Rhetorical Organization Research Articles

Genre analysis of hybrid texts: Language used in online course introduction of international universities

This study thus aimed to examine a spoken discourse genre of new hybrid texts in the online course previews extracted from an online learning website. The corpora consisted of 12,735 words compiled through 30 pieces of the top five online course previews within the three sub-categories including Business, Academics, and How-to of Coursera websites. The results showed that there were marked features of the discourse as hybrid text which displayed the combination of promotional and academic properties. The unique rhetorical organization in terms of employing the obligatory move structures: detailing the course, establishing credentials, and indicating the benefit of learners was extensively found. Besides this, the grammatical feature of if- conditional forms and the lexical bundle “be going to”, were discovered to purposively support the rhetorical organization to create the persuasive effect on the target audience to enroll the full courses. Implications of the present study in relation to the genre analysis of the new hybrid text were also discussed.

Discussion of results in original research: Rhetorical moves and their implementation

The Discussion section in the manuscript of an original empirical study is the most creative and challenging part to construct. Incorrect discussion of results in many manuscripts submitted to scientific journals often leads to their rejection, even if the results themselves hold potential significance for the scientific community. The absence or poor quality of interpretation of results by the authors can negatively affect the overall perception of the study by readers. The most complete functional implementation of the Discussion section is achieved by adhering to its rhetorical structure. The purpose of this article is to analyze the functions, content, and rhetorical organization of the Discussion section of an original empirical study. The main function of the Discussion section is to interpret and explain the significance of the study’s results, highlight the current state of knowledge on the stated problem, and explain new aspects arising from the results obtained. Authors also need to specify the external validity of the data and demonstrate how these data can be generalized. The most effective way to implement the stated function is by relying on a model of the interdisciplinary rhetorical structure of the Discussion section, which can be modified according to the conventions of the discipline and the characteristics of the specific study. Depending on the study’s logic, certain rhetorical moves or steps of the structure may be omitted; however, a more comprehensive list of moves provides a more thorough interpretation of the results. Understanding the content of each move and its steps allows authors to present all necessary information regarding the obtained results in a way that ensures their objective and unambiguous perception by readers.

A Comparative Analysis of Rhetorical Organization of English and Turkish Master’s Thesis Introductions on Turkish Sign Language

The present study investigates the rhetorical organization of introductions in English and Turkish master’s theses on Turkish Sign Language (Türk İşaret Dili [TİD]). This study aims to compare the structural patterns and rhetorical strategies used in the introduction sections of master’s theses in two languages, using Swales’ CARS model. Through corpus-based analysis, this study examines how writers establish the research space, articulate the gap in the literature, and present their research purpose and objectives within the context of TİD studies. By adopting a comparative approach, this study contributes to our understanding of cross-linguistic and cross-cultural variations in academic discourse practices, particularly within TİD research. The findings offer insights into the linguistic and rhetorical conventions that shape academic writing in English and Turkish.

Examining Moves and Steps in Discussion Chapters of TEFL Master’s Theses by Indonesian Postgraduates: A Genre Analysis

The discussion chapter holds a paramount position in a thesis, being regarded as the most crucial and challenging part to compose, particularly for university students. The present genre investigation highlighted the focus on language use and communicative practices. This research seeks to investigate the rhetorical organization, moves, and steps, employed by Indonesian postgraduates while writing the discussion chapter of their theses within the field of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). We examined five theses from postgraduate students whose data were obtained from the university repository. Data were analyzed with the framework proposed by Chen and Kuo (2012). The overall word count is 9204 words. From the analysis conducted, it was found that Move 2 Step 1: Reporting major findings (41.4%), Move 4 Step 2: comparing the results with literature (21.9%), and Move 4 Step 3: accounting for results (20.7%) were highly used in the data. However, two steps were least used in the data; namely, Move 3 Step 1: making conclusions of results and Move 6 Step 2: indicating the significance of the study. Our findings provide insights into how postgraduates structure their arguments, present findings, and interact with existing literature.

