A Comparative Study on Voice Distribution in English Abstracts between Chinese and English Power Papers

As many international scholars and editors currently advocated to use more active voice and less passive voice, this new trend aroused many Chinese reaearchers to conduct a comparative study on voice distribution in English abstracts between Chinese and foreign countries. To explore the voice distribution in English abstracts in Chinese and foreign power papers, we randomly sampled 200 English abstracts respectively from international and domestic power papers and analyzed the voice distribution in the abstracts. The results show that Chinese writers and translators tend to use more passive voice than foreign writers, especially in English-speaking countries, while the latter more frequently use active voice in their writings. To futher this study, the following gives a detailed explaination of the reasons of the results. In summary, to better exchange mutual latest achievements in power industry, it is crucial to keep pace with international new trend, obey international common practice, particularly the rules in English abstracts writing.