A Comparative Genre Analysis Of English Abstracts In Primary Research Articles In Applied Linguistics Written By Chinese And Native English-speaking Writers

In recent years, genre analysis of the abstract has gained significant attention. Some previous studies have investigated the research article abstracts of a specific discipline. Also a few comparative genre analyses of research article abstracts have been conducted to investigate the variation of abstract written by native English-speaking writers and non-native English-speaking writers in different disciplines. However, few comparative studies have been done on research article abstracts written by CWs(Chinese writers) and NWs(native English-speaking writes) in the field of applied linguistics. To this end, the present study is designed to explore the similarities and differences in the aspects of the macro generic structure in terms of moves and the micro linguistic features in terms of voices and tenses in primary research article abstracts in the field of applied linguistics written by CWs and NWs.In the current study, 50 English abstracts written by CWs and 50 English abstracts written by NWs in primary research articles in applied linguistics are collected randomly from 10 extensively representative journals: Foreign Language Teaching and Research, Journal of Foreign Languages, Foreign Languages and Their Teaching, Modern Foreign Languages, Foreign Language World, Applied Linguistics, TESOL Quarterly, English for Specific Purposes, English Language Teaching Journal and Language Learning. The macro generic structure of abstracts selected for study were analyzed by means of move-step analysis by reference to Bhatia?s IMRC pattern and Huang Ping?s move-step analysis pattern at the text level. The micro linguistic features in terms of voices and tenses presented in abstracts are calculated by the author herself. And finally the occurrence frequency of each move in terms of steps and the frequency of voices and tenses are processed by use of the Chi-square test.Through genre analysis of the abstracts, it is found that move 1 Introducing Purpose appears as an essential move in abstracts written by both CWs and NWs. Detailed analysis of move 1 in samples found that the step Making generalizations and the step Indicating a gap are relatively infrequent in abstracts written by CWs. And step 2 Introducing research contents or purpose occurs most frequent both in abstracts written by CWs and NWs. NWs attach enough importance to move 2, while CWs tend to ignore it, especially step 2 Introducing method of analysis. Move 3 Summarizing results is a crucial move in primary research articles in applied linguistics written by both CWs and NWs. And there is only one step in move 3, which is used to reporting the key findings. Move 4 Presenting conclusion tends to be ignored by CWs. And they are reluctant to evaluating their research results to promoting their new findings. Through the analysis of micro generic structure in terms of voices and tenses in RA abstracts, it is found that the active voice occurs mostly frequently in move 1 and move 3 of RA abstracts written by both CWs and NWs, while the passive voice appears more frequently in move 2 of RA abstracts written by CWs. Besides, both CWs and NWs incline to describe the methodology in the past tense and present the conclusion in the present tense. In move 3 Summarizing results, the past tense is preferred by NWs, while CWs tend to state it in the present tense.The current study reveals the similarities and differences of primary research article abstracts written by CWs and NWs in the aspects of the macro generic structure in terms of moves and the micro linguistic features in terms of voices and tenses in each move, hoping to help EFL learners better understand the generic features of research article abstracts and enhance their abstracts reading and writing abilities.