Volume 6 (2016) Issue 1
of Research Articles on Applied Linguistics:
Evidence
from Introduction Sections to Methods Sections
Attapol Khamkhien (Bangkok, Thailand)
Abstract
Writing and publishing research articles (RAs) in English is crucial because an RA is considered as one of the channels to communicate among researchers and scholars worldwide. This paper centres on the rhetorical structures and linguistic features commonly used in the Introduction and Methods sections of the RA genre. Inspired by Swales’ analytical framework (1990; 2004) and the contributions of Connor, Upton and Kanoksilapatham (2007) who suggest steps of conducting a move-based genre analysis, this study examined 50 RA Introduction and Methods sections in the field of applied linguistics. These RAs were analysed by genre analysis into ‘moves’ and ‘steps’. Through a comprehensive analysis of 50 systematically selected RAs published in journals listed in the Thai Citation Index (TCI) database, the results revealed that each section displayed a generic pattern, comprising a series of moves and steps. Lexico-grammatical features associated with a communicative function were also identified. The structural patterns and linguistic features found to functionally interact with one another may facilitate the understanding of novice writers and graduates of published RAs in these sections. Pedagogically, the findings generated by this study could be useful for teaching students how to write scholarly publications in EAP classrooms. The structural patterns identified might also be meaningful for teachers in designing relevant reading and writing materials for advanced learners to improve their writing skills to effectively disseminate discoveries in their fields.
Key words:
Rhetorical structure, Introduction, Methods, genre analysis, applied
linguistics, research writing
1
Introduction
Writing
for scholarly publications in peer-reviewed journals is crucial.
Scholars and researchers from various academic disciplines have been
under tremendous pressure to not only get access to information, but
also share and disseminate their research findings through English in
prestigious journals. Consequently, since RAs represent the preferred
medium of exchanging knowledge among members of the academic
community (Flowerdew 1999:
123-124),
researchers and scholars are pushed to successfully involve and meet
the standard criteria and conventions of writing practices for
academic and professional reasons.
Thai
faculty members, researchers, and practitioners are currently
encouraged to have their research papers accepted and published in
top-tier
journals in English.
Many Thai universities have recently set up a bonus payment scheme
stipulating that for RAs published in prestigious academic journals
indexed in respectful databases, authors will be rewarded. Moreover,
successful publications can enhance an author’s reputation,
prestige, chances of receiving promotions and grant awards, and
acceptance in the field (Kanoksilapatham 2007: 173). Furthermore, one
of the essential characteristics that Thai graduate students should
have is the ability to communicate, share, and exchange their
knowledge in English so that the knowledge gained can be used to
develop the country. Many Thai universities require candidates
wishing to graduate with a master’s or doctoral degree to publish
their research findings in at least one RA in an academic journal.
Also, any RA published must contain master’s or doctoral research
and be published in an international peer-reviewed journal (Svasti & Asavisanu 2007). Writing for scholarly publications is, thus,
regarded as a prerequisite for Thai graduate students before entering
the academic community.
As
stated by Canagarajah (1996) and Flowerdew (1999), without having
received formal training in how to write academic English, publishing
RAs in peer-reviewed articles is somewhat difficult for many
non-native speaking researchers. The task of writing RAs in general
is also considered relatively daunting
and challenging in the view of most novice writers. To publish an RA
successfully, writing skills are essential to ensure that writers can
efficiently and successfully express themselves academically. Cook
(1990) and MaCarthy (1991) suggest that to be able to understand and
produce RAs, writers need to make use of both macro and micro skills.
The macro knowledge of an RA genre starts with the knowledge of the
structural organisation of the discourse units, before moving on to
lexical and grammatical features used in the text. In contrast, the
micro knowledge of the RA concerns the smallest units of discourse,
such as grammatical items, before moving on to more general features
such as sentences, discourse units, and structural organisations of
the discourse units. In other words, to write effectively, writers
need to have knowledge of the genre and linguistic characteristics,
including lexico-grammatical features, rhetorical organisation,
communicative functions, and content (Hyland 2004: 149-150). In other
words, these macro and micro language components therefore have
different but complementary characteristics.
However,
Thai authors and graduate students still often face serious problems
when attempting to publish their RAs in English in refereed
journals, particularly international journals. Specifically, Thai
graduate students in the
field of social sciences seem to have some difficulties in publishing
in English for
a number of reasons. First, they need to understand how to conform to
the overall organisation, and how to use certain expressions and
vocabulary
commonly employed in their respective discourse communities and
academic disciplines. Second, the trend towards publishing in
English, including venues for publication with a huge number of
academic journals, is more pronounced in the hard sciences (Cargill & O’Connor 2006, Flowerdew & Li 2007) than in the humanities and
social sciences. Hence, it is inevitable that the ability to read and
write an RA in English is pivotal for novice authors in general, and
for Thai graduate students in particular, and for handling academic
writing tasks encountered in a higher education setting.
Through
the widely used Create a Research Space Model (CARS) proposed by
Swales (1990, 2004), a multitude of genre-based studies have been
textually conducted on the macro-structure of RAs and have revealed
that different components and lexico-grammatical features were found
in the four sections of RAs (Introduction, Methods, Results, and
Discussion (IMRD)) and different fields of discipline (e.g.
Basturkmen 2012, Bruce 2008, 2009, Kanoksilapatham 2012, Lim 2006,
Pho 2010, Ozturk 2007, Yang & Allison 2003). These studies also
acknowledge the increasingly important role of RAs written in
English. The results of these studies generally seem to indicate that
the rhetorical structure of the RA is, to some extent, dependent on
to which the text it belongs and the linguistic and / or
cultural context in which it is written. However, particular
attention in this line of research has been paid to the analysis of
the Introduction section in several disciplines, whereas the Methods
section seems to have attracted the least attention (Duenas 2007).
With
respect to the importance of publishing RAs in refereed journals, the
generic schemata and conventions associated with these are taken into
account. The objective of the present study is to describe how the
Introduction-and-Methods sections in
RAs on applied linguistics are
rhetorically constructed.
