i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A number of people helped me when this thesis was on its ways. My grateful thanks in particular are to Assoc. Ton Nu My Nhat, my supervisor, who has supported me a lot during the time I work on my thesis. Thanks for her kind encouragements, her endless patience, her critical comments and her valuable materials.
Her invaluable reading of the drafts as well as her useful feedback have contributed to the final form of this thesis. My sincere thanks are also to my family members for their cooking and doing the chores so as to help me save time to do this thesis. Special thanks are to my parents for their love and kind support during the time I was engaged in this work. I am also grateful to my friends and classmates for their warm encouragements, help and valuable materials; I will not name here for fear I might inadvertently leave someone out.
This thesis would not be possible without their contributions. Thank you all! e ii STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP This thesis represents my own work and due acknowledgment is given whenever information is derived from other sources. No material which has been or is being concurrently submitted for any other qualification at any university is found, except where due reference has been made in the text. Quy Nhon, 2019 PHAN THI MY HAO e iii ABSTRACT This study is a genre analysis of research article abstracts (RAAs) in the fields of applied linguistics.
The data for this study is 30 RAAs from the two journals English for Specific Purposes Journal (ESPJ) and TESOL Quarterly Journal (TSQJ). This study is conducted with the aim of exploring the lexico- grammatical features and the rhetorical structure and the close inherent link between these two levels in this genre. It is on the two approaches to genre analysis – the ESP approach and the Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) – that this study is situated. By applying Halliday & Matthiessen’s (2004) systemic functional grammar framework, and Santos’ (1996) move structure, the results reveal that although all types of processes are present in these abstracts, Material and Relational processes are the most prominent.
Besides, most of the clauses are non-modalised and contain mainly single unmarked topical theme; the use of multiple, interpersonal and textual themes are infrequent. As regards move structure, obligatory moves are Presenting the research (M2), Describing the methodology (M3), Summarizing the results (M4) and Discussing the research (M5). Moreover, there is a close relationship between lexico-semantic features and the moves identified. The results of this study can serve as data for further studies and contribute to methodological advancements in the field of Genre analysis; it also holds pedagogical implications for teaching English for Academic Purposes.
e iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP. iii ABBREVIATIONS AND CONVENTIONS. vii LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES.
ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION. AIM AND OBJECTIVES. Aim of the study. Objectives of the study.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY. ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY. 4 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.
Approaches to Genre Analysis. SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR (SFG). ABSTRACTS IN ACADEMIC WRITINGS. 36 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION.
Lexico-Grammatical Features. Move 2 and its characteristic lexico-grammatical features. Move 3 and its characteristic lexico-grammatical features. Move 4 and its characteristic lexico-grammatical features.
Move 5 and its characteristic lexico-grammatical features. Move 1 and its characteristic lexico-grammatical features. SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER RESEARCH. i APPENDIX A: DATA SOURCES.
i APPENDIX B: RAW DATA. vi APPENDIX C: SAMPLE TEXT ANALYSIS. xxvii e vii ABBREVIATIONS AND CONVENTIONS C : Circumstance CC : Clause complex Ca : Accompaniment Cc : Cause Cg : Angle Cl : Clause Cm : Manner Co : Location Cr : Role Ct : Matter Cx : Extent Cy : Contigency ELT : English language teaching ESP : English for Specific Purpose ESPJ : English for Specific Purpose Journal FG : Functional Grammar IFG : Introduction to Functional Grammar M : Move P : Process Pb : Behavioural Process e viii Pe : Existential Process Pm : Material Process Pme : Mental Process Pr : Relational Process Pv : Verbal Process RA : Research article RAAs : Research article abstracts SFG : Systemic Functional Grammar SFL : Systemic Functional Linguistics TSQJ : TESOL Quarterly Journal ||| : Clause complex, boundary markers || : Clause (not rankshifted), boundary markers [[ ]] : Rankshifted clause, boundary markers In numbered examples Examples are numbered for ease of reference.10) signifies the tenth example in the fourth chapter. Underlined marks the use of what is being demonstrated.
e ix LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES FIGURES Figure 2.1 Context, semantics and lexico-grammar. The system of Theme. Distribution of processes. Distribution of modalized/non modalied clauses .1 Swales’ (1990) CARS model.
Summary of the process types .3 Realizations of modality in English. Summary of studies on RAAs across various disciplines. A framework for abstract analysis. Typical verbs realizing processes.
Distribution of circumstances. Frequency of theme types. Frequency of Moves. Five moves and their correlation with linguistic features.
Register description of RAAs. RATIONALE Research articles (RAs) is produced to communicate new knowledge to members of the academic community and thus persuading them to accept the claims (Hyland, 2000). Of which, one of the key parts is the abstract. The abstract is considered as the point of departure of most research articles.
As opined by Pho (2008, p. 231), it is the first section to be read, and it more or less “sells” the article. Also, Hartley (2003) says that the abstract tends to be the first part of a journal article to be read because it captures the essence of the whole article. For Martín (2003), very few journals would not require an abstract to be submitted with the main research article.
