A Move-marker List: A Study of Rhetorical Move-lexis Linguistic Realizations of Research Article Abstracts in Social and Behavioural Sciences

RELC Journal ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 381-396
Author(s):  
Reza Khany ◽  
Bahareh Malmir
Keyword(s):  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
English For Specific Purposes ◽  
Political Sciences ◽  
Research Article ◽  
Five Disciplines ◽  
Multiple Levels ◽  
Academic Genres ◽  
Lexical Sequences ◽  
Behavioural Sciences

While a wealth of research is available on the frequent multi-word units in academic genres, studies that exclusively link lexical sequences to the rhetorical moves in research articles (RAs) are fairly limited. This study involved compiling a corpus of 8,500 RA abstracts sampled from five disciplines of economics, law, political sciences, psychology, and sociology in social and behavioural sciences. Three to nine-word ngrams were generated using AntConc 3.4.4, which is a freeware corpus analysis toolkit. All the ngrams were studied in their contexts through concordance analysis and classified based on the rhetorical moves in which they occurred using the move structure taxonomy suggested by Hatzitheodorou (2014). Eventually, ngrams were processed at multiple levels and synthesized into 84 move-marker structures. This study offers insights into the linguistic realizations of moves in RA abstracts and introduces the concept of move-marker structures. In so doing, the potentials of positionally variable move-marker structures in improving English for Academic Purposes (EAP)/English for Specific Purposes (ESP) learners’ phraseological competence are suggested.

scholarly journals Structure of Research Article Abstracts in Political Science: A Genre-Based Study

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 215824402110407
Author(s):  
Hesham Suleiman Alyousef
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
High Impact ◽  
English For Specific Purposes ◽  
Genre Studies ◽  
Structure Model ◽  
Research Article ◽  
Scientific Disciplines ◽  
Textual Space ◽  
Research Gap

The research article (RA) abstract is the first section researchers read to determine its relevance to their interests. Researchers need to possess an implicit knowledge of the rhetorical move structure and organization of this section. Unlike most scientific disciplines, political science RA abstracts are unstructured, that is, with no headings (or moves), which makes it more challenging. To the best of our knowledge, the rhetorical move structure in high readership political science RA abstracts has not been researched. This study investigated (a) the rhetorical move structure in 120 political science RA abstracts from six high-impact journals, (b) the most common move patterns, and (c) the move(s) occupying most textual space. The findings indicated the lack of obligatory moves. A move structure model for writing a political science RA abstract is proposed, comprising four conventional moves (Introduction [I]–Purpose [P]–Methods [M]–Results [R]) and two optional step/move, namely, Research Gap step and Discussion [D] move. The results also showed that the first most frequent move pattern is I-P-M-R-D, followed by I-P-M-R and the I-P-R-D. The fact that an RA abstract summarizes the whole RA results in move embedding, particularly in the four moves, I-P-M-R. The findings revealed the importance of the Results move as it occupied nearly one third of text space. The results may contribute to the fields of discourse and genre studies. They may provide invaluable insights for novice political science researchers attempting to publish their work in high-ranking journals. The proposed move structure model can act as a guide for English for Academic Purposes (EAP)/English for Specific Purposes (ESP) tutors and political science authors.

Move Analysis of Research Article Abstracts: A Cross-Disciplinary Study

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Mohammadi Darabad
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Applied Mathematics ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
English For Specific Purposes ◽  
Expert Teachers ◽  
Applied Chemistry ◽  
Rhetorical Structure ◽  
Basic Model ◽  
Research Article

<p>The present paper aims at investigating the formation of research article abstracts in terms of their rhetorical structure. To this end, three Applied Linguistics, Applied Mathematics, and Applied Chemistry journals have been selected. The main focus of the analysis was put on the rhetorical structure – the moves and steps employed in each specific abstract. The authors' self-mention, voice, and tense of the verbs included in each move were also inspected. Therefore, a total of 63 abstract (21 published abstracts from each field) from credited international journals were randomly selected and assigned for analysis. The Five-Move Model by Hyland (2000) was chosen as a basic model for the analysis. Accordingly, the constituent moves and steps were examined and recognized in the categories of selected abstracts. The obtained results were scrutinized and consequently the leading move patterns of each discipline, specific moves and steps, voice and tense of verbs hired in each move, and the authors' self-mention alternations were identified. Finally, the pedagogical implications for the expert teachers working in the fields of Discourse analysis (DA), English for Academic Purposes (EAP), and English for Specific Purposes (ESP) are presented.</p>

scholarly journals Genre-Based Approach to the Analysis of Introductions in Doctoral Seminars of the Department of English, Unizik, Awka