We also
attempt to present detailed rhetorical and lexico-grammatical
realisations prevalently found in applied linguistics RAs. It is
hoped that the rhetorical descriptions will shed light on their RA
genre to sharpen a better understanding in writing RAs for
publication to disseminate scientific discoveries. In addition,
awareness of rhetorical patterns and linguistic features used is
valuable to novice writers in general and graduate students in
particular who encounter difficulties in reading, preparing and
writing RAs for publication.
2
Swales’ Framework of Move and Step Analysis
Swales’
framework was originally designed to help non-native speakers of
English in a university setting to master the macro level of
organisational structures and the micro level of linguistic features
which are conventionally used in texts required in their disciplines
and professions (Hyon 2002, Swales 1990, 2004). According to Biber et
al. (2007: 15), Swales’ move analysis is regarded as a specific
genre analysis. It was developed as a top-down or macro approach to
demystify the discourse structure of texts.
The basic aim of move analysis is to consider and describe texts as a
sequence of 'moves', where each move presents a stretch of text
serving a particular communicative function. Each move, therefore,
not only has its own purpose but also contributes to the overall
communicative purpose of the genre.
In
conducting a move analysis, researchers segment texts into moves
based on their communicative purpose as it is believed that the
overall discourse structure of a text can be described in relation to
the sequence of move types. Some moves occur more frequently than
others and can be realised as obligatory, whereas other moves do not
occur frequently in the text and can be described as optional. Each
move contains a number of elements with which it is realised. These
constituent elements are referred to as 'steps' by Swales (1990,
2004) or 'strategies' by Bhatia (1993). The steps of a move primarily
function to achieve the purpose of the move to which it belongs. To
be precise, a move captures the function and purpose of a segment of
text at a more general level, whereas a step more specifically
presents the rhetorical means of realising the function of the move.
The set of steps for a move
is recognised by the set of rhetorical choices most commonly
available to RA authors so as to realise a certain communicative
purpose (Biber et al. 2007).
Swales
(1990, 2004) proposed a version of the CARS model which has been the
predominant analytical tool used in the analysis of the Introduction
component of RAs. It is used to describe the content schema structure
of RAs Introduction, consisting of three moves. Each of the moves is
obligatory and minimally consists of one component step. However,
Swales’ analytical model was criticised by scholars for its
subjectivity (Ädel 2014, Kanoksilapatham 2013 and 2015). Conducting
a move analysis also lacks explicit rules for decisions on move
boundaries, leading to questions of the reliability and empirical
validity of the analysis (Paltridge 1994). However, as suggested by
Dudley-Evans (1994: 226), decisions about the classification of move
patterns are made on the basis of linguistic evidence, text
comprehension, and the understanding of the academic discourse
community.
Furthermore, according to Swales (2004), the model proposed is not to
prescribe, but is used to provide guidelines with regard to how ideas
are marshalled
in the
Introduction section.
Although
criticism concerning the usefulness and validity of the CARS model
has been raised, the model has been subsequently validated in a
number of RA Introductions across several disciplines (e.g. Samraj
2002 in wildlife behaviour and biology conservation, Kanoksilpatham
2011 in civil engineering, Ozturk 2007 in second language acquisition
and second language writing). As an extension, the model was also
used to analyse other internal sections of RAs in academic
disciplines (e.g. Brett (1994) in the Results section, Peacock (2011)
in the Methods sections in eight disciplines, Lim (2006) in the
Method sections of management RAs, Yang & Allison (2003) in
Results and Discussion sections of applied linguistics RAs, and Nwogu
(1997) in the Discussion section of medical articles). The findings
from these studies have helped us to recognise that the rhetorical
organisation of texts is helpful, providing the schema of what
information elements
or moves are presented. These studies also indicate that, although
the CARS model was very informative, the scrutiny of individual
disciplines demonstrated that each discipline has its own unique
characteristics. A rhetorical organisation could be identified even
though the corpus of each study was taken from different disciplines.
Swales’ framework seems to be successful with the application to
each of the four sections of RAs. However, as demonstrated by these
studies, not all the findings from diverse academic disciplines are
identical, displaying the characteristics of their academic
disciplines. Some studies did not clearly report linguistic features
prevalently used in each move type identified,
whereas specific results from previous studies that focused
on similar disciplines remain underdeveloped (Kanoksilapatham 2015:
75).
In addition, most previous studies have focused on a single section
of articles, contributing to an incomplete understanding of what
should be included in each section when linking the knowledge of
macro and micro-structure of the Introduction-and-Methods sections of
an RA, at least in the discipline of applied linguistics
3
The Study
3.1
Data Compilation
To
obtain valid genre analysis results, 50
RAs on applied linguistics were first systematically compiled so as
to ascertain that the datasets were representative of the genre. To
enhance the validity of the analysis with regard to a journal
selection, the journals approved to be included in the Tier 1 by the
Thai-Journal Citation Index (TCI), representing the high quality of
their publications and journals (Sombatsompop et al. 2012), were
carefully selected. From these journals, the respective 2013 and 2014
issues were selected so as
to enhance the coherence and validity of the results of the study.
To
systematically select 50 RAs from each of the journals, firstly, RAs
were chosen whose contents appear to relate to studies in the field
of applied linguistics (e.g. teaching and learning, second language
acquisition, discourse analysis, foreign language teaching, and
testing and assessment). Secondly, since each issue of the journals
may contain review articles, forums
or book
reviews, only empirical RAs, consisting of Introduction, Methods,
Results, and Discussion and / or Conclusion sections were
compiled. However, only the sections of Introduction and Methods were
analysed in this study.
3.2 Data Analysis
The
data collected and complied were analysed using Swales’ analytical
framework and the
steps developed by Connor, Upton and Kanoksilapatham (2007) to
perform
a move-based genre analysis to determine the sub-units of moves and
steps. Linguistic features found in move and step instances were
analysed to explore their communicative function in the text
segments. To determine the potential status of each move, the
frequencies of occurrence of the individual moves identified were
recorded. Based
on the criterion arbitrarily established as a potential measure of
move stability for any move posited, a move was classified as
obligatory,
usual,
or optional
if it was found in 100%, more than 60%, and in less than 60% of the
corpus, respectively. Inter-coder
reliability
analysis was also conducted to demonstrate that a text segment
identified in each move type can be defined to ensure that different
coders can demarcate the boundary of text units at a sufficiently
high agreement rate (Kanoksilapatham 2005, 2012). In the present
study, inter-coder reliability for identifying moves between the
researcher and three coders across the texts was attained, with an
average rate for the introduction section of 89.30% and the Methods
section of 92.14%, respectively.
