Moves in the Introduction Sections of Applied Linguistics Research Articles

Abstract

Interest in the research article as a representative of a genre in different disciplines has resulted in many studies, which are essential for English for Academic Purposes. The present paper deals with move sequences in the Introduction sections of research articles in two journals in applied linguistics. The analysis of ten introductions from each journal is based on the Swales’s Create a Research Space model published in 1990. The results demonstrate that the writers use not only the M1-M2-M3 pattern, but also a variety of other move sequences in the Introduction section. It is observed that the headings of research articles may be misleading. The Introduction discussed in Swales’s IMRD model refers more to the Introductory part than the Introductory section. It is concluded that the Swales’s IMRD and CARS models may need elaboration to make them more applicable for teaching research article writing in applied linguistics.