A Multidimensional Analysis of Linguistic Realizations and Rhetorical Move Structure in Geography Research Article Abstracts: A CorpusBased Study

Abstract

Novice Geography researchers need to be acquainted with the rhetorical move structure and organization of scientific research article abstracts (RAAs); yet there is a lack of studies investigating the linguistic realizations involved and their connections to the rhetorical move structure in Geography RAAs. This paper conducted a multidimensional analysis to explore phrase frames/collocations and move length and their connection to the rhetorical move structure and sequence in 190 Geography RAAs from journals indexed in the Web of Science Master Journal List. The move structure was investigated employing Hyland’s (2004) move scheme, Introduction Purpose-Method-Product-Conclusion. The results revealed that Geography RAAs have a five-move structure, consisting of three “essential” moves whose functions are to present Purpose, Methods and Results, and two “conventional” moves, whose functions are to present Introduction and Conclusion. The findings of the multidimensional analyses indicated that the moves that occurred most frequently in Geography RAAs (Purpose, Methods and Results) occupied most text space and included more phrase frames. The findings indicate the importance of combining investigations of the rhetorical move structure in a particular genre with an exploration of the linguistic realizations in each move as this may provide both researchers and English for Academic Purposes (EAP) tutors with valuable resources for understanding the rhetorical and linguistic characteristics of specific RAA types.