.4 24.2 50.4 7.1
Conversion
1.3 1.8 0.3 1.1 0.5 0.7
process
Taxonomies 1.2 1.8 1.4 1.4 0.09 0.3
Flowcharts 1.8  0 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.9
Networks 3 1.8 0.3 1.7 1.8 1.3
Graphic
Ele- Table 5.3 1.8 7.4 4.8 8 2.8
ments Chart 8.6 3.7 10.2 7.5 11.4 3.3
Schematic
Analytical 9.7 6 3.1 6.2 10.9 3.3
Figures
Pictures 8.3 8 3.1 6.4 8.5 2.9
Subtotal 39.2 16.8 26.8 27.6 125.9 11.2

225
 % in the
HIGH
% in the
ENERGY % in the Variance
CLINICAL  
    PAR- LAW Mean
PSYCHO- SD
TICLE subcor-
LOGY
PHYSICS pus
subcorpus
subcorpus
Vectors 7.4 5.1 1 4.5 10.5 3.2
Repetition
2.2 9.8 2.8 4.9 17.8 4.2
of shapes
Connec-
tive Ele- Repetition 3.3 8.4 2.8 4.8 9.6 3
ments of colour
Allignment/
Disallign- 2.6 7.4 3.5 4.5 6.5 2.5
ment
Subtotal 15.6 30.8 10.2 18.8 114 10.6
Left–Right 1.1 2.8 10.9 4.9 27.4 5.2
Triptych 1.8 5.1 0.3 2 1.3 1.1
Top–Bottom 3.3 1.8 1 2.1 1.7 1.3
Infor-
mation Left–right
Value + top– 3 2.3 0.7 2 1.3 1.1
bottom
Centre–
2.2 0 0 0.7 1.6 1.2
Margin
Subtotal 11.4 12.1 1.3 12.1 0.6 0.8

Table Key:
figures highlighted in green: figures above standard deviation (SD)
figures highlighted in violet: figures below SD)

However, the distribution of each single visual interactive resource and

its statistical significance should also be analysed because it uncovers
discipline-specific patterns. First of all, all the authors in the corpus
use the framing technique, although Clinical Psychologists prefer using
frame lines instead of colour contrast to delimit an area of the poster.
Colour contrast is instead scarcely used in the Law subcorpus if com-
pared to the other two subcorpora. The use of interactive fonts shows
discipline-related preferences: Physicists prefer aiding comprehension

226
of the text by using different font types, whereas clinical psychologists
opt for different font colours. A value below SD is instead found in the
use of font size in the High Energy Particle Physics subcorpus. Differ-
ent graphic elements are also used depending on the discipline of the
author. Flowcharts and schematic analytical pictures are mostly used
by High Energy Particle Physicists, whereas taxonomies are the pre-
ferred graphic element of Lawyers. Conversion processes, networks and
pictures are scarcely found in Clinical Psychology posters, and tables
and charts are the graphic elements that Lawyers use the least.
Connective elements show a larger degree of disparity among
disciplines: On the one hand, Clinical Psychologists rarely use vectors
and on the other hand, Lawyers clearly favour repetition of shapes,
repetition of colour and alignment/disallignment to clarify the flow of
information. Finally, the category ‘information value’ is not used in the
same way across the discipline and subdisciplines investigated. Clinical
Psychology posters typically follow a left–right organisation of con-
tent, whereas High Energy Particle Physicists prefer organising content
using a centre–margin layout, which is only found in this subcorpus.
Finally, Lawyers have been found to favour the triptych type the most.

5.5.6 Summary of findings across subcorpora

The interdisciplinary analysis reported in the present chapter has

revealed interesting patterns in the interactive and interactional tex-
tual and the interactive visual resources present in posters, highlight-
ing different communicative strategies employed by poster presenters,
depending on their discipline and subdiscipline:

• First, a word count reveals that Clinical Psychologists are the

‘wordiest’ poster authors of the entire corpus, followed by High
Energy Particle Physicists and Lawyers. High Energy Particle
Physicists however, are the authors that produce longer, more
elaborated sentences.
• Concerning the portrait or landscape orientation of posters, we
have seen that High Energy Particle Physicists and Clinical Psy-
chologists prefer different types of orientation, the first choosing

227
 portrait-oriented posters more, while the latter displaying
landscape-oriented posters more often. Lawyers however display
no particular preference, and we see both orientations repre-
sented equally in their subcorpus.
• Significant differences have been found in the layout of posters:
a tendency not to use the standard IMRD format, thus displaying
apparently disorganised posters, has been found in High Energy
Particle Physics, whereas the Law subcorpus as well as the Clin-
ical Psychology one can count on posters with a clear organisa-
tion of content, that mostly utilise the IMRD format.
• Textual interactive resources are not distributed evenly among
the discipline and subdisciplines considered. Law posters con-
tained the largest amount of textual interactive resources, fol-
lowed by Clinical Psychology and High Energy Particle Physics
posters. Lawyers can therefore be said to be more concerned
than High Energy Particle Physicists and Clinical Psycholo-
gists with guiding the reader through the text and with making
content highly accessible. High Energy Particle Physics poster
authors seem to produce textually dense posters that are seldom
reader-friendly.
• Textual interactional resources, which are meant to ‘involve the
reader collaboratively in the development of the text’ (Thompson,
2001:58), are used in different degrees in the corpus, depending on
the discipline/subdiscipline. Law posters in particular have been
found to display text in a form that aids the comprehension of the
reader but that also takes into account the presence of potential
viewers. They are the ones who, among a group of posters dis-
played at a poster session, would involve readers more, thanks to
the large use of textual interactional resources. In comparison,
High Energy Particle Physics and Clinical Psychology posters
have been found to use less textual interactional resources, thus
involving the reader less. Clinical Psychologists in particular
have been found to use textual interactional resources extremely
rarely.
• Visual interactive resources play a fundamental role in poster
design, because they help readers understand content and manage

228
the flow of information, making a poster easily understandable
to the public. Presenters in all three academic fields have been
found to produce posters that are comprehensible to their public,
by using visual interactive resources that successfully manage
the flow of information. However, a disparity in the distribu-
tion of each type of resource has emerged. High Energy Particle
Physicists have been found to use graphic elements more fre-
quently than colleagues in the other two disciplines; Lawyers
instead prefer guiding the reader through frames and connective
elements, whereas Clinical Psychologists prefer using interactive
fonts and graphic elements.

229
Chapter 6: General discussion and conclusions

6.1 Introduction

In the previous chapter, the interdisciplinary analysis carried out

revealed interesting patterns in the way posters are organised as well as
the textual interactive/interactional resources used, and the visual inter-
active resources present. The textual and visual analysis highlighted
a range of communicative strategies employed by poster presenters.
With the results at hand, I proceed now to discuss why such patterns are
present, drawing from the literature in Chapter 2 and the information
collected from the interviews conducted across the discipline of Law
and the subdisciplines of Clinical Psychology and High Energy Particle
Physics.
More specifically, I answer the first research question in Section
6.2, where I discuss the results of the cross-disciplinary analysis of the
general features of academic posters, such as wordiness, orientation,
and layout. I then proceed to answer my second research question in
Section 6.3, where I relate on the textual interactive and interactional
resources found in academic posters. In Section 6.4, I answer my third
research question, where I discuss the visual interactive resources found
across the three subcorpora considered. In section 6.2, 6.3 and 6.4, I
draw on the information gathered in the interviews to explain what the
motives are for the cross-disciplinary differences found in the analysis.
By doing this I answer my fourth research question.
6.2 Research question 1

What cross-disciplinary differences are there between three disciplinary

subcorpora, in terms of word count, portrait/landscape orientation and
layout of posters?
The best way to begin discussing the general features of academic
posters is to recollect what was said in Chapter 2 (Section 2.5.1), regard-
ing the poster genre; that is, the poster presentation is a multi-modal
genre, in which not only text but also graphics, colour, speech, and
even gesture create meaning. Because each single element present in
the poster can also be found in other, more prestigious, genres, the aca-
demic poster genre has been defined as a ‘hybrid’ (Bhatia, 2004). Also,
Swales (2004) wrote that the academic poster has evolved from tradi-
tional genres, such as the research article, conference visuals, and hand-
outs. So, on the one hand, the academic poster represents a shorter and
schematized version of a research article. On the other hand, because
content in posters is displayed on one single panel, this genre can be
said to be unique in its form. What also makes the poster an unusual
genre is the fact that all the visual and textual features work together
to convey meaning (Bateman, 2008). How these features work together
and where (i.e. in which discipline/subdiscipline) these techniques are
used has been the object of the present research.

6.2.1 Wordiness in posters

If one looks at the size of the three subcorpora under study, a number
of important characteristics emerge. First, based on the word count con-
ducted in Chapter 5 (Section 5.5.1), we know that Clinical Psycholo-
gists are the ‘wordiest’ authors in posters of the entire corpus, followed
by High Energy Particle Physicists and Lawyers. High Energy Particle
Physicists have been found to write less than Clinical Psychologists
when it comes to the poster genre, but they produce longer, more artic-
ulated sentences. Lawyers instead are the ones who display less text in
posters, so much so that the total number of words in the subcorpus is
nearly half that found in the Clinical Psychology one.

232
 It is now clear that academic posters display different amounts of
text depending on the discipline and that a great difference exists between
these disciplines in the humanities, the applied sciences, and the hard
sciences. It is also clear that the poster guidelines mentioned in Chapter 2
(Section 2.5.1), which appear on the Internet and are most often pro-
duced and distributed by writing centres and department staff, do not
apply to (or are not respected by) all disciplines alike. We have seen for
example that Clinical Psychologists prefer ‘crowding’ the poster with
text. This tendency goes against most of the advice found in online poster
guidelines (Block, 1996; Woolsey, 1989), which repeatedly recommend
to wisely use the limited space available by not inserting too much text. It
also goes against one of the poster rules published by the American Psy-
chological Association stating that a Clinical Psychology poster should
display no more than 800 words (APA Poster Guidelines, 2009).
What in a research article can be described, explained, and debated
in several pages, in a poster must be condensed in the limited amount
of space set by conference organisers. Conferences that organise poster
sessions usually release poster guidelines limiting the size of the poster
to an A0 or A1 format. Because of the limited space available, authors
need to be extremely concise, choosing to display only essential infor-
mation (Matthews, 1990). Besides having to schematize and summarize
content, as we have seen in Chapter 2 (Section 2.5.1.1), poster authors
are advised to use short sentences and even fragments (Matthews, 1990;
Swales & Feak, 2000). Bullet points and a kind of writing that abbrevi-
ates words and condenses as much information as possible in short sen-
tences, with the minimum number of words necessary, can help writers
achieve these condensed texts. Across subcorpora, interviewees have
stated that they know very well this frequently advertised rule of poster
design, and have repeatedly confirmed the importance of brevity:

I’ve always been told to avoid cramming the poster with everything I have done,
because it simply does not impress. Things look cluttered, in the end. Of course,
it’s really hard to distil your research into a few key sentences but the effort is
well worth it. People have short concentration spans so it’s important to get
a few points across rather than overwhelming them with data that they don’t
retain in end. To get this part of the poster right, it takes a long time.
[PPhy1, ln 25–29]

233
 The data of the experiment should be clear and it should not be overwhelming.
Too many times I see posters cluttered with small graphs and tables, so small
one would need a magnifying glass to read the text. I simply move on when I
see a poster like that.
[PPhy2, ln 35–37]

I think it’s important to keep poster information succinct and readable because
that effort increases exposure to the core ideas of the poster.
[Law1, ln 90–91]

You have to learn to condense, because you cannot possibly present everything
you know on a topic in such a small space. Also, you should just include the
most important points in bullet points, because complete sentences are not
required.
[CPsy3, ln 193–195]

Brevity, however, as we can see from the word count conducted, is not
easily achieved, and researchers often struggle to condense results while
still making the text comprehensible to their audience, especially if an
entire article has already been written before the poster is presented.
It is not a surprise therefore to see that several guidelines avail-
able online6 and through university departments and writing centres
advise paying much attention to the written part of the poster, as it often
results in being the hardest to master. The fact that posters too often
display excessive text is stressed by Stoss (2003), a Subject Specialist in
the hard sciences and a Reference Librarian with many years of experi-
ence in helping students prepare for poster presentations:

The poster is NOT the pasting of a scholarly article on poster board or foam-
core and standing by to defend results reproduced in miniature on the poster.
However, it is far too often that one attends a conference poster session and
finds this format to dominate the method of poster presentations. The poster

6 The International Honor Society in Psychology. ( 2011). ‘Tips for paper/poster

presentations’. Retrieved from <http://www.psichi.org/conventions/presentation_
tips.aspx>; Design of Scientific Posters. (2008). Retrieved from <http://www.
writing.engr.psu.edu/posters.html;>; <http://writingcenter.tamu.edu/2009/how-to/
science-technical/research-posters/>; <http://www.healtheconomics.org/congress/
2007/presentations/posters.pdf>; <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqgjgwIX
adA> (template and how to); <http://www.learning.wisc.edu/ugsymposium/poster.
html> (step-by-step guide).

234
 may be closer to “an illustrated abstract” (Hess and Liegel 2000) written large
and put on display.

Briscoe (1996: 136), the author of a well-known manual that teaches

researchers in the hard sciences how to prepare better posters and pres-
entations, goes as far as stating that

It takes intelligence, even brilliance, to condense and focus information into

a clear, simple presentation that will be read and remembered. Ignorance and
arrogance are shown in a crowded, complicated, hard-to-read poster.

If Clinical Psychologists on the one hand produce textually dense post-

ers, Lawyers on the other hand are extremely brief and succinct. The
amount of text contained in Law posters is about half the one found
in Clinical Psychology posters, and much less than the text found in
particle High Energy Particle Physics posters. This result is quite inter-
esting because brevity is a characteristic that is not found in other aca-
demic genres used by Lawyers, such as the research article and the book
review (see Chapter 2, Sections 2.3.4). In these genres, Lawyers have
been found to produce longer texts and generally longer, more articu-
lated sentences (Hyland & Salager-Meyer, 2008; D’Angelo, 2010).
Instead, Lawyers generally use shorter, less articulated sentences,
when writing the text of posters. This suggests the idea that when deal-
ing with the poster genre, Lawyers use a different style than they would
usually do with other genres, using visual elements besides the text, to
guide the reader through the content displayed. In fact, in a number of
Law posters collected for the present study, the use of the text is very
limited and the concept developed around the poster is presented with
the aid of one or more pictures, figures or schematic analytical figures,
or even through a visual/verbal metaphor. See the poster in Figure 6.1,
for example; in this academic poster, which appears radically different
from other posters in the corpus but was nonetheless included in the
Law subcorpus because it was presented at the AALS 2008 conference,
the brief text reads:

Coco Chanel visually taught us the wisdom of the little black dress and pearls.
You already teach pearls of legal wisdom, now address the visuals. Are they
effectively articulating your message? Are they engaging your audience? Are

235
 they readable and visually legible? Take a full-length look at your visual aids:
do they aid long-term memory?

The metaphor between the pearls depicted in the visual and the ‘pearls
of wisdom’ mentioned in the text is an example of how interactive pic-
tures can help convey meaning and make the message instantly clear.

Figure 6.1. Example of a Law poster containing only 63 words [LAW35].

236
At the same time, Tham (1997, cited in MacIntosh-Murray, 2007: 352)
emphasises that a poster should not need the presence of the author to
be understood by the public:

A poster is simply a static, visual medium (usually of the paper and board vari-
ety) that you use to communicate ideas and messages. The difference between
poster and oral presentations is that you should let your poster do most of the
‘talking’; that is, the material presented should convey the essence of your
message.