Virtual Exchange Genres: what Can Genre Theories Inform us about the First Synchronous Session?

Virtual exchange or telecollaboration refers to pedagogical practices that connect geographically distant learners who work together towards a common goal. Despite the growing interest in telecollaborative practices and research, few studies have concentrated on investigating the genres that emerge in such contexts. This study shares the understanding that genres are goal-directed events organized in rhetorical patterns and used by members of a discourse community. It aims to explore the first synchronous session between dyads in a telecollaborative project directed to language learning, Teletandem, from a genre perspective. In particular, this paper describes the rhetorical organization patterns of the genre. Data were selected from MulTeC (Multimodal Teletandem Corpus) and comprise transcripts of ten initial Teletandem Oral Sessions (itos) – the first synchronous encounter – from three learning scenarios, which were held in Portuguese and English and recorded between 2012 and 2015. The research involved analyzing each transcript to describe the genre patterns and discuss the specificities in itos organization relative to the learning scenarios. Results show that itos has a flexible and scenario-dependent structure in which the actions of greetings and introduction, information exchange, negotiation, and saying goodbye are prevalent.

Iran’s High School English Textbooks (Vision Series) and Organizational Knowledge as a Component of CLT Model

Selecting an appropriate textbook is one of the key factors in teaching English. This content analysis study scrutinized whether organizational knowledge represented in Iranian high school English textbooks (Vision Series). Thus, the stance of organizational components as one of the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) principles was investigated in such textbooks. George (1963) verb form frequency count, Halliday and Hassan’s (1976) model, McCrimman's (1984) model, Vocabulary List Cambridge English (2012) were used to examine the extent to which organizational knowledge was shown in high school EFL textbooks. The analysis of the results revealed that grammatical knowledge was not presented comprehensively. Therefore, high school students would not be able to exhibit a wide variety range of vocabulary. Because the vision series roughly represented the sufficient vocabulary size. The Vision series highlighted intonation rather than pronunciation. The role of rhetorical organizations was disregarded in the Vision series. Therefore, he Vision series should be revised to include the organizational components. Generally, the Vision series did not follow CLT principles to promote language learners' ability to communicate.

What influences the comprehensibility of L2 writers' opinion texts by L2 readers? Interactions between textual characteristics and readers’ profiles

This study explored how L2 readers perceive the comprehensibility (i.e., ease of understanding) of L2 opinion texts in terms of reader profiles and text characteristics. We investigated how 100 Japanese learners of L2 English evaluated the comprehensibility of 16 variants of two opinion essays, which differed in lexico-grammatical accuracy, coherence, and rhetorical organization (inductive vs. deductive structure). To delve into the evaluators' backgrounds, exploratory factor analysis was conducted with a view to streamlining background variables. These variables were then compared through a t-test of two groups of readers identified by cluster analysis based on their degree of leniency or strictness. We further identified the influence of specific linguistic features on their evaluations by conducting linear mixed-effects analyses. Our findings reveal that: (1) Some L2 readers were significantly stricter than the L1 readers, whereas others were more lenient; (2) The lenient readers typically began learning English earlier, used it more extensively outside academic settings, and engaged more frequently in online communication compared to their stricter counterparts; and (3) Though disrupted sequences of ideas (coherence errors) were universally detrimental to comprehensibility, lexico-grammatical errors significantly impacted only the strict readers, not the lenient ones.

