Rhetorical organization of science popularization news genre: a comparative study between Portuguese and English

Abstract

The objective of this study is to compare the rhetorical organization of 30 popularization of science news, in Portuguese and English, from the sites Ciência Hoje On-line and BBC Online. In general, we found the indication of general results in the lead, followed by the presentation of the research by detailing of results, description of experimental procedures with the explanation of results and conclusion in the last portion of the text. We verified certain characteristics credited to the popular character of the news in the mass media, such as the lead that synthesizes the research results, the appelation to authority in the presentation of researchers’ credentials, the short explanation of methodology, the allusion to the social and local character of the research in relation to the a given community. We noticed the recurrence of concept explanation and evaluation of research by different segments of society. This article discusses and illustrates each one of these characteristics and proposes a schematic representation of science popularization news texts.