Poster guidelines also advise to construct posters in such a manner that

they are self-explanatory and presenters are free to answer and discuss
particular points of interest, instead of loosing precious time answering
obvious questions. In the case of Law posters, the small amount of text
presented is highly readable thanks to the textual and visual interactive
resources used, but it is also engaging, thanks to the textual interactional
resources employed. The poster is used here to convey only the main
ideas revolving around the research, whereas much of the communica-
tive message is left to the oral component of poster presentations. It is
the author himself who stands by his poster and completes the infor-
mation displayed on the board, answers questions, and debates the con-
cepts presented. An assistant professor of Law confirms the usefulness
of inserting a small amount of text and utilising interactive pictures to
accompany the textual message for a better understanding:

I actually really like my poster, because it’s very simple. We brought this poster
to a conference and it was really nice to discuss the poster in front of people
because there is only very few text and just a few pictures so it’s not overwhelm-
ing. It’s very clear and you can point out important things with the pictures so
it’s very easy to note the main ideas to the people who are interested in your
poster. [Law4, ln 138–141]

Why such a big discrepancy exists between the discipline of Law and
the subdiscipline of Clinical Psychology is not clear, as the interviewees
involved have not provided any plausible explanation for the brevity
of Lawyers and the density of Clinical Psychologists. One interpreta-
tion could be that Lawyers very seldom use poster templates, whereas
Clinical Psychologists frequently use them. The use of a poster tem-
plate might give an indication to poster authors about the approximate

237
amount of words to include in a poster ‒ an indication that Lawyers are
not able to receive, because they do not normally use templates.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, we see instead the Clini-
cal Psychology subcorpus, where the total number of words is almost
twice the amount found in the Law subcorpus. In these posters, the tex-
tual element is predominant, and the very few visual elements present
are tables or graphs. In these cases, information appears dense, some-
times divided in different sections, very much recalling the layout of a
research article. A novice writer in Clinical Psychology commented that
authors attempting for the first time to create a poster often display great
amounts of text to show everything they have done, but this is, from his
point of view, detrimental:

The very first poster I made it was just the typical wall of text that you see so
often. Everyone just tries to put as much information on the poster as they can
but in a conference no one will stand in front of a poster and read it for ten
minutes.
[CPsy4, ln 204–207]

Theoretically, displaying great amounts of text goes against one of the

most frequent pieces of advice found in poster guidelines, which say
that a balance between text and images should be obtained, also leaving
40% of blank space on the view plane, which renders the poster more
legible and less ‘crowded’ (see Chapter 2, Section 2.5.1).
The choice of posting text only on a poster, however, is not
only found among Clinical Psychology researchers, but has also been
noticed in the Law and High Energy Particle Physics subcorpora. In
these cases, information appears dense, sometimes divided in different
sections, very much recalling the layout of a research article.
To help explain the choice of posting text only on a poster, it
is useful to mention an interview conducted with a Lawyer, who con-
fessed that authors often display great amounts of text not because the
discipline lacks experimental data or laboratories and instruments to be
shown, but because authors find it easier to construct their posters from
one or more research articles they have already written and, in many
cases, already published:

238
 The first time I attended a poster session, I remember I copied and pasted a great
deal of my paper onto the poster. It was easy, I was happy with it and didn’t
know any better. Now I would definitely select my text better.
[Law4, ln 149–151]

The great amount of text already written before the poster is created
seems therefore to influence the way the poster is presented, allowing
authors to simply copy and paste sections of text from their papers to
their posters. An interviewed associate professor in Law explains that
this could be caused by the fact that the poster genre is still in its initial
stage in the discipline of Law.

I honestly had no idea how to devise a poster because they are new to the Law
scene. I understood what they were only when I saw them for the first time, at
the AALS 2007. [Law2, ln 108–109]

Researchers and practitioners working in this field have only recently

begun to see poster sessions at conferences, and still only a few of them
venture to make or present a poster. The lack of examples in the field,
a limited knowledge of the genre as used in other disciplines and the
habit of not using poster templates that would give precious insights on
how to construct a poster, probably explain the diversity found in this
corpus. In Law, as in the other two subdisciplines, it is however clear
that whenever authors are not informed of the norms and conventions
used in their discipline, an odd mixing of genres occur. A number of
authors, for example, rely heavily on the format and presentation of
more traditional genres such as the research article; others collate Pow-
erPoint slides (see Figure 6.2 for an example) and still others use a very
limited number of words per poster (Figure 6.1 for example shows a
poster containing only 63 words).

239
Figure 6.2. High Energy Particle Physics poster displaying the slides of a PowerPoint
presentation (red lines added by the present author) [PPHY06].

240
6.2.2 Portrait/landscape orientation in posters

One of the first choices a poster presenter has to make when s/he begins
working on the layout is whether the poster will have a ‘landscape’ or
‘portrait’ orientation. The way the poster is oriented changes consid-
erably the organisation and the flow of information (see Figure 6.3).
Because no preference is indicated in any available poster design tips,
recommendations, or examples found online, it can be deduced that the
choice of orientation is highly personal.

Figure 6.3. Flow of information in a landscape-oriented poster (left) and in a

portrait-oriented poster (right).

If we look at the total number of portrait- or landscape-oriented posters

found in the entire corpus (see Chapter 5, Section 5.5.2), we notice that
no particular preference emerges for one orientation or the other. How-
ever, if we look at each single subcorpus, different trends do emerge
in the choice of poster orientation. In particular, High Energy Particle
Physicists and Clinical Psychologists prefer a different type of orienta-
tion, the first choosing portrait-oriented posters more, while the latter
displaying landscape-oriented posters more often. Lawyers however
display no particular preference, and we see both orientations repre-
sented equally in their subcorpus.
Although the reason for choosing an orientation is highly subjec-
tive and generic poster guidelines do not favour one orientation instead
of another, an explanation can be found for choosing the portrait orien-
tation over the landscape one: Conference organisers do often indicate

241
a preference, which is frequently justified by the limited space available
for poster sessions (vertical posters occupy less space than horizon-
tal ones) or by utilisation of display stalls in which a horizontal poster
would not fit (see for example Figure 6.4, showing a landscape-oriented
poster displayed at the British Association of Applied Linguistics
(BAAL) 2012 conference, which does not fit into the vertical display
stalls available, thus occupying more space than necessary).

Figure 6.4. Landscape-oriented poster not fitting into a vertical display stall at the
BAAL 2012 conference.

To justify the preference of the landscape versus portrait orientation

found in Clinical Psychology and Law no other explanation can be
given, other than the fact that conference organisers within these two
academic fields do not give precise indications and limitations when it
comes to poster orientation.

242
6.2.3 Layout of posters

As explained in Chapter 2 (Section 2.5.1), when discussing the layout

of posters, it is important to consider first and foremost that, like
research articles, posters need to follow a precise format and content
organisation to be clear and exhaustive: as Alley (2003) notes, posters
usually display a title/author label, an abstract, an introduction, method,
subjects, procedure, results, and conclusion section (Alley, 2003). This
IMRD structure offers a precise format that renders the layout and
content well-organized and structured so that the presenter can easily
follow the format when presenting content orally and at the same time,
the viewer knows what to expect when reading the poster (Alley, 2003).
Making the discourse contained in a poster clear to its audience
should be the first and most important goal of a poster presenter. With-
out a clear organisation and a well-developed layout, the content of a
poster becomes in fact difficult to understand. As mentioned in Chapter
2 (Section 2.5.2), in a previous study (D’Angelo, 2012) analysing the
organisation and structure of academic posters, I found that the major-
ity of posters (65%) gathered from the disciplines and subdisciplines of
Medicine, Law, Economics, and Applied Linguistics followed the sci-
entific ‘IMRD’ (introduction, methodology, research, and discussion)
format (APA, 2009) and displayed content as an experimental research
article would. These results are also confirmed by the present research,
which sees the Law subcorpus as well as the Clinical Psychology one
producing posters with a clear organisation of content, which mostly
utilise the IMRD format.
On the other hand, differences have been found in the layout of
High Energy Particle Physics posters, where the tendency is not to use
the standard IMRD format: here posters often displayed disorganised
posters, where the division of sections was ambiguous and the flow of
information unclear. In this case, the reader is not guided by an IMRD
format or any textual or visual feature (headings, numbers, icons, etc.),
and s/he is left guessing how the discourse develops. The tendency of
not using the standard IMRD format in High Energy Particle Physics
posters is confirmed by the fact that only one out of the four Physicists
interviewed suggested following the IMRD format to make the poster
more comprehensible:

243
 I think a well-done poster should first of all highlight main key points so that
the reader recognizes them immediately. It should also be logically so that it
all comes out like a sort of story. Finally, it should read like a research paper,
with sections such as motivation, methods, results, discussion, conclusions and
acknowledgments. If these things are missing, people might simply move on to
the next poster. [PPhy3, ln 55–58]

A possible explanation might be the inexperience of poster presenters

in organising the layout of the poster and the fact that they have not read
the tips and suggestions available online, a mistake that novice writers
often do, as a young Particle Physicist tells us:

I always ask myself “What do I want my audience to take away from my

poster?.” Then I select one statement or graphic that best illustrates my message
and I make it the centerpiece of my poster. I’ve learned that people will not
come closer if they don’t understand immediately what your topic is. If I had
informed myself better and asked for advice, I and many others like me prob-
ably would have avoided a number of ‘painful’ poster presentations, where no
one was interested in what we wrote. [PPhy3, ln 63–67]

The Law subcorpus is more balanced from the point of view of content
organisation, and, most importantly, there are no posters here lacking a
clear organisation of content. Likewise, we see the majority of Clini-
cal Psychology posters presenting content organised in an orderly way,
separated into titled sections and following the IMRD format. Because
of this, the text displayed in this subcorpus very much recalls the struc-
ture and style of research articles, proving that a poster, although it is
a multi-modal, rather eclectic genre, in many cases still borrows a lot
from more traditional genres. An interview with a Ph.D. student in Clin-
ical Psychology underlines the idea that the use of the IMRD format
and highly standardised templates has become the norm for Psycholo-
gists, who prefer constructing clear, formal, yet unadorned, posters:

I have learned from reading other people’s papers and posters that I need to
follow some sort of format. First I include an introduction, then the literature
review, the methodology and so on. If I didn’t proceed like this, I wouldn’t
be following APA guidelines and my paper or poster, I think, would not be
accepted anywhere. [CPsy3, ln 188–191]

244
A tenured professor also interviewed on this particular aspect provided
a simple explanation:

It’s frequent I think, for researchers in this discipline to rely on templates down-
loaded from Internet, borrowed from colleagues or provided by free software.
It helps authors in designing and constructing balanced and professional-look-
ing conference posters. […] That’s my main concern: I want my poster to look
professional and to be clear. With templates, I get the right colours, the right
proportions and I just have to fill in the blocks of text. [CPsy1, ln 163–167]

This could very well be the reason behind the highly standardised
poster format found in this subdiscipline: a well-established tradition of
relying on poster templates, when devising a poster presentation. In this
case, individual creativity is discouraged in favour of clarity and pro-
fessionalism. At the same time, also Lawyers, who seldom use poster
templates, usually display the same type of layout. We can either see
this as a confutation of the previous hypothesis (i.e. that using poster
templates encourages the use of IMRD format) or we can seek another
explanation, for example that Lawyers, not using guidelines and not
downloading templates, rely mainly on the well-established and well-
known IMRD format, which they use when they write research articles.
This is an example of the occasional difficulty found when interpreting
results, that is further discussed in Section 6.5.

6.3 Research question 2

What cross-disciplinary differences are there between three discipli-

nary subcorpora, in terms of textual interactive and interactional meta-
discoursal resources found in posters?

6.3.1 Textual interactive resources in posters

As we have seen in Chapter 4 (Section 4.3.1), textual interactive

resources

245
 concern the way writers signal the arrangement of their texts based on their
appreciation of the reader’s likely knowledge and understanding. This influ-
ences the ‘reader-friendliness’ of a text and primarily involves the management
of information flow, addressing how writers guide readers by anticipating their
likely reactions and needs (Hyland, 2005: 44).

The analysis carried out in Chapter 5 (Section 5.5.4) has found that
textual interactive resources are not distributed evenly among the three
academic fields considered. Law posters contained the largest number
of textual interactive resources, followed by Clinical Psychology and
High Energy Particle Physics posters. In particular, figures above SD
are mostly found in Law posters, and are for transitions, frame mark-
ers and code glosses. Evidentials however are more numerous in Par-
ticle Physics posters. Transitions are the metadiscourse resources most
frequently used in discourse in general and they have the important
function of connecting ideas and sentences, guiding the reader in the
unfolding argomentation. The frequent use of code glosses and frame
markers indicates instead that in this subdiscipline authors demonstrate
their expertise by constructing arguments in a clear manner as well as
in a less personal or challenging way. Finally, the value below SD for
endophoric markers indicates that this interactive resource is scarcely
found in any of the three academic fields considered.
These results give us a strong indication of how a poster author
in different disciplines and subdisciplines decides to manage metadis-
course resources, thus constructing a relationship with the reader that is
more or less collaborative. In fact, as we have seen in Chapter 2 (Sec-
tion 2.6), with a judicious use of metadiscourse

a writer is able not only to transform what might otherwise be a dry or difficult
text into coherent, reader-friendly prose, but also to relate it to a given context
and convey his or her personality, credibility, audience sensitivity, and relation-
ship to the message (Hyland, 2000: 4).

Managing metadiscourse resource correctly is, in other words, the abil-

ity to relate to an audience in ways that they will expect and under-
stand. It means creating texts, which see things as they do, so that the
text is easier to comprehend, more interesting, and more likely to create
the desired response in the reader. It is the ability of turning a lifeless

246
text into discourse that meets the needs of participants and facilitates
communication and the spreading of knowledge (Hyland, 1998, 1999,
2005). Learning to master metadiscourse also means we are able to
offer a credible and successful writing persona, who is capable of using
the correct (and anticipated) forms of engagement and persuasion, thus
establishing our point of view more persuasively. This research has
shown that of the academic fields considered, Law can mostly show-
case efficient writers, capable of mastering interactive metadiscourse
resources efficiently, followed by Clinical Psychologists and High
Energy Particle Physicists, who are the less reader-friendly of all.
These differences might be due to the content that each disci-
pline and subdiscipline is concerned with. High Energy Particle Phys-
icists probably do not need to recur to many interactive metadiscourse
resources as they deal mainly with numerical data. Data that do need,
for the most part, long, complicated introductions, explanations and /
or interpretations. Lawyers on the other hand, rarely have numeric data
to display and must rely on their writing capabilities and personas to
communicate research efficiently. Clinical Psychology, being an applied
science, is located midway between these two extremes.

6.3.2 Textual interactional resources in posters

Textual interactional resources, as explained in detail in Chapter 4

(Section 4.3.2), are meant to collaboratively engage the reader in the
development of the text. With textual interactional resources writers
can comment and evaluate material as well as understand the speaker’s
angle, i.e. his attitudes, motives and judgements (Halliday & Hasan,
1989). More importantly, as already mentioned in Chapter 2 (Section
2.6), Hyland (2005: 17) argues that

while the phrasing and expressions writers use may sometimes seem ‘automatic’
or unconscious, all language use consists of making choices from a system
of finite options. […] The decisions we make when interacting with others,
whether to use an active or passive verb, a categorical or hedged assertion, a
contrastive or additive conjunction, and so on, are therefore choices motivated
by intentions to express certain meanings in specific situations (Halliday, 1994).