4
Results
In
the presentation of the texts below, parenthetical citations
appearing in the original texts are replaced by
the abbreviation (Ref)
for space-saving
purposes. Distinct lexico-grammatical features in text segments,
which seem to particularly indicate communicative functions, are
highlighted in boldface, because they offer semantically driven clues
on how moves are identified with regard to their communicative
function. However, the original division of paragraphs has been
preserved. Lastly, the names of the journals are abbreviated as JES,
JLA, LEA, MNY, NET, SCOJ, SJSH, SPPJ, and VEJ (see Appendix).
4.1
Features of Moves and Steps and their Frequency in Introduction
Sections
Our
analysis reveals that the Introduction section in RAs on applied
linguistics consists of
four move types. The following table presents the occurrence and
frequency of each move and step identified in the 50 RA Introduction
sections analysed:
As
shown in Table 1, Moves 1, 3 and 4 occurred relatively often.
Specifically, Moves 1 and 4 were always present (100%) in the
Introduction section, whilst Move 3 occurred less frequently (92%).
Move 2 was rarely found (32%), however, compared with other moves in
the section. Moves
1 and 4 were always present (100%) in the Introduction section,
whilst Move 3 occurred less frequently (42 out of 50 Introductions or
84%). Move 2 was rarely found (16 Introductions or 32%). Based on
the criterion to classify the status of each move regarding the
occurrence rate of the move, with the exception of Move 2, all moves
identified appeared in all 50 Introductions, resulting in a high
frequency of occurrence ranging from 84% to 100%. Thus, Moves 1 and 4
were considered obligatory, while Move 3 appearing quite frequently
in the section was a usual move. Move
2 was considered to be optional.
The
following sections discuss in detail the characteristics of each move
type and its constituent step(s) with regard to linguistic features
reflecting the specific communicative functions that they have,
contributing to the generic structure of the section.
4.1.1
Move 1: Establishing the Topic Being Studied
This
the first move to occur in the initial position of the Introduction
section. This move is generally used to ensure that readers can
determine if the research is of relevance to them and, thus, worth
reading, and to claim its significance of further exploration in the
field. Move 1 consists of three possible steps: announcing
the importance of the field, making topic generalisations, and
reviewing
previous research.
4.1.1.1
Move 1 / Step 1: Announcing the Importance of the Field
This
move is
generally used to present the importance of the research topic being
studied. This move / step functions as a statement of
current knowledge, highlighting the importance of the research topic.
Examples:
(1) Reading entirely in English is particularly important for Thai
university EFL students because of the large number of course texts,
references and internet materials appearing in that language. (JLA 1,
Dorkchandra 2013: 33)
(2) Language learning strategies have been considered as a key factor
for successful language learning for the last few
decades. (SCOJ 2, Yang 2013: 41)
As
can clearly be seen, the authors can introduce the topic of the study
and claim that it is a significant area of study through emphatic
lexical items (important,
key
factor)
and
amplifiers (particularly
important).
Evaluative adjectives are used as predicative adjectives. More
interestingly, the current state of the topic is signalled by the use
of the Present tense and the Present Perfect tense (have
been considered),
showing that the topic under investigation is still of potential
interest to the readers. These linguistic features and lexical items
help contribute to highlighting the importance of the topic and the
on-going interest to investigate a particular concept or area of
applied linguistics. This finding is congruent with Samraj’s (2002)
study which suggests that centrality claims seem to be made in two
ways: either by assertions about the importance of the topic being
discussed or by assertions regarding active research activity in the
field concerned.
4.1.1.2
Move 1 / Step 2: Making Topic Generalisation
This
move
is
invariably present and usually opens the section. This can occur
elsewhere in the Introduction section. Similar to Swales (2004), this
move / step can take a variety of forms, but it generally
falls into one of two categories: statements about knowledge that are
generally known in the field or practice and statements about
phenomena.
Examples:
(3) Reading involves
a
number of cognitive processes; therefore, awareness and understanding
of these processes help readers perform their reading better.
(SPPJ 1, Chanprasert 2013: 95)
(4) The
English language is
complicated by the fact that
one word can
carry
more than one meaning and various meanings can
be associated
with a word. (JLA 2, Laongphol & Chatupote 2013: 3)
Move
1 / Step 2, indicates that the statement represents what is generally
known or accepted in the field. Therefore, reference to a particular
scholar is not made. The use of verbs in the present tense, be they
active or passive (involves,
is complicated, can carry, can be associated),
is the dominant linguistic feature used to accomplish this
move / step; expressing a statement is assumed to be known
to, or agreed by, discourse members including potential readers and
those who are interested in the topic. Given that the statement which
denotes this move is brief and / or uncontroversial, the
function of this move is similar to Wharton’s (2006) comment,
asserting that by stating initial information in a brief form,
writers are signalling that they believe this information to be
shared knowledge in the community.
4.1.1.3
Move 1 / Step 3: Reviewing Previous Research
In
this move,
previous studies deemed by the authors to be relevant to the topic
are presented to help establish the claims that the authors want to
make. This move / step is always recognised through
clusters of citations intermingled throughout the text.
Examples:
(5) A
number of studies on
modified interaction or negotiation for meaning
(Ref) suggested
that the process of negotiating for meaning is facilitative of L2
acquisition. (NET 2, Champakaew & Pencingkarn 2014: 81)
(6) (Ref)
confirmed
this
notion by saying, “In learning another language, it is evident that
we have to learn both grammatical correctness and idiomatic
preference”, otherwise the production of lexical errors and
improper use of words could result. (LEA 8, Yumanee & Phoocharoensil 2013: 90)
The
excerpts above reveal that a unique feature of this step is the
presence of citations or references (Ref).
Compared with Step 2 of Move 1 (Making
topic generalisations),
Move 1 / Step 3, is relatively specific, as all realisations of the
move refer to previous studies, e.g. a
number of studies.
These lexical items are employed to contextualise the study being
reported, demonstrating its connections to previous studies. This
move / step is widely found in the Introduction section
because assessing previous research in the literature can possibly
enhance the author’s credentials as a possessor of knowledge.
