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Corpus-Based Research on Tense Analysis and Rhetorical Structure in Journal Article Abstracts

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PACLIC-27 Corpus-based Research on Tense Analysis and Rhetorical Structure in Journal Article Abstracts Pin-ning Tu Shih-Ping Wang National Taiwan University of Science and National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taiwan/ #43, Sec. 4, Keelung Rd. Technology, Taiwan/ #43, Sec. 4, Keelung Rd., Da’an Dist., Taipei 106, Taiwan (R.O.C.) Da’an Dist., Taipei 106, Taiwan (R.O.C.) [email protected] [email protected] Abstract investigation and disciplinary discourse communities. As the knowledge of proficient preferences There has long been a growing interest for language choice as well as rhetorical in journal articles (JA) abstract writing, structure has a great influence on academic and this pervading interest has boosted written genre, many investigators have recently the exigency for further instructive turned to the relevant research in relation to research. This current study aims to genre analysis, thematic organization, formulaic investigate both the variant application language, rhetorical structure, etc. (Cortes, 2004; of the verb tense as well as the rhetorical Hyland, 2008a; Lorés, 2004; Martín, 2002; structure within JA abstracts. A 9.9 Swales, 1990; Wang & Chan, 2011; Wang & million word corpus of 1000 JAs was Kao, 2012). Furthermore, research in terms of collected based on four prestigious corpora decoding for rhetorical structures such journals, i.e., Journal of Pragmatics, as moves and steps is also regarded as one of the Journal of Research in Reading, Journal recommendations for further research expansion of Second Language Writing, and by Flowerdew (2010). Reading and Writing, respectively. The Taking the contribution of the previous quantitative analysis indicates the studies, this current reserach sets out to explore tendency of tense shown in the the variation of tense within the reporting verbs commonly applied reporting verbs. On among the transitions of moves via the structural the other hand, the qualitative analysis analysis in JA abstracts. shows the prevailing adoption of three-, four-, and five-move theories in terms of the CARS model, the IMRD structure, 2. Literature review and the IPMPrC structure. The results not only reveal the explicit tendency of In the respect of genre analysis, move analysis the variance within reporting verbs but has been always considered to be one of the also suggest a distinct pervasiveness of most influential elements. A move is a rhetorical the IMRD structure over the other element which serves the function of correlating models. These findings not only present and cohering within the written or spoken a more systematic pattern within JA context (Lorés , 2004; Swales, 2004). However, abstracts, but also show potentials for it is not a definite unit which is constraint to enlightening further pedagogy-oriented perform in a fixed pattern because it is able to composition instruction for JA abstract. vary along with the context. In other words, move functions as a communicative role between each transition of the rhetorical 1. Introduction structure. A brief elaboration of the most pervasive move theory in terms of three-, four-, and five- Previous studies have highlighted the moves is described in sequence. indispensable importance of JA abstract in the contemporary flow. The pivotal role of JA 2.1. Three-move theory abstract has received considerable attention in academic written genre among the international Create a Research Space (CARS) model, community. Swales (1990) appeals to the proposed by Swales (1990), has been widely academia, claiming that the research in JA used by scholars to outshine their publication in abstracts ought not to be ignored inasmuch of its this competitive academia (Cheng, 2006). influential significance upon the genre CARS model is divided into three moves, 102 Copyright 2013 by Pin-ning Tu and Shih-Ping Wang 27th Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information, and Computation pages 102－107 PACLIC-27 including establishing a territory, establishing a Move Function niche, and occupying the niche (Swales, 1990). Introduction Establishes context of the paper and In other words, Move 1: establishing a motivates the study or discussion. territory can be commensurate with “goal” and Purpose Indicates purpose, thesis or “current capacity,” synthesizing the research hypothesis, outlines the intention aim with the previous research (Swales, 1990, p. behind the paper. 