A Genre-based Investigation Of Promotion In Research Article Introductions In Applied Linguistics

Academic writing has been mixed with promotion due to the fierce competition in publication.There is a great amount of studies in EAP that focus on the use of promotional strategies in research articles,especially in the research article introductions(RAIs).Some of them have proved the feasibility of using lexical bundles as a unit to analyze the persuasiveness in RAIs(Cortes,2013;Rubio,2011;Kazemi,2014).Others have conducted studies related to the promotion function from the perspective of moves/steps in the discipline of Wildlife Behavior and Conservation Biology(Samraj,2002).However,specific investigation of promotional strategies of RAIs in applied linguistics from the appraisal and evaluation perspective is insufficient.Considering the insufficiency of the relevant studies,the present study is aimed to explore promotion in RAIs in applied linguistics and shed light on novice writers who have difficulty in academic writing.Both the Swales's CARS model(1990)and Martin and White's Appraisal Theory(2007)are employed as the theoretical framework to conduct genre analysis of a total number of 48 research article introductions that are published on Journal of English for Academic Purposes between 2010 and 2015.The results of the combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis in investigating the linguistic realization of promotion in RAIs show that(?)Writers usually rely on appeals in RAIs to promote the importance of their own studies.There are four types of appeals frequently employed:appeal to the need of new knowledge,appeal to problems,appeal to importance,and appeal to magnitude.The criteria for classification are the different communicative purposes they maintain.These four types of appeals can be further divided into several sub-types due to subtle differences in linguistic expressions.The realization of promotion in academic writing is based on certain words or lexical bundles which include inscribed or invoked attitudes.Relating findings acquired from current study to the research/real world is one of ways to realize the promotion of the present research(?)Distributions of these types of appeals in moves/steps in introduction part are regular.Appeals to the need of new knowledge occur in move 2 step 2 indicating a need(IN),appeals to problems appear in move 2 step 1 indicating a gap(IG),appeals to importance mainly exist in move 1 and move 3,with few in move 2,and the majority of appeals to magnitude emerge in move 1,with few in move 2 and move 3.These findings may make contributions to relevant literature in this research area and provide guidelines for novice writers who are eager to improve their abilities of academic writing.