Interestingly,
the instances above show the distinct use of the Present Perfect
tense and the Past tense. With respect to the use of tense, Shaw
(1992: 303) proposes some intriguing and perspective views on the use
of tenses by claiming that the Present Perfect tense is used when the
author needs to continue a discussion based on previous literature or
to point out that the results of previous studies are acceptable in
general. In contrast to the Present Perfect tense, the simple past
tense is used when previous results are not generally accepted, and
thus do not support the author’s claims.
4.1.2
Move 2: Presenting Statement of Problems / Needs
In
Move 2, the author tries to attract the readers' attention by
mentioning some problematic issues, leading to the necessity and / or
need to conduct the study in question. Words or phrases, negation
patterns conveying negative connotations are usually employed in this
move in order to present key characteristics of a particular problem.
This move could occur once in the Introduction section or could be
interrupted by another move type.
Examples:
(7) Although
the importance of reading is well-recognized, many Thai university
EFL students’ English reading comprehension skill is still poor.
This indicates difficulties in fulfilling the demands of their
studies. (JLA 1, Dorkchandra 2013: 33)
(8) Despite
a regular use of the English language both inside and outside the
classroom setting, the students still encounter problems in their
learning and they generally see unknown words as the first problem to
overcome. (SJSH 1, Saengpakdeejit 2014: 148)
In
the instances above, the authors try to convince readers that the
problem being stated in the paper is relevant by pointing out how the
situation or problem arises. The use of verbs in the present tense
(is,
indicates, encounter, see)
is prominent in Move 2, highlighting the existence of the current
problems, which are thus worth investigating in the study. The
distinct use of words that have negative meanings (difficulties,
problems)
is the main strategy commonly used to accomplish this purpose.
Meanwhile, contradiction connectors (although,
despite)
are used to connect the ideal situation previously mentioned to the
current situation that falls short of the goal.
4.1.3
Move 3: Establishing a Niche
Move
3 is used in the Introduction section of RAs on applied linguistics
to draw attention to a weakness or gap in the literature. This third
move found represents a common strategy used in order to prepare
readers by addressing or identifying gaps in previous studies,
pinpointing how inadequate and problematic they
are. Move 3 is typically realised through two steps as follows.
4.1.3.1
Move 3 / Step 1: Indicating Research Gaps
Step
1 of Move 3 serves
to express critical comments addressing a current gap in existing
research. This move / step is used most to pinpoint some
limitations or weaknesses in the existing literature. The
occurrence rate of Move 3 / Step 1 was quite high (56%), as opposed
to Hirano (2009) suggesting that Brazilian writers have a tendency to
not criticise others’ work openly.
Examples:
(9) Generally,
many of the two-way communication task studies were conducted in
experimental setting where NS-NNS were involved, and few
studies have explored EFL learners’ negotiating in classroom.
(NET 2, Champakaew & Pencingkarn 2013: 82)
(10) No
study has been reported about the type of processing approach of
English language by learners of non-romance languages in general and
Persian in
particular. (LEA 6, Ansarin 2013: 17)
Move
3 / Step 1, is employed in the above examples as a strategy to
mention that previous research studies suffer from some limitations.
A number of lexical entries are used in this move, involving a set of
lexical items including negative quantifiers and evaluations, such as
indefinite adjectives or pronouns, negation devices (no,
few),
and adversative connectors (yet).
The use of the adversative connector indicates that existing
knowledge bears some limitations, and thus remains to be explored.
This finding is in line with the work of Swales (1990), who observes
that this step shows that previous literature studies have been
limited in some way and is therefore associated with more affirmative
sentence connectors.
4.1.3.2.
Move 3 / Step 2: Presenting Positive Justification
Move
3 / Step 2, serves
to support the need for the existence of the study, specifying the
expected benefits obtained from the work being reported.
Examples:
(11) Considering
these studies, examining the components of student engagement is
essential to successfully engage students
even if following the school curriculum is required in some schools.
(NET 1, Hirano 2014: 58)
(12) There
is,
consequently, a
need
to improve this aspect of their service to the customer. One area of
possible improvement would be the recognition of the more practical
training of ‘small talk’. This particular approach to
facilitating a more interactional form of conversation would
have potentially several benefits
apart from greater social interaction with the customers developing
confidence in terms of language for the cabin crew. (NET 4,
Pawataungsunit 2014: 133)
As
shown above, the verbs in the present tense (is)
and lexical items indicating that research should be conducted (need
as a noun) are commonly used. Moreover, the authors used lexical
items with positive reasons in reporting the study (essential,
potentially several benefits)
to assist them in reinforcing the research topic which they intend to
investigate.
4.1.4
Move 4: Introducing
the Respective Study
Move
4
is
a means to introduce the work which will fill in the gap indicated in
Move 3. Therefore, Move 4 is closely connected to Move 3. With regard
to the position of this move, it usually ends the Introduction
section. Move
4 could be realised by four steps: stating objectives, summarising
research methods, claiming the value of the given research, and
indicating research questions.
4.1.4.1
Move 4 / Step 1: Stating Objectives
Move
4 / Step 1,
explicitly
indicates the purpose of the research being reported. This
is in line with Samraj’s (2002) study which shows that research
goals are generally presented and elaborated in all the Introductions
to articles on wildlife behaviour that she studied.
Examples:
(13)
This
research aimed to study
whether the training in part of speech identification and dictionary
use would help students translate better and find out what factors
they thought affect their ability to translate and how they feel
about the training. (JLA 2, Laongphol & Chatupote 2013: 6)
(14)
With
this in mind, the
researchers
were encouraged to
examine
a range of LLS by employing a case study of a group of undergraduate
students majoring in English in Cambodia. (LEA 1, Seng & Khleang
2014: 59)
The
most frequent signal in this step to state the objectives is the use
of deictic references to the texts, including demonstrative
adjectives (this),
and specific determiners (the)
followed mainly by common nouns (study,
research).
Impersonal stereotypical phrases such as the
aim of this study
or this
study aimed to
were also used (e.g. This
research aimed to study).
