The Conclusion Section In English Research Articles:a Macro-and-Micro Analysis

Studies on academic discourse have since the1980s adopted three different viewpoints:genre analysis, SFL-based discourse analysis and multidimensional analysis. However, it has been recently recognized that very few studies of academic discourse, which are based on one or two of the above perspectives, have ever discussed the Conclusion section of the research article. This thesis focuses on the Conclusion section of the research article, and provides an analysis from both the macro and micro levels.In this research,40research articles are selected from three famous international journals in the discipline of applied linguistics, namely, English for Specific Purposes, English Language Teaching Journal and Applied Linguistics. All selected research articles are up-to-date and published between the years of2012-2014. Besides, all the40research articles are about empirical studies and generally follow the IMRD (Introduction, Method, Results, and Discussion) format. Then research articles which meet the above three criteria are all under the headings of "Conclusion" or "Conclusions". To carefully describe the characteristics of the Conclusion section, this thesis proposes an analyzing model which interprets the Conclusion section from both macro and micro levels.The macro level of interpretation is based on genre analysis. Yang&Allison’s (2003) three-move model, which comprises’summarizing the study’,’evaluating the study’ and’deductions from the study’, is found effective in explaining the organizing structure of the Conclusion section. On the basis of this, this research further improves Yang&Allison’s (2003) model by identifying5new steps in the first move and therefore proposed a modified modal of the Conclusion section. The micro level of interpretation is rooted in the systemic functional grammar. It has been discovered that, first of all, six processes types in the transitivity system are all used in the closing part, with material processes and relational processes being the most frequently used. Secondly, the interpersonal function of the Conclusion section is partly realized by means of modal operators. Findings of the research show that modal operators from the low value group are most commonly used, because writers try to avoid being too assertive when advancing their claims or giving suggestions. Median and high value modal operators are also employed in the Conclusion section to express interpersonal meanings. In terms of the textual function, topical Themes constitute the largest number of Themes identified in the Conclusion section. Apart from that, textual∧topical Themes are also common in conclusions, whereas interpersonal Themes are found to be rare. Grounded in the results in this research, pedagogical implications are thus made, mainly directed at teachers.