Language Analysis

As graduate student, we should have the ability to analyze article. However, in order to

enhance the graduate writing ability, we should also focus on language and grammar analysis. It

is definitely crucial for us to think about the authors choices of language and grammar. Due to

the importance of analyzing the usages of language, it is important for me to analyze the

language features of the article Business analytics in supply chains The contingent effect of

business process maturity [1]

The first language feature I found can be treated as we. According to Swales and Feak [2],

We argue that the effect of BA on performance depends on the supply chain process maturity of

the organization shows that the authors use we as the subject instead of using I or this

paper. In my point of view, first of all, this is an original research paper finished by teamwork.

So, the authors use we instead of I. In addition, this sentence is located in the introduction.

So, I think the reason why the authors use we there is because the authors believe we means

the scholars who are in Business analytics field should realize the effect of BA. Therefore, I

believe the authors use we to show that scholars in this field think that the effect of Business

analytics depends on the supply chain. [1]

The second feature I found is formal negatives. [2] The sentence I found is from conclusion

which is This shows that simply following the best practice approaches or well-being cases of

other companies may bring little benefit. [1] The author decided to use little instead of not

much because little is much more academic and formal than not many. In addition, not much

in this article means this approach cannot bring so many benefits, but it still can bring some.

Also, I think notmuch showed readers that the author is not really sure about the how much

benefit of the approaches can bring which is not academic.

 The third feature I want to analyze is etc.. [2] A complex interplay of different companies,

processes, data etc. needs to be taken into account which is the sentence I found from the

article. [1]Therefore, the author used etc. to show that there still have some factors, but the

main factors has been showed like different companies, processes and data. Additionally, I think

the readers of this article are the scholars who has known about Business Analytics. So the

author use etc. to show there still have some features to influence the Business Analytics.

The next feature is the passive voice. [2] The sentence I found is Obviously, a companys

strategy can be executed with the use of BA in the other three areas of SCOR. [1] It is obvious

that the author use passive voice here. I believe the reason the author uses passive voice is that

the author wants to emphasize the subject which is companys strategy. However, I think it will

be better if the author uses the active voice to state this sentence. The active voice of this

sentence should be the use of BA in other three areas of SCOR can execute a companys

strategy. This article focus on how Business analytics affect the supply chain in order to

influence companys strategy. [1] Therefore, in order to emphasize the key part of the article, I

believe it will be better to use the active voice to state this sentence.

The mid-position adverbs will be the next feature. The sentence I found from the article is

Pearsons correlation tests were then conducted in order to measure the impact and direction of

relationships between BA in each SCOR area and performance at each maturity level. It is easy

to find that the author put the then between were and conducted. I think why the author put the

then between were and conducted instead of in the beginning of the sentence is because this

Correlation between Analytics Score and Performance has several process to inspect and

Pearsons correlation tests is one of the most crucial process. [1] In order to emphasize the

importance of this process, the author put the then between were and conducted.
 The last feature I found named split infinitives. [2] There is an example Since a SCM is a

relatively board term a more structured approach is needed to systematically evaluate its role.

which is from the article. [1] Unlike the normal sentence, this sentence separates the infinitive

and put an adverb between the infinitive. In my opinion, the author wants to describe and

emphasize how to evaluate its role more efficiently and scientifically. Therefore, it is obvious for

the readers to realize the importance of systematically to evaluate the role.

In general, this language analysis paper described six different kinds of features of the article.

I believe that language analysis can easily help the scholar to have a better understanding the

authors idea no matter the scholar is in this field or not. Also, students can learn the typical way

of writing convention in their field. The last but not the least, in the special situation, it is

necessary for the scholar to break the stereotype to emphasize the idea or the opinion like to split

the infinitive in order to emphasize the real opinion you want to show to the reader.

Bibliography

[1] M. P. V. d. Oliveira, "Business analytics in supply chains - The contingent effect of business
process maturity," Expert Systems with Applications, vol. 39, no. 5, pp. 5488-5498, April
2012.
[2] J. M. Swales. &. C. B. Feak, Academic Writing for Graduate Students, Michigan: University
of Michigan Press, 2012.