Rhetorical organizations of method chapter in bachelor’s theses by Indonesian TEFL undergraduates

In the scientific realm, the validity of studies and the reliability of empirical findings are of high significance to be presented through research reports, one of which is a thesis. In an undergraduate thesis, the methodology chapter plays an important role in reporting any key details, including research procedures, tools, data collection, and data analysis. Novice writer-researchers such as Indonesian undergraduate students face challenges in writing their methods chapters, one of which deals with the issue of rhetorical organization. Using a genre analysis approach by adopting the comprehensive moves model developed by Chen and Kuo (2012), we analyzed the rhetorical moves in the methods chapters of five Indonesian undergraduate theses. Five bachelor theses in the field of teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) were selected as data sources due to their relevance to our objectives and predetermined criteria of data selection. The findings show three key moves used in the chapters, with varying frequency. Move 2 was the most frequently used, followed by Move 3, while Move 1 was the least one. Several recurred steps were presented to achieve the communicative purpose of the key moves. Thus, our findings can be useful for Indonesian student writers’ awareness of the importance of utilizing moves and steps in writing and crafting systematic and compelling method chapters.

Investigating the Textual Competence of Iraqi EFL University Students' Abilities in Essay Writing

Textual competence is important for an efficient writer because it concerned with coherence and rhetorical organization. The present research aims to identify, Iraqi University students' textual competence in writing an essay at Tikrit university ; Iraqi University students' knowledge about cohesion and rhetorical organization in writing an essay at Tikrit university and finally the difficulty in using textual competence among Iraq university students according to gender variable at Tikrit university. The sample consists of 160 Iraqi university students at forth stage in the department of English, College of Education for humanities at Tikrit University during the academic year 2023-2024. An achievement test is used to gather the data about students' textual competence in writing an essay. Results show that university students have high level textual competence than the theoretical mean score , also university students have a higher level in cohesion than the rhetorical organization finally, male students is better than female in their abilities in writing an essay.

A Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling Exploration of EFL Learners’ Perceptions of What Contributes to the Readability of Model Paragraphs

This study investigated what features undergraduate EFL learners perceive as affecting the difficulty of model paragraphs. Four hundred and seventy-five Vietnamese undergraduates participated in a partial least squares structural equation model design. They ranked five paragraphs from easiest to most difficult and responded to a 10-point Likert questionnaire regarding 11 features (titles, paragraph length, vocabulary, vocabulary in context, rhetorical organization, paragraph structure, sentence length, punctuation, signal words, interest, background knowledge). The results showed that eight variables (titles, vocabulary, vocabulary in context, sentence length, rhetorical organization, paragraph structure, interest, background knowledge) had a significant direct effect and four variables (vocabulary, sentence length, rhetorical organization, background knowledge) had mediating effects. The model accounted for 0.508 R2 of students’ perceptions, with a moderate to high predictive relevance ( Q2 = 0.35). The paper also discusses the results’ implications for those in writing studies and the publishing industry. Suggestions for future study are also presented.

A Rhetorical Move Analysis of Algerian Academics’ Research Article Abstracts

The research article abstract, generally considered as a miniature representation of the whole article, is of paramount significance and serves as a selection, screening and an indexing tool. Despite its importance, this part-genre has not received adequate academic interest in the Algerian context. Accordingly, the present paper examines 43 abstracts from articles published in applied linguistics by Algerian academics in terms of conventional rhetorical organization. The main purpose of the study is to investigate the academics’ commitment to any of the widely accepted models, and to explore their specific traits and idiosyncrasies while writing an abstract for their research papers. The abstracts have been quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed with reference to Bhatia’s (1993), Hyland’s (2000) and Santos’s (1996) generic models. The findings show some deviations at the level of generic structure, function and content of moves. The predominant pattern of writing abstracts is found to be purpose-methodology-findings where these moves (2, 3 & 4) are more recurrent than ‘introduction’ and ‘conclusion’ (moves 1 and 5 respectively). Furthermore, despite the textual existence of certain moves, they do not correspond to their actual rhetorical role. It has also been observed that one-third of the abstracts display an unconventional move of reviewing the literature that does not belong in a research article abstract. These tendencies could be related to the lack of research and instruction on the different part-genres of a research article, and academic writing in general in Algerian higher education institutions. 
 
