the generic structure of postgraduate students‟ …
TRANSCRIPT
THE GENERIC STRUCTURE OF POSTGRADUATE
STUDENTS‟ GRATITUDE EXPRESSION IN THESIS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: A LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS
BY
NOOR SUHAILIE BINTI CHE GHANI
A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for
the degree of Master of Human Sciences (Teaching of
English as a Second Language)
Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and
Human Sciences
International Islamic University Malaysia
MARCH 2015
ii
ABSTRACT
In academic writing, the acknowledgment section is considered as a rhetorical section
that is obligatory. Thus, it could be considered as a part of academic writing even
though it seems a personal piece of writing. Compared to other sections like the
abstract, introduction, discussion, findings and conclusion, the acknowledgement
section seems to receive very little attention from genre analysts. However, an
awareness of the rhetorical structures of different genre is useful and necessary
because this will help English teachers to know how language is used in various
contexts. The objectives of this study are to investigate if postgraduate students use
different move structures as well as examine the linguistic elements employed in
postgraduate students‟ thesis acknowledgements. Additionally, it also aims to
investigate if postgraduate students of different faiths use different generic structures
in the writing of thesis acknowledgement. This study analysed 100 acknowledgement
sample texts of 50 Muslim and 50 non-Muslim postgraduate students from two public
universities in Malaysia. This study used the move structures in English thesis
acknowledgements frameworks of Hyland (2004) and Al-Ali (2006) as well as
adopted Hyland and Tse‟s (2004) framework of linguistic elements in expressing
gratitude in order to answer all research questions. Based on the findings, Muslim and
non-Muslim postgraduate students acknowledgement texts were found to consist of
reflecting move, thanking move and announcing move. It was also discovered that
there are three important linguistic elements in acknowledgment texts, which are
patterns of expressing gratitude, modifying thanks and choice of authorial subjects.
Additionally, in the Malaysian context, it was found that differences in faith do not
really influence postgraduate students in writing thesis acknowledgement with the
exception of divine appreciation step. The analysis of this study would benefit English
teachers in order to teach appropriate ways of writing and using lexical choices in
acknowledgements and also benefits the postgraduate students in composing thesis
acknowledgements that meet the expectations of the academic community.
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خلاصة البحث
الكتابة الأكاديمية يعتبر جزءاً خطابيا واجبا من الكتابة الأكاديمية حتى وإن كان إن الشكر والتقدير في يبدو أنو قطعة من الكتابة الشخصية . وبمقارنتو مع أقسام البحث الأخرى مثل الدلخص، والدقدمة،
لنوع. لذلك والدناقشة، والنتائج والاستنتاج، يبدو أنو يتلقي القليل جدا من الاىتمام من المحللين لذذا االدختلفة مفيد وضروري لأنو يساعد مدرسي اللغة الإنجليزية لدعرفة البلاغية قوالبفإن الوعي الدعرفي بال
طلاب كانكيفية استخدام اللغة في سياقات مختلفة . وأىداف ىذه الدراسة ترمي إلى التحقيق مما إذا لك دراسة العناصر اللغوية الدستخدمة في وكذ ،الدختلفة البلاغية قوالبالدراسات العليا يستخدمون ال
كان الشكر والتقدير على أطروحات طلاب الدراسات العليا . كما تهدف أيضا إلى التحقق مما إذا طلاب الدراسات العليا من مختلف الأديان يستخدمون الذياكل العامة الدختلفة في كتابة الشكر والتقدير
01 ، منهاشكر والتقديرمن نصوص العينة 011. وفي ىذه الدراسة تم تحليل البحث على أطروحةين من الجامعات الحكومية في تلطلبة غير مسلمين من طلبة الدراسات العليا في اثن 01لطلبة مسلمين و
( في 4112) "آل علي"( و 4112)"ىايلاندـ"ل ىيكل الخطوةإطار ماليزيا. واستخدمت ىذه الدراسة لغوية العناصر لل( 4112) "على تسي"و "ىايلاند"وكذلك إطار ،أطروحة اللغة الإنجليزية اعترافات
عن الامتنان للرد على جميع الأسئلة البحثية. واستنادا على النتائج، فإن طلاب الدراسات التعبيرفي الشكر خطوات الانعكاس و عترافنصوص الإكتاباتهم في الدسلمين تضمنت الدسلمين وغير العليا
لتعبير عن اأيضا أن ىناك ثلاثة عناصر لغوية مهمة في الإقرار، وىي أنماط كما أوضحتوالإعلان .في السياق الداليزي ، وجد أن الاختلاف في الدين لا و تعديل واختيار الدوضوعات. و ، الامتنان والشكر
وسوف تفيد نتائج الإلذي. الاعتراف باستثناء التقدير نص يؤثر على طلاب الدراسات العليا في كتابة واستخدام الخيارات ،لكتابةلتعليم االطرق الدناسبة حيث اختيارىذه الدراسة مدرسي اللغة الإنجليزية من
أسلوب أنها تفيد أيضا طلاب الدراسات العليا في كتابةكما كتابة الشكر واالامتنان،الدعجمية في توقعات المجتمع الأكاديمي. وفق شكر والامتنانال
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APPROVAL PAGE
I certify that I have supervised and read this study and that in my opinion, it conforms
to acceptable standards of scholarly presentation and is fully adequate, in scope and
quality, as a dissertation for the degree of Master of Human Sciences (Teaching of
English as a Second Language)
…………………………………..
