LanguageAnalysis

This language analysis paper takes The Spread of Obesity in Developing and
TransitionalCountries:AFocusontheMekongRegion,SoutheastAsiaforexample,toidentify
writinghabitsandchoicesoflanguageandgrammarinacademicwritinginmydiscipline.
As a whole, since this article is related to social science topic, there are not many
academicorspecializedwords,onlysomediseasenameswhicharerelatedwithdiabetes,like
cardiovascularandosteoarthritis.Whilethewritingstyletendtoformality.Generallyspeaking,
theauthorsusesimplepresentandsimplepasttensesthroughthisarticle,reportingverbsarealso
followedthispreference,withvariableandsuitablechoice.
First,thereisnofirstpersonpronoun,neitherInorwe.Thisarticlealwaysusesthird
personpronounsinstead(Swales&Feak,2012).Forexample,theauthorswriteMuchofthe
recent literature among these populations suggests that (Pawloski, Thurman, Curtin, &
Ruchiwit, 2012, p. 1), and The initiatives above suggest that programs and policies
(Pawloski, Thurman, Curtin, & Ruchiwit, 2012, p. 11). In my opinion, I think the authors
reluctanttousefirstpersonpronounstobemoreconvincible,whichmeanstheauthorstryto
expressobjectivepointofviewthatcanbeexaminedfromthereferredliteratureandinitiatives,
instead of personal subjective points. In addition, the thirdposition pronouns indicate the
emphasisisonwhatliteratureandinitiativessuggestandshow,butnotwhattheauthorsthink.
In this article, contractions never appear (Swales & Feak, 2012). For instance, The
influence of socioeconomic status and gender is not limited to the example (Pawloski,
Thurman,Curtin,&Ruchiwit,2012,p.2)andthatthesetrendswillnotbeseenuniformly
(Pawloski,Thurman,Curtin,&Ruchiwit,2012,p.2).AccordingtootherarticlesIhaveread

aboutmydiscipline,Ifinditisnormalthatauthorsneverusecontractions.Thisremindsmethat
contraction is not admitted in my discipline papers, and I consider the reason of this is
contractionsseemtobeinformalandnotacademic.AlthoughNutritionandFoodScienceisa
socialstudydiscipline,authorsaresupposedtobeprofessionalandhavescientificwritingstyles,
aswellasavoidsomeoralexpressioninarticlesandresearchpapers.
Moreover,authorsofthisarticlepreferusingmoreformalnegatives(Swales&Feak,
2012), such as Governmental regulation has been implemented concerning food safety in
Thailand, but little has addressed the growing numbers of more Western fast food
establishments(Pawloski,Thurman,Curtin,&Ruchiwit,2012,p.9),whichputsemphasison
thesmallnumberofregulationaboutthegrowthofWesternfastfoodestablishments.Also,
Though these recommendations and policies address the growing obesity problem in this
particular country, they have no measureable outcomes. (Pawloski, Thurman, Curtin, &
Ruchiwit,2012,p.9),whichputsemphasisonlackofmeasureableoutcomes.Thispreference
alsoindicatesthewritingstyleinmydisciplineisrequiredtobeacademicandformal.Also,the
useofformalnegativesavoidsuseofcontractions(Swales&Feak,2012).Differentformal
negativesrepresentdifferentdegreeofnegativeaswell,likelittleandno,thesetwowordsmean
totallydifferentmeaning.
Anotherone,thereisnouseofvagueexpression,likeetc.andandsoforth(Swales&
Feak,2012).Tobespecific,theauthorsmentionFurtherassociationswerefoundwithmost
cancers,allcardiovasculardiseases,asthma,osteoarthritis,gallbladderdisease,andchronicback
pain(Pawloski,Thurman,Curtin,&Ruchiwit,2012,p.1).Forthepurposeofstatingthedanger
ofobesity,theauthorslistconcretelyalldiseasesthatrelatedtoobesity.Frommyperspective,I

think this writing choice is more professional and more helpful. I think vague expression
sometimesmaycausethelackofinformationandmayconfusepeoplewhoreadthearticlebut
notfamiliarwiththedisciplineanddonotknowwhattheetc.conclude.Additionally,Ithinkthis
languagepreferencereflectsprecisenessandearnestinmydisciplinesarticlewriting.
Furthermore,thisarticleappearsmanytimesofmidpositionadverbs(Swales&Feak,
2012). The authors mentioned Asiaspecific culturally relevant programs are limited
(Pawloski,Thurman,Curtin,&Ruchiwit,2012,p.8),...focusedontheeffectsofculturally
sensitivehealthcareinSouthAsianwomen.(Pawloski,Thurman,Curtin,&Ruchiwit,2012,p.
8)andProgramswhichuseculturallysensitiveapproaches(Pawloski,Thurman,Curtin,&
Ruchiwit,2012,p.8).Thecontinuoususeofmidpositionadverbsinasameparagraphindicate
theauthorsputemphasisonculturally.Fromthis,Iknowtheauthorstriedtoemphasizethe
importanceofculturaleffectinhealthcarepracticesamongAsians.Anotherexampleofthisis
Thus,itisparticularlyimportanttofocusonthegrowthofobesityandobesityrelateddiseases
intheMekongRegion(Pawloski,Thurman,Curtin,&Ruchiwit,2012,p.4).Theauthorsuse
particularlyasamidpositionadverbinordertoeffectivelyemphasizetheimportanceofpay
attentiontoobesityandobesityrelateddiseasesgrowthintheMekongRegion.
Inaddition,theauthorswritekindofwordysentencesinthisarticle(Swales&Feak,
2012),suchasInadditiontoThailand,manyofthesurroundingcountriesinSoutheastAsia
havealsorecentlybeenrecognizedasundergoinganutritiontransition,althoughthecomponents
ofthattransitionandthepotentialcausalpathwaysarecomplex(Pawloski,Thurman,Curtin,&
Ruchiwit,2012,p.3).Frommypointofview,thisarticleisasocialstudyarticle,whichisnot
extraordinarilydifficulttounderstand.Kindofwordywritingmayimprovethelevelofwriting

aswellasletthearticlemoreprofessionalandacademic.
Ingeneral,thisarticleprefersformalandacademicwritingstyle.Inmydiscipline,some
articlestendtobesocialstudy,likethisarticlewrittenbyDr.Pawloski,whilesomearticlestend
tobehardstudy,likesomeexperimentalpapersthatarerelatedtochemistryandbiology.For
thisreason,articlesinmydisciplinearesupposedtobeformal,whichmeanscontractionsand
vagueexpressionsarenotallowed.Inlanguageandgrammarchoices,articlesinmydiscipline
wouldratherusethirdpositionpronounandmoreformalnegatives,andsometimesauthorswrite
rhetoricwordsandsentencestoincreasethewritinglevel.Onthewhole,Dr.Pawloskietalmake
agoodexampleofwritingstyleinmydisciplinebythisarticle.

Reference
Pawloski, L., Thurman, S., Curtin, K., & Ruchiwit, M. (2012). The Spread of Obesity in
DevelopingandTransitionalCountries:AFocusontheMekongRegion,SoutheastAsia.
WorldMedical&HealthPolicy,4(1),115.
Swales,&Feak.(2012).LanguageAnalysisFeatures.AcademicWritingforGraduateStudents.