Research article abstracts in applied linguistics and educational technology: a study of linguistic realizations of rhetorical structure and authorial stance

Abstract

The abstract found at the beginning of most journal articles has increasingly become an essential part of the article. It tends to be the first part of the article to be read and, to some extent, it `sells' the article. Acquiring the skills of writing an abstract is therefore important to novice writers to enter the discourse community of their discipline. Based on 30 abstracts from three journals, the present study aims at exploring not only the rhetorical moves of abstracts in the fields of applied linguistics and educational technology, but also the linguistic realizations of moves and authorial stance in different abstract moves. The results show that there are three obligatory moves in abstracts in these two disciplines — Presenting the research, Describing the methodology, and Summarizing the results. The results also indicate that a combination of certain linguistic features such as grammatical subjects, verb tense and voice can help distinguish moves in the abstract. The findings of the study have some pedagogical implications for academic writing courses for graduate students, especially students from non-English backgrounds.

Rhetorical Variation across Research Article Abstracts in Environmental Science and Applied Linguistics

“…The construction of Purpose move was similar to that offered by previous researchers, e.g. Li (2011) andPho (2008). In accordance with Suntara and Usaha (2013), the majority of Purpose move can be explicitly signalized by the formulaic patterns of reporting verbs preceded by deictic items (determiners) and nouns indicating inquiry type.…”

“…Contrary to Pho's (2008) findings, the analysis shows that first person pronouns were used quite often in this study, suggesting that assertive disposition of the authors of empirical research articles. Some scholars however resorted to the general subjects "it" and "there" to conceal their identity or the source of evaluation.…”

“…Opening subjects Reporting verbs result (52) there (16) analysis (10) data (5) it (4) finding (2) show that (32) find that (15) indicate that (10) suggest that (6) demonstrate that (5) show (5) reveal that (3) reveal (2) indicate (1) demonstrate (1) (15) it (7) data (4) study (3) show that (38) indicate that (13) find that (11) reveal that (10) reveal (8) suggest that (6) identify (4) show (3) argue that (2) depict that (1) demonstrate (1) illustrate (1) The subject types, according to Pho (2008), are classified into two categories in this study: (i) reference to writer's own work (i.e. results, analysis,) and (ii) objects of research and their attributes (i.e.…”

“…Large quantities of previous research on abstract genre were extensively investigated within particular disciplines (e.g., Santos, 1996;Martín-Martín, 2003;Cross & Oppenheim, 2006;Zhangsirikul, 2012;Kanoksilapatham, 2013) and, by extension, across multiple disciplines (e.g., Hyland, 2000;Samraj, 2002;Pho, 2008;Suntara & Usaha, 2013;Saeeaw, 2013). For example, Santos (1996) conducted a move analysis of RA abstracts in applied linguistics.…”

TESOL Conference Abstracts: Discrepancies between Potential Writers‘ Knowledge and Actual Composition

“…This body of work includes Nwogu (1990), Swales (1990), Bhatia (1993), Santos (1996), Hyland (2000), Martín (2003), Lorés (2004), Samraj (2002Samraj ( , 2005, Pho (2008), Zhang, Bui, and Pramoolsook (2012), Suntara and Usaha (2013). Although these studies focused on RA abstracts across disciplines and in different settings, almost all of them employed Swales' CARS model (Create a Research Space) (1990), which originally intended to describe RA introductions.…”