Engku Haliza Engku Ibrahim
Supervisor
I certify that I have read this study and that in my opinion it conforms to acceptable
standards of scholarly presentation and is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a
dissertation for the degree of Master of Human Sciences (Teaching of English as a
Second Language)
…………………………………..
Mohamed Ismail Ahamad Shah
Examiner
This dissertation was submitted to the Department of English Language and Literature
and is accepted as a fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Human
Sciences (Teaching of English as a Second Language)
…………………………………..
Zahariah Pilus
Head, Department of English
Language and Literature
This dissertation was submitted to the Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and
Human Sciences and is accepted as a fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of
Master of Human Sciences (Teaching of English as a Second Language)
…………………………………..
Ibrahim Mohamed Zein
Dean, Kulliyyah of Islamic
Revealed Knowledge and Human
Sciences
v
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this dissertation/thesis is the result of my own investigation,
except where otherwise stated. I also declare that it has not been previously or
concurrently submitted as a whole for any other degrees at IIUM or other institutions.
Noor Suhailie Binti Che Ghani
Signature…………………. Date …..................
vi
INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA
DECLARATION OF COPYRIGHT AND AFFIRMATION
OF FAIR USE OF UNPUBLISHED RESEARCH
Copyright ©2015 by Noor Suhailie Binti Che Ghani. All rights reserved.
THE GENERIC STRUCTURE OF POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS’
GRATITUDE EXPRESSION IN THESIS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: A
LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS
No part of this unpublished research may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright holder except
as provided below.
1. Any material contained in or derived from this unpublished research may
be used by others in their writing with due acknowledgement.
2. IIUM or its library will have the right to make and transmit copies (print
or electronic) for institutional and academic purposes.
3. The IIUM library will have the right to make, store in a retrieval system
and supply copies of this unpublished research if requested by other
universities and research libraries.
Affirmed by Noor Suhailie Binti Che Ghani
……..……..…………… …………………..
Signature Date
vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In the name of Allah the Most Gracious and the Most Merciful
“Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity” (Al-Baqarah) 2: 286
Alhamdullilah, finally, after a long journey, I managed to complete this thesis which
enables me to fulfill the partial requirement for the degree of Master of Human
Sciences (Teaching English as a Second Language). Above all, I am truly grateful to
Allah the Almighty for giving me the health, strength, patience and courage to
miraculously and unbelievably complete this thesis. Without His Grace I would never
have successfully completed my Master programme.
First and foremost, my heartfelt gratitude and appreciation go to my respected
and dedicated supervisor, Assoc. Prof. Datin Dr. Engku Haliza Engku Ibrahim who
have been very helpful and always devoted her valuable time, guidance, knowledge,
suggestions and patience in the process of preparing and writing this thesis. A special
thank also goes to Dr. Mohamed Ismail Ahamad Shah for his time and thorough
examination of this thesis. Next, my sincere thanks to Sister Norsiah (staff of the
Department of English Language and Literature) for her administrative help.
