Move analysis of research article abstracts in the field of ELT: A comparative study

Abstract

This study aims to make a comparison between research article abstracts written by two groups in the field of English Language Teaching (ELT) by Turkish scholars and non-Turkish scholars working in Anglophone countries to find the rhetorical structure they employ in their abstracts. To achieve this purpose, 390 research article abstracts, 195 abstracts from each group, were analyzed. To analyze the abstracts, Hyland's (2000) model with five moves was employed. In addition to the descriptive statistics, the Chi-Square test was used to find whether there are any statistical differences between two writer groups in terms of move use. Results showed that there are no statistically significant differences in terms of moves between the two groups. However, three moves (purpose, method, product) frequently occurred in Turkish writers' abstracts while foreign writers include four moves (purpose, method, product, conclusion) more commonly in their abstracts. These findings have some implications for researchers, particularly for developing teaching materials for academic writing courses that can guide scholars to successfully participate in the international discourse community.

Genre Analysis of Research Article Abstracts in English for Academic Purposes Journals: Exploring the Possible Variations across the Venues of Research

“…is might imply the authors' cognizance of the crucial role of these three moves in drawing the scholarly readers' attention to the full paper [13]. Moreover, the findings were commensurate with Santos's [17] results which revealed the obligatory nature of these moves in applied linguistics abstracts.…”

“…However, the results contrasted their study in that they demonstrated the low frequency of the occurrence of the conclusion move in their corpora. With regard to these two moves, the findings of the current study might signify the authors' tendency to take heed of presenting the topic and the existing void before articulating the purpose of the study [13]. Besides, the authors of the abstracts in both IJEAP and JEAP preferred to reckon with the implications of their research findings.…”

“…e authors in the two corpora omitted and/or combined some of the moves and generated a wide range of move patterns to make the most use of the limited space provided for presenting a synopsis of their study. is might underlie the authors' intentional discursive practices to highlight specific parts of their study [13].…”

“…Demanding a tactful way of presenting the summary of the research procedures and products, writing abstracts seems to be a tough task for the non-native members of academic communities [12]. ese all lead to the call for analyzing the generic structure of RA abstracts in the existing literature [13].…”

“…In this regard, a large number of studies have focused on analyzing the genre of abstracts across various disciplines and languages [13]. e previously conducted studies have mostly focused on the generic structure of the RA abstracts adopting a cross-linguistic and cross-disciplinary approach.…”