scholarly journals Genre Analysis of Iranian TEFL Students’ Master Theses

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Shadi Shirani ◽  
Azizeh Chalak
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Research Articles ◽  
Genre Analysis ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Crucial Component ◽  
Academic Genres ◽  
Rhetorical Structures ◽  
Theses And Dissertations

Genre analysis dealing with the study of situated language in a particular context is regarded as a crucial component in every communication in general and academic writing texts in particular. Furthermore, recently it has been set as a requirement for the graduated students to pursue a shared rhetorical pattern for generating an academic text. Several researchers have recommended detailed explanations for rhetorical structures of various parts of academic texts, and an extensive literature is dedicated to investigate different academic genres such as research articles, theses, and dissertations in English. But, there are not enough studies that work on the thesis as a whole product and analyze all sections together and not separately. Therefore, 40 M.A. theses produced by Iranian TEFL students at Islamic Azad University (IAU), Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch were collected and analyzed for the rhetorical structures of the Introduction, Method, Results, and Discussion (IMRD) sections in order to accomplish the objectives of the study. Through calculating the frequencies and percentages of data, it was revealed that a number of moves in different sections was absent in the theses.

scholarly journals A Comparative Study of Saudi and International Journals of Applied Linguistics: The Move–Bundle Connection Approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-30
Author(s):  
Basim Alamri
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
English Language ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
English For Academic Purposes ◽  
Research Articles ◽  
Writing For Publication ◽  
Lexical Bundles ◽  
Raising Awareness ◽  
Novice Writers ◽  
Rhetorical Structures

The present study implemented a genre-based approach to analyze the rhetorical structure of English language research articles (RAs): specifically, the Introduction-Methods-Results-Discussion-Conclusion (I-M-R-D-C) sections. Next, lexical bundles (LBs) associated with patterns of moves were identified by applying a corpus-driven approach. The study analyzed two corpora of 30 RAs purposely selected from 16 peer-reviewed journals of applied linguistics published in Saudi Arabia and internationally during the years of 2011-2016. First, a genre-based approach was used to identify the move structures of RAs through analyzing different RA sections by different models. Next, lexical bundles associated with each identified move in each IMRDC section were analyzed using a corpus-driven approach, based on structural and functional taxonomies. The study findings showed that both corpora share similarities and differences related to rhetorical structures and lexical bundles. These findings have pedagogical implications for novice writers, graduate students, and English for Academic Purposes (EAP) instruction, including raising awareness of rhetorical structures and LBs in academic writing for publication, which could help produce more successful publishable research articles.

Logical markers in L1 (Spanish and English) and L2 (English) Business research articles

2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 246-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pilar Mur Dueñas
Keyword(s):  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Research Articles ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Business Research ◽  
Intercultural Studies ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Specific Discipline ◽  
Anglo American ◽  
Academic Genres ◽  
L1 English

A great number of cross-cultural analyses of academic written genres have shown that there are cultural differences in the use of certain rhetorical and metadiscoursal features in texts produced in English and other languages. Intercultural studies of L2 (English) academic texts are more scarce. They tend to point out that these texts occupy a mid-position between those produced in the two L1s. The present research analyses logical markers in L1 research articles (RAs) in Spanish and English and L2 RAs in English in a specific discipline to try to unveil whether the use made of these metadiscoursal features by Spanish scholars in their English RAs resembles that in L1 English or Spanish texts. The use of additive, contrastive and consecutive logical markers is found to be rather different in the English and Spanish RAs and, in turn, their use in the English RAs written by Spanish scholars resembles that in RAs written by Anglo-American peers. Thus, no transfer process seems to occur from L1 (Spanish) RAs into L2 (English) texts. It is hypothesized that some rhetorical and metadiscoursal features may be more likely than others to undergo this transfer in academic genres, a hypothesis which shall be confirmed by future research. The possible reasons for these results are also discussed as well as their pedagogical implications.

Functions of the verb decir (‘to say’) in the incipient academic Spanish writing of bilingual children

2008 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-280
Author(s):  
Laura E. Dubcovsky
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
Interactive Narrative ◽  
Language Program ◽  
Linguistic Feature ◽  
Content Areas ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Dual Language Program ◽  
Bilingual Classroom ◽  
Academic Genres

There is great concern about the lack of access to academic writing, especially for minority language schoolchildren. Although much research is devoted to social context and personal interactions in the classroom, a closer look at language itself would contribute to a better understanding of the development of literacy in a bilingual setting. The aim of this study is to examine the uses of one particular linguistic feature in incipient academic genres. Drawing on a functional linguistic framework, the article analyzes four functions of the verb decir (‘to say’) in texts written in Spanish by children in a Dual Language Program during two consecutive school years. The analysis includes texts taken from three main content areas — Language Arts, Science and Social Studies. Results show that decir was used to fulfill interactive, narrative, informative and reflective functions, which occur with different frequencies in the three content areas. The article especially discusses those functions that may lead to more advanced literacy. The study concludes with implications for the bilingual classroom, suggesting that linguistic awareness of different uses of the verb decir could help schoolchildren to organize incipient academic texts

scholarly journals Genre Analysis of Accounts of Methodology in Arabic Educational Research Articles