Last but not least, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to my husband,
Mohd Rosdi b. Che daud for his time, patience and support. To my dear children,
Muhammad Rafiuddin and Muhammad Syahmi, thank you for being my strength all
this way. Not to forget my adorable family and in-laws, special thanks to all of you for
your support and dua‟. May Allah rewards and bless all of you in this life and
hereafter, Insya Allah.
Finally, this piece of written word is fully accomplished fully by the grace of
Allah (S.W.T) and He knows best what is true and right. All gratitude and praises be
only to Him.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract .......................................................................................................................... ii Abstract in Arabic ......................................................................................................... iii Approval page ............................................................................................................... iv Declaration page ............................................................................................................ v Copyright Page .............................................................................................................. vi
Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... vii List of Tables ................................................................................................................. x List of Figures ............................................................................................................... xi
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... 1
1.0 Introduction................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Background of the Study .............................................................................. 1
1.1.1 Academic Acknowledgement ............................................................ 2
1.2 Statement of the Problem.............................................................................. 4
1.3 Significance of the Study ............................................................................. .5
1.4 Purpose of study ........................................................................................... 5
1.5 Research Objectives...................................................................................... 6
1.6 Research Questions ....................................................................................... 6
1.7 Scope and Limitations of the Study .............................................................. 6
1.8 Organisation of Thesis .................................................................................. 7
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................... 8
2.0 Introduction................................................................................................... 8
2.1 Genre and Genre Analysis ............................................................................ 8
2.2 Theoretical Frameworks of the study ......................................................... 11
2.2.1 Move Structures of Thesis Acknowledgement ................................ 11
2.2.2 Linguistic Elements of Thesis Acknowledgement ........................... 15
2.3 Previous Study on Thesis Acknowledgement ............................................ 17
2.4 Summary of Chapter Two .......................................................................... 25
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ............................................................................ 26
3.0 Introduction................................................................................................. 26
3.1 Data Collection Procedure .......................................................................... 26
3.2 Coding Scheme ........................................................................................... 29
3.3 Data Analysis Procedure ............................................................................ 31
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ...................................................... 36
4.0 Introduction................................................................................................. 36
4.1Findings and Discussion .............................................................................. 36
4.1.1 Research Question 1: Do postgraduate students follow specific move
structures in writing thesis acknowledgements? ......... ..............................36
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4.1.2 Research Question 2: What are the linguistic elements employed in
postgraduate students‟ thesis acknowledgements? ................................... 47
4.1.3 Research Question 3: Do postgraduate students of different faiths use
different generic structures in the writing of thesis acknowledgements?64
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION .................................................................................. 68
5.0 Introduction................................................................................................. 68
5.1 Summary of the Study ................................................................................ 68
5.2 Pedagogical Implications ............................................................................ 70
5.3 Recommendation for Future Research ....................................................... 71
BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................... 72
APPENDIX 1: LIST OF ANALYSED SAMPLE TEXTS ......................................... 74
x
LIST OF TABLES
Table No. Page No.
2.1 Hyland (2004) and Al-Ali (2006) Move Structures Pattern 13
3.1 Average Length of the Thesis Acknowledgements 28
3.2 Move Structures of Thesis Acknowledgements 30
3.3 Example of Coding 30
3.4 Tabulated Summary of Research Questions 33
3.5 Inter-Rater Results of Percent Agreement 34
4.1 Relative Frequency of Moves and Steps in Thesis
Acknowledgements 37
4.2 Moves and Functions 46
4.3 Occurrence Frequency of each Sentence Patterns 48
4.4 Occurrence of Linguistic Patterns across Thanking Steps 52
4.5 Occurrence of Modifiers in Thanking Acts 56
4.6 Occurrence of Authorial Subjects 59
4.7 The Moves and Steps in Muslim and Non-Muslim
Thesis Acknowledgements 64
xi
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure No. Page No.
2.1 Move Structures of Thesis Acknowledgements 14
2.2 Linguistic Elements in Thesis Acknowledgements 16
3.1 Overview of the Data Collection Samples 27
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.0 INTRODUCTION
This chapter introduces the issues related to the study, explains the statements of the
problem and the significance of the study, states the purpose of the study, establishes
the fundamental questions of this research, justifies the research objectives, provides
the scope of the study and states limitations of the study as well as the overall
organization of the thesis.
