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The rhetorical moves in abstracts of published research articles by Chinese academic writers in the field of applied linguistics
Author
Yang, Jing
Supervisor
Tang, Ramona Siu Mei
Abstract
Within the field of English for Academic Purposes (EAP), the abstract is considered by many researchers to be an important component in a research article. For instance, Hyland (2000) thinks that academic writers use abstracts as a way of promoting their articles by claiming significance and insider credibility.
This study explores the abstracts of published research articles written in English by Chinese academic writers in the field of applied linguistics. Specifically, it looks at the rhetorical move structures, the presence and absence of certain moves, the importance placed on different moves and the linguistic realization of the moves. A corpus of abstracts was collected from three Chinese academic journals as the data for my genre analysis. In addition, as a comparative set of data, a second corpus of abstracts from three international journals was collected to see whether Chinese writers are writing in ways found in the international journals. Hyland's (2000) "Introduction- Purpose- MethodProduct-Conclusion" (I-P-M-Pr-C) classification is used as the schema for the analysis. As a supplementary step, a questionnaire survey targeted at Chinese academic writers was conducted to probe into their perceptions of the functions of the abstract and the rhetorical moves in it.
The findings showed both similarities and differences in how Chinese writers and writers for international journals construct their abstracts. Both groups of writers seem to have similar perceptions of the importance of the Purpose and Product moves in the abstract to demonstrate the significance of their studies and attract readers' attention. However, Chinese writers differ significantly from the contributors of the international journals in the use of first person pronouns and the linguistic realizations of the Method move. It is suggested that the differences may have to do with their lack of familiarity with the culture and conventions of doing academic writing in English. Their practices may reflect their cultural and linguistic background and fit well with the commonly acceptable practices in the Chinese discourse community and Chinese publication culture. However, if Chinese writers aim to publish in international journals, which is of great importance for their career development, it is important for them to be aware of the kinds of discourse practices valued in international journals so that they can make more appropriate linguistic choices when writing in English.
This study explores the abstracts of published research articles written in English by Chinese academic writers in the field of applied linguistics. Specifically, it looks at the rhetorical move structures, the presence and absence of certain moves, the importance placed on different moves and the linguistic realization of the moves. A corpus of abstracts was collected from three Chinese academic journals as the data for my genre analysis. In addition, as a comparative set of data, a second corpus of abstracts from three international journals was collected to see whether Chinese writers are writing in ways found in the international journals. Hyland's (2000) "Introduction- Purpose- MethodProduct-Conclusion" (I-P-M-Pr-C) classification is used as the schema for the analysis. As a supplementary step, a questionnaire survey targeted at Chinese academic writers was conducted to probe into their perceptions of the functions of the abstract and the rhetorical moves in it.
The findings showed both similarities and differences in how Chinese writers and writers for international journals construct their abstracts. Both groups of writers seem to have similar perceptions of the importance of the Purpose and Product moves in the abstract to demonstrate the significance of their studies and attract readers' attention. However, Chinese writers differ significantly from the contributors of the international journals in the use of first person pronouns and the linguistic realizations of the Method move. It is suggested that the differences may have to do with their lack of familiarity with the culture and conventions of doing academic writing in English. Their practices may reflect their cultural and linguistic background and fit well with the commonly acceptable practices in the Chinese discourse community and Chinese publication culture. However, if Chinese writers aim to publish in international journals, which is of great importance for their career development, it is important for them to be aware of the kinds of discourse practices valued in international journals so that they can make more appropriate linguistic choices when writing in English.
Date Issued
2009
Call Number
P302.18 Yan
Date Submitted
2009