The Use of Metadiscourse Markers in English Applied Linguistics Research Proposals by Vietnamese Postgraduate Students

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 566-576
Keyword(s):  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Descriptive Statistics ◽  
Postgraduate Students

Metadiscourse (MD) markers are of great importance in expressing the writers’ stance, and the use of MD markers can be diverse in different genres of writing. This study endeavors to scrutinize the use of MD markers (major groups: interactive markers and interactional markers) in research proposals by Vietnamese postgraduate students in English Applied Linguistics (EAL). A cohort of 20 EAL research proposals was analyzed using AntConc software and descriptive statistics. The results unravel that regarding interactive markers, transition markers are the most used in EAL research proposals while endophoric markers are the least commonly used. Concerning interactional markers, self-mentions markers are the most popular MD markers while attitude markers are the least popular ones used in EAL research proposals. It is further found out that the most common functions of MD markers used in EAL research proposals are to link ideas in texts and texts to readers and show the writer’s presence in the text. Received 1th August 2020; Revised 2nd June 2021; Accepted 20th August 2021

scholarly journals STANCE IN ADVANCED ACADEMIC WRITING BY SAUDI EFL POSTGRADUATES: A CORPUS-BASED STUDY OF CRITIQUE WRITING

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 371
Author(s):  
Abdulwahid Qasem Al Zumor
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Explicit Instruction ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
Analysis Software ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
Linguistic Resources ◽  
Efl Context ◽  
Authorial Voice

Whether the postgraduate students in the EFL context are adequately trained to express their authorial voice in academic writing in an appropriate tone has not been clarified enough in the literature. The aim of this study is to explore the linguistic resources used by Saudi postgraduate students of Applied Linguistics to construct stance when they write critique essays. To achieve this goal, a corpus of 78000 words was built from 73 critique essays collected in five years. To analyze this corpus, LancsBox corpus analysis software was used to generate the concordances with frequencies of key words in context. The model of corpus analysis used was Hyland’s (2005) which views stance as a construct within a model of interaction in academic discourse that comprises boosters, hedges, attitude markers, and self-mentions. The major findings of the study showed that the most frequently used stance markers were hedges, followed by attitude markers, then boosters, and finally self-mentions. In addition, the linguistic resources used in these strategies of stance construction by the students in this particular context need to be enhanced in order to conform with conventional standards of academic writing. To meet this ambitious requirement, the study recommends explicit instruction, training, and showcasing these textual resources as they occur in high quality discipline-specific publications.

scholarly journals ADJECTIVES IN THE EXPRESSION OF EPISTEMIC MODALITY IN APPLIED LINGUISTICS RESEARCH ARTICLES

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 431-452
Author(s):  
Attapol Khamkhien
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Corpus Linguistics ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Epistemic Modality ◽  
Research Articles ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
Methodical Approach ◽  
Novice Writers ◽  
Interpersonal Model

Research in academic writing has shown that writers have a strong tendency to communicate their ideas interactively with readers. This study examines how professional writers use adjectives as part of interactional metadiscourse when writing research articles. A total of 255 research articles published in distinguished journals in the field of applied linguistics between 2015 and 2020 were systematically compiled and quantitatively and qualitatively analysed. The extent to which epistemic adjectives and typical phraseological patterns are used in research articles was investigated with the help of corpus linguistics methods, as was their epistemic strength indicated by writers. The interpersonal model of metadiscourse was used as the theoretical framework for the study. The findings suggest that the academic writing corpus, in essence, is interactionally oriented, while the use of adjectives as an epistemic modality reflects a methodical approach by article writers when presenting propositions and discussing their knowledge claims. This study provides a deeper understanding of these linguistic features to impact the reader. Pedagogically, the study can be useful for teaching academic writing to postgraduate students and help them and novice writers develop writing competency through epistemic devices, especially in research articles intended for publication.

scholarly journals Textual Borrowing in Dissertation Writing: Perceptions of Supervisors and Supervisees

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yin Ling Cheung ◽  
Shuangjuan Kang
Keyword(s):  
Grounded Theory ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Instructional Support ◽  
Literature Searching ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
Dissertation Writing ◽  
Textual Borrowing ◽  
Source Use