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 281-301
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Educational Research ◽  
Academic Discourse ◽  
Research Articles ◽  
Analysis Approach ◽  
Genre Analysis ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Rhetorical Features ◽  
Rhetorical Structures

Genre analysts have conducted studies on research articles (henceforth RAs) written in different languages, giving primary attention to the introduction section. The methodology has not been given similar attention although it is an essential part of empirical RAs. There are no studies, to the best of my knowledge, which have tackled accounts of methodology of Arabic RAs. This research, therefore, aims to identify the rhetorical features of accounts of methodology of Arabic educational RAs with their realisations. In pursuing this aim, 40 method sections were selected from RAs published in refereed Arabic journals in the field of Education. These were analysed based on Swales’ (1990) ‘move and steps’ analysis approach and bottom-up processing. The linguistic features, realising the moves and steps, were analysed using the transitivity framework (Halliday 1985). The findings show that there are five moves representing the methodology: 1- sample and population of study; 2- procedures of study; 3- measure; 4- variables of study; and 5- data analysis procedures. These moves are realised by a number of steps and sub-steps which are represented most often using material and relational process types. The results of this research provide insights into Arabic academic discourse. The results may also help empower beginner academic writers and enhance writing textbooks. Keywords: Methodology, Research articles, Rhetorical structures and transitivity framework.

scholarly journals Referential Coherence of Academic Texts: A Corpus-Based Analysis of L2 Research Papers in Management

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 112-127
Author(s):  
Elizaveta A. Smirnova
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Research Articles ◽  
Research Papers ◽  
Corpus Study ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Reference Corpus ◽  
Professional Writers

This paper focuses on referential coherence, which is seen as a crucial attribute of effective academic writing. Findings are reported from a corpus study of Russian students’ research proposals. The learners’ use of anaphoric expressions is compared with a reference corpus, which comprises research articles published in peer-reviewed journals. It was hypothesised that learners use anaphora less frequently than professional writers and face some difficulties when using anaphoric expressions. The results of the analysis partly confirmed the hypothesis and allowed the identification of particular problems connected with the students’ use of anaphoric expressions, which were then classified into several groups. Examples of exercises aimed at dealing with the identified problems are also provided. It is hoped that the reported findings, as well as the author’s suggested reasons for the problems and possible ways of dealing with them, will be useful for EAP practitioners, researchers, and students writing their research papers in English.

scholarly journals The Implications of Literacy Teaching Models

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 94
Author(s):  
Maya Gunawardena
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
Culture Shock ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Teaching Models ◽  
Literacy Teaching ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Popular Literacy ◽  
Academic Genres ◽  
Rhetorical Structures

First year students often experience a culture shock as certain literacy practices at the university level are different from their experiences in high schools. Some major challenges that students encounter include students’ ability to maintain academic integrity practices in their studies, to comprehend complex academic texts to outline key ideas, and to communicate confidently and effectively in diverse academic genres. As these challenges are common, often universities offer activities to assist students’ with their academic enculturation process. The three popular literacy teaching models currently in practice are the generic, embedded and literacies models. All the three models offer challenges in their effective practice. By evaluating the ethnographic data from the models used at UNSW Canberra Academic Language Learning Unit (ALL), this paper argues that in line with Lea and Street’s (2006) discussion, literacies is the most effective approach for developing students’ lifelong skills for effective communication, reading and critical thinking. Literary teaching should involve an advanced inquiry into writing practices in diverse disciplines helping students’ identifying and practicing using language devices and rhetorical structures in academic genres.

Agentivity as a determinant of lexico-grammatical variation in L2 academic writing

2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 357-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus Callies
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Research Articles ◽  
First Person ◽  
Advanced Learners ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Grammatical Variation ◽  
Novice Writers

This paper examines novice writers’ strategies in the (non-)representation of authorship in academic writing drawing on data from the Corpus of Academic Learner English and a native-speaker control corpus. The analysis focuses on the quantitative and qualitative use of pronouns, subject placeholders, as well as verbs and inanimate nouns that frequently occur in academic writing. The findings indicate that even advanced learners are insecure about the (non-)representation of authorship in academic texts, but lack the resources to report events and findings without mentioning an author-agent. The learner data evidence a significant overrepresentation of first person pronouns and subject placeholders as default strategies to suppress the author-agent. This imbalanced clustering is argued to be due to a significant underrepresentation of constructions with inanimate nouns as subjects that are preferred reporting devices in abstracts and research articles in the humanities. The paper concludes by addressing implications for language teaching, testing and assessment.