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Today, it is an accepted fact that mastery of the English language is essential. In order
to be proficient in English language, it is very important to the learner to master four
language skills such reading, writing, speaking and listening. In an academic setting,
the skill of writing is essential because most of the time students need to write reports,
assignments or even theses. For students who do research, they need to write a thesis
in order to complete their study. In the thesis writing process, they have to be familiar
with the structure of thesis writing. In Malaysia, even though the first language is not
English, most of the higher education institutions use English as the medium of
instruction. Thus, students are left with little choice but to master the English
language.
In writing the thesis, the acknowledgment section is a rhetorical section that is
obligatory. Thus, it could be considered as a part of academic writing even though it
seems like a personal piece of writing. To the knowledge of the writer, not many
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studies on thesis acknowledgements have been done in Malaysia. For example, in the
Malaysian context, a study by Hazadiah, Mohd Khalid and Liyana (2013) focused on
the generic structure of thesis acknowledgements written by Malay and Chinese
postgraduate students in Master of Education (TESL) programme in which the study
looked at the move structure of thesis acknowledgements of both groups as well as
compares and contrasts the linguistics pattern used in Malay and Chinese thesis
writers. This study gives an idea to the researcher to explore further the uniqueness of
thesis acknowledgement genre from the perspective of different religious faiths as this
would enrich the literature in the field of genre analysis.
In the field of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) research, there are
numerous studies that focus on thesis acknowledgements (Hyland, 2004; Hyland and
Tse, 2004; Al-Ali, 2006; Yang, 2012a,b,c; Hazadiah, Mohd Khalid and Liyana,
2013). All of the studies mentioned use genre analysis as an approach in analysing the
acknowledgment text. Genre analysis approach is one of the main approaches in the
area of genre and applied linguistics. According to Paltridge (1997), there are three
main strands of genre studies in the area of applied linguistics, for example, systemic
functional linguistics, English for Specific Purposes (ESP), and written
communication. All the three approaches have their origins in the examination of
written texts, primarily for pedagogic purposes.
1.1.1 Academic Acknowledgement
An acknowledgement refers to the expression of gratitude towards help and
contribution received from any individual(s) or institution(s). This genre can be found
in theses or dissertations, books, or research articles. In thesis writing, compared to
sections like the abstract, introduction, discussion, findings, and conclusion, the
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acknowledgement section seems to receive very little attention from genre analysts.
However, an acknowledgement is very important in thesis writing as Hyland (2004)
claims that:
Acknowledgements provide writers with unique rhetorical opportunity
not only to convey the writer‟s genuine gratitude for the intellectual and
personal assistance they received in completing their research, but also
to promote a competent scholarly identity by displaying a writer‟s
immersion in scholarly networks, active disciplinary membership and
observance of the valued academic ideals of modesty, gratitude and
appropriate self-effacement (2004: 303).
Hence, it is noteworthy to mention that thesis acknowledgements should be a positive
first impression to the academic community and postgraduate students need to know
how to write a purposeful and necessary acknowledgement texts based on the context
requirements. Moreover, Yang (2012c) mentions that in an academic setting, the act
of expressing gratitude is a common practice and commonly seen in academic texts.
However, thesis acknowledgement is still considered a secondary issue in English for
Academic Purposes (EAP) (Yang, 2012b) due to its rhetorical status as Yang agrees
with Hyland (2003: 243), where he asserted that “acknowledgements seem to fall
through the cracks here and represent something of a „cinderella‟ genre. Like the
heroine in the children‟s fairytale, acknowledgements are a taken-for-granted part of
the background, a practice of unrecognized and disregarded value deserving a greater
attention…” In other words, according to Hyland, thesis acknowledgement section is
neither strictly academic nor entirely personal. Even though this genre is only a
minute manifestation, Mingwei and Yajun (2010) mentioned that it still influences the
process of the completion of theses and without acknowledgements section the thesis
is insignificant.
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1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The genre of thesis acknowledgements has received little research attention. Not much
interest is shown despite it being an indispensable section of a student‟s thesis (Jin-
Pei, 2012). This may be because of its rhetorical position, that is, when compared to
the main academic writing sections such as the introduction, literature review,
methodology, results and conclusion, the acknowledgement section could be
frequently seen as less formal and thus inviting less focus in research. However, an
awareness of the rhetorical structures of different genres is useful and helpful because
this will help English teachers to know how language is used in various contexts
(Hyland, 2003).
