Academic Writing in Czech and English

Abstract

Recently, Czech academic discourse has been influenced by the growing expansion of English academic norms. What has been their reception in the Czech academic setting? The article is an attempt to approach the question from the linguistic point of view as well as from the point of view of a Czech academic writer, particularly in social sciences and humanities. The distinctions between the Czech and English writing norms originate from different approaches to the phenomenon of writing in the development of (1) theoretical linguistics, (2) applied linguistics and pedagogical disciplines, (3) in the treatment of academic writing against the background of other types of writing or styles in language, (4) in historical circumstances of the development of the so called intellectual styles, and generally, (5) in cultural aptitudes and inclinations manifested in the writing patterns. Contrastive rhetoric, as any new discipline, tends to stress its achievements: to focus on differences in writing cultures, not on their similarities. It is a linguist's task to find distinctive features and to contrast the established rhetoric principles. However, the differences are bridged by the language users themselves, due to their desire to make themselves understood. The scientific community is governed by the wish to share, to have common knowledge and to contribute to it. The article follows this process in the Czech setting

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