247
With this idea in mind, one of the questions that was posed to the sub-
jects interviewed across the three subcorpora was “What ‘elements’
in your poster do you think help the reader comprehend its content?.”
None of the respondents focused on the text as an element that could
make a poster clear. They merely suggested, at times, that the text had
to be ‘clear’ and ‘succinct’, as in the following examples:

I try to balance things in the poster, like I add quotes to a title and if I have
any pictures or tables or charts, I add them too because visually they are more
interesting. I also make sure to use headings, bullet points, maybe also num-
bered lists so that language is simple and clear, much like in a brief. [Law4, ln
135–137]

I think it’s important to keep poster information succinct and readable because
that effort increases exposure to the core ideas of the poster. [Law1, ln 90–91]

I always tell my students that their poster must be tailored to their audience
to be effective. They should ask themselves ‘Who is your audience? What do
they want to know? What will capture their interest?’ and I give them this tip:
Remember that competition for attention is fierce at poster sessions. People will
decide in a few seconds if they are going to come closer to look at your poster,
and in a few more seconds they’ll decide if they’ll talk to you. [PPhy2, ln 30–34]

The analysis carried out in Chapter 5 (Section 5.5.4) nonetheless has

found that in the corpus textual interactional resources do appear,
although in different degrees, depending on the discipline and subdisci-
pline. Law posters in particular have been found to display text that is
dense with textual interactional resources. In comparison, High Energy
Particle Physics and Clinical Psychology posters have been found to use
fewer textual interactional resources. In particular, the high frequency
of boosters found in the Law subcorpus indicates that within this disci-
pline, authors of posters have more liberty to make bolder statements,
draw conclusions, or argue for controversial positions. As mentioned in
Chapter 4 (Section 4.3.2), the high frequency of engagement markers
is also an important indication that Lawyers are the ones who mostly
engage and involve readers through their posters. Engagement markers,
in fact, enable writers to involve readers into the text and establish soli-
darity among scholars. Finally, the frequent use of attitude markers and
self-mentions is a clear sign that Lawyers are the authors who mostly

248
show their persona in the text, by mentioning themselves and stating
their personal ideas with emphasis. In contrast, Clinical Psychologists,
use fewer boosters, engagement markers, and self-mentions, prefer-
ring a more impersonal and detached style, devoid of face-threatening
utterances, but their values are, like for High Energy Particle Physi-
cists, within SD values; the High Energy Particle Physics subcorpus in
particular, represents the most homogeneous subcorpus in the present
study, for what concerns the use of textual interactional resources.

6.4 Research question 3

What cross-disciplinary differences are there between three disciplinary

subcorpora, in terms of visual interactive metadiscoursal resources
found in posters?

6.4.1 Visual interactive resources in posters

Visual interactive resources play a fundamental role in poster design,

because they help readers understand content and manage the flow of
information, making a poster easily understandable to the public. Cre-
ating a poster that is immediately comprehensible to readers is crucial
because, as mentioned in Chapter 4 (Section 4.4), this genre is char-
acterised by high visual competition, because if the poster cannot be
understood within the first few minutes, it will lose its audience. As
mentioned in the literature review (Chapter 2, Section 2.5.1), Matthews
(1990) and Tufte (1991) have underlined that in poster presentations,
like in PowerPoint presentations and handouts, visual presentation and
graphics play a fundamental role in presenting a research in a form that
is easily understandable.
After researching the use of interactive visual resources that
render a poster more comprehensible and organized, results have shown
that there is no significant difference in the overall amount of visual
interactive resources among the three subcorpora considered (see

249
Chapter 5, Section 5.5.5). The discipline and subdisciplines consid-
ered have all been found to produce posters that use visual interactive
resources, which successfully manage the flow of information.
The importance of producing a clear poster through visual ele-
ments is a recurrent theme found in the interviews conducted, as the
following examples demonstrate:

Then in the Materials and Methods you have a nice flowchart that makes it really
easy to explain to your viewers what you actually did and the most emphasised
of course, are your results and also the graph is kept here very simple. [PPhy3,
ln 59–62]

I kind of break up my ‘story’ into different columns, more or less like a newspa-
per because I think most viewers start reading the poster at the upper left corner
and then they read down and across. I the put the basic point at the topo of each
of these columns so they’ll be read right away. [PPhy4, ln 74–76]

Divide the contents of your poster into sections, such as introduction, method-
ology, results and conclusions andyes, also an abstract if necessary. But I don’t
know sometimes I give that in a handout. [CPsy3, ln 185–186]

The fact that visual interactive elements are equally present in the three
subcorpora considered underlines the idea that posters are designed first
and foremost with the idea of communicating concepts in a clear and
organised manner. The fact that academics are recurrently advised (by
their peers as well as by guidelines found online) to achieve both cover-
age and clarity might explain why all authors strive to produce posters
that follow a precise format and content organisation.
The distribution of each single visual interactive resource should
also be discussed because it uncovers discipline-specific patterns.
If High Energy Particle Physicists prefer using graphic elements the
most, Lawyers prefer using framing, whereas Clinical Psychologists
clearly favour interactive fonts. The analysis carried out in Chapter 5
has also revealed more specific patterns in the corpus, regarding the use
of these visual resources. For example, High Energy Particle Physicists
use many schematic analytical figures, charts and interactive pictures to
organize discourse and data, whereas Lawyers favour charts and tables
to organize and present data. Clinical Psychologists instead use mainly

250
charts (see Table 5.12). Flowcharts are primarily used by High Energy
Particle Physicists and are completely absent from Law posters. One of
the Physicists interviewed justified his frequent use of flowcharts, by
stating:

If you have a picture it is always nice because people may not be familiar with
your research. Then in the Materials and Methods you have a nice flowchart that
makes it really easy to explain to your viewers what you actually did and the
most emphasised of course, are your results and also the graph is kept here very
simple. [PPhy3, ln 59–62]

Networks are also present in High Energy Particle Physics posters and
quite marginally in Law and Clinical Psychology posters, a trend simi-
lar to the distribution of schematic analytical figures. Charts are used by
High Energy Particle Physicists and Clinical Psychologists but are rare
in Law posters. The fact that networks, flowcharts, conversion processes
and interactive pictures are rare in Clinical Psychology posters can be
explained by the fact that this subdiscipline produces posters that are
more textually dense; in other words, authors within this subdiscipline
are less likely to schematise concepts.
The reason for this, once again, can be found in the scientific
content of the disciplines and subdisciplines analysed: Lawyers and
Clinical Psychologists work with more abstractions and do not deal
with numerical data as much as High Energy Particle Physicists, who
must necessarily display data using graphic elements.
Also the use of interactive fonts shows discipline-related prefer-
ences: High Energy Particle Physicists prefer to use different font types,
whereas Clinical Psychologists opt for different font colours and sizes.
Lawyers instead opt for fonts of different sizes to highlight different
parts of the text. The judicious use of interactive fonts was expressed by
a number of interviewees, as shown in the examples below, demonstrat-
ing that knowing how to handle font size, font colour, and font type can
render a poster legible or not:

Text should not be overwhelming and most of all it should be written in a font
size that lets aging academics read easily. [Law2, ln 101–102]

251
 A poster I think, shouldn’t be frenetic, so I would say not to use too many fonts
or too many colors. A colleague one told me to be bold, yet restrained. [Law2,
ln 106–107]

I don’t like mixing fonts much. Instead, I try using a sans serif type of font
when I write headings and titles a a sans serif font for the rest of the poster. That
usually works for me. [CPsy3, ln 170–171]

I personally avoid fonts that are script or difficult to read. [CPsy4, ln 200]

Connective elements show a larger degree of disparity among subcor-

pora: Lawyers prefer using repetition of shapes, repetition of colour,
and alignment/disallignment to logically connect parts of the poster.
Clinical Psychologists, instead, very seldom make use of connective
elements in general, which again can be due to the fact that within this
field authors prefer not to schematise concepts. Almost confirming this
suggestion, one of the Clinical Psychology subjects interviewed com-
mented on the fact that connectives such as arrows can be useless (if not
properly utilised):

When you spot arrows in posters that are pointing to the next box you should
read […] when you use arrows to point to the next box you should read, your
layout is probably not very good. So the poster should have a natural flow and
should be self-explaining which way it should be read. [CPsy2, ln 172–174]

Finally, all three academic fields have been found to produce posters
that use the resource ‘information value’. However, the category is
not used in a homogeneous way across the subcorpora investigated:
Clinical Psychology posters typically follow a left–right organisation of
content, whereas High Energy Particle Physicists prefer organising con-
tent using a top–bottom, a left–right + top–bottom, or a centre–margin
layout, which is only found in this subcorpus. Lawyers have been found
to use the triptych layout the most, which recalls magazine and newspa-
per layouts (Kress & van Leuween, 2006).
One note that should be made on the use of visual interactive
resources is the disparity among the three disciplinary fields consid-
ered, of the presence of template-generated posters. As explained in
Section 3.5.3 because of the results of the survey on the use of posters
two of the three subcorpora (High Energy Particle Physics and Clinical

252
Psychology) include a high number of posters created using a poster
template. Interestingly, this fact does not seem to modify the overall
amount of visual interactive resources in the corpus, as all three sub-
corpora display them in the same quantity. Also the differences in the
distribution of the type of interactive visual resource does not justify a
possible influence due to the use (or not) of poster templates. If poster
templates did play an important role on the type of visual interactive
feature used, there would have been a clear difference between the Law
subcorpus (where the number of template-generated posters are scarce)
and the Clinical Psychology and High Energy Particle Physics subcor-
pora (where a high number of template generated posters have been
deliberately included). I can therefore state that, for what concerns the
present research, poster templates do not reveal disciplinary differences
when it comes to the use of visual interactive resources.

6.5 Research limitations and recommendations

for further research

The present research into the genre of academic poster presentations

aims at drawing attention to an interesting multimodal genre, a genre
that displays different, sometimes fascinating, communicative strate-
gies. Although a corpus of 120 posters is not enough to draw definite
results, it is nonetheless interesting that in every discipline and subdis-
cipline analysed a number of textual and visual metadiscourse resources
can be found and distinctive trends can be spotted.
Although the present study has been carried out on a limited
number of posters belonging to the subdisciplines of High Energy Par-
ticle Physics and Clinical Psychology, and to the discipline of Law,
already important cross-disciplinary differences and similarities have
emerged. These differences and similarities are expected to become
even more evident when the analysis is extended to other disciplines
and subdisciplines and the number of posters is augmented, providing

253
information on the different (or similar) academic conventions sur-
rounding the poster presentation genre.
To continue to carry out the present analysis and to broaden the
available data, a bigger corpus should be devised, representing several
hard and soft disciplines. It is advisable to include more than one dis-
cipline or subdiscipline belonging to the soft/applied/hard sciences, so
that the disciplinary continuum is more fully represented. By augment-
ing the number of disciplines and subdisciplines as well as the number
of posters, the representativeness notion, which is very important in
the design of corpora (see Chapter 2, Section 2.8.2), would be fully
respected.
In the present study during the poster collection, presenters were
not asked what size their poster was printed in and then presented. This
information was not collected because a poster, being usually a PDF
or PowerPoint file, can be printed in different sizes, depending on the
guidelines given by conference organizers. However, collecting this
information from poster presenters in future poster corpora could be
useful for semiotic analyses (e.g. to analyse the presence and use of
different visual and textual elements depending on the actual size of the
traditional poster presentation).
A larger corpus that is not limited to the posters but also records
poster presentations with video recordings carried out during con-
ferences would provide a much richer source of data and numerous
inspirations for genre-related research. For example, very interesting
insights into spoken genres have emerged thanks to the analyses of data
held in the British Academic Spoken English (BASE) corpus, at the
universities of Warwick and Reading, and the Michigan Corpus of Aca-
demic Spoken English (Thompson, 2001) (discussed in Section 2.4.2
above). One can expect to find only a rich soil for research in a corpus of
academic poster presentations consisting of visual, textual, and spoken
components, all complementing each other.
As explained in Section 2.5.2, another aspect to consider is that
unlike other more established genres, such as the research article, the
academic poster is bound to change and evolve with technology due
to its multi-modal nature. Several disciplines are exploring alternative
poster sessions (MacIntosh-Murray, 2007), for example online poster

254
sessions, digital interactive poster presentations (DIPPs), poster projec-
tions followed by two- or three-minute oral presentations, and even vir-
tual science fairs where participants can meet though online conferenc-
ing or by participating in weblogs (De Simone et al., 1991; Powell-Tuck
et al., 2002). As the genre becomes inevitably more complex, I believe
it is important to evaluate how this may affect the skills needed to com-
municate effectively in this multi-modal form of research communica-
tion and how the communicative event itself is affected. Corpus analysis
would provide real-life examples of how the genre is used by academics
and, by devising a framework of analysis, the genre could be studied
systematically.
As the present research has considered only traditional posters
displayed on paper, other numerous multi-modal elements currently
used in e-poster presentations have not been taken into consideration.
For example, the DIPP is a PDF version of a traditional paper poster (De
Simone et al., 2001), which can be projected on a wall or screen during
allotted times. Conferences in medicine have often dedicated sessions
during which poster presenters are asked to project their posters on a
screen for a maximum of 3–5 minutes, and summarise their research
work, so that the audience is able to search for the poster during the
traditional poster session. The chance to take the floor, even for a few
minutes, is undeniably precious. Presenters have the possibility of dis-
playing their work even before the poster session starts and probably
attract a higher number of interested viewers as a consequence.
During the brief presentation, the presenter can enlarge parts of
the posters, such as tables, graphs, and images, so that he can concen-
trate on certain aspects of the presentation. A DIPP can also be made
available online by conference organisers, not only after but also before
a conference takes place, so that participants can browse through a data-
base of posters presented (or to be presented) and retain the information
they are mostly interested in.
Also important is the fact that when the digitalised poster is no
longer just projected on a wall and instead shown through a computer
or LCD screen, numerous features can be added that enhance com-
munication between the presenter and audience, as well as expand the
amount of information that can be communicated thanks to a number

255
of interactive elements such as a QR code (abbreviated from quick
response code), links to web pages, and email addresses. Once again,
I believe that a new corpus containing e-posters instead of traditional
ones, together with the spoken component that complements the poster
presentation, would be a valuable source of data to better comprehend
this multi-modal genre.
With regard to the framework of analysis I utilised in the pres-
ent research, some improvements could be made. More precise details
could be given regarding, for example, the size, style and colour of
fonts and typefaces. This way, many other metadiscourse visual fea-
tures, which I did not notice, could probably have been uncovered and
classified. With the aid of experts in graphic design and typography, a
more precise analysis could certainly be achieved and a more detailed
framework of analysis could be devised. Also the statistics carried out
in the corpus could be improved, especially for what concerns the visual
analysis of posters. The binary system utilized in the present study could
be replaced by a more accurate and sophisticated count.
Also the interpretation of the frequencies found might be seen
as faulty at times, in the sense that different frequencies in the use of
visual and textual metadiscourse can be interpreted in different ways
and can only rely on suppositions and the intuition of the researcher,
not on definite data. My discussion and interpretation of the results have
been guided mainly by the feedback received by the interviewees in the
various disciplines, but I am aware that longer interviews and a more in
depth knowledge of the academic fields analysed would probably have
resulted in more reliable interpretations.
Another aspect that should be considered in future poster analy-
ses is whether to include or not in a corpus, posters generated by tem-
plates. For my research I have decided, for two subcorpora (the High
Energy Particle Physics subcorpus and the Clinical Psychology sub-
corpus), to include posters generated from a conference template, a
university/institution template or a generic template downloaded from
Internet. My decision was driven by the results of the survey conducted
(see Section 3.5.3), which clearly suggest that a great number of poster
authors do rely on the use of a template, perhaps because it is imposed
by a University, a conference or simply because it is common practice

256
of a certain discipline or subdiscipline to download and use generic
templates. My analysis suggests that the use of poster templates is not
the cause of significant disciplinary differences (see Section 6.4.1) when
it comes to visual resources, and that a clear connection between the use
of a poster template and a discrepancy in the amount of words and in the
layout of posters found in different subcorpora cannot be established.
However, I do believe that this is an issue that should be considered
attentively in future research concerned with academic posters.
Because of the problematic issues raised here I consider this as
just the beginning of more a detailed and rich analysis of the poster
genre, as I am sure that much still needs to be discovered on this entic-
ing academic genre, so well capable of informing the scientific com-
munity.