 Received: 30 August 2023 / Accepted: 23 October 2023 / Published: 5 November 2023

The rhetorical organization of discussions sections of qualitative research articles in Applied Linguistics and the use of meta-discourse markers

This study examined the rhetorical organization and the distribution of meta-discourse markers in a corpus of 20 qualitative research articles in the Applied Linguistics field. The findings of the study indicated that the seven-move structure proposed by prior research in quantitative datasets is also true in our qualitative dataset. Concerning steps, however, this study indicated that there are two new steps in the Comment on the Results move and also two new steps in the Deduction from the Research move, compared with the quantitative data of prior research. It was also found that both the distribution and frequency of meta-discourse markers indicate significant differences in comparison with quantitative research articles. Given these findings, we can say that although the schematic structure proposed for the Discussion sections of quantitative research articles is applicable to the qualitative corpus, it is also important not to ignore subtle nuances in the two research paradigms. Drawing academic writers' attention to these rhetorical and linguistic nuances arising from research paradigm differences can carry practical pedagogical implications. The findings of this study can raise novice writers’ awareness with respect to academic writing rhetoric and the functions of meta-discourse markers in qualitative research in Applied Linguistics.

Риторическая структура введений к исследовательским статьям по компьютерным наукам: сравнительный анализ

Research paper introductions are considered challenging, especially for academic writers whose native language is different from English. Despite the large interest in the rhetorical organization of research papers across various disciplines and cultures, little is known about the structural patterns used by Russian authors in English-language research paper introductions in Computer Science as one of the fastest growing scientific fields. To fill the gap, this paper investigates the ways Russian academic writers organize their introductions as compared to the norms of the international scientific community where English is the acknowledged lingua franca. The purpose of this study is to identify discrepancies between the approaches to structuring computer science introductions generated in the English language by Russian and Anglophone authors. Drawing evidence from 43 research papers published in highly ranked Russian and Anglophone journals in Computer Science, it addresses the main features specific to research paper introductions in this field and analyzes how rhetorical moves are realized linguistically by both native and non-native academic writers based on the create-a-research-space (CARS) model. The results of the qualitative study show that Russian authors make use of fewer strategies than native English writers; moreover, the former tend to avoid the ‘establishing a niche’ move, which is considered obligatory in the structure of a research paper introduction. The paper adds to the exploration of cross-cultural variations in academic writing.

Rhetorical Moves and Linguistic Realization: Corpus-Based Analysis of Bachelor Theses Abstracts in Islamic University

Recently, studies on rhetorical moves in undergraduate students' abstracts have gained popularity. It has been the focus of several disciplines, techniques, and methods. However, research in bachelor thesis abstracts, particularly in Islamic universities as the research site, is rarely explored. The purpose of this research is to determine the rhetorical moves of undergraduate thesis abstracts and to explain the regularities of rhetorical moves at Islamic university. The analysis guideline was based on Hyland's (2004) theory, and the AntMover program was utilized to aid with the analysis. The findings revealed that, while the occurrence of moves and steps varies by data group, there are certain required, conventional, and discretionary moves. Furthermore, this study discovered many sorts of rhetorical organization generated by the occurrences of moves and steps in students' abstracts. Some are in regular forms, while others are in irregular shapes. As a result, this study sheds light on the gap in rhetorical motion patterns in student abstracts. Then, certain proposals were made to bridge the gap in improving the quality of students, study programs, and institutions in general.