The existing literature shows issues pertinent to students’ inappropriate textual borrowing behaviors require further examination. Our study aims to address two questions: What are the reasons why postgraduate students’ misuse their dissertation sources? How do the dissertation supervisors react to students’ inappropriate source use, if any? In this situated qualitative study (Atkinson, 2005), we used data collected through in-depth email interviews with two applied linguistics postgraduate students and their dissertation supervisors. Regarding the analytical process, the researchers condensed the provisional themes through techniques suggested by grounded theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). The results reveal that causes for postgraduate students’ misuse of sources include students' lack of access to literature, poor literature-searching and documenting skills, and lack of instructional support on using literature. Supervisors have neither identified nor addressed the source misuse in their feedback given to students. This finding suggests the university's regulating culture/pedagogical support and cross-culturally variant perception of plagiarism are crucial to our understanding of textual plagiarism among postgraduate students. The commonly suggested language proficiency may not be perceived as a cause of plagiarism in the current study. The discussion includes implication for a need to provide students with a disciplinary appropriate way of citing sources.

scholarly journals Australia and New Zealand applied linguistics (ANZAL)

AILA Review ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 31-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert C. Kleinsasser
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Research Topics ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
Emerging Trends ◽  
University Programs

This paper reviews some emerging trends in applied linguistics in both Australia and New Zealand. It sketches the current scene of (selected) postgraduate applied linguistics programs in higher education and considers how various university programs define applied linguistics through the classes (titles) they have postgraduate students complete to be awarded a degree. Evidence of program requirements and topics reveal not only what applied linguistics generally entails, but offers insights into how applied linguistics is defined and practiced. Additionally, some of the salient research topics (titles) being published in the journals from the two countries’ applied linguistics associations are sketched.

HOW KNOWLEDGEABLE ARE APPLIED LINGUISTICS AND SLA RESEARCHERS ABOUT BASIC STATISTICS?

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 871-890 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shawn Loewen ◽  
Talip Gönülal ◽  
Daniel R. Isbell ◽  
Laura Ballard ◽  
Dustin Crowther ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Statistical Information ◽  
Descriptive Statistics ◽  
Knowledge Test ◽  
Quality Research ◽  
Research Orientation ◽  
Statistical Knowledge ◽  
Frequent Use

AbstractDespite the prevalence of quantitative approaches in applied linguistics (AL) and second language acquisition (SLA) research (Gass, 2009), evidence indicates a need for improvement in analyzing and reporting SLA data (e.g., Larson-Hall & Plonsky, 2015). However, to improve quantitative research, researchers must possess the statistical knowledge necessary to conduct quality research. This study assesses AL and SLA researchers’ knowledge of key statistical concepts on a statistical knowledge test. One hundred and ninety-eight AL and SLA researchers from North America and Europe responded to 26 discipline-specific questions designed to measure participants’ ability to (a) understand basic statistical concepts and procedures, (b) interpret statistical analyses, and (c) critically evaluate statistical information. Results indicate that participants generally understood basic descriptive statistics, but performance on items requiring more advanced statistical knowledge was lower. Quantitative research orientation, number of statistics courses taken, and frequent use of statistics textbooks had positive influences on researchers’ statistical knowledge.

scholarly journals RHETORICAL MOVES AND LINGUISTIC FEATURES OF JOURNAL ARTICLE ABSTRACTS BY POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL AUTHORS IN APPLIED LINGUISTICS

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-142
Author(s):  
Rosyi Putri Andika ◽  
Safnil Arsyad ◽  
Alamsyah Harahap
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Journal Article ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Simple Sentence ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
Research Article ◽  
Mixed Method Design ◽  
The Common ◽  
Present Tense

The abstract has become the first part that will be read by readers in a research article. Some important aspects in the abstract are move structure and linguistic features. This study examines the rhetorical moves and linguistic features of English research article abstract written by three groups of authors in Applied Linguistics. The research design was mixed method design combining quantitative and qualitative method with the corpus of this study consisted of 60 abstracts by postgraduate students, national and international authors found in RA abstracts. The results show that the common moves by three groups of authors have only three moves (i.e purpose, method, and results). The common linguistic features used by three groups of authors are active voice, present tense, and simple sentence. By comparing the three groups of abstracts the differences are found in the postgraduate students authors. They were used move 1 (Background/ introduction/ situation) fewer than national and international authors. Furthur the postgraduate students used past tense more dominant than present tense and using hedges is more frequently than national and international authors. This study concludes that in writing RA abstracts a writer should adjust the commonly used rules the abstract especially in using 5 moves in the abstracts.

The correlation between the reasons for study and reading behaviour among graduate students

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 33-39
Author(s):  
Imanuel Hitipeuw
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Descriptive Statistics ◽  
Weak Correlation ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
Coefficient Corrélation

This study aimed at knowing the reasons for the study of the graduate students, their reading behaviour and the correlation between them. Participants were 135 postgraduate students. Data were collected by using questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results showed the reason for the study of the students got an average mean score close to the strong category with the dominant aspects of career and investment; while reading behaviours fell into a strong category, where dominant aspects based on the type of reading and duration. The coefficient correlation between the two variables was 0.189 and this was a very weak correlation. The findings implied that continuing studies to a higher level is not automatically coupled with better reading behaviour. They may attend the school not for learning but for a piece of certificate as a future invest or career and salary. Therefore, engaging those students in the process of learning is more important.Keywords: Reasons for study, reading behaviour, graduate students.