6.6 Conclusions

The social practices of academics can be uncovered using a rich source

of cross-disciplinary studies on academic genres. The concept of ‘com-
munity’ (Hartley, 2006; Hyland, 1998, 2001, 2004; Swales, 2004;
Thompson, 2001;) has in particular interested researchers working in
this field and has led them to focus their attention on how genres are
written, the feedback they receive and how these genres are used by
community members. In particular, research on academic writing has
studied different genres such as research articles, essays, theses, and
plenaries; other minor genres such as conference poster presentations,
have instead received limited attention from researchers, and linguistic
and semiotic analyses on this academic genre are still scarce and limited
to guidelines published online by university departments and university
writing centres (D’Angelo, 2010a).
This general disinterest on the part of current linguists inevitably
leads this genre to retain an invisible ‘second-class status’, compared to
other more investigated genres. As Swales (2004) recognised, research
genres are valued different depending on the discipline and its partici-
pants. Also, as Hyland (2000) pointed out, depending on the discipline,

257
members are required to engage in different kinds of arguments and
communicate their research through different writing tasks: if Power-
Point conference presentations, for example, have become fashion-
able and increasingly common in almost every discipline, in the hard
sciences conference posters are widely used already at undergraduate
level (Bartsch & Cobern, 2003; LaPorte, 2002). Although a number of
(sub)disciplines belonging to the humanities, such as Law and applied
linguistics, are slowly discovering the advantages of using posters as
vehicles of scientific knowledge, for the most part, this eclectic genre is
still far from being widely and systematically included in conferences
and workshops organised within the humanities.
Posters however, no matter the discipline, can become an inter-
esting and effective alternative to paper presentations. Posters are capa-
ble to initiate discussions between presenters, all the while maintaining
an informal setting. Because of this, poster sessions offer an invalua-
ble opportunity for networking – an important aspect of academic life,
especially at the beginning of one’s career.
Having said this, the present research has tried to, at least par-
tially, fill the existing knowledge gap by investigating how discourse
is presented through conference posters and which textual and visual
reader-oriented strategies are more recurrent in posters, depending on
the (sub)discipline within which they originate. The result of this study
reveals which communicative strategies are employed where, which
communicative strategies (visual and textual) are allowed, and, finally,
which communicative strategies should be well known to novice authors
attempting to enter the academic community.
In particular, a word count revealed that Clinical Psychologists
are the ‘wordiest’ authors on posters of the entire corpus, followed by
High Energy Particle Physicists and Lawyers. Concerning the portrait
or landscape orientation of posters, it has been noted that High Energy
Particle Physicists and Clinical Psychologists prefer different types of
orientation, the first choosing portrait-oriented posters more, while the
latter displaying landscape-oriented posters more often. Lawyers how-
ever display no particular preference and both orientations represented
equally in their subcorpus. Significant differences have been found in
the layout of posters: a tendency not to use the standard IMRD format,

258
thus displaying disorganised posters, has been found in High Energy
Particle Physics, whereas the Law subcorpus as well as the Clinical
Psychology one can count on posters with a clear organisation of con-
tent, that mostly utilise the IMRD format.
With regard to textual metadiscourse in posters, the analysis
revealed that textual interactive resources are not distributed evenly
among the three academic fields considered. Law posters contained
the largest amount of textual interactive resources, followed by Clin-
ical Psychology and High Energy Particle Physics posters. Lawyers
can therefore be said to be more concerned than High Energy Particle
Physicists and Clinical Psychologists with guiding the reader through
the text and with making content highly accessible. Clinical Psycholo-
gists instead seem to produce textually dense posters that are seldom
reader-friendly. Textual interactional resources are used in different
degrees in the corpus, depending on the discipline and subdiscipline.
Law posters in particular have been found to display text in a form that
aids the comprehension of the reader. They are the ones who, among a
group of posters displayed at a poster session, would involve readers
more, thanks to the large use of textual interactional resources. In com-
parison, High Energy Particle Physics and Clinical Psychology posters
have been found to use less textual interactional resources, thus involv-
ing the reader less.
Concerning the visual metadiscourse resources searched, the
analysis revealed that visual interactive resources play a fundamental
role in poster design, because they help readers understand content and
manage the flow of information, making a poster easily understanda-
ble to the public. Presenters in all three subcorpora have been found to
produce posters that are comprehensible to their public, by using visual
interactive resources that successfully manage the flow of information.
However, a disparity in the distribution of each type of resource has
emerged.
Having summarized the study’s main findings and demonstrated
that disciplinary preferences and conventions in poster design do exist,
I can recall the rationale for the study. I can now state that these findings
will allow me to produce more precise teaching material for students
belonging to different departments and they will allow me to better
prepare them for their professional lives. After a general introduction

259
into the poster genre, each student, depending on his/her disciplinary
field will now be informed on how to present research results follow-
ing particular norms and the conventions, meeting the expectations of
the disciplinary community they belong to. Students will ultimately be
informed on what is acceptable and what is not in their discipline or
subdiscipline, based on what fellow students and researchers currently
present at conferences.

260
Appendices

Appendix 1: Survey On Poster Use

The present survey seeks to construct a generalized idea of who, how, when
and why posters are used in the discipline of Psychology, Law and Physics.
The results of this short survey will allow the design of a representative
corpus of academic posters, gathering material from authors of different
nationality, academic standing, affiliation and with different amounts of
experience in poster production. The corpus will then be used not only to
investigate the multimodal and visual features present in academic post-
ers, but also to understand how these textual and visual elements influence
and define academic poster production in different disciplines.
By completing and returning this survey I understand that I am
giving consent for my responses to be used for the purposes of this
research project.

Thank you for taking the time to participate in the survey!

[Please notice: Tick one of the answers given. More than one answer is
possible.]

1) Where is the genre of academic posters MOSTLY used in your

discipline? (Only one answer is allowed)

a) Large International Conferences (>100 participants)

b) Large National Conferences (>100 participants)
c) Small International Conferences (<100 participants)
d) Small National Conferences (<100 participants)
e) Workshops
f) Group meetings
g) Classroom
h) Other …………………
2) In your discipline, who MOSTLY presents posters? (Only one
answer is allowed)

a) PhD students
b) Post Docs
c) Untenured Faculty members
d) Tenured Faculty members

3) In your discipline, how often do academics (with your academic

standing) present posters?

a) Never
b) Once every two or more years
c) Once a year
d) Two times or more a year

4) In your discipline, how much do poster presenters rely on pre-

established conference templates when devising a poster?

a) Never
b) Sometimes
c) Often
d) Always

5) In your discipline, how much do poster presenters rely on tem-

plates downloaded from Internet or made available by specific
software?

a) Never
b) Sometimes
c) Often
d) Always

262
6) Within your discipline, how often do poster presenters rely on
available (non-template) guidelines or the experience of peers/
supervisors when devising a poster?

a) Never
b) Sometimes
c) Often
d) Always

263
Appendix 2

264
Appendix 3

265
Appendix 4

The following table shows results from the survey on the use of academic
posters in different disciplines (discussed in Chapter 3, Section 3.5).

% of % of % of respondents
Question Answer respondents respondents that have selected
that have that have the answer
selected selected (CLINICAL PSY-
the answer the answer CHOLOGISTS)
(PARTICLE (LAW)
PHYSICS)
a) Large Interna- 100% 60% 100%
Q. 1: Where tional Conferences
is the genre of (>100 participants)
academic posters b) Large National – 40% –
MOSTLY used in Conferences (>100
your discipline? participants)
c) Small Interna- – – –
tional Conferences
(<100 participants)
d) Small National – – –
Conferences (<100
participants)
e) Workshops – – –
f) Group meetings – – –
g) Classroom – – –
h) Other – – –
…………………
a) PhD students 70% – 80
Q. 2: In your b) Post Docs 30% 10% 20
discipline, who
MOSTLY pre- c) Untenured Fac- – 30% –
sents posters? ulty members
d) Tenured Faculty – 60% –
members

266
 % of % of % of respondents
Question Answer respondents respondents that have selected
that have that have the answer
selected selected (CLINICAL PSY-
the answer the answer CHOLOGISTS)
(PARTICLE (LAW)
PHYSICS)
a) Never – – –
Q. 3: In your b) Once every two – 70% 30
discipline, or more years
how often do
academics (with c) Once a year 80% 30% 70
your academic d) Two times or 20% – –
standing) present more a year
posters?
a) Never 30% 90% 80
Q. 4: In your b) Sometimes 70% 10% 20
discipline, how
much do poster c) Often – – –
presenters rely on d) Always – – –
conference tem-
plates or insti-
tution templates
when devising a
poster?
a) Never – 60% –
Q. 5: In your b) Sometimes 20% 40% 30
discipline, how
much do poster c) Often 80% – 70
presenters rely on d) Always – – –
generic templates
downloaded from
Internet or made
available by spe-
cific software?

267
 % of % of % of respondents
Question Answer respondents respondents that have selected
that have that have the answer
selected selected (CLINICAL PSY-
the answer the answer CHOLOGISTS)
(PARTICLE (LAW)
PHYSICS)
a) Never 70% –
Q. 6: Within your b) Sometimes 30% –
discipline, how
often do poster c) Often 100% – 100
presenters rely d) Always – –
on available
(non-template)
guidelines or the
experience of
peers/supervisors
when devising a
poster?

268
Appendix 5

PPhy1 (Associate Professor)

[Length of interview: 17 minutes]

1) What is most important for you? Content, Clarity, Visuals or

Originality?

All of the above. Maybe content most of all and originality.

2) What ‘elements’ in your poster do you think help the reader com-
prehend its content?

I honestly cannot tell you why I use certain verbs or textual resources. I really
do it without thinking about it. I can only tell you that what I have is data and
I use this data to prove my point, demonstrate that instruments are working
correctly and most of all show the direction our research is taking. […] If instru-
ments are working correctly, no one can say the data we have is not correct.

3) What ‘elements’ do you think make your poster attractive?

Include something eye catching. Your poster will be alongside many sim-
ilar-looking posters so break the mould and include something with a high-
visual impact to stop people on their way past.
I always like to look at some infographics [schematic analytical pictures]. The
funny thing about infographics is that they also present some information to
you but usually people really like to read them because they are fun, they are
prepared and very nice visually and this is incredibly difficult to make with sci-
entific data because scientific data is al lot of times really complex. But if you
manage to break down your data and make it a little bit more like an infographic
for you poster I think it will look very nice. We are not really concerned with
text… it’s not really important for us I guess … maybe because we have lots of
data to show. Data is what counts for us so ideally you could have a poster with
only figures, tables and maybe charts on it.

269
4) What advice do you usually give to fellow researchers in your
field, when devising a poster?

Know when to stop! Cramming the poster with everything you have ever done
does not impress. You run the risk of making things look cluttered. It is surpris-
ingly hard to distil your research into a few key sentences but well worth the
effort. People have short concentration spans so it is better to get a few simple
points across well than no complex points at all. You will find that getting this
right takes most of the time.

PPhy2 (Researcher)
[Length of interview: 22 minutes]

1) What is most important for you? Content, Clarity, Visuals or

Originality?

I always tell my students that their poster must be tailored to their audience
to be effective. They should ask themselves “Who is your audience? What
do they want to know? What will capture their interest?” and I give them this
tip: Remember that competition for attention is fierce at poster sessions. Most
people will decide in less than 5 seconds and from less than 3 m away if they
are going to come closer for a look at your poster, and in less than 40 seconds if
they’re going to stay around to talk to you.

2) What ‘elements’ in your poster do you think help the reader com-
prehend its content?

The data of the experiment should be clear and it should not be overwhelming.
Too many times I see posters cluttered with small graphs and tables, so small
one would need a magnifying glass to read the text. I simply move on when I
see a poster like that. Some say an abstract should be included but I include an
“abstract” only if my poster is going to be unattended for lengthy periods. If I’m
standing there explaining the work, nobody’s going to read it anyway so I use
the space for something more compelling and visually interesting. If I’m asked
to include an abstract, I keep it very brief, like less than 50 words.

3) What ‘elements’ do you think make your poster attractive?

As a former student, professor, and poster judge, I have seen posters so horri-
fying I don’t care if they represent Nature-worthy research – my eyes hurt and I
want to flee. While poster design skills won’t make or break a scientific career,
they are one facet of a larger communications skillset that is important. In the

270
 real world, you’ll have to convince granting agencies or funding partners that
your research has potential, convey its relevance to colleagues and potential
collaborators, and explain its social implications to the media. Since formal
graduate training opportunities in science communications are rare, you may as
well start practicing your skills in the relative safety of a poster session, flanked
by a smart, well-designed poster that – literally – has your back.

4) What advice do you usually give to fellow researchers in your

field, when devising a poster?

Before the poster is printed show it to some critical friends, especially non-spe-
cialists. It is amazing how things that appear obvious to you are ambiguous or
misunderstood by others- it is your responsibility to present things better, rather
than accuse them of missing the point!
Also, include “take away” information. This can be in the form of business
cards alongside the poster or a print out of resources. This is useful if you are
not beside the poster for the duration of its display.

PPhy3 (Post Doc)

[Length of interview: 18 minutes]

1) What is most important for you? Content, Clarity, Visuals or

Originality?

Content I think. And originality, so that you stand out in a poster session.

2) What ‘elements’ in your poster do you think help the reader com-
prehend its content?

I think an effective poster should have the following features: it should highlight
key points so they are immediately recognizable; it must be arranged logically
so a viewer quickly understands the “story”; it must contain all elements of
a good research paper—motivation, methods, results, discussion, conclusions
and acknowledgments. If all this is not there, people will probably just quietly
move on to the next poster. Also, if it’s important, make it big.

3) What ‘elements’ do you think make your poster attractive?

If you have a picture it is always nice because people may not be familiar with
your research. Then in the Materials and Methods you have a nice flowchart
that makes it really easy to explain to your viewers what you actually did and

271
 the most emphasised of course, are your results and also the graph is kept here
very simple

4) What advice do you usually give to fellow researchers in your

field, when devising a poster?

I personally always ask myself “What one idea do I want my audience to take
away?.” Then I select one statement or graphic that best illustrates my message
and I make it the centerpiece of my poster. From painful experience, I can say
that people will not approach you if it is not clear from a “safe” distance …
say like 3m… what your topic is. If I had informed myself better and asked for
advice, I and many others like me probably would have avoided a number of
‘painful’ poster presentations, where no one was interested in what we wrote.

PPhy4 (PhD student)

[Length of interview: 14 minutes]

1) What is most important for you? Content, Clarity, Visuals or

Originality?

All of these things. The poster needs to be clear most of all.

2) What ‘elements’ in your poster do you think help the reader com-
prehend its content?

