A Quantitative Study on Noun Clauses in Applied Linguistics Research Articles between Q1 SCOPUS and TCI 1 Databases

Abstract

This study investigated the syntactic structure of noun clauses, which were made up of their form, meaning and use. The study sought the correlation between noun clauses and three linguistic variants, such as the overt complementizer that, the semantic denotations of non-subjectivity and the preferences of noun clause. The data under study included 20 applied linguistics research articles taken from System and Journal of Studies in the English Language. There were 123 noun clauses available in this study. The data were analyzed by using the SPSS 29 with the inferential statistic tool called Pearson Correlation. The results clearly showed that there was a statistically significant relationship between noun clauses and the overt complementizer that, both in System and Journal of Studies in the English Language where their p-values were reported at .000 and .025, respectively. In addition, a statistically significant relationship between noun clauses and expressions of non-subjectivity was shown in System where the p-value was reported at .033. However, this significant relationship was not found in Journal of Studies in the English Language. The results of this study were explained by the principle of formality and pragmatic discourse of given and new information. It is expected that the results in this study will be useful for learners of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in terms of applying the structure of noun clauses in applied linguistics research articles correctly and appropriately.