A COMPARISON OF NICHE ESTABLISHMENTS IN ENGLISH RESEARCH ARTICLE INTRODUCTIONS PUBLISHED IN INTERNATIONAL AND THAI JOURNALS
Vol.14,No.2(2021)
The present study looked closely at the niche establishments in the introduction sections of English research articles written by Thai authors and published in local Thai journals and compared them to those found in introduction sections written by non-Thai authors published in international and high indexed journals. Each of the two corpora contains forty introductory sections. The analysis was based on the frameworks of Swales (2004) and Lim (2012). It was found that the use of niche establishments in the international corpus was higher than that in the Thai corpus. In the Thai corpus, “Stressing insufficient research” was the highest strategy, but “Revealing methodological limitations” was completely absent. It is expected that the results will provide practical guidance for novice writers to write their research introduction sections with informative and convincing niche establishments and, to some extent, the results should also benefit English writing classes, especially in Thailand.
niche establishment; indicating a gap; introduction section; research article; genre analysis
Wirada Amnuai
Department of Humanities, Faculty of Sciences and Liberal Arts, Rajamangala University of Technology Isan, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand 30000
Assistant Professor at the Department of Humanities at
Rajamangala University of Technology Isan, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand
Ahmed, S. (2015) ‘Rhetorical organization of tourism research article abstracts.’ Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 208, 269-281. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.11.203
Ali, Z., Syed, G. N. and Saleem, A. (2019) ‘Genre analysis of conclusion of research articles of Pakistani and foreign research articles on code mixing and code switching: A comparative study.’ International Journal of English Research 5(1), 57-60.
Amirian, Z., Kassaian, Z. and Tavakoli, M. (2008) ‘Genre analysis: An investigation of the discussion sections of applied linguistics research articles.’ The Asian ESP Journal 4(1), 39-63.
Amnuai, W. and Wannaruk, A. (2013) ‘A move-based analysis of the conclusion sections of research articles published in international and Thai journals.’ 3L: The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies 19(2), 53-63.
Anthony, L. (1999) ‘Writing research article introductions in software engineering: How accurate is a standard model?’ IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication 42(1), 38-46. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/47.749366
Armağan, A. (2013) ‘How to write an introduction section of a scientific article?’ Turkish Journal of Urology 39(1), 8-9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5152/tud.2013.046
Brett, P. (1994) ‘A genre analysis of the results section of sociology articles.’ English for Specifi c Purposes 22, 365-385. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0889-4906(94)90024-8
Bruce, I. (2014) ‘Expressing criticality in the literature review in research article introductions in applied linguistics and psychology.’ English for Specific Purposes 36, 85-96. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2014.06.004
Chang, P. and Schleppegrell, M. (2011) ‘Taking an eff ective authorial stance in academic writing: Making the linguistic resources explicit for L2 writers in the social sciences.’ Journal of English for Academic Purposes 10, 140-151. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2011.05.005
Chen, X. and Li, M. (2019) ‘Chinese learner writers’ niche establishment in the literature review chapter of theses: A diachronic perspective.’ Journal of English for Academic Purposes 39, 48-58. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2019.03.006
Cotos, E., Huff man, S. and Link, S. (2017) ‘A move/step model for methods sections:
Demonstrating rigour and credibility.’ English for Specifi c Purposes 46, 90-106. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2017.01.001
Del Saz-Rubio, M. M. (2011) ‘A pragmatic approach to the macro-structure and metadiscoursal features of research article introductions in the field of agricultural
sciences.’ English for Specific Purposes 30(4), 258-271. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2011.03.002
Duszak, A. (1997) ‘Cross-cultural academic communication: A discourse-community
view.’ In: Duszak, A. (ed.) Intellectual Styles and Cross-cultural Communication. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 11-41.
Farnia, M. and Barati, S. (2017) ‘Writing introduction sections of research articles in
applied linguistics: Cross-linguistic study of native and non-native writers.’ Indonesian
Journal of Applied Linguistics 7(2), 486-494. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v7i2.8357
Flowerdew, J. (1999) ‘Writing for scholarly publication in English: The case of Hong Kong.’ Journal of Second Language Writing 8(2), 123-45. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1060-3743(99)80125-8
Hyland, K. (2000) Disciplinary Discourses: Social Interactions in Academic Writing. Harlow: Pearson Education.
Hyland, K. (2005) Metadiscourse: Exploring Interaction in Writing. London: Continuum.
Joseph, R., Lim, J. M. H. and Nor, N. A. M. (2014) ‘Communicative moves in forestry
research Introductions: Implications for the design of learning materials.’ Procedia –
Social and Behavioral Sciences 134, 53-69.
Kanoksilapatham, B. (2005) ‘Rhetorical structure of biochemistry research articles.’ English for Specifi c Purposes 24, 269-292. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2004.08.003
Kanoksilapatham, B. (2007) ‘Writing scientifi c research articles in Thai and English:
Similarities and diffi culties.’ Silpakorn University International Journal 7, 172-203.