The noun researchers
is used to express identity and inform readers of their involvement
of the research. In this regard, it is worth noting that the verbs is
and
aimed are
used in the form of the Simple Present tense or Past tense in order
that the authors can explicitly state the objective(s) of the
research. The use of the noun aim
and semantically suitable infinitives (to
study, to examine)
to go with it
in
this move / step is congruent with Swales’ study (2004),
stating that proposing the purpose of the study is usually
categorised in two forms: the descriptive form, focusing on the
features of the study, or the purposive form, which is marked by the
use of expressions such as the
aim
or the
goal.
In
this respect, the first pronoun (I)
is also used to stress that the study being presented was conducted
by the author him or herself as shown in the following instance.
Example:
(15) In
this study, I
examined
the effective instructional strategies that help students who study a
foreign language understand reading and writing in the target
language. I
also
examined
in what ways teachers can encourage and motivate students to learn a
foreign language, how the strategies that teachers in the United
States use compared with my experience teaching in Japan and with
that of Japanese students I
interviewed, and how teachers manage time to involve students while
teaching a huge amount of content, which might take up most of the
class period. (NET 1, Hirano 2014: 59)
The
use of the first
person pronoun
signals the presence of a researcher in the research paper, serving
to claim ownership. This explanation is in line with Hyland (2009)
and Hyland & Tse (2012) who indicate that by referring to the
writers in the first person, they want to stress their contribution
and their presence in the article where the author interacts with
other scholars and the audience.
4.1.4.2
Move 4 / Step 2: Listing Research Procedures
Move
4 / Step 2,
serves
to briefly describe methodological procedures and / or
experimental frameworks adopted by the studies.
Examples:
(16)
However,
in this study three
different two-way communication tasks were selected; problem-solving
tasks, information gap tasks
and story-telling
tasks.
(NET 2, Champakaew & Pencingkarn 2013: 82)
(17) Using
Lee’s working definition of coherence and students’ voices
as the conceptual framework, we ventured into a writing class to
explore how a group of EFL university students viewed coherence and
the extent to which teaching and students’ views on coherence might
be related. (LEA 4, Vivekmetakorn & Kaewbangpood 2014: 94)
Compared
to Move 4 / Step 1, Step 2 of Move 4 normally exceeds mere
one-sentence announcements. Lexical signals used to express Move 4 /
Step 2, include expressions related to research procedures and
research tools (problem-solving
tasks, information gap tasks, story-telling task).
Activity verbs describing research activities (were
selected)
and underlining theoretical frameworks used (Using
Lee’s working definition of coherence and students’ voices)
are also used to present methodological procedures. The choice of the
Simple Past tense also indicates that the methodology was carefully
selected in the study being reported.
4.1.4.3
Move 4, Step 3: Claiming Research Value
Move
4 / Step 3,
serves
to inform readers of the value of the research being presented.
Functionally, in this move / step the research findings are
discussed from several perspectives, including implications,
significance, interpretations or contributions of the study being
reported.
Examples:
(18) The
results of this study contribute some empirical evidence in an
attempt to raise awareness
of
a test bias which has been overlooked in many ESL / EFL
contexts. (JES 1, Wuttipornpong 2013: 34)
(19) The
results of this study may not only minimize the marginalization of
value
and
lived experiences of Thai secondary school students,
but also enable
them
to share and value their own cultural identities with students from
other countries. (VEJ 2, Nomnian 2013: 15)
The
above examples indicate that the authors use Move 4 / Step
3, to express the contribution of the results of their studies and
their practical implications. Some linguistic features used to
accomplish this move / step include cognitive nouns
(awareness)
and nouns expressing likelihood (empirical
evidence)
as well as predicative and possibility modals (may).
Deictic elements, including specific determiners or demonstrative
adjectives (this)
followed by common nouns (study)
and formulaic structures (the
results of this study)
are frequently used in these texts. Move 4 / Step 3, is regarded as a
strategy to state the value of the research before the authors make
strong claims for the validity of their research and implications in
the Discussion section.
4.1.4.4
Move 4 / Step 4: Indicating Research Questions
If
present, Move
4 / Step 4
may be the last move to end the Introduction. The
aim or goal of a study in this move / step can be
explicitly stated in the form of research questions.
Example:
(20) In
particular,
this
investigation tried to answer the following questions:
1) How
do students respond, in terms of attention / awareness,
action and attitude, to WCF?
2)
Are there
significant differences in students’ responses to the three types
of WCF, namely direct, indirect, and coded corrective feedback? (LEA
2, Parreño 2014: 7)
As
shown here, the research questions found in Introduction sections are
stated directly (to
answer the following questions),
and are generally listed. Since this move / step is used
infrequently in the corpus, this finding is consistent with Swales’
(2004) CARS model, indicating that Step 2 in Move 3 (Presenting
RQs or hypotheses)
is regarded not only as optional but that it is less fixed in its
occurrence of order than the other steps.
4.2 Features of Moves and Steps and their Frequency in Methods Sections
The
Methods sections of 50 RAs on applied linguistics consist of a set of
five distinctive moves organised into a particular pattern. The
findings concerning the frequency of occurrence of the rhetorical
moves and steps of the 50 RA Methods sections are presented in Table
2:
Table
2 demonstrates that a set of five moves was not always used in the RA
Methods as
some moves were found to be more frequent than others. Moves 6 and 7
were discovered in
all of the 50 RAs (100%), while Moves 8 and 9 were relatively
frequent (47 and 41 out of 50 or 84% and 82% of occurrence,
respectively). Move 5 was found to be the least frequent move type
(40%).
Moves
6 and 7 are
considered obligatory
(as
they were found in all the texts of our corpus)
in performing their communicative functions in this particular
section, while
Moves 8 and 9 are usual
moves (occurring
in more than 60% of the texts of our corpus).
Move 5 is regarded as optional. Therefore, it can be said that Moves
6, 7, 8, and 9 play an integral role
in the Methods sections of the RAs on applied linguistics analysed.
In contrast,
the relatively low percentage of Move 5 indicates that summarising
research objectives and research methods may play a much smaller role
in the Methods section than it does in others.
4.2.1
Move 5: Summarising Research Objectives and Methods
Move
5
is
to present the general information of the research design and
research method of a given study. In some cases, it is used to
restate the research objectives of the study being reported. Move 5
was found to occur at the beginning of the Methods section and can be
accomplished in two steps which are presented in the following.
