A Cross-move Investigation Of Lexica Bundles Of Thesis Abstracts In Applied Linguistics

Many recent studies have observed the strong connection between lexical bundles and rhetorical moves and steps in research articles(RAs)(Cortes,2013;Le & Harrington,2015;Mizumoto et al,2017).What is largely missing in the described studies,however,is the systematic analysis of the link between rhetorical moves and their linguistic realization in MA thesis abstracts.For this purpose,the present study attempts to investigate three-word bundles that commonly used to achieve the communicative purposes in different move in thesis abstracts.The primary objective of this study was to explore the similarities and differences in move structures of thesis abstracts between Chinese and international students in Applied Linguistics;and in particular,to summarize the move pattern of thesis abstracts.The secondary aim of this study was to investigate the use of lexical bundles across different moves: Introduction,Purpose,Method,Product and Conclusion between the two groups.To address these concerns,this study takes the corpus-driven approach to explore the differences and similarities of linguistic features.We respectively collected 30 thesis abstracts written by Chinese and international students,and the move-step analysis was conducted to investigate the rhetorical structure of two groups of students.Based on that,the structural and functional analysis was carried out.The research suggests that both Chinese students and international students to some extent have the genre awareness of thesis abstracts.Considering the frequency of sub-move options,Chinese students paid more attention to Introduction,Product and Conclusion by using various sub-moves while International students used more sub-moves to construct Method and Purpose move.Based on in-depth analysis of sub-moves,the choices of two groups are strikingly different.It was found that Chinese students preferred to deploying M1a and M1c to emphasize the research context and the importance,and international students,while writing Move 3,focused more on research design by using M3b.Through comparison of the use lexical bundles,this study revealed that Chinese students employ bundles more extensively in abstracts than their international counterparts.Additionally,among these identified bundles,some of them were exclusive to the given move to realize certain function.Although there are some limitations existing in the present study,it is believed that highlighting the common linguistic pattern and differences that emerge from the ways students construct knowledge and communicate it with their readers has great potential to reinforce our understanding of abstract writing.We would also argue that studies of this kind can be of great help,especially,to MA students in applied linguistics field,instructors who teach academic writing courses and thesis supervisors.