I think most viewers start reading the poster at the upper left corner of the poster
and read down and across, so I break up my “story” into columns, like a newspa-
per. Then I put important points at the top of each column. I also try to choose
a short and snappy title…that usually works!

3) What ‘elements’ do you think make your poster attractive?

Use a good graphics package. It is frustrating to walk round a poster session

to see fuzzy or pixelated images that have been compressed multiple times as
they have been imported into Powerpoint then exported to PDF. The other key
advantage of this is that if you work in vector format you can rescale the poster
as much as you like without a loss of quality. There are free software available:
Inkscape (vector-based) or GIMP (image based).

272
4) What advice do you usually give to fellow researchers in your
field, when devising a poster?

Every time I go to a poster session I can’t help but approach the most unusual
and colourful posters first, before carrying on and looking at the more normal
ones. Content is another thing, though. Being colourful does not mean the
poster will be brilliant, but it certainly attracts people more than a poster with
black writings on a plain, white background.

Law1 (Associate Professor)

[Length of interview: 19 minutes]

1) What is most important for you? Content, Clarity, Visuals or

Originality?

Visuals I would say are really important. I can explain things in detail orally, but
I need people to approach me first.

2) What ‘elements’ in your poster do you think help the reader com-
prehend its content?

I think it’s important to keep poster information succinct and readable because
that effort increases exposure to the core ideas of the poster. Also, I’ve been
told that the poster should be easily read from 2–3 feet away, the content easily
digested by viewers who stop for a minute or two to review your work.

3) What ‘elements’ do you think make your poster attractive?

It must attract an audience with a prominent title; it should have a clean, unclut-
tered appearance; it must show lots of visually interesting figures. One of my
supervisors also once told me to use an aesthetic rule called the rule of thirds. If
you use it people will naturally see order in your poster. Get it wrong and people
will become confused or miss key aspects of the poster.

4) What advice do you usually give to fellow researchers in your

field, when devising a poster?

For those passers-by who want more information, provide business cards and
article reprints or abstracts. You could even offer reprints of the poster itself,
reduced to 8.5 by 11 paper size. (If you are about to protest that it would not be
readable, then you have crammed too much onto your poster!) You may choose

273
 to leave a stack of cards for the entire conference and just have the reprints
available for your on-site time, or you could leave a sign-up sheet for those who
would like you to mail out a copy. The conference hotel usually has not set up
the space for providing additional materials such as these, so poster presenters
often shanghai a chair for their materials. Consider how you might plan to
offer these materials–perhaps a sturdy envelope attached to the easel or poster
itself or a box or container with the reprints.

Law2 (Associate Professor)

[Length of interview: 21 minutes]

1) What is most important for you? Content, Clarity, Visuals or

Originality?

Clarity as well as visuals.

2) What ‘elements’ in your poster do you think help the reader com-
prehend its content?

Text should be limited to the core ideas and presented in a font size that allows
our aging academics to read it with ease.

3) What ‘elements’ do you think make your poster attractive?

The research must be amenable to presentation in a graphically interesting

manner. Simple charts, diagrams, and pictures are eye-catching. Complicated
charts or big blocks of text with no visual relief are not good poster material. If
AALS continues to increase the number of poster presentations, then a poster
must be simple and eye-catching so as not to get lost in the shuffle. While the
poster should be eye-catching, it shouldn’t be frenetic. Avoid using too many
fonts or too many colors. Be bold, yet restrained.

4) What advice do you usually give to fellow researchers in your

field, when devising a poster?

I honestly had no idea how to devise a poster because they are new to the Law
scene. I understood what they were only when I saw them for the first time, at the
AALS 2007. I know most people put together the poster using power point and
then print it on a large scale either through resources at their own university or
at a copy shop. My university for example offers assistance in poster design and
printing and that’s where I go when I need to present a poster. Research assistants
are also a good resource for figuring out how to put the poster together.

274
Law3 (Research Fellow)
[Length of interview: 12 minutes]

1) What is most important for you? Content, Clarity, Visuals or

Originality?

I would say originality.

2) What ‘elements’ in your poster do you think help the reader com-
prehend its content?

Some people prepare printed poster boards, while others prepare sheets of paper
with a title, abstract, core results, graphs, and charts, and then attach them in a
meaningful sequence to a poster board. The idea is to present your project so
that the topic, dataset, and main results are immediately identifiable, and the
empirical questions and hypotheses guiding your work are noted (perhaps in
bullet point form). Ideally, your data will be presented visually through charts
and graphs so someone can quickly grasp what you found. Ideas for future
work can also be noted. Less (detail, that is) is often more. The poster should be
readable from several feet away.

3) What ‘elements’ do you think make your poster attractive?

I think this poster has a very nice layout, because it’s not your traditional layout
in columns. I mean, columns give you a very nice layout and structure, but if
you compare this poster with your standard poster, I’m pretty confident that
people will get interested in the poster, because it just looks different, it stands
out. Standing out should be some goal of your poster to get people interested
however this is kind of a difficult thing because with scientific data you can’t
do it like this. This is more like a loose concept and you don’t have the typical
structure of your normal poster, but maybe keep in mind that you should have
one eye-catching element in your poster even if it is traditionally organised.

4) What advice do you usually give to fellow researchers in your

field, when devising a poster?

Seek out help from your school’s library staff or media production or public
relations department. Some libraries have poster-printing facilities, and there
are software programs that make it easy to design a poster. Develop two or three
variations of your poster, and then solicit feedback from colleagues.

275
 A standard law review article is typically not good poster material. Good post-
ers have graphs, charts, pictures, or other material beyond straight text. So ana-
lyse your research or scholarly work ruthlessly to determine its fit for poster
presentation.

Remember that the poster is free advertising for you and your school. Make
sure that your name and your school’s name and logo are on the poster.

If the poster is based on an article, don’t just copy and paste the entire article.
You should condense the article as much as possible and include instead the
citation to the article.

Law4 (Assistant Professor)

[Length of interview: 17 minutes]

1) What is most important for you? Content, Clarity, Visuals or

Originality?

Visuals and originality, definitely. Clarity is also important.

2) What ‘elements’ in your poster do you think help the reader com-
prehend its content?

Balance the title with some well-selected quotes and excerpts and then some-
thing visually interesting –a chart, a diagram, a picture. Use plenty of white
space, as well as a judicious amount of color. Use all the techniques that you
would use to help a reader through a brief, such as headings, numbering, and
simple, clear language.

3) What ‘elements’ do you think make your poster attractive?

I actually really like my poster, because it’s very simple. We brought this poster
to a conference and it was really nice to discuss the poster in front of people
because there is only very few text and just a few pictures so it’s not overwhelm-
ing, it’s very clear and you can point out important things with the pictures so
it’s very easy to pitch the main ideas to the people who are interested in your
poster. However this really depends on the topic you want to present, because
if you have some scientific experiments and things like this you also need to
include some background information, and some Materials and Methods sec-
tion, so in this case it was just a project we were working on, not so much data,
more like a concept on a project that could be implemented.

276
4) What advice do you usually give to fellow researchers in your
field, when devising a poster?

The first time I attended a poster session, I remember I copied and pasted a great
deal of my paper onto the poster. It was easy, I was happy with it and didn’t
know any better. Now I would definitely select my text better.

CPsy1 (Tenured Professor)

[Length of interview: 25 minutes]

1) What is most important for you? Content, Clarity, Visuals or

Originality?

Content is what I value most, but everything else is also important.

2) What ‘elements’ in your poster do you think help the reader com-
prehend its content?

You need an abstract, introduction, method, results, discussion, references, and

(if relevant) figures or tables

Arrange your work such that the sections flow from top to bottom in columns,
not from left to right in rows.

You can use bullet points to organize your ideas, but write in complete sen-
tences.

3) What ‘elements’ do you think make your poster attractive?

I don’t mix a large number of fonts. Instead, I make the headings/title a sans
serif font (e.g., Arial, Helvetica) and the body of the text a serif font (e.g., Pala-
tino, Times).
Color is encouraged, but limit the number of colors to create an overall theme
for the poster.
Use a light colored background with black or dark colored text printed. Avoid
dark backgrounds with white letters because it uses a tremendous amount of
ink.
Images should only be used when they complement/explain the subject matter

277
4) What advice do you usually give to fellow researchers in your
field, when devising a poster?

I recommend using a crisp, clean design and a strong title; making illustrations
simple and bold; conveying only selected portions of your research (key find-
ings) rather than the entire research history; and converting tables to graphs
for easier viewing. Keep our particular format in mind--a poster on an easel
with tripod--as you think about how to present your work most effectively. It’s
frequent I think, for researchers in this discipline to rely on templates down-
loaded from Internet, borrowed from colleagues or provided by free software. It
helps authors in designing and constructing balanced and professional-looking
conference posters. […] That’s my main concern: I want my poster to look pro-
fessional and to be clear. With templates, I get the right colours, the right pro-
portions and I just have to fill in the blocks of text.

CPsy2 (Associate Professor)

[Length of interview: 21 minutes]

1) What is most important for you? Content, Clarity, Visuals or

Originality?

All of these aspects should be taken into consideration, although I believe con-
tent is the most important aspect of the work.

2) What ‘elements’ in your poster do you think help the reader com-
prehend its content?

Design the poster to address one central question. State the question clearly in
the poster, then use your discussion time with individuals to expand or expound
upon issues surrounding that central theme.
Also make sure that the colour is emphasising something important.
When you spot arrows in posters that are pointing to the next box you should
read…when you use arrows to the next box you should read, your layout is
probably not very good. So the poster should have a natural flow and should be
self-explaining which way it should be read.

3) What ‘elements’ do you think make your poster attractive?

If you can, use color in your visuals. Vary the size and spacing of the poster sec-
tions to add visual interest, but do so in moderation. Do not use school mascots
or logos on the poster; they add a useless visual distraction to the poster, and
indicate a degree of jingoism incompatible with scientific endeavors.

278
4) What advice do you usually give to fellow researchers in your
field, when devising a poster?

I stole the idea [for my poster] from another poster but I think it’s not a really a
big problem because design is always re-design so look at some posters and get
inspired and just take the best parts from each poster for your own poster. At the
end of the day it won’t look all the same, you will have your own style in there.
Prepare a single page copy of your poster (8 1/2 x 11, color or b/w) with your
abstract or overview, key references, and contact information printed on the
back.  For a real poster session, you’d bring 50 or so of these, so that interested
parties could take it along with them (rather like a brochure). 

CPsy3 (PhD student)

[Length of interview: 20 minutes]

1) What is most important for you? Content, Clarity, Visuals or

Originality?

Clarity and content, followed by visuals and originality.

2) What ‘elements’ in your poster do you think help the reader com-
prehend its content?

Divide the contents of your poster into appropriate sections. For instance -- title
of paper, author, institutional affiliation; abstract; methodology; data; results;
conclusions. Be sure to include each section on a separate sheet(s) of paper.
Be concise with your written material. Save elaborative points for discussion/
interaction with viewers. For conclusions, focus on a central finding that lends
itself to informal discussion.

3) What ‘elements’ do you think make your poster attractive?

A poster should not be a journal article pasted on the wall.  Since the researcher
is present, the poster need not stand on its own.  Its job is to entice those passing
to stop and chat … to make it unnecessary for the researcher to present the basic
idea and method … to serve as a focal point for the discussion.
I have learned from reading other people’s papers and posters that I need to
follow some sort of format. First I include an introduction, then the literature
review, the methodology and so on. If I didn’t proceed like this, I wouldn’t
be following APA guidelines and my paper or poster, I think, would not be
accepted anywhere. Colour is a plus, up to a limit (don’t blind your audience)

279
4) What advice do you usually give to fellow researchers in your
field, when devising a poster?

Condense! You cannot possible present everything you know on the topic in that
small space!! Include only your important points, and use bullets rather than a
paragraph format; complete sentences are not required.

CPsy4 (PhD student)

[Length of interview: 26 minutes]

1) What is most important for you? Content, Clarity, Visuals or

Originality?

Clarity and Content.

2) What ‘elements’ in your poster do you think help the reader com-
prehend its content?

In addition to a title/author label and abstract, most successful posters provide

brief statements of introduction, method, subjects, procedure, results, and con-
clusions. Ask yourself, “What would I need to know if I were viewing this
material for the first time?” and then state that information clearly. I personally
avoid fonts that are script or difficult to read.

3) What ‘elements’ do you think make your poster attractive?

Use graphs, charts and/or tables (color if possible) to show results. Graph-
ics help make your poster interesting. A neutral poster or matte board is more
amenable to the eye than a bright colored background. A splash of color here
and there, perhaps highlighting central finding(s) or provocative results, will
make your poster “stand out” from the crowd.

4) What advice do you usually give to fellow researchers in your

field, when devising a poster?

Since a poster is essentially a visual presentation, try to find ways to show

what was done – use schematic diagrams, arrows, and other strategies to
direct the visual attention of the viewer, rather than explaining it all using
text alone.
The very first poster I made it was just the typical wall of text that you see so
often. Everyone just tries to put as much information on the poster as they can

280
but on a conference no one will stand in front of a poster and read it for ten
minutes. Also the edge of the bottom of the paper is not very big, so when I
actually printed this thing and put it in the frame on the wall of our Department
it was cutting off some text in the edges, because the frame was overlapping. So
make sure you have some distance from the text and the bottom.

281
Appendix 6

List of textual metadiscourse markers searched (Hyland 2000, 2004)

Interactive Devices

Transitions Whereas in conclusion

While to sum up
And
Although in sum
But
Even though summarise
Therefore
Though overall
Thereby
Yet on the whole
So
Nevertheless all in all
So as to
Nonetheless so far
In addition
Hence by far
Similarly
Thus thus far
Equally
Leads to to repeat
Likewise
Moreover Frame Markers (announce goals)
Furthermore
(sequencing) my purpose
In contrast
the aim
By contrast to start with
I intend
As a result first(ly)
I seek
The result is second(ly)
I wish
Result in etc
I argue
Since next
I propose
Because to begin
I suggest
Consequently last(ly)
I discuss
As a consequence finally
I would like to
Accordingly subsequently
I/we will focus on/emphasis
On the other hand numbering (1,2,3, etc)
My goal is
On the contrary listing
In this section
However
Besides (label stages) In this chapter
Here I do this
Also to conclude Here I will

282
(topic shifts) .. Table X
in fact Example X
well
viz Page X
now
specifically
so Evidentials
such as
to move on
or X (date)
to look more closely
put another way according to X
to come back to
known as cite
in regard to
defined as quote
with regard to
called established
to digress
said
Endophoric Markers
Code glosses says
See / noted / discussed X points out /to
For example
below X indicates
Say
See / noted / discussed X argues
For instance
above X claims
e.g.
See / noted / discussed X believes
i.e.
earlier X suggests
that is
See / noted / discussed X shows
that is to say
later X proves
namely
See / noted / discussed X demonstrates
in other wors
before X found that
this means
Section X Studies / research /
which means
Chapter X literature
()
Fig. X

Interactional Devices

Attitude markers Have to Should (obligation)

Hopefully Surprisingly
!
Important(ly) Unfortunate(ly)
admittedly
Interesting(ly) Unusually
I agree
Like Understandably
Amazingly
Prefer
Appropriately Engagement Markers
Glad
Correctly
Pleased ()
Curiously
Must (obligation) ?
Disappointing
Ought (obligation) incidentally
Disagree
Prefer by the way
Even x
Preferable setermine
Fortunately
Remarkable consider

283
find Of course sure
imagne Decided(ly) surely
let X = Y Definite(ly) surmise
Let’s Demonstrate (we) think
Let us Determine true
Note (that) Doubtless unambiguous(ly)
Notice Is essential unarguab(ly)
Our (inlusive) Essential undeniab(ly)
Recall Establish unequivocal(ly)
Us (includes reader) Evidence unmistakabl(ly)
We (includes reader) Evidently undoubtedly
You expect well-known
Your In fact will
One The fact that won’t
One’s We Find wouldn’t
Assume find wrong(ly)
Think about Found that
Hedges
Given that
Person Markers
Impossible(ly) About
I Improbable(ly) Admittedly
We Indeed Almost
Me Inevitable(ly) (not) always
My (we) know apparently
Our it is known that/to appear (to be)
Mine (at) least approximately
manifest(ly) argue
Boosters more than around
Actually must assume
Always necessarily assumption
Apparent never basically
Assured(ly) no / beyond doubt my / our belief
I believe obvious(ly) I believe
Certain that of course believed
Certainly particularly A certain X
Certainty patently Certain extent /amount/
Certain that level/degree
Clear(ly) perceive I / we claim
It is clear plain(ly) Conceivab(ly)
Conclude precise(ly) Conjecture
Conclusive(ly) prove Consistent with
Confirm (without) question Contention
Convince quite reliable(ly) Could
Convincingly show Couldn’t
Couldn’t we show Deduce

284
Discern normally seemingly
Doubt occasionally seldom
Essentially often (general) sense
Estimate ostensibly should
Evidently partly shouldn’t
Formally partially somewhat
Frequently perceive sometimes
(in) general perhaps speculate
generally plausible suggest
guess possibility superficially
hypothesise possible(ly) suppose
hypothetically postulate surmise
ideally predict suspect
(we) imagne prediction technically
implication predominantly tend
imply presumable(ly) tendency
indicate presume in theory
infer probable(ly) theoretically
interprest probability typically
largely provided that uncertain
likely propose unclear
mainly open to question unlikely
may questionable unsure
maybe quite usually
might rare(ly) virtually
more or less rather would
most relatively wouldn’t
mostly seen (as0 little/not understood
not necessarily seem(s)

285
Appendix 7

1. Data from Particle Physics subcorpus

Table 1. Recurrence of Transitions in Physics posters.

