A Comparative Nominalization Study of Applied Linguistics and Medicine Textbook Introductions and Book Reviews

Drawing on the present theory of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), this study explores variational use of nominalization in 600 textbook introductions (i.e., introduction, preface and foreword) and 200 book reviews selected by expert informants from Applied Linguistics and Medicine. The nominalized expression types were identified in the texts, the frequencies of the nominalization types were counted, and eventually chi-square was administered. Analysis of nominalization patterns across the texts revealed divergent patterns in the two disciplines but not significantly across the genres in focus. The results of calculating the density of nominalizations (dividing their frequency by the total number of words) acknowledged their greater concentration in the Applied Linguistics introductory genres and book reviews as well as functional variations in the use of nominalizations in promotional introductory genres versus more critical book reviews. Results demonstrated lower tendency towards nominalizing scientific information in the Medicine corpus compared to other forms of grammatical metaphor.