The Discussion Section of Medical Research Articles: A Cross Cultural Perspective

This chapter aims to compare the argumentative strategies employed in medical research articles written by native speakers of English with those written by Italian non-native speakers of English in order to identify any cross-cultural differences in terms of argumentative devices employed by their authors. Several differences have been identified between the textual organization of English medical research articles written by native and non-native speakers, which seem to be linked to their authors’ linguistic and cultural identity. The main differences are rhetorically realised through hedges and other argumentative strategies, such as the use of connectives. Italian authors word their texts with fewer hedges and connectives than English native-speakers and their conclusions are supported by established knowledge, as shown by their continuous references to the literature. Similarly, whenever a claim finds confirmation in the existing literature, Italian writers tend to adopt these rhetorical strategies less frequently, because the established knowledge is deemed to be sufficient to confirm their hypothesis. In so doing, Italian authors seem to adopt an ipse-dixit strategy.