This book presents a collection of thematically focused articles addressing culture-specific features of academic communication, with a particular focus on communication conducted in English as an Additional Language and directed at multicultural audiences. It comprises papers arranged in four sections: Expert writers, Novice writers and readers, Conference participants, and Non-research academic genres. The book explicitly addresses and is centred upon the concept of a research niche understood as a space to be captured and populated, as a temporary location to move or grow out of in the course of individual professional development from novice to expert, and as a space to consciously reach beyond, delimited by one’s linguistic, cultural, educational, and geopolitical background. Here the niche is approached as a frame of reference for discussion of what is culture-bound, culture-sensitive, and culture-free in the academic community and its practices.
"The book offers solid evidence for language-induced obstacles in publicizing and communicating local scholars' research findings to an international audience as part of the efforts to increase the country's global visibility in research strength. ... this special volume makes a stimulating read for both researchers focusing on academic discourse analysis and English for Academic Purposes practitioners as well as academics from various disciplines keenly interested in developing international publication and presentation skills." (Ningyang Chen, Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Vol. 9, 2016)