4.2.1.1
Move 5 / Step 1: Announcing Research Objectives / Questions
Move
5 / Step 1,
is
the segment in which authors address the objectives of their
research, or the question(s) to be answered in the study.
Example:
(21) This
study sets out to investigate
Thai students’ attitudes towards the native-speaker and other ASEAN
models in English pronunciation learning that highlight
intelligibility with reference to the ideologies of ELF and EIL.
Corresponding to the objective stipulated, the
research question addressed in this study is: What are the Thai
English learners’ attitudes towards native-like pronunciation or
the pronunciation of other varieties of English advocated by the
nations of EIL, ELF, and WEs? (JES
2, Kanoksilapatham 2013: 133)
The
above focuses on the research objectives and research questions to be
addressed in the study which the example is quoted from. The
linguistic features of this move / step are rather
formulaic, consisting of the use of to
or in
order to,
followed by an infinitive verb form (investigate)
to announce the research objectives of the study. The research
questions can be listed in the form of an interrogative sentence.
4.2.1.2
Move 5 / Step 2: Presenting Research Designs
Move
5 / Step 2, serves
to give an overview of the research design and / or
approaches used to collect the research data. In other words, the
authors might announce the research design of the study being
reported before giving more details of the data collection process
later in the Methods section. The position of this move / step
is not fixed as it can be found anywhere in the section.
Examples:
(22) This
study employed
four qualitative research methods: in-depth interview, focus-group
interview, documents and questionnaires.
(LEA 3, Wanich 2014: 107)
(23) A
qualitative descriptive research design using random sampling was
employed to
determine how students’ perceive their service learning involvement
at RIS as well as their satisfaction level in the RIS
service-learning program. (SCOJ 4, Vu 2013: 50)
The
predominant linguistic features used to identify and guide readers to
the research design include the type or nature of research
(qualitative,
quantitative
research),
and research methods or data collection techniques employed in the
study (in-depth
interview,
focus-group
interview,
documents
and questionnaires,
random
sampling).
Linguistically, the use of verbs in the past tense, be they active or
passive constructions (employed,
was employed)
indicate the completion of the research activities in the study.
In
this regard, as another possible variation of Move 5, the
co-occurrence of Move 5, Step 1 (Announcing research
objectives / questions) and Move 5, Step 2 (Presenting the
research design) can occur in a sentence to accomplish the function
of Move 5.
Example:
(24) Following
the notion of triangulation
(Ref),
we gathered
data from three sources i.e. classroom observation, interview
and documents
with aims
to explain students’ views on coherence and gain a better insight
into teaching and learning this concept in an EFL setting.
(LEA 4, Vivekmetakorn & Kaewbangpood 2014: 94)
Noticeably,
this move is relatively infrequent compared to other moves in the
Methods section. The use of verbs in the past tense suggests that the
research activities were completed, and thus informs the success of
the study. Moreover, the use of lexical items with research-oriented
meanings indicates the specification and characteristics of the study
being reported. Interestingly,
the occurrence of this move was not reported by Lim (2006) and Ngowu
(1997), who also examined Methods sections. However, it was found in
Arsyad’s (2013) study.
4.2.2
Move 6: Describing Participants or Sources of Data
Move
6
is
to ostensibly describe the size of the sample of participants and
their characteristics. Sometimes, the population, description of
sampling technique, and representativeness of the sample are also
provided. Move 6 can be realised by three possible steps.
4.2.2.1.
Move 6 / Step 1: Providing the Description of Participants or Data
Move
6 / Step 1,
precisely
reports the number of participants who took part
in the research study being reported. Demographic information of the
participants, including gender, age, and occupation, and the setting
in which the research was carried out is also provided in this
move / step.
Example:
(25) The
research population was the air hostesses and air steward
in: first class, business class or economy class. The
participants totalled 20 crew, both male and female. Their education
background ranged from high school to that of a Bachelor of Arts
degree.
(NET 4, Pawataungsunit 2013: 134)
The
presence of the word participants
clearly serves to specify the information regarding the people
selected in the study being reported. The description of the
participants is precise and specific, providing their number, gender,
and other characteristics (20
crew, both male and female).
Specific
information of the participants such as age range and educational
background (Their
education background ranged from high school to that of a Bachelor of
Arts degree)
is also reported in this move / step.
4.2.2.2
Move 6 / Step 2: Justifying Selection Criteria
This
move draws attention to the rationale and / or criteria
used in the selection of participants / data in the study.
This move / step is used to assure readers that the
potential participants or samples taking part in the study
satisfactorily fulfil the requirements, serving appropriately the
objective(s) of the study.
Example:
(26) This
target group was chosen for the following reasons. Firstly,
they were the students of one researcher’s friend; therefore, it
was convenient to gather data. Secondly,
with exposure English during lower and higher secondary school, it
was assumed that they would have their own opinions on and effective
ways of English learning. Also, because
they were freshman English majors, they
were useful for investigating and reflecting their possible
formulated strategies to learn English at early undergraduate degree.
(LEA 1, Seng & Khleang 2014: 6)
The
above text demonstrates some explicit reasons why the participants
were selected to participate in the study. Linguistically, the
subordinating conjunction because
is used to imply a justification for selecting these participants.
The use of verbs in the simple past is rather dominant in this
move / step. Other linguistic features which indicate that
the participants were selected wisely and systematically, serving the
purpose of the study, are lexical items, such as the adjectives
convenient
and
useful,
and the enumeration of the various reasons through the use of
firstly,
secondly, and
also.
4.2.2.3
Move 6 / Step 3: Defining Variables
Move
6 / Step 3,
provides
information about research variables. It is used with the
experimental study, investigating what research variables could
affect the outcome.
Example:
(27) Independent
variables
were the
variable of person factor, the variable of family factor, and the
variable of institution factor.
The
dependent
variable was the characteristic of self-directed learning of the
students
from Faculty of Education, Silpakorn University. (VEJ 1,
Paiwithayasiritham 2013: 4)
As
shown above, the author can explicitly state research variables in
Move 6 / Step 3, by using words such as independent
variable, and
dependent variable.
This move / step is used because the author needs to guide
and inform readers of the factors to be investigated in the study.