The development of statistical literacy in applied linguistics graduate students

2017 ◽  
Vol 168 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Talip Gonulal ◽  
Shawn Loewen ◽  
Luke Plonsky
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Doctoral Students ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Graduate Training ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Descriptive Statistics ◽  
Methods Courses ◽  
Statistical Literacy ◽  
Quantitative Research Methods ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Statistics play an important role in analyzing data in applied linguistics research. Given the increase over time in the field’s reliance on quantitative analysis (Brown, 2004; Gass, 2009), statistical literacy is critical for both producers and consumers of L2 research. Although there has been some investigation into statistical literacy among applied linguists, no research to date has examined how such literacy is obtained by masters and doctoral students in the field. The present study investigated the development of statistical literacy in a sample of such students taking semester-long discipline-specific quantitative research methods courses. Participants completed a pre-course and post-course survey. The results indicate that participants increased their knowledge of basic descriptive statistics and common inferential statistics to a great extent. Furthermore, participants reported that they felt more confident interpreting and using statistics. Based on these findings, recommendations for improving methodological practices and graduate training in our field are provided.

scholarly journals Factors influending the throughput of postgraduates in a South African University of Technology

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Sanelisiwe Precious Dlamini
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Research Capacity ◽  
Descriptive Statistics ◽  
Family Responsibilities ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
University Of Technology ◽  
Postgraduate Studies

Failure of students to complete postgraduate studies is a matter of concern globally to several stakeholders among them academics, postgraduate candidates, government representatives, HEIs administrators, and postgraduate funders. The contemporary terminology for this phenomenon is throughput, regarded as the completion of studies within a minimum or maximum allocated timeframe. Throughput related issues in higher education include the length of time it takes for students to graduate, the students’ success rates, termination of studies and dropping out of the system before graduation or remaining in the system inactively, etc. In the context of South Africa, postgraduate throughput is noticeably lower in Universities of Technology (UoTs) given that research was previously not their primary focus. With reference to the above, this study, aimed to examine the factors influencing the throughput of postgraduates in a South African University of Technology. The aim of the study was achieved by establishing awareness of and adherence to the completion timelines for postgraduate studies, determining the research capacity available for the completion of postgraduate studies and determining the factors hindering the completion of postgraduate studies. To fully appreciate the concept of postgraduate studies and issues associated with postgraduate throughput, the literature on the factors influencing postgraduates’ throughput was reviewed. The theory of Student Integration (Tinto 1975) was employed to guide the present study. Tinto’s theory recommends that the extent of students’ integration into the academic life and social life within academia, and the extent of students’ commitment and diligence to their studies and the university-oriented goals are the symptoms signifying students’ persistence within academia. The study was informed by the post-positivist research paradigm allowing for the combination of both qualitative and quantitative approaches in a single study within a survey research design. The population groups targeted for data collection were postgraduate students, academic supervisors, faculties’ research coordinators, and library personnel (librarian). Self-administered semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect data from postgraduate students and academic supervisors. Data from librarians was collected by means of face-toface semi-structured interviews. The collected quantitative and qualitative data was analysed through descriptive statistics and thematic content analysis, respectively. Analysis through descriptive statistics was limited to frequency counts, percentages, tables, charts, and graphs. Qualitative data results were presented in a narrative form (textual formats). The study findings outlined the importance of awareness of completion timelines, and rules and regulations governing postgraduate studies to throughput. It was, however, clear that there was laxity in terms of adherence to rules and regulations, even though the study could not determine whether the extent of laxity extended to failure to meet completion timelines as the majority of those who responded were still within their candidature. The study also found that there is optimum visibility of the core research capacity (in terms of facilities including library and research support programs, and trained personnel) for throughput and the satisfaction thereof was by and large on the moderate to satisfactory scale. The availability of academic writing skills was reported to be low yet significant to postgraduate throughput. The study confirmed the significance of personal/students, supervisory, and institutional related factors to throughput. The most influential factors were slow feedback; challenges associated with financial resources; lack of readiness to conduct research; lack of commitment to conduct research, lack of research skills; supervisors’ workload, commitments associated with family responsibilities; lack of sound training in research methodologies and methods as well as lack of technical support. The institution has the opportunity for significant improvement regarding the factors hindering the throughput of postgraduates.

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