Agensdemotion und gesprochene Wissenschaftssprache: Eine Studie zu (un-)persönlicher Selbstreferenz in erstsprachigen und fremdsprachigen Fachvorträgen

This quantitative study examines self-reference in conference presentations by L1 and Polish L2 speakers of German. It analyses which linguistic structures are used to express different types of self-reference. Usage of the first person is shown to be lower than in spontaneous oral conversation, but considerably higher than in written academic texts. Moreover, speakers use a variety of types of agent demotion (such as the passive voice) that are also common in written academic language. The data shows that the L1 speakers use more first person pronouns than the L2 speakers. This may be due to cultural differences between German and Polish academia. An alternative explanation is that L2 speakers have a stronger tendency to rely on written manuscripts for their presentations. Distinguishing between discourse comments, methodical comments and eristic comments, the study also shows that different types of self-reference correlate with different linguistic structures.