4.2.3
Move 7: Stating Research Instruments
This
move
centres
on detailed information regarding research instruments used for
particular research objective(s). This move is similar to that of the
use of Move 6 and consists of two steps as presented below.
4.2.3.1
Move 7 / Step 1: Detailing Research Instruments
Move
7 / Step 1,
describes
how research instruments are obtained, adapted, or created,
pertaining to the particular objective(s) of the study. In this
move / step, the detailed description and / or
characteristics of the instruments are also provided and are
sometimes presented with citations (Ref)
if the study adopts or adapts the instruments from previous studies.
Examples:
(28)
The Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI)
designed by (Ref) was used to assess students’
awareness and the use of reading strategies while they read. It
consists of 30 items of metacognitive reading strategies.
(SPPJ 1, Chanprasert 2013. 96)
(29)
To
investigate the commodification of English through media discourses
in this
study, I will adopt a critical approach.
For this
research, Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) was adopted as a
theoretical framework and Content Analysis was performed to examine
the data collected.
(NET 5, Kogar 2014: 147)
As
can be seen
from these examples, the authors explain methods for measuring
variables, using lexical items related to research techniques for the
collection of data in the study (e.g. questionnaire)
or approaches to data analysis (critical
approach, Critical Discourse Analysis, Content Analysis).
In order to describe a methodological procedure, verbs in passive
past-tense constructions (was
used, was adopted)
are employed. The verbs was
used
and was
adopted
also entail some information regarding how the instruments are
constructed, used, or developed in the study. The details of the
research tools used can also be elaborated by using verbs like
consists
of,
as shown. Clearly, the use of the deictic centre lexical item (this)
with a noun (study,
research)
is to state that the instruments used specifically pertain to this
particular study.
4.2.3.2
Move 7 / Step 2: Presenting the Development or Justification of
Research Instruments
Move
7 / Step 2,
describes
the process of implementing
research instruments and / or provides justification for
their choice, demonstrating in what way they are appropriate for the
study being reported. It is possible that this move / step
is used as researchers might wish to protect themselves from possible
inquiries by convincing readers that the instruments used were
carefully and appropriately selected, adapted or developed.
Example:
(30)
The
initial version of the questionnaire was piloted before use
with 30 first and second year students at the Faculty of Liberal Arts
and Science of a public university in the second semester of 2012
academic year. The purpose of this piloting was to
ensure that the language used in the questions was understood by the
respondents, and the questions successfully elicited what they were
supposed to.
Based on the comments and feedback from the respondents, the
questionnaire was revised accordingly. Some question items were
rewritten, and others were elaborated to make sure that confusion was
eradicated, and clarity enhanced.
(JES 2, Kanoksilapatham 2013: 134-135)
The
above example reveals that the authors purposely tried to convince
readers that the choice of research instruments used appropriately
serves the purpose(s) of the study. Specifically, some lexical
signals such as was
piloted, to ensure, was revised, were rewritten, were elaborated, was
eradicated, and
clarity enhanced
can markedly help to state the justification of the instruments being
used. Some lexical items are also used together with infinitive verbs
(to
ensure, to make sure),
demonstrating the objective of the development of research
instruments, which aids the authors to clarify the effectiveness and
reliability of the instruments after some changes were wisely and
appropriately made. In so doing, possible questions relevant to
research instruments used in the given study can be eliminated,
strengthening the reliability and credibility of the research
findings.
4.2.4
Move 8: Demonstrating Research / Describing the
Data Collection
Move
8 aims
to selectively present data collection procedures in detail. Move 8
is used to convince readers that research activities in the study
were systematically implemented in order to obtain reliable data for
the analysis.
Example:
(31) The
OCSI (Thai translation) was administered to all participants during
normal class time. The
questionnaire consists of 62 Likert Scale items relating to strategy
use. All
written and verbal instructions were given in English and
participants were informed that participation was voluntary and
contribution would remain anonymous.
(LEA
7, Metcalfe & Noom-Ura 2013: 74)
As
shown in the above example, Move 8 is quite technical and objectively
presented as most of the procedures described in this move were used
with verbs in the past tense, especially in the passive voice (was
carried out, were asked, were required, were given, were informed,
was accessed, was used, were interviewed, was recorded, was piloted,
and
was transcribed).
It is possible that the authors use these to indicate that the study
accomplished its task of addressing the objectives / purposes
established by following step-by-step the research activities
mentioned. This finding substantiates Waard & Maat’s (2012)
work on biological RAs. That is, the interpretation of the Method
propositions can be clearly recognised by the co-occurrence of
research activity verbs and passive constructions.
The
analysis of the 50 Methods sections of RAs indicates that Move 8 is
an important element as the entire corpus of Methods RAs contains the
details of research procedures. In agreement with Branson (2004) and
Kanoksilapatham (2005), the analysis indicates that details of the
procedures are written in a clear manner and fully described to
facilitate readers’ understanding and / or to allow
replication in future studies to be possible for validation purposes.
4.2.5
Move 9: Describing Data Analyses
Move
9 is
the last move of the Methods section in which authors present the
method used to analyse the data obtained from the data collection
process. To be precise, in quantitative research, authors describe
statistical devices used in the analysis and also justify analysis
procedures. For the qualitative nature of the study, qualitative
procedures may sometimes be described in this move. Our analysis has
shown that Move 9 concludes the Methods section, with not a single
step
being found.
Example:
(32) All
of the returned questionnaires (N = 387) were quantitatively analyzed
by using the SPSS Statistics (SPSS) program for descriptive
statistics
in order to calculate mean
rating and percentages,
and to highlight any trends and significant commonalities, anomalies,
etc. The
Likert scale data analyzed by descriptive statistics provided a
summary of data
that not only identify the most popular answer for each question but
also a group average. (JES 2, Kanoksilapatham 2013: 135)
As
shown in the preceding example, this move emphasises approaches to
analyse the data collected for the study, detailing statistical
devices (descriptive
statistics, mean rating, and
percentages).
Specific purposes for using statistical analysis are identified by
the use of to,
followed by a verb in the infinitive (calculate,
highlight).
Similar to the characteristics of Move 8, to describe how the data
analysis is conducted in the study, passive verbs in the past tense
(were
analyzed)
are prevalently
found in the RA Methods.