Влияние установки на чтение на стратегию чтения цифрового текста у учащихся старшего школьного возраста: результаты айтрекингового исследования

<p style="text-align: right;">The paper aims to investigate the correlation between reading setup and digital reading strategies used by Russian schoolchildren. To study the influence of the reading setup factor, we conducted an eye-tracking study of high school students (N=66), which showed the dependence of digital reading strategies on the pre-reading task by experienced readers. The study showed that the pattern of skimming digital texts does not always appear explicitly, and revealed a significant influence on reading strategies of both reader's individual differences and the rhetorical organization of the text, as well as the reading task factor. The task of searching for specific information led to a more thorough primary reading of the entire text with fewer returns and transitions between the other semantic elements of the digital educational text. In the case of the text analysis task, the first reading was more cursory, but there was more jumping back and forth between paragraphs to establish the logical linkage of the text information. The influence of the reading setup on the digital reading strategy illustrates the importance of formulating the reading task correctly in order to ensure an effective digital reading experience.</p>

Generic Moves in The Literature Review Section of PhD Dissertations

The dissertation/thesis as an academic genre has evolved in academic circles in the past 30 years or so. Research into various aspects of the academic genres in general and thesis writing, in particular, started more than two decades ago. However, not much research has been carried out regarding the theorizing of literature review writing as a separate genre in theses, especially in non-native English contexts. The present study aimed to fill the theoretical voids in the research area of Literature Review (LR) section in thesis writing in Pakistani academic settings; thus this study probes into the process of construction of literature reviewing to find out that how students organise this section and deal with the potential problems as an analytical piece of writing with sound argumentation. The current study has investigated the schematic patterns in the literature review through the framework of move analysis in genre theory. The data was drawn from fifteen (15) doctoral theses in the field of English linguistics. The methodology allows for an in-depth coding of the LR chapters in theses to investigate the rhetorical organization. In the coding process, the study has also taken insights from the two previous models of Kwan (2006) and Swales’ seminal CARS model (1990) in order to study the moves (and steps) as rhetorical units. The results of the study reflect the dominant presence of Move 1, Move 2 and Move 4, whereas the employment of Move 3 is comparatively less which justifies the worth of writer’s work. This reveals that the students resort to these moves more often to perform a ritual of literature reviewing and in dire need to be trained enough to craft the LRs argumentatively. Thus, researchers have proposed a revised model to overcome the shortcoming.

Gendering madness

In this article, I examine what narratives of enraptured madness (jadhb) and the figure of the mad female saint (majdhuba) reveal about the articulation of gendered saintly orthodoxy within the modern Moroccan hagiographical compendium Salwat al-Anfas wa-Muhadathat al-Akyas bi-man Uqbira min al-‘Ulama’ wa’l-Sulaha’ bi-Fas (The entertainment of souls and the discourse of the wise concerning the scholars and the Sufis who in Fez met their demise). Written by the nineteenth-century Moroccan historian and Sufi, Muhammad ibn Ja‘far al-Kattani, this text draws on and also plays with the genre of Sufi hagiography. Because it is arranged as a ‘tomb visiting guide,’ it appears to scatter traditional vestiges of Sufi hierarchies and rhetorical organization strategies, presenting a composite picture of Sufi sainthood. However, al-Kattani also reaffirms entrenched gendered hierarchies of spiritual authority. Throughout Salwat al-Anfas, al-Kattani’s depiction of the majdhuba acts as a literary foil for the paradigm of the ‘good Sufi woman’ or normative female sainthood. Although al-Kattani includes narratives of the majdhuba that depict potentially transgressive gender performances experienced within the state of enraptured madness – such as uncovering the body, growing a beard, babbling, gossiping, and acting aggressively in public spaces – these deviant performances serve to solidify normative modes of sainthood. Or, in other words, enraptured madness sticks to certain saints more than others, creating gendered hierarchies of spiritual authority.

