ABSTRACT
Chapter 13 motivates the use of the RF framework for the study of first and second language writing development (predominantly English). The chapter surveys previous research from the authors of the current volume as well as others who have applied the framework explicitly or whose work parallels that of the RF framework. Then, building on that background, the chapter briefly introduces the rest of the chapters in Part 4 of the book.
As the research presented in Parts II and III has shown, historically, and particularly since the beginning of the 20th century, there have been major shifts in the linguistic characteristics of academic writing, especially in the sciences. Science writing has become increasingly characterized by greater use of phrasal features, particularly the use of nouns as premodifiers and appositives and prepositional phrases as post-nominal modifiers (Biber and Gray 2010; 2011; Gray 2015). Nominalizations have also increased over time, but primarily in humanities writing rather than science writing (Biber and Gray 2013a). In addition to increased frequency, functionally, all of these forms have changed over time as well. The meaning relationships between the head noun and nouns used as premodifiers as well as the meaning relationships between the head noun and prepositional phrases acting as post-nominal modifiers have become more abstract and more variable (Biber and Gray 2011a).