A Genre Analysis Study of Iranian EFL Learners’ Master Theses with a Focus on the Introduction Section

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (10) ◽  
pp. 1982
Author(s):  
Shadi Shirani ◽  
Azizeh Chalak
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Genre Analysis ◽  
Teaching English ◽  
Teaching Process ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Analysis Study ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Rhetorical Structures ◽  
High Degree

Genre analysis, which is defined as the study of how language is used in a particular context, is considered as a crucial factor in all types of communication especially in writing academic texts. This study aimed at analyzing the rhetorical structure of the introduction section of master theses, to see to what extent they follow the standard frameworks. To fulfill the objectives of the study, 40 master(M.A.) theses written by Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners majoring in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) at Islamic Azad University (IAU), Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch were collected and analyzed. The descriptive analysis of the data including frequency and percentage, indicated that most of the rhetorical structures (moves) that are approved by the field professionals were followed with a high degree of occurrence in Iranian EFL learners’ M.A. theses. The results of the study may pave the way for improving the students’ writing and also the teaching process for academic practitioners.

scholarly journals “Students Can Write!”

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-51
Author(s):  
Randi Benedikte Brodersen ◽  
Solveig Kavli
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Theoretical Point ◽  
Academic Texts ◽  
Guidance Strategies ◽  
New Strategy ◽  
Academic Genres ◽  
Search For Information ◽  
Voice Dialogue ◽  
Point Of Departure ◽  
Shed Light

One purpose of this article is to shed light upon the concept of voice in writing, related to genres and sources in humanities. Another purpose is to participate in the academic discussion on voice. We want to raise awareness about the use of voice, in general, among students and supervisors. We want to inspire and motivate students to voice their texts explicitly and naturally – by using different genres and by entering into dialogue with central sources. Such sources can be used to create new meaning and for sense making, but they do not carry a given answer (Dervin, 1999; Holliday & Rogers, 2013). The variation and complexity of voice is present in the variety of sources students find and use, such as articles, textbooks, dissertations, interviews, films, pictures, etc. Voices are explicit or implicit in all kind of sources used. Voices emerge as authoritative and experienced within academia, for instance in textbooks and articles. Voices may be creative and inviting. Some are attractive and believable, others hesitant or uncertain, as voices in many texts written by students. Students, at all academic levels, express insecurity when working with academic writing and genres. However, by analysing and practicing different academic genres and by attending to voice(s) in others’ texts, students are empowered to explore genres and sources and to voice their own texts. By using and entering into dialogue with various sources, students make choices about how to present and interact with sources. In these ways, students develop their voices and improve their texts. Our theoretical point of departure deals with voice, dialogue (Elbow, 2007; Bakhtin, 1986) and the use of sources combined with the search for information (Dervin, 1999; Holliday & Rogers, 2013). We analyse and compare two examples of the use of sources in academic texts, in order to show how texts representing two genres, use voices and sources in different ways. We present supervisors’ guidance strategies, representing supervisors’ voices. We – and supervisors – mention students’ general challenges with academic writing. Finally, we present dialogic strategies and propose a new dialogic strategy. This new strategy combines and unites reading and writing in different genres, drawing on and entering into dialogue with central sources, with different and clear ways of voicing; explicit and implicit voicing. Our dialogic strategy – and other intended dialogic strategies – can be used by students and all supervisors who assist students in writing, when dealing with voice(s) and sources.    

Genre and second-language academic writing

2014 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Paltridge
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Whole Language ◽  
Process Writing ◽  
Genre Analysis ◽  
Text Linguistics ◽  
The Us ◽  
Academic Genres ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Teaching Of Writing

The term ‘genre’ first came into the field of second-language (L2) writing and, in turn, the field of English for specific purposes (ESP) in the 1980s, with the research of John Swales, first carried out in the UK, into the introduction section of research articles. Other important figures in this area are Tony Dudley-Evans, Ann Johns and Ken Hyland, who have argued for the value of genre in the teaching of L2 academic writing. ESP genre analysis is a development of text linguistics and the description of academic genres, moving from a focus on lexicogrammatical features to rhetorical moves and, later, to a focus on rhetorical context (see Swales 2001 for a review). Systemic functional genre analysis (typically called the ‘Sydney school’) is a development of research such as that of Longacre (1976) and Labov & Waletzky (1967) and their analyses of the discourse structures of texts. Jim Martin and Joan Rothery are two important figures in the early development of systemic functional genre analysis; their work became the basis for the Disadvantaged Schools Project in Sydney (see Rose & Martin 2012 for a history). As an approach to the teaching of writing, genre-based pedagogy came into prominence in the US, in part as a response to process writing, which, it was felt, did not realistically prepare students for the demands of writing in academic contexts (Horowitz 1986). Genre-based pedagogy in Australia has a similar history and was a reaction to whole language and process writing, which were dominant in the teaching of writing in Australian schools at the time.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document