The ability to write research papers in specific disciplines is highly required for graduate students. Usually, it takes a long time to raise the level of academic writing. Thus, reading articles in the particular field and learn from them can be regarded as the initial stage. In this paper, I chose a journal article “On the global acceptance of IAS/IFRS accounting standards: The logic and implications of the principles-based system (Carmona & Trombrtta, 2008)” as the study object to analyze its structure and language presentation.
Language Feature Analysis Focusing the inherent property of a special accounting approach, the key words of the article are globalization, accounting harmonization, convergence, principles-based standards, rules-based standards. It uses plain language on whole without many complex sentences or accounting terms, therefore, it is understandable even for students. In a relatively formal tone, the authors argue that it is the built-in flexibility in the principles-based approach, which advantage characteristics of rules-based accounting standards that enhance the global accounting harmonization. Basically, the article make a formal arrangement by avoiding contractions, applying single verbs, putting adverbs in mid position, precluding “you” pronoun, and precisely listing essential information. Firstly, the article uses long term instead of contractions for a clear, formal presentation. Although contractions are common in personal writing and text message, they should be avoided in academic writing since some sentences may be confusing by using contractions. We can see good examples in the third paragraph: “… they are principles-based instead of rules-based” (Carmona & Trombrtta, p. 456). On the other hand, formal negatives can be notices as well: “… these forces do not suffice in explaining how…” (P. 456). Secondly, single verbs are employed to make the whole article concise. For example, in the sentence “Daske et al. (2007b) examined the economic consequence…” (p. 458), the authors use the verb “examined” which give the same information as “figured out” to make the sentence briefer. Thirdly, while adverbs usually are put in front of verbs, however, according to Swales and Feak, the adverbs should be posited in the middle of sentences (2004). This article carefully obey this rule, for example: “In some countries, this will ultimately involve substantial changes in the training and educational programs of accountants” (p. 458). But adverbs can be seen at initial of a sentence with the aim to show a logical structure: “Consequently, IAS/IFRS leaves it up…” (p. 456). In addition, based on Carmona & Trombetta’s theory, neither “I” or “you” shall be used in academic writing while pronoun “we” is commonly adopted in co-authored papers (2008). So that we can see pronoun “we” in the article, yet no sentences with pronoun “you” can be found: “In sum, we have addressed the principles-based notion underlying IAS/IFRS” (p. 461). Finally, to make the focal information stands out, the article uses “e.g.,” and detailed examples properly. For example, in the case of an investment made by Pirelli in Telecom Italia, to suggest economic fundamental of a company should be figured out for it counts in deciding on accounting treatment, the article precisely lists the name of specific firms associated with Pirelli instead of using ellipsis: “… revealed that the Chairman of Pirelli at the time was also the Chairman of Olimpia, the Deputy Chairman and Managing Director of Olivetti and the Chairman of Telecom Italia” (p. 457). Yet when there is no need to reveal every single country occupying rules-based accounting systems, the authors use “e.g.” in their sentences “Countries using rules-based systems (e.g., Germany) …” (p. 457). Similarly, when compares principles-based approach with rules-based ones, it is clear enough by mentioning the US rules-based standards as the single example “… the highly prescriptive nature of some national standards (e.g., the US) does not provide the best context…” (p. 459). Vocabulary Analysis Since the purpose of the article is to indicate the advantage of principles-based system in accounting globalization. Thus, this article shows a preference on present tense in general. “Analytical research also provides some interesting insights…” (p. 457), and “Under a rules-based system, accountants obtain access to detailed implementation…” (p. 457) both suggest general facts. In the article, finite verbs are adopted to demonstrate an agreement with true occurrence when discusses specific cases, for example: “In 2001, Pirelli subscribed to 60% of a firm called Olimpia” (p. 457), “subscribed” is a finite verb implying this case happened in past. Moreover, the authors also use nonfinite verbs to add diversity of sentences. For example, in sentence “This enabled the isolation of the incentive effect and its comparison with the mandating of adoption for companies” (p. 459), “mandating” is a nonfinite verb modifying the noun phrase “adoption for companies”. Also, in sentence “firms may adopt the label of IAS/IFRS and then use its flexibility to retain existing accounting policies” (p. 459), “to retain” is a nonfinite verb indicating intention of companies. As for determiners, the authors use determiners appropriately. For instance, in sentence “A distinctive feature of the IAS/IFRS standards is that…” (p. 456), the authors use “a” to modify noun subject “feature”, and “the” to modify terms “IAS/IFRS”. Determiners are also used to make sentence clear and brief: “…the number of global clients in favor of globally harmonized interpretations will arguably increase and this will enhance…” (p. 460), “this” is a determiner refers to an increase in the number of global clients. Discussion Indeed, with the aim to improve academic writing ability, it takes way more effort for one to read and practice than merely examining a few research papers. However, analyzing the language use of academic articles can be beneficial to graduate students for providing an effective studying approach. When analyzing the article On the global acceptance of IAS/IFRS accounting standards (Carmona & Trombetta, 2008), I notice several linguistic features that may be helpful for academic writing such as formal negatives, mid-position adverbs, and the use of finite and infinite verbs. As a graduate student majored in accounting, I am supposed to write research papers in present tense while the tense depends on specific cases with the use of finite verbs. To make articles easy to read, I should not use too many complex sentences or terms especially when audiences have little accounting knowledge, though the language use always ought to be formal. References Carmona, S., & Trombetta, M. (2008). On the global acceptance of IAS/IFRS accounting standards: The logic and implications of the principles-based system. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, 27(6), pp. 455 — 461. Swales, J., & Feak, C. (2004). Academic Writing for graduate students: essential tasks and skills. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
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