In addition, based on the observation made on randomly selected IIUM theses
acknowledgement texts, it was found that the thesis acknowledgment texts written
were not fixed to any particular format. In other words, no standardized pattern of
writing thesis acknowledgments could be observed in the sample texts used in this
present study. Hence, it is very useful to investigate on the generic structure used in
order to have a proper structure of thesis acknowledgement writing. Moreover, the
study based on the influence of different faiths in thesis acknowledgement writing
could be an interesting aspect because it will enrich the literature as well as help
postgraduate students to have standardized and purposeful thesis acknowledgements.
To date, no study has compared Muslim and non-Muslim postgraduate students‟ thesis
acknowledgements. Thus, this study attempts to make an additional contribution to the
field of English language teaching in the skill of academic writing, by looking at the
generic structure of thesis acknowledgements and the linguistic elements of gratitude
expressions written by postgraduate students of different faiths.
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1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
To the knowledge of the writer, to date, no study has looked into the differences
between Muslim and non-Muslim postgraduate students‟ gratitude expressions.
Hence, in order to fill the gap in the current literature, this study examines the generic
structure and linguistic elements of postgraduate students‟ thesis acknowledgements
as well as the influences of religious faiths toward the thesis writers in writing the
acknowledgements. Previous studies (Hazadiah, Mohd Khalid and Liyana, 2013; Al-
Ali, 2006; Yang, 2012a) mentioned that it is important for the students to refer to
reliable sources in order to structure thesis acknowledgements, for instance like the
one as detailed in Hyland‟s (2004) framework so that they know who they need to
address. Equally important, teachers need to create and standardise guidelines of
practice for students to follow, as well as to facilitate more efficient and regular use of
acknowledgements. The teachers can also explicitly instruct students on how to write
purposeful and interactional acknowledgements by analyzing keywords and context of
genre.
1.4 PURPOSE OF STUDY
The overall purpose of this study is to look at the generic structures of
acknowledgements in theses written by Muslim and non-Muslim postgraduate
students. The overriding aims of this study are to identify, classify and quantify the
move structures and linguistic elements of thesis acknowledgements.
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1.5 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this study are to:
1. investigate if postgraduate students use different move structures in
writing thesis acknowledgements.
2. examine the linguistic elements employed in postgraduate students‟ thesis
acknowledgements.
3. investigate if postgraduate students of different faiths use different generic
structures in the writing of thesis acknowledgements.
1.6 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
This study seeks to answer the following questions:
1. Do postgraduate students follow specific move structures in writing thesis
acknowledgements?
2. What are the linguistic elements employed in postgraduate students‟ thesis
acknowledgements?
3. Do postgraduate students of different faiths use different generic structures
in the writing of thesis acknowledgements?
1.7 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
This present study aims to examine the generic structures and linguistic elements in
postgraduate students‟ thesis acknowledgments and look at the similarities and
differences between Muslims‟ and non-Muslims‟ gratitude expressions in the social
sciences discipline. Thesis acknowledgement texts of 100 postgraduate students from
Malaysian public universities were collected for the purpose of this study. The
acknowledgements were analysed for their move structures and linguistic elements to
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determine how these writers demonstrated their gratitude. The aim was to determine
the similarities and differences in them.
This present study is not without limitations. The number of samples collected
in this study was relatively small compared to the overall population. Out of a total of
100 samples chosen, 50 Muslims and 50 non-Muslims texts may not represent the
whole population of public university students in Malaysia. Moreover, this study
focuses on only one discipline which is the soft science discipline. Thus, the results
could differ if data were taken from the hard science disciplines. Additionally, it has to
be mentioned that acknowledgements in theses are different in many aspects when
compared to acknowledgements in other genres such as books, research articles or
project reports. Thus, the results and findings of this study could only be applied to the
thesis or dissertation genre only.