Using the CEFR for Improving Pre-service Teachers’ Communicative Competence

The study investigated the effects of implementing "the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages" "CEFR" in the English courses in a teacher education program at one Iraqi public university. An intensive 288-hour CEFR-informed program focusing on communicative language competence was designed. The data collection consists of two phases: pre-CEFR and post-CEFR implementations. A total of 150 fourth-year pre-service teachers participated in the study. The questionnaire was the only instrument used for the data collection, which consisted of two parts: the CEFR Self-Assessment Grid and Bachman and Palmer’s linguistic test. The CEFR Self-Assessment Grid was used to access participants self-assessments of their English proficiency. In addition, the linguistic test examines 13 criteria of language knowledge: language vocabulary, syntax, phonology/graphology (grammatical knowledge), knowledge of cohesion, rhetorical organization, conversational organization (textual knowledge), ideational knowledge, manipulative knowledge, instrumental knowledge, imaginative knowledge (functional knowledge), knowledge of dialects, registers, and idiomatic expressions. It was hypothesized that there would be an improvement in pre-service teachers' performance after the implementation of the CEFR as a teaching framework. All the participants took the pre-CEFR and post-CEFR tests to examine their English language competency. The questionnaire was used in pre- and post-tests. The pre-CEFR test results showed that a significant percentage of the participants did not have adequate proficiency to be an English teacher (CEFR A2 and B1). Consequently, a course was designed to enhance pre-service teachers' communicative competence level required for them to be effective teachers, which is considered the main goal of teaching and learning English in the Iraqi colleges of education. The results were estimated according to the CEFR self-assessment grid and Bachman and Plamer’s (1996) checklist. The results of the post-test proved that the pre-service teachers had made more progress in their language proficiency as a result of implementing the CEFR compared to their levels before.

A comparative corpus-based investigation of results sections of research articles in Applied Linguistics and Physics

Abstract The present study sought to identify the generic structures of the results sections of scientific research articles (RAs) between Applied Linguistics and Physics. Following a manual search approach, a total of 200 RAs in the field of Applied Linguistics and Physics from different top prestigious journals randomly were singled out and analyzed. In addition to offering a tentative template for the rhetorical organizations of results sections, the findings revealed shared and non-shared rhetorical units as well as obligatory and optional steps in the results sections (RSs) of research articles between the disciplines. The findings also indicated that RA writers organize the contents of the RSs around certain rhetorical resources (i.e., M1, M2, M3, M4, and M5) to present key experimental and factual analytical results of their studies. The findings further suggested the existence of common core of rhetorical resources in writing RSs between the disciplines, albeit there are a set of certain steps playing an essential part in distinguishing textual features of each discipline as well as depicting how RSs of individual discipline are developed. The findings generated from the study can offer a number of important pedagogical implications for teaching EAP and ESP courses, especially for Applied Linguistics and Physics teachers and students.

Modeling Claim - Evidence - Stance link in the Discussion Section of Research Genres: A Comparative Case Study of Expert and Student Writers in Applied Linguistics

The previous genre-based studies have emphasized the rhetorical organization of the discussion section in research articles or thesis writing. The present study extends this trend by exploring the argumentative structure and its link to stance-taking features in the discussion part-genre written by both expert and student writers. Two corpora were compiled, including discussion samples taken from published research articles and those chosen from Master’s theses in applied linguistics. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted to identify any differences and similarities between the two groups of writers in terms of their organization of argumentative structure and the stance-taking manner. The results demonstrated that expert and student writers significantly differ in the manipulation of supporting evidence albeit their similar tendency to craft claim-evidence link. The significant differences were particularly found in the realization of interpretive arguments, with student writers employing more use of reason-result pattern whereas established writers presenting the higher occurrence of concessive clauses to reinforce the strength of arguments. Besides, the study also revealed that student writers tend to favor more numerical data while expert writers show greater preferences for generalized evidential and research evaluation to seek support for knowledge claims. Furthermore, the analysis of stance markers highlighted that stance-taking devices are inextricably interwoven with the claim-evidence link, with hedges and self-mentions predominantly serving for the interpretive evidence, attitude markers for both evidential and evaluative labels, and boosters for claim sets and factual evidence. Statistically significant differences between two corpora were also observed across the allocation of stance markers in relation to argumentative structures. The findings of the study have both theoretical and pedagogical implications for EAP writing instruction and learning needs.