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Chinwe Ezeifeka
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Academic Culture ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
English For Specific Purposes ◽  
University Of Southern California ◽  
Generic Structure ◽  
Research Article ◽  
Language And Literature ◽  
The University

This paper analyses selected research article introductions of doctoral seminars in the Department of English Language and Literature, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, to determine how these academic writings follow specific formats characteristic of such genres. Specifically the work looks at the staged cognitive organisation of the selected samples in line with the requisite schematic or generic structure postulated in Bhatia (1993) and adopted by the University of Southern California (USC). Every genre is characterized by culture-bound unique structuring and communicative purposes that give it generic coherence. Research article introduction is an academic sub-genre with specified conventions characterising genres from the academic culture/community. A total of eighteen samples of research introductions were analysed, the aim being to determine whether the cognitive move structures in the samples conform with, or depart from, the conventionalized patterns of this academic sub-genre and how the pattern used in the samples enabled or militated against the writers’ achievement of the desired communicative purposes. A critical reading of doctoral seminars in the Department shows lack of knowledge of the unique formatting of introductions, making this work to be anchored on English for Specific Purposes (ESP) with particular emphasis on English for Academic Purposes (EAP). The baseline of the findings is to discover the present proficiency of these group of learners, enlighten budding academics on the move structure of article introductions in order to achieve generic coherence as well as target proficiency in that sub-genre of academic writing.

scholarly journals Socially-shared Metacognitive Regulation Episodes Between Undergraduate Engineering Students During a Collaborative Genre Analysis Task in an English for Academic Purposes Course

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 217
Author(s):  
Emmanouela Seiradakis ◽  
Ιoannis Spantidakis
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Related Problem ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Genre Analysis ◽  
Undergraduate Engineering ◽  
Research Article ◽  
Analysis Task ◽  
Metacognitive Regulation ◽  
Academic Genres

Recent findings suggest that genre-based tasks such as move analysis when underpinned by the theory of metacognition can familiarize undergraduate students with newly encountered academic genres such as the research article. However, there still is a limited understanding about how and when novices engage in socially shared metacognitive regulation processes (SSMR) during online collaborative genre analysis tasks. The purpose of this study was to identify when and how a small group of undergraduate engineering students engaged in SSMR processes during a collaborative online move analysis wiki task. Results suggest SSMR was frequently triggered when participants faced a task-related problem and manifested as an expression of doubt and conflicting ideas or when participants attempted to reach a consensus on seemingly difficult genre analysis aspects.

Markers of identification in Indigenous academic writing: A case study of genre innovation

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shurli Makmillen ◽  
Michelle Riedlinger
Keyword(s):  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Genre Studies ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Research Article ◽  
Rhetorical Genre ◽  
Academic Genres

AbstractThis study contributes to research into genre innovation and scholarship exploring how Indigenous epistemes are disrupting dominant discourses of the academy. Using a case study approach, we investigated 31 research articles produced by Mäori scholars and published in the journal AlterNative between 2006 and 2018. We looked for linguistic features associated with self-positioning and self-identification. We found heightened ambiguous uses of “we”; a prevalence of verbs associated with personal (as opposed to discursive) uses of “I/we”; personal storytelling; and a privileging of Elders’ contributions to the existing state of knowledge. We argue these features reflect and reinforce Indigenous scholars’ social relations with particular communities of practice within and outside of the academy. They are also in keeping with Indigenous knowledge-making practices, protocols, and languages, and signal sites of negotiation and innovation in the research article. We present the implications for rhetorical genre studies and for teaching academic genres.