1.8 ORGANISATION OF THESIS
This thesis is arranged into five chapters. Chapter 1 includes the background of the
study, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, research objectives, research
questions, significance of the study, scope and limitations of the study and states the
overall organisation of the thesis. This is followed by Chapter 2 that highlights the
review of literature and deals with the theoretical frameworks of the study, introduces
related topics and findings from previous studies of the generic structure of thesis
acknowledgements. Chapter 3 covers the methodology which focuses on data
collection procedure, coding scheme, and data analysis procedure of the study.
Chapter 4 reveals the findings and discussion and finally, Chapter 5 will conclude the
thesis and provides summary of this study, pedagogical implications, and
recommendations for future research.
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CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 INTRODUCTION
This chapter reviews the literatures that are related to the area of the study. Firstly, the
chapter deals with the theoretical framework used in the study that focuses on generic
structures and linguistic elements of thesis acknowledgement. In addition, the chapter
also provides the reviews of previous studies regarding move structure and linguistic
features of thesis acknowledgements that are affected by several aspects such as
cultural differences, context variations, disciplinary variations, and cross-generic
differences.
2.1 GENRE AND GENRE ANALYSIS
Various language issues had been discussed in the field of ESP. The notion of genre
and the structure of a text is one part of the area. According to Dudley-Evans and St.
John (1998), grammar, vocabulary, and discourse are among the primary focus in
language issues. Study on genre gives a great significant to the teaching writing in
particular and it is noteworthy to mention that the study of genre will give an impact
for the pedagogical concerns in the EAP and ESP. For example, the analysis of move
structure of the certain genre such as thesis acknowledgement texts would avoid of
styles variation of writing acknowledgement texts among the students. The different
of move structure of a genre might also lead to confusion in teaching and learning
writing.
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According to Paltridge (1997), in the area of ESP, there are two definitions of
genre. Firstly, Swales (1990) defines genre as:
Comprising a class of communicative events, the members of which
share some set of communicative purposes. These purposes are
recognized by the expert members of the parent discourse community,
and thereby constitute the rationale for the genre. This rationale shapes
the schematic structure of the discourse and influences and constrains
choice of content and style. (1990: 58)
The second definition is by Bhatia (1993), who defines genre as:
A recognisable communicative event characterized by a set of
communicative purpose(s) identified and mutually understood by the
members of the professional or academic community in which it
regularly occurs. Most often it is highly structured and conventionalized
with constraints on allowable contributions in terms of their intent,
positioning, form, and functional value. These constraints, however, are
often exploited by the expert members of the discourse community to
achieve private intentions within the framework of socially recognized
purpose(s). (1993: 13)
Hence, both definitions point towards a text or any communicative event would be an
acceptance to a discourse community if it fulfills the communicative purpose
identified and understood by the members of the academic community. The regularity
that occurs in the writer‟s intent, positioning, form, and functional value show
schematic structure of the discourse would also emerge a standard pattern of a genre.
For example, in the matter of thesis acknowledgement structures, since it is different
from acknowledgements written in other genres such as the books and research
articles, it is better for postgraduates to have generic awareness and skills in order to
fulfil the communicative purpose of the acknowledgement genre by using necessary
and standard pattern of the move structure and with the right lexical choices.
Genre analysis is an analysis that focuses on the regularities of structure that
distinguishes one type of text from another type. Furthermore, Dudley-Evans and John
(1998: 92) believed that in EAP, a learner should be taught the generic skills of
10
different genre in order for students to adopt different stances between different
genres.
In addition, Swales (1990: 24-27) mentions that main objective of genre
analysis is its ability to relate textual findings features of the discourse community
within which the genre is produced. He stated six characteristics to define a group of
people as a discourse community:
1. A discourse community has a broadly agreed set of common public goals.
2. A discourse community has mechanisms of intercommunications among
its members.
3. A discourse community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to
provide information and feedback.
4. A discourse community utilizes and hence possesses one or more genres
in the communicative furtherance of its aims.
5. In addition to owning genres, a discourse community has acquired some
specific lexis.
6. A discourse community has a threshold level of members with a suitable
degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise.
Thus, based on these six defining characteristics it can be clearly seen that genre
analysis study is very important especially for ESP and EAP teachers to guide the
student to write purposeful and appropriate structure of particular genre in order to
meet the discourse community expectations.
