Conclusion Sections Of Thesis In Applied Linguistics By English And Chinese Native Speakers: A Contrastive Genre Analysis

The conclusion often serves an effective approach for authors to express theirmain idea besides the abstracts. On the basis of the move model for concludingchapters proposed in previous research (Yang and Allison,2003; Bunton,2005; Moritz,Meurer and Dellagnelo,2008), the present study aims to investigate cross-culturaldifferences between the concluding chapters of MA theses in the field of appliedlinguistics written by Chinese writers and their native counterparts, by analyzingninety-two samples, forty-six from each group, in terms of the type, frequency andsequence of moves. The results show that concluding chapters, in terms of theirfrequency and independency, enjoy a higher status in theses written by Chinese writersthan by native writers, who, nevertheless, tends to compose longer conclusions, withmore words, sentences and paragraphs. Chinese writers follow their nativecounterparts in using the same types of moves to construct conclusions, thoughvariations exist in the number and types of steps within certain moves. Chinese writersgive greater emphasis on the research itself, in that Move2, consolidating the researchspace, is used most frequent, while native writers attach greater value to what can begot from the research and what contributions can be made to the related field, by mostfrequent using of Move4, making deductions from the research. No significantdifference is found in the sequence of moves. Most concluding chapters begin withMove1, introductory restatement, or Move2, consolidating the research space, andend with Move5, concluding restatement, with Move3, evaluating the study, andMove4, making deductions from the research, in the middle in most cases. Nativewriters prefer to arrange moves in linear patterns while Chinese writers employ morecyclical patterns in organizing the moves. Move4is found most recursive in bothcorpora. It is expected that the results and findings are of reference value for textbookdesigners, English learners and teachers, and academic writers and readers.