scholarly journals Reshaping Authorial Presence in Translations of Research Article Abstracts

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-186
Author(s):  
Tadej Pahor ◽  
Martina Smodiš ◽  
Agnes Pisanski Peterlin
Keyword(s):  
Linguistic Differences ◽  
Rhetorical Patterns ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Research Article ◽  
English Translations ◽  
Five Disciplines ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Rhetorical Dimension ◽  
Academic Communication ◽  
Shed Light

In multilingual settings, the abstract is the only part of the research article that is regularly translated. Although very brief, abstracts play an important role in academic communication, as they provide immediate access to research findings. Contrastive research has revealed considerable cross-linguistic differences in the rhetorical patterns of abstracts. The present paper focuses on how this variation is bridged in translation, by addressing an important rhetorical dimension of academic discourse, authorial presence. Specifically, it examines how authorial presence is reshaped in translated abstracts. An analysis of a small corpus of 150 Slovene research article abstracts from five disciplines and their English translations reveals several interesting types of recurring translators’ interventions, most notably the tendency to replace personal authorial references with impersonal structures. Data collected in interviews with four experienced translators of academic texts is used to shed light on potential reasons for interventions with authorial presence in translation.

Corpus-based research and pedagogy in EAP: From lexis to genre

2013 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynne Flowerdew
Keyword(s):  
Structure Analysis ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
Academic English ◽  
Written Discourse ◽  
Lexical Bundles ◽  
Lexical Items ◽  
Lexical Approach

This plenary paper showcases current corpus-based research on written academic English, illustrating the tight links that exist between corpus research and pedagogic applications. I first explicate Sinclair's concept of the ‘lexical approach’, which underpins much corpus research and pedagogy. I then discuss studies which focus on individual lexical items, phraseology (including lexical bundles) and rhetorical functions. Finally, I examine studies that combine Swalesian move structure analysis with corpus analysis. Throughout the paper, I highlight the importance attached to lexis in both corpus research and pedagogic applications of corpus findings in the realm of written discourse in English for Academic Purposes (EAP), covering both general and more specific purposes.

A Mixed Methods Genre Analysis of the Discussion Section of MMR Articles in Applied Linguistics

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 242-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad R. Hashemi ◽  
Iman Gohari Moghaddam
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Genre Analysis ◽  
Discussion Section ◽  
Mixed Methods Approach ◽  
The Past ◽  
Research Article ◽  
Organizational Patterns ◽  
Academic Genres

The research article, among other academic genres, has attracted researchers’ attention over the past decades. Although sections such as introduction, method, and results and discussion have been addressed in such studies, the mixed methods research (MMR) discussion genre remains underexplored. Thus, the present study aimed at exploring the generic organizational patterns in applied linguistics MMR articles. A qualitatively driven mixed methods approach was utilized to explore 38 MMR discussions. As a result, there emerged a five-move model for genre macro-organization and rhetorical move structure of the MMR discussions. The study concludes by presenting implications for writing effective MMR discussions.

scholarly journals English for Academic Purposes: Theory, Trends and Practices

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Gopal Prasad Pandey
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
English For Specific Purposes ◽  
Academic Context ◽  
Intercultural Awareness ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
Professional Needs ◽  
English Speaking

English for academic purpose (EAP) emerged as a branch of English for specific purposes in the early 1980s. EAP grounds English language teaching in the linguistic demands of academic context, tailoring instruction to specific rather than general purposes. There is a growth of interest in EAP in the recent years. The interest in EAP developed in response to the growing need for intercultural awareness and of English as a lingua franca (ELF). EAP has become a major area of research in applied linguistics and focus of the courses studied worldwide by a large number of students preparing for study in colleges and universities. The increase in students’ undertaking tertiary studies in English-speaking countries has led to a steady demand for the courses tailored to meet the immediate, specific vocational and professional needs. Thus, most universities in the present day world prioritize the role of academic skills. The aim of the paper is to examine the key approaches to the teaching of English for academic purposes, current trends in teaching EAP, and to argue the centrality and significance of EAP in the academia. The paper concludes by arguing that a greater emphasis needs to be placed on methodology in EAP.

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