Word / Cluster Role Raw frequency Normalized

frequency (per
100,000 words)
and Addition 529 1,485
but Comparison 25 70
also Addition 21 59
since Consequence 9 25
while Comparison 9 25
so Consequence 6 17
therefore Consequence 5 14
however Comparison 4 11
because Consequence 3 8
although Comparison 3 8
in addition Addition 2 6
yet Comparison 2 6
hence Consequence 2 6
leads to Consequence 2 6
furthermore Addition 1 3
as a result Consequence 1 3
result in Consequence 1 3
consequently Consequence 1 3
as a consequence Consequence 1 3

286
Word / Cluster Role Raw frequency Normalized
frequency (per
100,000 words)
on the other hand Comparison 1 3
on the contrary Comparison 1 3
though Comparison 1 3
TOTAL 630 1,770

Table 2. Recurrence of Code Glosses in Physics posters.

Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency (per

100,000 words)
or X 55 154
() 43 121
e.g. 10 28
called 9 25
i.e. 8 22
such as 5 14
that is 4 11
For example 3 8
defined as 2 6
For instance 1 3
this means 1 3
in fact 1 3
TOTAL 142 398

Table 3. Recurrence of Frame Markers in Physics posters.

Type Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency

(per 100,000 words)
  listing 65 182

  numbering (1,2,3, etc) 24 67

  etc 6 17
  last(ly) 3 8

287
Type Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency
(per 100,000 words)
sequencing finally 2 6
  to start with 1 3
  first(ly) 1 3
sub total   102 286
  so far 2 6
sub total   2 6
  the aim 2 6
  I seek 2 6

  I would like to 2 6

  In this section 2 6

  My goal is 1 3
  my purpose 1 1
sub total   10 28
  well 0  
  now 0  
  so 0  
  to move on 0  

topic shifts to look more closely 0  

 
to come back to 0  

  in regard to 0  
 
with regard to 0  

  to digress 0  
sub total   0 0
TOTAL   114 320

288
Table 4. Recurrence of Endophoric Markers in Physics posters.

Normalized frequency
Word / Cluster Raw frequency
(per 100,000 words)
Example X 10 28
Fig. X 9 25
Table X 7 20
(See / noted / discussed) below 2 6
(See / noted / discussed) above 1 3
TOTAL 29 82

Table 5. Recurrence of Evidentials in Physics posters

Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency (per

100,000 words)
Studies / research / literature 9 25
X shows 9 25
X suggests 1 3
TOTAL 19 53

Table 6. Recurrence of boosters in Physics posters

Normalized frequency (per

Word / Cluster Raw frequency
100,000 words)
actually 0
always 1 3
apparent 0
assured(ly) 0
i believe 0
certain that 0
certainly 1 3
certainty 0
certain that 0
clear(ly) 7 20
it is clear 0
conclude 2 6
conclusive(ly) 0

289
 Normalized frequency (per
Word / Cluster Raw frequency
100,000 words)
confirm 1 3
convince 0
convincingly 0
couldn’t 0
of course 0
decided(ly) 0
definite(ly) 0
demonstrate 0
determine 4 11
doubtless 0
essential 1 3
establish 0
evidence 2 6
evidently 0
expect 1 3
in fact 1 3
the fact that 3 8
we find 0
find 5 14
found that 0
given that 1 3
impossible(ly) 0
improbable(ly) 0
indeed 0
inevitable(ly) 0
(we) know 2 6
it is known that/to 0
(at) least 4 11
manifest(ly) 0
more than 3 8
must 9 25
necessarily 0
never 1 3
no / beyond doubt 0

290
 Normalized frequency (per
Word / Cluster Raw frequency
100,000 words)
obvious(ly) 0
of course 0
particularly 0
patently 0
perceive 0
plain(ly) 0
precise(ly) 6 17
prove 0
(without) question 0
quite reliable(ly) 3 8
show 11 31
we show 1 3
Sure(ly) 5 14
surmise 0
(we) think 0
true 5 14
unambiguous(ly) 0
unarguab(ly) 0
undeniab(ly) 0
unequivocal(ly) 0
unmistakabl(ly) 0
undoubtedly 0
well-known 0
will 51 143
won’t 0
wouldn’t 0
wrong(ly) 5 14

Table 7. Recurrence of hedges in Physics posters

Word / Cluster Normalized frequency (per

Raw frequency
100,000 words)
About 22 62
Admittedly 0

291
Word / Cluster Normalized frequency (per
Raw frequency
100,000 words)
Almost 1 3
(not) always 0
apparently 0
appear (to be) 0
approximately 0
argue 0
around 10 28
assume 1 3
assumption 1 3
basically 0
my / our belief 0
I believe 0
believed 1 3
A certain X 1 3
Certain extent /amount/level/ 0
degree
I / we claim 0
Conceivab(ly) 0
Conjecture 0
Consistent with 2 6
Contention 0
Could 4 11
Couldn’t 0
Deduce 1 3
Discern 0
Doubt 0
Essentially 0
Estimate 1 3
Evidently 0
Formally 0
Frequently 1 3
(in) general 2 6

292
Word / Cluster Normalized frequency (per
Raw frequency
100,000 words)
generally 0
guess 0
hypothesise 0
hypothetically 0
ideally 0
(we) imagine 0
implication 0
imply 0
indicate 2 6
infer 0
interpret 0
largely 0
likely 0
mainly 7 20
may 2 6
maybe 0
might 3 8
more or less 0
most 10 28
mostly 3 8
not necessarily 0
normally 0
occasionally 0
often 3 8
ostensibly 0
partly 0
partially 1 3
perceive 0
perhaps 0
plausible 0
possibility 3 8

293
Word / Cluster Normalized frequency (per
Raw frequency
100,000 words)
possible(ly) 6 17
postulate 0
predict 4 11
prediction 4 11
predominantly 2 6
presumable(ly) 1 3
presume 0
probable(ly) 0
probability 1 3
provided that 0
propose 0
open to question 0
questionable 0
quite 1 3
rare(ly) 1 3
rather 3 8
relatively 1 3
seen (as) 2 6
seem(s) 2 6
seemingly 0
seldom 0
(general) sense 0
should 2 6
shouldn’t 0
somewhat 0
sometimes 0
speculate 0
suggest 4 11
superficially 0
suppose 0
surmise 0

294
Word / Cluster Normalized frequency (per
Raw frequency
100,000 words)
suspect 0
technically 0
tend 1 3
tendency 0
in theory 0
theoretically 1 3
typically 4 11
uncertain 0
unclear 0
unlikely 0
unsure 0
usually 1 3
virtually 0
would 6 17
wouldn’t 0
little/not understood 0

Table 8. Recurrence of engagement markers in Physics posters

Normalized frequency (per

Word / Cluster Raw frequency
100,000 words)
() 11 31
? 29 81
incidentally
by the way
determine 4 11
consider 3 8
find 5 14
imagine 1 3
let X = Y
Let’s
Let us

295
 Normalized frequency (per
Word / Cluster Raw frequency
100,000 words)
Note (that)
Notice
Our (inclusive) 2 6
Recall
Us (includes reader) 2 6
We (includes reader) 16 45
You 7 20
Your 2 6
One 3 8
One’s
Assume 1 3
Think about

Table 9. Recurrence of self mentions in Physics posters

Normalized frequency (per

Word / Cluster Raw frequency
100,000 words)
I 1 3
We 29 81
Me 1 3
My 1 3
Our 6 17
Mine

Table 10. Recurrence of attitude markers in Physics posters

Normalized frequency (per

Word / Cluster Raw frequency
100,000 words)
! 14 39
admittedly
I agree
Amazingly
Appropriately 1 3

296
 Normalized frequency (per
Word / Cluster Raw frequency
100,000 words)
Correctly 2 6
Curiously
Disappointing
Disagree
Even x 2 6
Fortunately
Have to 2 6
Hopefully 1 3
Important(ly) 5 14
Interesting(ly) 10 28
Like 2 6
Prefer
Glad
Pleased
Must (obligation) 9 25
Ought (obligation)
Prefer
Preferable
Remarkable
Should (obligation) 0
Surprisingly
Unfortunate(ly)
Unusually
Understandably

297
2. Data from Law subcorpus

Table 11. Recurrence of Transitions in Law posters

Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency

and 614 2,500
but 29 118
therefore 3 12
thereby
so 1 4
so as to
in addition 3 12
similarly 2 8
equally 2 8
likewise
moreover 5 20
furthermore
in contrast
by contrast 1 4
as a result 1 4
the result is
result in 6 24
since 8 32
because 19 77
consequently
as a consequence
accordingly
on the other hand 1 4
on the contrary
however 6 24
besides 2 8
also 24 98
whereas 4 16

298
Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency
while 8 32
although 7 28
even though 0
though 2 8
yet 13 53
nevertheless 1 4
nonetheless
hence
thus 4 16
leads to

Table 12. Recurrence of code glosses in Law posters

Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency

For example 8 32
Say 2 8
For instance
e.g. 8 32
i.e. 2 8
that is 3 12
that is to say
namely
in other words
this means
which means 1 4
() 110 448
..
in fact
viz
specifically 1 4
such as 11 45
or X 86 350
put another way

299
Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency
known as
defined as
called 1 4

Table 13. Recurrence of frame markers in Law posters

Normalized
Type Word / Cluster Raw frequency
frequency
to start with
(sequencing) first(ly) 1 4
second(ly) 1 4
etc 9 36
next 4 16
to begin 8 32
last(ly) 3 12
finally 2 8
subsequently
numbering (1,2,3, etc) 13 53
listing
to conclude 1 4
(label stages) in conclusion 8 32
to sum up
in sum
summarise
overall 5 20
on the whole
all in all
so far
by far
thus far
to repeat 6 24

300
 Normalized
Type Word / Cluster Raw frequency
frequency
my purpose
(announce My/the aim/purpose 2 8
goals)
I intend
I seek 4 16
I wish 2 8
I argue 1 4
I propose
I suggest 1 4
I discuss
I would like to 4 16
I/we will focus on/emphasis 1 4
My/the goal is 3 12
In this section
In this chapter
Here I do this
Here I will
well 0
(topic shifts) now 0
so
to move on
to look more closely
to come back to
in regard to
with regard to 3 12
to digress

Table 14. Recurrence of evidentials in Law posters

Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency

(date) 12 49
according to X 1 4
cite

301
Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency
quote
established 3 12
said 2 8
says
X points out /to 2 8
X indicates 3 12
X argues 1 4
X claims 5 20
X believes
X suggests 3 12
X shows 4 16
X proves 2 8
X demonstrates
X found that 1 4

Table 15. Recurrence of endophoric markers in Law posters

Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized

frequency
See / noted / discussed below 2 8
See / noted / discussed above
See / noted / discussed earlier
See / noted / discussed later
See / noted / discussed before
Section X 1 4
Chapter X
Fig. X
Table X
Example X 6 24
Page X

302
Table 16. Recurrence of hedges in Law posters

Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency

About 1 4
Admittedly
Almost 2 8
(not) always 2 8
apparently 0
appear (to be) 4 16
approximately 1 4
argue 1 4
around
assume 1 4
assumption 2 8
basically 0
my / our belief 0
I believe 0
believed 3 12
A certain X
Certain extent /amount/level/ 0
degree
I / we claim 0
Conceivab(ly) 0
Conjecture 0
Consistent with 8 32
Contention 0
Could 22 89
Couldn’t 0
Deduce
Discern 0
Doubt 0
Essentially 0
Estimate 1 4
Evidently 0

303
Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency
Formally 0
Frequently 1 4
(in) general 1 4
generally 11 45
guess 0
hypothesise 0
hypothetically 0
ideally 0
(we) imagine 0
implication 0
imply 0
indicate 4 16
infer 0
interpret 1 4
largely 5 20
likely 16 65
mainly
may 31 126
maybe 0
might 13 53
more or less 0
most 26 106
mostly 2 8
not necessarily 0
normally 0
occasionally 0
often 19 77
ostensibly 0
partly 0
partially
perceive 3 12
perhaps 3 12

304
Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency
plausible 0
possibility 2 8
possible(ly) 16 65
postulate 0
predict
prediction
predominantly
presumable(ly)
presume 0
probable(ly) 0
probability 2 8
provided that 0
propose 0
open to question 0
questionable 0
quite 2 8
rare(ly)
rather 7 27
relatively 1 4
seen (as)
seem(s) 1 4
seemingly 0
seldom 0
(general) sense 0
should 32 130
shouldn’t 0
somewhat 0
sometimes 5 20
speculate 0
suggest 1 4
superficially 0
suppose 1 4

305
Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency
surmise 0
suspect 0
technically 0
tend 6 24
tendency 0
in theory 0
theoretically
typically 1 4
uncertain 0
unclear 2 8
unlikely 0
unsure 0
usually
virtually 1 4
would 35 142
wouldn’t 0
little/not understood 0

Table 17. Recurrence of boosters in Law posters

Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency

actually 1 4
always 6 24
apparent 1 4
assured(ly) 0
i believe 0
certain that 0
certainly 2 8
certainty 0
certain that 0
clear(ly) 14 57
it is clear 1 4
conclude 1 4

306
Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency
conclusive(ly) 1 4
confirm
convince 1 4
convincingly 0
couldn’t 0
of course 0
decided(ly) 0
definite(ly) 0
demonstrate 5 20
determine 6 24
doubtless 0
essential 2 8
establish 0
evidence 0
evidently 0
expect 3 12
in fact
the fact that 3 12
we find 0
find 6 24
found that 1 4
given that 1 4
impossible(ly) 2 8
improbable(ly) 0
indeed 3 12
inevitable(ly) 2 8
(we) know
it is known that/to 0
(at) least 3 12
manifest(ly) 0
more than 4 16
must 20 81