142). As a consequence, Move 2: establishing a Method Provides information on design, niche functions as offering a space for research procedures, assumptions, approach, gap and possible research questions (Swales, data, etc. 1990). Under this circumstance, Move 3: Product States main findings or results, the occupying the niche will provide a “solution of argument, or what was criteria of evaluation” that taps into the accomplished. intricacies which came up with in Move 2 Conclusion Interprets or extends results beyond section (Swales, 1990, p. 142). scope of paper, draws inferences, 2.2. Four-move theory points to applications or wider implications. The most well-known and considerably applied Table 1: IPMPrC structure structure in academic writing is the IMRD structure (i.e., Introduction, Methods, Results, 3. Methodology and Discussion) (Golebiowski, 2009). It was first proposed by Ventola (1994). In an attempt to shed lights on the various To illustrate the content in depth, the dimensions that are possibly exposed from the introduction segment would cover the further academic written genre, a total of 1000 journal elaborations of the purpose and objective of the articles, which comprises 9,983,482 tokens out current research. Lorés (2004) additionally of 117,855 types of distinct words, were comments that any other questions that could extracted evenly from four prestigious academic possibly bring out further open discussion might journals: Journal of Pragmatics (JOP), Journal also be included in this Introduction segment. of Research in Reading (JRR), Journal of When it comes to the second stage – Method, a Second Language Writing (JSLW), and Reading clarification of the scheme adopted in the and Writing (R&W). research will be described (Lorés, 2004). As the In accordance with the principle aim of lines progress, the Result segment is expected to this current research, that is, to specify the offer critical information in relation to the variation of verb tense and rhetorical structure in findings from the implement of the research JA abstracts, 1000 abstracts were additionally (Lorés, 2004). The final Discussion section is extracted from the retrieved research materials, required to contain a further discussion of the and constructed as the primary research corpora. findings, an exploration of possible research Table 2 compares the tokens and types of the space and practical application (Lorés, 2004). five primary corpora. 2.3. Five-move theory Type of Corpora No. Tokens Types Differing from the above discussed structures, JOP abstracts corpus 250 47,074 6,068 the five-move theory – IPMPrC structure, JRR abstracts corpus 250 39,699 4,001 proposed by Hyland (2004), is especially JSWL abstracts corpus 250 45,520 4,265 designed to access the RA abstracts. R&W abstracts corpus 250 45,700 3,679 Nevertheless, it is clarified in the first place that 1,000 abstracts corpus 1,000 177,945 9,711 the aim of setting this five move structure lies in Table 2: Comparison among research corpora providing an assertion in relation to JA abstract conducting as well as an inter-textual projection The data analysis is twofold. On the one in terms of the significance of each research hand, the quantitative analysis focuses on the instead of addressing definite move steps investigation of verb tense, especially set out for (Hyland, 2004). reporting verbs, by manipulating the analytical In an attempt to provide a clearer instruments such as MonoConc Pro and framework of the main characteristics of the WordSmith version 5.0. IPMPrC structure, Table 1 elaborates the On the other hand, the qualitative analysis primary functions of each move in the of consists in the assessment of the rhetorical five-move theory (Hyland, 2004, p. 67). structure in accordance with CARS model, the 103 PACLIC-27 IMRD structure, and the IPMPrC structure. -ed 13 77 26 88 204 Table 3 below illustrates the comparison of different transitions among the applied theories examine 19 16 21 40 96 from three to five moves. -s 32 16 25 5 78 -ing 7 3 12 7 29 Three moves Four moves Five moves -ed 14 53 24 81 172 CARS model IMRD structure IPMPrC structure suggest 26 31 39 46 142 Context Introduction Introduction Gap Methods Purpose -s 15 23 23 7 68 Present study Results Methods -ing 2 8 9 9 28 Discussion Product Conclusion -ed 9 9 20 12 50 Table 3: Comparison of move theories investigate 19 19 18 25 81 -s 20 5 16 5 46 4. Results -ing 5 4 6 5 20 The current study reports on two dimensions in -ed 13 32 28 46 119 JA abstracts: verb tense and rhetorical structure. Firstly, the analysis of verb has uncovered a find 5 15 14 5 39 prevailing application of be-verbs, such as is, -s 2 1 ---- ---- 3 are, was, were, as well as reporting verbs such -ing ---- ---- 2 ---- 2 as show, examine, suggest, investigate, and find, -ed 38 54 51 60 203 in applied frequency sequence. It is reasonably assumed that the different application pattern of Table 5: Frequency of reporting verbs be-verb contains two possibilities: plain statement as well as passive voice. It can be seen from the data shown in Prior to tackling the various findings on Table 5 that the each research corpus has its the different tense of verbs, a clearer comparison tendency towards the application of tense as of how be-verb is applied in each of the research stated in the analysis of be-verbs, except for the corpora is shown in Table 4. single peculiar example “find.” When it comes to the reporting verb “find,” it was found that Form JOP JRR JSLW R&W ALL this particular word possesses its consistent is 526 200 275 173 1204 tendency of past tense or passive voice in all reserach corpora.
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