5 Discussion and Conclusion
The
results obtained from 50 RAs reveal that four distinct move types and
five rhetorical move types were found in the Introduction and Methods
sections, respectively. Each move identified has its own
communicative function, recognised by a set of lexico-grammatical
features. The description from a linguistic perspective provided by
this study can help to highlight the characteristics of the
rhetorical moves and provide more explicit functions of moves and
steps found in these two particular sections.
The
rhetorical structure of moves and steps generated by this study
mostly is in resonance with Swales’ (2004) Create-a-Research-Space
(CARS) model for RA Introductions. It is undeniable that his CARS
model is rather successful, both in descriptive and pedagogic
perspectives (Samraj 2002). This indicates that Swales’ model is
invaluable as a descriptive reference. Thus, it is likely that since
Swales’ three-move schema found in RA Introductions in many leading
journals is relatively well-known and widely accepted among scholars,
as witnessed by a plethora of research activities in this line. His
framework and model have become prototypical and have entered the
consciousness of numerous researchers. Moreover, because of its
robustness in the field, the researchers
possibly
know how to write an RAs which are consistent with Swales’ CARS
model.
Regarding
the four moves identified in the Introduction sections, the findings
are partly congruent with Lakic’s (1997) study focusing on RA
Introductions in economics. In this work, four move types were found:
establishing the territory, summarising previous research,
establishing a niche, and occupying the niche. The occurrence of the
four moves identified in the present study is also partly in
agreement with Swales’ 2004 model. As mentioned in 4.1.2, Move 2 in
the present study is quite specific. The status of Move 2 is
considered optional (32%). However, it could be argued that the use
of Move 2 in this study is not trivial since there is no consensus of
a cut-off point suggested in the literature to allow a move to be
categorised as optional rather than simply idiosyncratic. If this is
the case, the issue needs to be addressed. It could be argued that
those moves which appear to be idiosyncratic and which therefore are
not probably considered as optional moves in the framework, and those
moves that do not achieve over 60 % of the occurrence rate, are still
not trivial.
The
results of our analysis also show that most of the steps found in
Move 4
are
relatively similar to those in Kanoksilapatham’s (2007) study
investigating civil engineering RAs and indicating that Move 3 in the
Introduction section serves to introduce a particular study. However,
the number of steps found in the present study is less than the one
found in Kanoksilapatham’s study. This indicates that apart from
the four steps in Move 4 of the present study, in engineering RA
Introductions, the authors also present major findings of their
respective study, define the relevant terminology
and
direct future research. It is possible that research activities in
civil engineering focus on the design and construction determined by
the locations and settings of the study site. Summarising results and
procedures in Introductions can provide an incentive to readers to
maintain their interest and continue reading. As a consequence, when
reporting research findings, the Introduction section of RAs on civil
engineering contains a number of particular steps providing important
descriptions of the respective study. These reasons also reflect the
thematic range of the discipline.
As
for the Methods section, the
typical functions of the five moves found in the present study are
partially in agreement with Peacock (2011), Lim (2006), and Nwogu
(1997). Despite some common features and characteristics of the move
types identified, the presence of Move 5 in the current study is
intriguing because it is the first move found in the Methods section
in the discipline of applied linguistics. Apparently, the occurrence
of Move 5 (Summarising
research objectives and methods)
is not included in the model for the Methods section proposed by Lim
(2006) and Nwogu (1997). This may well be due to the fact that the
texts analysed in these studies are taken from different disciplines.
That is, in Nwogu’s study, the corpus was from medical journals,
while management was the topic of Lim’s study. Therefore, again,
disciplinary variations can lead to the uniqueness of the
organisational patterns of each discipline. The distinctive results
yielded by our analysis also highlight the issue that the
disciplinary communities constrain the rhetorical conventions of
academic knowledge production (Hyland 2004, 2009).
The
results of the present study should be interpreted cautiously. In the
present study, only 50 RAs from journals indexed in the TCI database
were examined, and this limited scope affects the generalisability of
this study. The results yielded might vary due to the fact that each
journal analysed may have different standards of publication, even
though the data collection of this study was systematically
controlled. As the discipline of applied linguistics is quite broadly
defined, the selection of articles taken from or published in
different journals might affect the rhetorical patterns prevalently
used. Thus, analysing different groups of journals in the field and
comparing the structural patterns of selected linguistic features, or
interviewing the authors of scientific articles to gain empirical
evidence for potential claims should be taken into account in
conducting future studies.
However,
the
present study, in general, sheds some light on how the target
discourse communities of applied linguistics prefer a certain
rhetorical structure to be realised. The
awareness
of rhetorical macro- and micro-structural patterns is valuable to
readers who encounter difficulties in understanding RAs, as well as
to less experienced writers, especially Thai graduate students, who
need to understand the specific demands and expectations of writing
for publication. The
insights into how the Introduction and the Methods sections are
constructed can increase and facilitate the reception and the
production of academic papers. Awareness of the relevant structural
pattern can also help to direct the reading of novice writers and
graduate students who would like to enter research and academic
communities. Specifically, the knowledge provided by the present
study can be
used in the development of academic writing and reading materials for
advanced students, particularly Thai graduate students who wish to
publish their research work in journals indexed in the TCI database.
The
awareness of prevailing rhetorical patterns also bears some
pedagogical usefulness. Since
the present study to a certain extent highlights the linguistic
features that are commonly associated with the communicative
functions of each rhetorical move found in these two sections, the
linguistic characterisation of moves has a significant impact with
regard to the teaching of rhetorical moves, allowing the presentation
of moves not as abstract units but as discourse units that can be
characterised by a set of linguistic features. In EAP classes, the
description of rhetorical structures and the characterisation of
moves provided by this study are pedagogically useful for the
teaching of rhetorical elements, both moves and steps, and language
use in writing RAs. Teachers can make full use of how to teach the
linguistic features found in this study, providing students with
authentic materials and knowledge about how to effectively understand
and use these sets of linguistic features in reading and writing
classes or in writing for publications.
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Author:
Attapol
Khamkhien
Assistant
Professor
Kasetsart
University
Faculty
of Liberal Arts and Science
Department
of English
Thailand
E-mail:
faasapk@ku.ac.th