Based on engagement system of appraisal theory, this study makes a contrastive analysis of engagement resources between English and Chinese scientific research articles. Three major questions were addressed in the present study: (1) What are the similarities and differences in the distribution of engagement resources between English and Chinese scientific discourses? (2) What are the similarities and differences in the frequency of engagement resources between English and Chinese scientific discourse? (3) What are the reasons for these differences?
30 English scientific research articles and 30 Chinese scientific research articles, each with a length of 4,000-6,000 words, were compared in terms of the distribution pattern and the quantitative use of contractive resources and expansive resources. Distribution patterns of engagement resources were compared in terms of distributional composition and distributional evenness. The quantitative uses of engagement devices in English and Chinese scientific research articles were compared through Independent-sample t-tests.
The results showed that engagement resources are distributed unevenly both in each part of English and Chinese scientific research articles and there are similarities as well as differences between the two kinds of texts. It is also found that the types of engagement resources are used in different frequencies both in English and Chinese scientific research articles. These differences are related to the different ways of thinking.
This study may provide new insights into the contrastive studies on English and Chinese scientific discourses, as well as giving some guide to the teaching of academic English writing.
 

appraisal theory; engagement resources; scientific research article; contrastive study