Genre analysis in ESP began with Swales‟ (1990) pioneering work on the
introductions of academic articles. According to Swales (1990) (as cited in Dudley-
Evans and St. John, 1998) a regular pattern of “move” and “step” emerges in a certain
order in most of the introductions examined. He explains that a “move” is a defined
11
and bounded communicative act to achieve one‟s main communicative intention that
helps fulfil the overall communicative purpose of the genre while a “step” is a smaller
functional unit under the unit of “move” to help realize the communicative intention
of the move. Furthermore, Swales‟ (1990) study on introduction triggered further
research by Hyland (2004) but his work was based on thesis acknowledgements genre.
Hyland (2004) investigated the moves and structures of thesis acknowledgements and
came out with the three move structures of thesis acknowledgements.
2.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF THE STUDY
2.2.1 Generic Structure of Thesis Acknowledgement
In order to identify the generic structures of thesis acknowledgements, this study uses
the thesis acknowledgment generic structure model by Hyland (2004). Hyland‟s
(2004) framework comprises of a three-tier structure acknowledgement. He
established the three-tier structure of thesis acknowledgement based on his analysis of
generic structure of 240 PhD and MA dissertations written by non-native speakers of
English from six different academic disciplines in five Hong Kong universities. He
also mentions that the importance of a dissertation acknowledgement lies in the fact
that it is a way to express gratitude publicly towards those who helped and supported
the writer throughout the process of dissertation writing.
Hyland‟s (2004) three-move structures framework of thesis acknowledgements
can be sub-divided into a number of steps. The three-move structures consist of the
reflecting move, the thanking move and the announcing move. Meanwhile, the steps
under thanking move are presenting participants, thanking for academic assistance,
thanking for providing resources and thanking for moral support. The steps under
announcing move are accepting responsibility for possible shortcomings in the data,
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and dedication of thesis. The reflecting move refers to introspective comments on the
writer‟s research experience, the thanking move refers to the authors mapping credit
to any individual(s) and institution(s), and the announcing move refers to statement
that delineate responsibility and inspiration. Based on the research data (Hyland,
2004), the thanking move is the only obligatory move while reflecting and announcing
moves are optional.
Using the framework of the move structures of thesis acknowledgements
proposed by Hyland (2004), Al-Ali (2006) studied acknowledgement texts randomly
collected from PhD dissertations written in English by Arabic native speakers from
Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Sudan, Saudi, Arabia and Egypt. His study has
significantly found cross-cultural similarities and differences in thesis
acknowledgement texts. In the study, he encountered a new step under the thanking
move which is “Thanking Allah”. The main reason for this addition is due to the
socio-cultural factors such as religious beliefs, academic and social conventions of the
participants.
One of the similarities between participants in Hyland‟s (2004) and Al-Ali‟s
(2006) studies is that they were all non-native speakers of English. However, Al-Ali‟s
(2006) disciplinary focuses were humanities and social sciences compared to Hyland‟s
(2004) that looked at a variety of disciplines such as Applied Linguistics, Biology,
Business Studies, Computer Science, Electronic Engineering, and Public
Administration. Table 2.1 compares Hyland‟s (2004) and Al-Ali‟s (2006) move
structures framework of thesis acknowledgements:
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Table 2.1
Hyland (2004) and Al-Ali (2006) Move Structures Pattern
Hyland’s Move structure of
Dissertation Acknowledgements
Al-Ali’s Move structure of Dissertation
Acknowledgements
I Reflecting Move I Reflecting Move
II Thanking Move II Thanking Move
1. Presenting participants
2. Thanking for academic
assistance
3. Thanking for providing
resources
4. Thanking for moral support
1. Thanking Allah (God)
2. Presenting participants
3. Thanking supervisor (s) and
other academicians
4. Thanking for data access and
clerical and technical support
5. Thanking for financial
support
6. Thanking for moral support
III Announcing Move III Announcing Move
1. Accepting responsibility for
possible shortcomings in the
data
2. Dedicating the thesis
1. Accepting responsibility
2. Dedicating the thesis
Table 2.1 portrays the Hyland (2004) and Al-Ali (2006) move structures
pattern‟s framework. The difference between these two is an additional step in Al-
Ali‟s framework which is Thanking Allah (God). Other moves and steps were the
same. The difference that occurred in the text might be influenced by the social
background of the thesis writers.