Kanoksilapatham, B. (2012) ‘Structure of research article introductions in three engineering subdisciplines.‘ IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication 55(4), 294-309. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/TPC.2012.2223252
Khany, R. and Tazik, K. (2010) ‘A comparative study of introduction and discussion
sections of sub-disciplines of applied linguistics research articles.’ Journal of Research
in Applied Linguistics 1(2), 97-122.
Lim, J. M. H. (2006) ‘Method sections of management research articles: A
pedagogically motivated qualitative study.’ English for Specifi c Purposes 25(3),
282-309. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2005.07.001
Lim, J. M. H. (2012) ‘How do writers establish research niches? A genre-based investigation into management researchers’ rhetorical steps and linguistic mechanisms.’ Journal of English for Academic Purposes 11, 229-245. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2012.05.002
Liu, Y. and Buckingham, L. (2018) ‘The schematic structure of discussion sections in
applied linguistics and the distribution of metadiscourse markers.’ Journal of English
for Academic Purposes 34, 97-109. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2018.04.002
Loi, C. K. (2010) ‘Research article introductions in Chinese and English: A comparative
genre-based study.’ Journal of English for Academic Purposes 9(4), 267-279. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2010.09.004
Loi, C. K., and Evans, M. S. (2010) ‘Cultural diff erences in the organization of research article introductions from the fi eld of educational psychology: English and Chinese.’ Journal of Pragmatics 42(10), 2814-2825. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2010.03.010
Moghaddasi, S. and Graves, H. A. B. (2017) ‘“Since Hadwiger’s conjection... is still
open”: Establishing a niche for research in discrete mathematics research article
introductions.’ English for Specific Purposes 45, 69-85. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2016.09.003
Ozturk, I. (2007) ‘The textual organization of research article introductions in applied
linguistics: Variability within a single discipline.’ English for Specifi c Purposes 26(1), 25-38. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2005.12.003
Peacock, M. (2011) ‘The structure of the methods section in research articles across eight disciplines.’ Asian ESP Journal 7(2), 99-124.
Pho, P. D. (2008) ‘Research article abstracts in applied linguistics and educational
technology: A study of linguistic realizations of rhetorical structure and authorial stance.’ Discourse Studies 10(2), 231-250. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1461445607087010
Reppen, R. and Simpson, R. (2002) ‘Corpus linguistics.’ In: Schmitt, N. (ed.) An
Introduction to Applied Linguistics. New York: Oxford University Press. 92-111.
Samraj, B. (2002) ‘Introductions in research articles: Variations across disciplines.’
English for Specifi c Purposes 21(1), 1-17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0889-4906(00)00023-5
Samraj, B. (2005) ‘An exploration of a genre set: Research article abstracts and
introductions in two disciplines.’ English for Specific Purposes 24(2), 141-156.
Scimago journal and Country Rank. (2018) Accessed on 15 March 2020 <https://www.scimagojr.com/journalrank.php>. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2002.10.001
Shehzad, W. (2008) ‘Move two: Establishing a niche.’ Iberica 15, 25-50.
Sheldon, E. (2011) ‘Rhetorical diff erences in RA introductions written by English L1 and L2 and Castilian Spanish L1 writers.’ Journal of English for Academic Purposes 10, 238-251. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2011.08.004
Swales, J. M. (1990) Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Swales, J. M. (2004) Research Genres: Explorations and Applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139524827
Swales, J. M. and Feak, C. B. (2004) Academic Writing for Graduate Students: Essential Tasks and Skills. 2 nd ed. Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press.
Thompson, D. K. (1993) ‘Arguing for experimental ‘fact’ in science: A study of research article results sections in biochemistry.’ Written Communication 10(1), 106-128. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088393010001004
Valero-Garces, C. (1996) ‘Contrastive ESP rhetoric: Metatext in Spanish-English economics texts.’ English for Specifi c Purposes 16(4), 279-294. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0889-4906(96)00013-0
Williams, I. A. (1999) ‘Results sections of medical research articles: Analysis of rhetorical categories for pedagogical purposes.’ English for Specifi c Purposes 18(4), 347-366. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0889-4906(98)00003-9
Yang, R. and Allison, D. (2003) ‘Research articles in applied linguistics: Moving from
results to conclusions.’ English for Specifi c Purposes 22(4), 365-385. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0889-4906(03)00005-X
Yang, R. and Allison, D. (2004) ‘Research articles in applied linguistics: Structure from a functional perspective.’ English for Specifi c Purposes 23(3), 264-279.
Zamani, G. and Ebadi, S. (2016) ‘Move analysis of the conclusion sections of research
papers in Persian and English.’ Cypriot Journal of Educational Sciences 11(1), 9-22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18844/cjes.v11i1.344
Zhang, B. and Wannaruk, A. (2016) ‘Rhetorical structure of education research article
methods sections.’ PASAA 51, 155-184.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright © 2021 Wirada Amnuai