Due to the importance of the communicative appeal of an abstract, many journals that are published in languages other than English also need the submission of an English version of the abstract (Lorés, 2004). Therefore, abstract is an important genre that needs to be studied, for both writing and reading purposes. More than 25 years ago, Graetz (1982) pointed out that the abstract greatly improved the journal comprehension if readers could recognize the linguistic signals of the different functions of an abstract. Thanks to the signals which provide a clear guidance to readers, writers can communicate their ideas more effectively.
It will be valuable for novice writers such as graduate students, especially those from non-English countries, who want to submit articles for publication, to know both the lexico-grammatical features of the abstract and its rhetorical organization. Recognizing the importance of having a good abstract, I decide to carry out an analysis of lexico-grammatical features and move structure of RAAs in the field of ELT. This study is conducted with the hope that its result will e 2 provide some useful knowledge in terms of lexico-grammatical features as well as the move structure of this genre. AIM AND OBJECTIVES 1.Aim of the study This study is a genre analysis of the abstract section of RAs.
The overarching aim of this study is to provide an in-depth description of lexico- grammatical and textual features of RAAs in the field of ELT from the perspectives of the Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) of Halliday and Matthiessen (2004), and move structure of Swales (1990).Objectives of the study To achieve this aim, the research addresses the following objectives: - To describe lexico-grammatical features representing transitivity, modality and thematic structure of RAAs in the fields of applied linguistics; - To describe the move structure of RAAs in the field of applied linguistics; - To describe the correlation of lexico-grammatical features and the move structure of RAAs in the field of applied linguistics. RESEARCH QUESTIONS - What is the distribution of lexico-grammatical features concerning transitivity, modality and thematic structure of RAAs in fields of applied linguistics? - What are the move patterns of RAAs in fields of applied linguistics? - What are the characteristic features of the moves in RAAs in fields of applied linguistics? e 3 1. SCOPE OF THE STUDY Due to the limited time and the scale of an MA thesis, only 30 RAAs in the fields of applied linguistics serve as the data for this exploration. Of the range of professional journals published in English the world over, I decided to choose only two, which are especially prestigious and widely circulated.
They are English for Specific Purposes Journal (ESPJ) and TESOL Quarterly Journal (TSQJ). In addition, of multiple lexico-grammatical dimensions representing the three lines of meaning in SFG, this investigation focuses on only one dimension in each meaning, namely transitivity to explore the experiential meaning, modality to explore the interpersonal meaning, and thematic structure to explore the textual meaning. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY Practically, this study contributes to the literature on genre-based analyses of RAA in particular and RA in general. Particularly, the study provides a description of the lexico-grammatical features and move structure of RAAs.
Practically, it is a useful source for not only teachers of writing academic English but also novice writers who are interested in submitting articles for international publication. In particular, based on the basis of the prominent linguistic features of the genre, the teachers can orient students to what must be included in RAAs to have a successful publication. Theoretically, this study is a contribution to the methodology of move- based research on RAAs. Firmly based on SFG, this study extends the previous studies on RAAs in general and RAAs in particular.
Whereas the previous studies investigated the linguistic features separately in traditional terms, it is e 4 in this present study that the three lines of meanings are brought together and systematically interpreted as characteristic features of individual moves. ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY This paper is organized as follows: Chapter 1, Introduction, introduces the rationale, the aim and objectives, the scope of the study, research questions, the significance of the study and the organization. Chapter 2, Literature Review, presents brief accounts on the literature of Genre analysis, SFG, abstracts in academic writing as well as a review of previous studies related to this study. Chapter 3, Methodology, describes the research methods, research procedures, description of data collection and analysis.
Chapter 4, Findings and Discussion, presents the results, describing the lexico-grammatical features of transitivity, modality, the thematic structure, and the move structure of RAAs in ELT. The results are also interpreted in light of the relevant literature. Chapter 5, Conclusion and Implications, provides a summary of the major findings, pedagogical implications and limitations and puts forward some suggestions for further research. e 5 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter provides an overview of the theories closely related to the exploration.
How “genre” is technically defined and how genre has been approached in the literature are first dealt with. The second main ground lies with the theory of SFG, where only the three aspects in focus are taken into account. The chapter will close with a review of the previous studies relevant to this study.Genre defined Discourse analysis is a new branch of linguistics that grew out of work in various areas during the late 1960s and early 1970s. It has been extensively explored by researchers from different disciplines due to its huge practical applicability in different fields of our daily life.
Discourse analysis gives us deep views into various aspects of language in use. By learning discourse analysis, we know how texts are structured beyond sentence level; how talks follows regular patterns in different circumstances. Moreover, it has many practical applications in language teaching. Then the late 1980s and early 1990s, witnessed a preoccupation with texts concerning socially relevant domains.
This gave rise to a new trend in discourse analysis called Genre Analysis.