307
Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency
necessarily 0
never 5 20
no / beyond doubt 0
obvious(ly) 1 4
of course 0
particularly 4 16
patently 0
perceive 3 12
plain(ly) 0
precise(ly)
prove 0
(without) question 0
quite reliable(ly) 2 8
show 6 24
we show 1 4
Sure(ly) 5 20
surmise 0
(we) think 4 16
true 3 12
unambiguous(ly) 0
unarguab(ly) 0
undeniab(ly) 0
unequivocal(ly) 1 4
unmistakabl(ly) 1 4
undoubtedly 1 4
well-known 0
will 53 216
won’t 0
wouldn’t 0
wrong(ly) 1 4

308
Table 18. Recurrence of engagement markers in Law posters

Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency

() 32 130
? 24 98
incidentally
by the way
determine 13 53
consider 6 24
find 6 24
imagine
let X = Y 1 4
Let’s
Let us
Note (that)
Notice 1 4
Our (inclusive) 9 37
Recall
Us (includes reader) 3 41
We (includes reader) 10 40
You 29 118
Your 20 81
One 40 163
One’s
Assume 1 4
Think about 1 4

Table 19. Recurrence of self mentions in Law posters

Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency

I 32 130
We 26 106
Me 6 24
My 19 77

309
Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency
Our 5 20
Mine

Table 20. Recurrence of attitude markers in Law posters

Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency

!
admittedly
I agree
Amazingly
Appropriately
Correctly
Curiously
Disappointing
Disagree 0
Even x
Fortunately
Have to 1 4
Hopefully
Important(ly) 6 24
Interesting(ly) 1 4
Like 0
Prefer 1 4
Glad
Pleased
Must (obligation) 9 37
Ought (obligation)
Prefer
Preferable
Remarkable
Should (obligation) 32 130
Surprisingly
Unfortunate(ly) 2 8

310
Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency
Unusually
Understandably

3. Data from Clinical Psychology subcorpus

Table 21. Recurrence of frame markers in Psychology posters

Normalized
Type Word / Cluster Raw frequency
frequency
to start with
(sequencing) first(ly)
second(ly)
etc
next
to begin
last(ly) 1 2
finally
subsequently
numbering (1,2,3, etc) 120 255
listing 210 447

311
 Normalized
Type Word / Cluster Raw frequency
frequency
to conclude
(label stages) in conclusion 3 6
to sum up
in sum
summarise 1 2
overall 1 2
on the whole
all in all
so far
by far
thus far 1 2
to repeat 2 4
my purpose
(announce the aim 6 13
goals)
I intend
I seek
I wish
I argue
I propose
I suggest
I discuss
I would like to
I/we will focus on/empha-
sis
My goal is
In this section
In this chapter
Here I do this
Here I will

312
 Normalized
Type Word / Cluster Raw frequency
frequency
well
(topic shifts) now
so
to move on
to look more closely
to come back to
in regard to
with regard to
to digress

Table 22. Recurrence of transitions in Psychology posters

Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency

and 249 530
but 10 21
therefore 3 6
thereby
so 1 2
so as to
in addition 1 2
similarly
equally
likewise
moreover 1 2
furthermore 1 2
in contrast 1 2
by contrast
as a result
the result is
result in 2 4
since 2 4
because 2 4

313
Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency
consequently
as a consequence
accordingly
on the other hand
on the contrary
however 6 12
besides
also 10 21
whereas
while 2 4
although 4 8
even though 1 2
though 1 2
yet 1 2
nevertheless
nonetheless
hence 1 2
thus 3 6
leads to 2 4

Table 23. Recurrence of endophoric markers in Psychology posters

Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency

For example
Say
For instance
e.g. 3 6
i.e. 1 2
that is 2 4
that is to say
namely
in other wors
this means

314
Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency
which means
() 147 313
..
in fact
viz
specifically
such as 2 4
or X 28 59
put another way
known as
defined as 2 4
called 1 2

Table 24. Recurrence of Evidentials in Psychology posters

Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency

(date) 10 21
according to X 3 6
cite 39 83
quote 19 40
established
said
says
X points out /to
X indicates
X argues
X claims 2 4
X believes
X suggests
X shows 4 8
X proves
X demonstrates
X found that 1 2
Studies / research / literature 22 47

315
Table 25. Recurrence of endophoric markers in Psychology posters

Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency

See / noted / discussed below
See / noted / discussed above
See / noted / discussed earlier
See / noted / discussed later
See / noted / discussed before
Section X
Chapter X
Fig. X 8 17
Table X 6 13
Example X
Page X

Table 26. Recurrence of hedges in Psychology posters

Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency

About
Admittedly
Almost 2 4
(not) always
apparently
appear (to be) 1 2
approximately 2 4
argue
around
assume
assumption 1 2
basically
my / our belief
I believe
believed
A certain X
Certain extent /amount/level/
degree

316
Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency
I / we claim
Conceivab(ly)
Conjecture
Consistent with 4 8
Contention
Could 2 4
Couldn’t
Deduce
Discern
Doubt
Essentially
Estimate
Evidently
Formally
Frequently 2 4
(in) general 2 4
generally 1 2
guess
hypothesise
hypothetically
ideally
(we) imagine
implication
imply
indicate
infer
interpret
largely
likely 7 15
mainly
may 11 23
maybe
might 2
more or less
most 11 23

317
Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency
mostly
not necessarily
normally
occasionally
often 2 4
ostensibly
partly
partially
perceive 1 2
perhaps
plausible
possibility 1 2
possible(ly) 2 4
postulate
predict 1 2
prediction 1 2
predominantly 1 2
presumable(ly)
presume
probable(ly)
probability
provided that
propose
open to question
questionable
quite
rare(ly) 1 2
rather 1 2
relatively
seen (as)
seem(s) 2 4
seemingly
seldom
(general) sense
should

318
Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency
shouldn’t
somewhat
sometimes 1 2
speculate
suggest 3 6
superficially
suppose
surmise
suspect
technically
tend
tendency
in theory 1 2
theoretically
typically
uncertain
unclear
unlikely 1 2
unsure
usually 2 4
virtually
would 4 8
wouldn’t
little/not understood

319
Table 27. Recurrence of boosters in Psychology posters

Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency

actually 1 2
always
apparent 1 2
assured(ly)
i believe
certain that
certainly
certainty
certain that
clear(ly) 2 4
it is clear 1 2
conclude
conclusive(ly)
confirm 2 4
convince
convincingly
couldn’t
of course
decided(ly)
definite(ly)
demonstrate
determine 2 4
doubtless
essential 3 6
establish
evidence 2 4
evidently
expect
in fact
the fact that 2 4
we find

320
Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency
find
found that 1 2
given that
impossible(ly)
improbable(ly)
indeed 1 2
inevitable(ly)
(we) know
it is known that/to
(at) least
manifest(ly)
more than 1 2
must 1 2
necessarily 2
never
no / beyond doubt
obvious(ly)
of course
particularly
patently
perceive 1 2
plain(ly)
precise(ly)
prove
(without) question
quite reliable(ly)
show 4 8
we show
Sure(ly)
surmise
(we) think
true

321
Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency
unambiguous(ly)
unarguab(ly)
undeniab(ly)
unequivocal(ly)
unmistakabl(ly)
undoubtedly
well-known
will
won’t
wouldn’t
wrong(ly)

Table 28. Recurrence of self-mentions in Psychology posters

Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency

I 6 13
We 10 21
Me
My
Our 3 6
Mine

Table 29. Recurrence of engagement markers in Psychology posters

Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency

()
? 4 8
incidentally
by the way
determine
consider
find
imagine

322
Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency
let X = Y
Let’s
Let us
Note (that) 1 2
Notice
Our (inclusive) 1 2
Recall
Us (includes reader)
We (includes reader) 1 2
You
Your
One
One’s
Assume
Think about

Table 30. Recurrence of attitude markers in Psychology posters

Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency

!
admittedly
I agree
Amazingly
Appropriately
Correctly
Curiously
Disappointing
Disagree
Even x
Fortunately
Have to
Hopefully
Important(ly) 4 8

323
Word / Cluster Raw frequency Normalized frequency
Interesting(ly)
Like
Prefer
Glad
Pleased
Must (obligation) 1 2
Ought (obligation)
Prefer
Preferable
Remarkable
Should (obligation)
Surprisingly
Unfortunate(ly)
Unusually
Understandably

