A Comparative Study of Rhetorical Moves Adopted in Research Questions and Method Sections of Applied Linguistics Research Articles

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

Bu-Ali Sina University

Abstract

The study investigated whether there was any significant generic difference between the Research Questions (RQs) and Method sections of applied linguistics research articles (RAs) published in international and local Iranian journals. Two hundred applied linguistics RAs (100 from each group) were selected from 5 SSCI-indexed international journals and 5 Iranian Scientific-Research (Elmi-Pazhouheshi) ISC-indexed journals. Having analyzed the Introduction and Method sections based on Swales’ (2004) CARS model and Lim’s (2006) model, respectively, we found there were no significant differences in the frequency of occurrence of RQs in the Introduction sections, on the one hand, and between the Method sections of both groups of RAs, on the other. However, significant differences were found in the frequency of occurrence of certain moves and steps in both sections. Moreover, the findings of an expert-viewed validated questionnaire indicated that the RQs were of paramount importance to the authors of both groups of RAs.

Keywords

References

Annesloy, Th. M. (2010).Who, what, when, where, how, and why: The ingredients in the recipe for a successful methods section. Clinical Chemistry, 56(6), 897-901.
Bhatia, V. K. (1997). Genre-mixing in academic introductions. English for Specific Purposes,16(3), 181-195.
Bhatia, V. K. (2002). Applied genre analysis: A multiperspective model. IBERICA, 4, 3-19.
Bruce, I. (2008). Cognitive genre structures in method sections of research articles: A corpus study. English for Specific Purposes, 7, 38-54.
Chang, Ch., F., & Kuo, Ch. H. (2011).A corpus-based approach to online materials development for writing research articles. English for Specific Purposes, 30, 222- 234.
Cortes, V. (2013). The purpose of this study is to: Connecting lexical bundles and moves in research article introductions. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 12, 33-43.
Graves, H., Moghaddasi, Sh., & Hashim, A. (2014). “Let G = (V, E) be a graph”: Turning the abstract into the tangible in introductions in mathematics research articles. English for Specific Purposes, 36, 1-11.
Jalilifar, A. (2010). Writing titles in applied linguistics: A comparative study of theses and research articles. Taiwan International ESP Journal, 2(1), 29-54.
Joseph, R., Lim, J. M. H., & Nor, N. A. M. (2014). Communicative moves in forestry research introductions: Implications for the design of learning materials. Procedia - Social and  Behavioral Sciences, 134, 53-69.
Kanoksilapatham, B. (2007). Rhetorical moves in biochemistry research articles. In D. Biber, U. Connor, & T. A. Upton (Eds.). Discourse on the move: Using corpus analysis to describe discourse structure: Studies in corpus linguistics (pp. 73-119). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Kawase, T. (2015). Metadiscourse in the introductions of Ph.D. theses and research articles. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 20, 114-124.
Khany, R., & Tazik K. (2010). A comparative study of introduction and discussion section of subdisciplines of applied linguistics research articles. Journal of Research in Applied Linguistics, 1(2), 97-122.
Le, Th. N. Ph., & Harrington, M. (2015). Phraseology used to comment on results in the discussion section of applied linguistics quantitative research articles. English for Specific Purposes, 39, 45-61.
Lim, J. M. H. (2006). Method sections of management research articles: A pedagogically motivated qualitative study. English for Specific Purposes, 25, 282-302.
Lim, J. M. H. (2014). Formulating research questions in experimental doctoral dissertations on applied linguistics. English for Specific Purposes, 35, 66-88.
Lim, J. M. H., Loi, Ch. K, Hashim, A., & Liu, M. S. M. (2015). Purpose statements in experimental doctoral dissertations submitted to U.S. universities: An inquiry into doctoral students' communicative resources in language education. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 20, 69-89.
Loi, Ch. K. (2010). Research article introductions in Chinese and English: A comparative genre-based study. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 9, 267-279.
Loi, Ch. K., & Evans, M. S. (2010). Cultural differences in the organization of research article Introduction from the field of educational psychology: English and Chinese. Journal of Pragmatics, 42, 2814-2825.
Martin, P., & Leon Perez, I. K. (2014). Convincing peers of the value of one’s research: A genre analysis of rhetorical promotion in academic texts. English for Specific Purposes, 34, 1-13.
Martinez, I. A. (2003). Aspects of theme in the method and discussion sections of biology journal articles in English. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 2, 103-123.
Nowgo, K. N. (1997). The medical research paper: Structure and functions. English for Specific Purposes, 16(2), 119-138.
Ozturk, I. (2007). The textual organization of research article introductions in applied linguistics: Variability within a single discipline. English for Specific Purposes, 26, 25-38.
Peacock, M. (2011). The structure of the method section in research articles across eight disciplines. Asian ESP Journal, 7(2), 97-124.
Rubio, M. M. (2011). A pragmatic approach to the macrostructure and metadiscoursal features of research article introductions in the field of agricultural sciences. English for Specific Purposes, 30, 258-271.
Salager-Meyer, F. (2008). Scientific publishing in developing countries: Challenges for the Future. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 7, 121-132.
Samraj, B. (2005). An exploration of a genre set: Research article abstracts and introductions in two disciplines. English for Specific Purposes, 24, 141-156.
Samraj, B. (2008). A discourse analysis of master’s theses across disciplines with a focus on introductions. English for Specific Purposes, 7, 55-67.
Sheldon, E. (2011). Rhetorical differences in RA introductions written by English L1 and L2 and Castilian Spanish L1 writers. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 10, 238-251.
Shehzad, W. (2011). Outlining purposes, stating the nature of the present research, and listing research questions or hypotheses in academic papers. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 41(2), 139-160.
Smagorinsky, P. (2008). The method section as conceptual epicenter in constructing   social science research reports. Written Communication, 25, 389-411.
Stoller, F. L., & Robinson, M. S. (2013). Chemistry journal articles: An interdisciplinary approach to move analysis with pedagogical aims, English for Specific Purposes, 32, 45-57.
Swales, J. M. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Swales, J. M. (2004). Research genres: Explorations and applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Swales, J. M., & Feak, Ch. B. (2012). Academic writing for graduate students. Michigan: The University of Michigan Press.
Swales, J. M., & Najjar, H. (1987). The writing of research introductions. Written Communication, 4, 175-191.
Journal of Research in Applied Linguistics
Volume 8, Issue 1
April 2017
Pages 46-71

Files

Cited by

Share

How to cite

Statistics