Writing Abstracts for Research Articles: Towards a Framework for Move Structure of Abstracts

Ho Yoong Wei, Abu Bakar Razali and Arshad Abd Samad

World Journal of English Language, 2022, vol. 12, issue 6, 492

Abstract: The abstract as a sub-genre of the research article has been explored in many studies, particularly with regards to its rhetorical move structure. However, these studies have mainly focused on the macro-structures of abstracts in terms of the main moves present based on pre-existing models by Swales (1990), Dos Santos (1996), and Hyland (2000). Studies analyzing the micro-structures of abstracts in which the sub-categories under each main category are lacking. This study identifies the main moves of abstracts, the steps and sub-steps within each move to propose a comprehensive framework for abstract structure. Using a move based analysis, 100 research article abstracts in the field of social science and humanities were analyzed at the sentence level, where each sentence was coded and assigned a move. Based on the analysis, five main moves consisting of 12 steps and 25 sub-steps were identified. The frequency of occurrence revealed that Move 2- Introducing Study and Move 4- Presenting Findings were conventional, while Move 1- Situating Research, Move 3- Describing Methodology, and Move 5- Describing Implication and Recommendation were optional. This study has implications for research on the genre analysis of abstracts as well as the teaching of abstract structure in the academic setting.

Date: 2022
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