324
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Index
AALS, 16, 104, 235, 239, 274, 348
APA, 106, 233, 243, 244, 279, 360
ATLAS, 111, 140, 141, 142, 153, 349
abstract, 24, 33, 34, 36, 40, 43, 48, 49,
51, 52, 54, 105, 106, 130, 235,
243, 250, 251, 270, 273, 275, 277,
279, 280, 325, 329, 331, 334, 335,
337, 343, 346, 351, 353, 354, 355,
358, 360
accuracy, 84, 119, 120, 121, 123,
187, 198
adverbials, 30, 65, 360
advertisements, 27, 127, 132
aesthetics, 72, 353
aim, 15, 16, 25, 38, 42, 55, 78, 119, 122,
138, 144, 153, 155, 198, 208, 209,
253, 282, 288, 301, 312
alignment, 50, 125, 131, 132, 139, 140,
147, 159, 165, 169, 191, 211,
227, 252
analytical, 70, 125, 133, 136, 139, 147,
165, 166, 190, 193, 208, 210, 225,
227, 235, 250, 251, 269
annotated, 15, 143, 329
anthropology, 67, 68, 338
appraisal, 56
argumentation, 34, 116, 122, 155, 326
arrows, 135, 154, 164, 170, 171, 179,
252, 278, 280
artistic, 45, 72, 335
asymmetry, 162
audience, 14, 24, 27, 38, 41, 51, 55, 56,
58, 59, 60, 66, 114, 115, 118, 145,
187, 234, 235, 243, 244, 246, 248,
249, 255, 270, 272, 273, 279, 351
authority, 40, 59, 145, 335, 353, 357
BAPEN, 351
BASE, 43, 25 4, 357
background, 22, 26, 44, 64, 66, 81, 90,
99, 111, 112, 116, 119, 126, 127,
138, 141, 152, 154, 156, 169, 191,
273, 276, 277, 280
backup, 110
balance, 17, 48, 51, 74, 75, 77, 81, 84,
86, 111, 211, 218, 238, 244, 245,
248, 276, 278
banner, 95
best-practice, 73
biology, 13, 20, 34, 329, 335, 354
boosters, 27, 59, 60, 115, 118, 122, 123,
146, 149, 151, 157, 158, 159, 160,
173, 174, 175, 184, 186, 195, 197,
202, 203, 204, 213, 221, 222, 248,
249, 284, 289, 306, 320
CANCODE, 9, 77, 361
categories, 21, 40, 62, 77, 88, 124, 144
centre, 20, 32, 39, 48, 58, 83, 96, 100,
103, 107, 108, 125, 126, 128, 129,
139, 146, 166, 190, 194, 208, 211,
226, 227, 233, 234, 252, 257, 325,
326, 355, 359, 360
chain, 39, 40
chemistry, 35, 330, 334
citations, 41, 200, 357
classification, 9, 10, 20, 21, 23, 32, 34,
133, 135, 143, 144, 145, 329,
337, 355
clusters, 23, 121, 123
coding, 140, 142
cognitive, 35, 329, 330, 336, 345
coherent, 49, 50, 116, 118, 145, 150,
173, 175, 195, 212, 246
cohesion, 132
colour, 21, 44, 58, 68, 72, 95, 125, 131,
132, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 147,
164, 165, 168, 169, 190, 191, 192,
193, 207, 208, 209, 211, 212, 223,
225, 226, 227, 232, 245, 251, 252,
256, 278, 279, 344
colloquial, 50
columns, 49, 50, 140, 141, 217, 250, 272,
275, 277
comment, 14, 56, 69, 96, 105, 106, 109,
121, 123, 247
community, 5, 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27,
28, 29, 32, 38, 39, 46, 55, 58, 64,
77, 103, 106, 117, 123, 162, 176,
177, 199, 257, 258, 260, 325, 329,
338, 344, 351
community-based, 122, 156, 181
community-recognised, 115
complex, 13, 24, 41, 43, 45, 67, 142,
164, 255, 269, 270
component, 15, 45, 47, 50, 51, 113, 123,
141, 143, 161, 189, 203, 204, 237,
254, 256
comprehensible, 50, 166, 168, 189, 195,
196, 199, 212, 223, 229, 234, 243,
249, 259
compressed, 49, 272
computer-based, 141, 142
conciseness, 48
concordancing, 142
condense, 45, 234, 235, 276, 280
conference, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 19, 24, 29,
40, 45, 54, 56, 57, 71, 86, 87, 92,
93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100,
101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 118,
232, 233, 234, 235, 237, 238, 239,
241, 242, 245, 254, 255, 256, 257,
258, 260, 261, 262, 266, 267, 274,
276, 278, 281, 326, 327, 333, 334,
346, 351, 352, 353, 354, 358, 359
confusing, 144
362
conjunctions, 65, 116, 176, 199
connective, 59, 61, 62, 63, 124, 125, 131,
132, 139, 144, 147, 164, 165, 169,
170, 171, 172, 174, 189, 190, 191,
196, 207, 208, 211, 213, 214, 223,
224, 226, 227, 229, 252, 326
construct, 22, 24, 43, 47, 66, 92, 150,
237, 238, 239, 261
content, 5, 14, 48, 50, 51, 57, 59, 65, 70,
74, 130, 133, 136, 137, 138, 166,
173, 178, 183, 193, 202, 211, 214,
215, 217, 218, 223, 227, 228, 232,
233, 235, 243, 244, 247, 248, 249,
250, 251, 252, 259, 269, 270, 271,
272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278,
279, 280
contrast, 33, 39, 71, 125, 138, 141, 147,
165, 169, 190, 191, 208, 210, 211,
225, 226, 249, 282, 298, 313
conversion process, 125, 133, 134, 139,
147, 165, 166, 182, 190, 193, 208,
210, 225, 227, 251
conventions, 14, 15, 21, 22, 38, 39, 41,
47, 51, 58, 77, 239, 254, 259,
260, 332
creativity, 15, 72, 145, 245, 327
cross-disciplinary, 6, 18, 33, 35, 57, 78,
79, 81, 214, 231, 232, 245, 249,
253, 257
culture, 28, 31, 42, 59, 178, 327, 333,
335, 348, 355
DIPP, 9, 55, 56, 255
database, 23, 56, 81, 83, 92, 102, 103,
104, 110, 111, 112, 141, 142,
255, 354
density, 120, 190, 208, 237
description, 6, 31, 47, 65, 70, 76, 110,
113, 144, 326, 331, 344
design, 5, 9, 15, 17, 19, 45, 50, 51, 54, 72,
73, 74, 75, 77, 78, 79, 81, 83, 84,
86, 87, 95, 98, 111, 137, 138, 145,
161, 163, 217, 228, 233, 241, 249,
 254, 256, 259, 261, 270, 274, 275,
278, 279, 326, 328, 329, 333, 336,
337, 338, 341, 344, 350, 354, 360
detail, 17, 30, 44, 51, 52, 66, 70, 73, 76,
81, 85, 87, 90, 106, 108, 111, 123,
124, 133, 136, 141, 160, 165, 168,
169, 170, 189, 210, 221, 247, 256,
273, 275
diagrams, 71, 133, 135, 192, 274, 280
digital, 9, 52, 55, 56, 57, 58, 255, 332,
333, 334
dimension, 13, 20, 32, 46, 58, 66, 115,
116, 149, 348
disalignment, 191
discipline-specific, 15, 32, 38, 58, 77,
226, 250, 337
discourse, 5, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19,
22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30,
31, 32, 33, 35, 37, 38, 39, 41, 46,
49, 54, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 64, 65,
66, 68, 69, 71, 77, 114, 115, 116,
117, 118, 122, 123, 124, 125, 130,
137, 138, 144, 145, 146, 147, 150,
151, 154, 173, 175, 176, 188, 195,
196, 211, 212, 218, 243, 246, 247,
250, 258, 325, 327, 328, 329, 330,
332, 333, 335, 336, 337, 340, 341,
342, 343, 344, 345, 346, 347, 350,
351, 353, 354, 355, 357, 359
economics, 91, 243, 346, 347, 359
e-poster, 56, 57, 255, 256, 333
engineering, 12, 20, 34, 37, 43, 325, 352
error, 119, 120, 122, 141, 160, 181
evidentials, 114, 117, 121, 122, 146, 149,
150, 156, 173, 174, 175, 181, 195,
197, 200, 213, 219, 220, 246, 283,
289, 301, 315
exhaustive, 243
experimental, 33, 48, 66, 155, 166, 193,
200, 209, 238, 243, 327
explanation, 17, 35, 60, 63, 94, 156, 237,
241, 242, 244, 245, 247
F1000Posters, 103, 105, 336
figures, 125, 133, 136, 139, 142, 147,
155, 165, 166, 175, 184, 193, 201,
202, 216, 218, 220, 221, 222, 223,
225, 226, 235, 246, 250, 251, 269,
273, 277, 334, 349
flowcharts, 125, 133, 135, 136, 139, 147,
165, 190, 208, 225, 227, 251
font, 95, 96, 124, 125, 137, 138, 139, 147,
164, 165, 168, 174, 189, 190, 193,
196, 207, 208, 209, 213, 214, 223,
224, 225, 226, 227, 229, 250, 251,
252, 256, 274, 277, 280, 327, 354
framework, 6, 16, 17, 37, 43, 58, 70, 71,
78, 79, 109, 113, 114, 119, 123,
124, 137, 145, 147, 160, 189, 255,
256, 333, 336, 349, 357
framing, 124, 125, 130, 131, 139, 140,
147, 165, 169, 174, 189, 190, 191,
196, 207, 208, 211, 213, 214, 223,
224, 225, 226, 250, 330
frequency, 97, 120, 142, 150, 151, 158,
160, 161, 165, 174, 176, 185, 186,
189, 190, 195, 196, 197, 203, 207,
208, 213, 214, 219, 221, 248, 286,
287, 288, 289, 290, 291, 292, 293,
294, 295, 296, 297, 298, 299, 300,
301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307,
308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 313, 314,
315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320, 321,
322, 323, 324, 343
genre-based, 37, 46, 336, 339, 357
genre-related, 254
gesture, 67, 68, 232
grammar, 35, 37, 71, 72, 332, 336, 338,
344, 360
graphics, 44, 232, 249, 269, 272, 358
guidelines, 15, 16, 45, 48, 49, 86, 87, 94,
96, 98, 100, 101, 102, 233, 234,
237, 238, 241, 244, 245, 250, 254,
257, 263, 268, 279, 325, 334,
342, 347
363
handout, 13, 39, 72, 249, 250, 326
Hardicre, 53, 338
hard-to-read, 235
headings, 10, 23, 50, 95, 137, 218, 243,
248, 252, 276, 277
hedges, 27, 30, 33, 43, 59, 60, 61, 63, 82,
115, 117, 118, 121, 123, 146, 149,
151, 157, 160, 173, 174, 175, 184,
185, 195, 197, 202, 203, 204, 213,
221, 222, 284, 291, 303, 316, 339
histograms, 154
history, 12, 13, 35, 68, 278, 331, 335, 356
humanities, 13, 20, 21, 33, 34, 105, 233,
258, 343
hybrid, 44, 232, 346
hyperlinks, 56
IMRD, 9, 27, 33, 48, 51, 54, 127, 172,
214, 218, 228, 243, 244, 245, 258,
259, 330
illustration, 138, 278, 329
image, 26, 44, 48, 49, 51, 52, 54, 56, 57,
67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 84, 113, 114,
124, 126, 169, 170, 171, 172, 188,
202, 217, 238, 255, 277, 336,
344, 352
impact, 59, 60, 188, 204, 269, 352
imperatives, 43, 118, 356
impersonal, 59, 202, 205, 249
inexperience, 15, 52, 244
informal, 45, 51, 52, 53, 258, 279
Intaraprawat, 342
interaction, 15, 43, 51, 52, 64, 65, 66, 67,
68, 69, 115, 205, 279, 327, 330,
339, 340, 349, 357
interdisciplinarity, 344, 345
inter-rater, 143, 337
intertextuality, 42, 334, 352
interview, 5, 12, 17, 18, 31, 79, 85, 86,
102, 105, 106, 108, 109, 110, 112,
120, 155, 231, 238, 244, 250, 256,
269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275,
276, 277, 278, 279, 280
364
introduction, 5, 6, 9, 11, 18, 33, 34, 35,
40, 48, 81, 126, 130, 149, 180,
218, 231, 243, 244, 247, 250, 259,
277, 279, 280, 328, 330, 338, 339,
341, 342, 343, 347, 348, 353,
354, 357
LaTeX, 96
landscape, 78, 95, 214, 217, 227, 228,
232, 241, 242, 258
landscape-oriented, 217, 228, 241,
242, 258
law, 6, 9, 18, 37, 49, 53, 81, 82, 83, 85,
86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 97, 98,
99, 101, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107,
108, 109, 132, 133, 134, 149, 175,
176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182,
183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189,
190, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196,
214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220,
221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227,
228, 229, 231, 232, 234, 235, 236,
237, 238, 239, 241, 242, 243, 244,
245, 246, 247, 248, 250, 251, 252,
253, 258, 259, 261, 266, 267, 268,
273, 274, 275, 276, 298, 299, 300,
301, 302, 303, 306, 309, 310, 326,
339, 343, 358
layout, 18, 69, 70, 72, 78, 84, 95, 96,
125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 138,
146, 172, 194, 211, 218, 227, 228,
231, 232, 238, 241, 243, 244, 245,
252, 257, 258, 275, 278, 333, 337,
344, 359
legibility, 125, 137, 358
lexicon, 37
lines, 125, 130, 133, 139, 140, 141, 147,
164, 165, 169, 190, 208, 211, 225,
226, 240
Makesigns, 138, 346
map, 23, 48, 70, 71, 82, 329
margin, 125, 126, 128, 129, 139, 146,
166, 190, 194, 208, 211, 226,
227, 252
mathematics, 20, 337
MediaPoster, 57
medicine, 23, 36, 43, 88, 243, 255, 343,
352, 353, 358, 360,
metadiscourse, 5, 6, 17, 18, 19, 58, 59,
60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 77, 78,
92, 113, 114, 115, 116, 118, 123,
124, 138, 141, 142, 144, 145, 146,
149, 150, 151, 164, 189, 195, 204,
213, 214, 220, 222, 246, 247, 253,
256, 259, 282, 326, 330, 331, 332,
333, 336, 337, 340, 341, 342, 346,
358, 359
metaphor, 30, 38, 235, 236
metatext, 60, 330, 347, 359
methodology, 21, 23, 33, 40, 48, 126,
156, 218, 243, 244,
279, 358
micro-genres, 70
miscommunication, 179
modality, 36, 141, 143, 353
move-analysis, 42
multimodality, 5, 17, 19, 67, 68, 72, 77,
326, 327, 342, 344, 351
networks, 34, 39, 125, 133, 136, 139,
147, 165, 166, 182, 190, 193, 199,
208, 210, 225, 227, 251
normalized, 150, 151, 158, 174, 175,
184, 197, 198, 203, 286, 287, 288,
289, 290, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295,
296, 297, 298, 299, 300, 301, 302,
303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 309,
310, 311, 312, 313, 314, 315, 316,
317, 318, 319, 320, 321, 322,
323, 324
numbering, 50, 154, 179, 197, 218, 276,
282, 287, 300, 311
nursing, 329, 331, 332, 334, 337, 338,
343, 347, 348, 349, 351,
355, 356
organization, 9, 19, 20, 22, 34, 35, 37,
47, 50, 103, 104, 125, 147, 181,
200, 218, 337, 338, 345, 350
orientation, 18, 41, 78, 95, 214, 217, 227,
228, 231, 232, 241, 242, 258
perspective, 12, 68, 157, 325, 331, 332,
335, 338, 346, 347, 350, 359
persuasion, 29, 31, 33, 37, 43, 59, 247,
333, 336, 340, 348
physics, 6, 10, 12, 13, 18, 23, 48, 81, 82,
83, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 92, 94,
95, 96, 98, 99, 101, 103, 104, 106,
107, 109, 111, 136, 137, 149, 150,
151, 153, 154, 156, 157, 158, 159,
160, 163, 164, 165, 166, 168, 169,
172, 173, 174, 182, 193, 209, 210,
214, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221,
222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228,
231, 235, 238, 240, 243, 246, 248,
249, 251252, 253, 256, 259, 261,
266, 267, 268, 286, 287, 289, 291,
295, 296, 354, 355
pictures, 67, 69, 114, 125, 127, 131, 132,
133, 136, 139, 141, 147, 165, 166,
190, 193, 208, 210, 225, 227, 235,
237, 248, 250, 251, 269, 274, 276
planning, 177, 330, 343, 349
portrait, 78, 95, 214, 217, 227, 232, 241,
242, 258
portrait-oriented, 217, 228, 241, 258
poster, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17,
18, 19, 37, 39, 40, 41, 44, 45, 46,
47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55,
56, 57, 58, 70, 73, 74, 77, 78, 79,
81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 92,
93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100,
101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107,
108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114,
118, 119, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125,
126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132,
133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139,
140, 141, 142, 143, 145, 146, 147,
149, 150, 153, 154, 155, 156, 158,
365
 159, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168,
169, 170, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176,
178, 179, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185,
186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 191, 192,
193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 199, 210,
202, 203, 205, 207, 208, 209, 210,
211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217,
218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 226,
227, 228, 229, 231, 232, 233, 234,
235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241,
242, 243, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248,
249, 250, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255,
256, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261, 262,
263, 264, 265, 266, 267, 268, 269,
270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276,
277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 286, 287,
289, 291, 295, 296, 298, 299, 300,
301, 302, 303, 306, 309, 310, 311,
313, 314, 315, 316, 320, 322, 323,
325, 326, 327, 329, 330, 331, 332,
333, 334, 335, 336, 337, 338, 339,
342, 343, 346, 347, 348, 349, 351,
352, 353, 354, 355, 356, 357, 358,
359, 360
pragmatics, 333, 335, 336, 337,
340, 350
presentation, 5, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16,
17, 19, 24, 29, 30, 39, 40, 44, 45,
46, 47, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 57,
58, 69, 70, 71, 73, 79, 81, 82, 94,
95, 97, 105, 106, 153, 171, 186,
232, 234, 235, 237, 239, 240, 244,
245, 249, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257,
258, 272, 274, 276, 280, 325, 326,
327, 328, 329, 331, 332, 333, 334,
335, 337, 338, 344, 346, 348, 349,
351, 352, 353, 354, 355, 356, 357,
358, 359, 360
presenters, 5, 14, 16, 45, 49, 51, 55, 56,
82, 93, 94, 95, 96, 100, 105, 106,
227, 229, 231, 237, 244, 254, 255,
258, 259, 262, 263, 267, 268,
274, 358
proceedings, 179, 180, 327
366
psychiatry, 355
psychology, 6, 9, 10, 18, 53, 68, 82, 83,
85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 91, 99, 100,
103, 105, 106, 108, 109, 130, 131,
149, 196, 197, 199, 200, 201, 202,
203, 207, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213,
214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220,
221, 222, 223, 224, 227, 228, 231,
233, 234, 235, 237, 238, 242, 243,
244, 246, 247, 248, 251, 252, 253,
256, 259, 261, 311, 313, 314, 315,
316, 320, 322, 323, 326, 327, 329,
338, 346, 358, 360
qualitative, 31, 106, 111, 141, 143, 334,
349, 353
quality, 198, 200, 201, 204, 205, 272, 338
quantitative, 31, 111, 141, 142, 346
questionnaire, 56, 200, 204
representativeness, 17, 74, 75, 76, 77, 81,
84, 85, 254, 328
rhetoric(al), 21, 27, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34,
41, 42, 43, 59, 60, 65, 70, 115,
116, 118, 149, 331, 332, 334, 335,
340, 347, 348, 351, 353,
356, 359
schematic, 125, 133, 136, 139, 147, 165,
166, 178, 179, 190, 208, 210, 225,
227, 235, 250, 251, 269, 280
sections, 30, 35, 42, 46, 48, 50, 56, 74,
78, 79, 85, 86, 92, 94, 95, 103,
106, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 130,
138, 141, 147, 157, 164, 165, 168,
169, 189, 191, 194, 197, 207, 208,
209, 211, 215, 217, 218, 235, 238,
239, 243, 245, 250, 277, 279, 329,
330, 339
semiotics, 13, 68, 71, 359
size, 17, 25, 26, 62, 74, 75, 76, 81, 84,
85, 94, 95, 96, 111, 125, 131, 133,
137, 138, 139, 147, 152, 153, 155,
 164, 165, 168, 190, 193, 207, 208,
209, 215, 223, 225, 227, 232, 233,
251, 254, 256, 273, 274, 278,
327, 358
sociology, 10, 29, 35, 67, 68, 330,
334, 349
stance, 61, 66, 114, 150, 203, 341, 342,
351, 357
standard, 10, 39, 41, 51, 84, 154, 162,
216, 220, 221, 222, 223, 226, 228,
243, 275, 276, 329, 351
statistics, 193, 202, 204, 256, 349
structure, 20, 22, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38,
44, 45, 50, 51, 54, 70, 120, 121,
123, 127, 129, 134, 145, 243, 275,
328, 329, 330, 336, 339, 340, 347,
350, 351, 353, 360
syntax, 72, 120, 121, 123
T-unit, 142
tables, 56, 125, 131, 133, 136, 139, 147,
155, 166, 169, 193, 202, 209, 211,
218, 227, 234, 238, 248, 250, 255,
269, 270, 277, 278,
280, 334
taxonomies, 125, 133, 136, 139, 147, 165,
166, 182, 190, 193, 208, 225, 227
technology, 67, 69, 254, 335, 338, 341,
342, 349, 351, 357, 360
texts, 6, 21, 22, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32,
35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 43, 49, 50,
57, 59, 64, 67, 69, 70, 71, 73, 74,
75, 76, 77, 84, 111, 114, 116, 124,
127, 141, 142, 145, 146, 151, 152,
176, 182, 188, 233, 235, 246, 325,
328, 330, 332, 336, 337, 341, 343,
345, 347, 348, 355, 357, 359, 360
tips, 45, 53, 138, 234, 241, 244, 347,
351, 357, 360
top–bottom, 139, 166, 172, 173, 190,
208, 226, 252
transitions, 47, 114, 121, 122, 146, 149,
150, 151, 152, 173, 174, 175, 176,
195, 197, 199, 213, 246, 282, 286,
298, 313
triptych, 125, 129, 130, 139, 140, 146,
166, 190, 194, 208, 226, 227, 252
vectors, 125, 131, 139, 141, 147, 165,
169, 190, 192, 208, 226, 227
367