This book combines a social constructionist view of academic writing with a pedagogical orientation seeking to explore the dialogic relationship between the culture of academic discourse communities and their rhetoric, and provide a comprehensive analysis of variation across disciplines, genres and national intellectual cultures. The analysis focuses on the rhetorical organisation of research genres and the resources that convey authors' epistemic and attitudinal stance. The findings form the basis for the design of socio-culturally oriented learning materials for the teaching of writing in the disciplines and the development of academic literacies. Contents:

Disciplinary Communities' Culture and Genres - Rhetorical Patterns in Disciplinary Written Communication: Genre Analysis - Engaging in Dialogue: Hedges - Investing in Propositions and Alluding to Shared Understandings: Attitude, Certainty and Common Knowledge Markers - Appearing as the Author, Researcher and Originator of Claims: Personal Attribution - Rhetoric and National Cultures: Cross-Cultural Variation - Developing Academic Literacies - In Practice.