The rhetorical structure of abstracts has been a widely discussed topic, as it can greatly enhance the abstract writing skills of second-language writers. This study aims to provide guidance on the syntactic features ...The rhetorical structure of abstracts has been a widely discussed topic, as it can greatly enhance the abstract writing skills of second-language writers. This study aims to provide guidance on the syntactic features that L2 learners can employ, as well as suggest which features they should focus on in English academic writing. To achieve this, all samples were analyzed for rhetorical moves using Hyland’s five-rhetorical move model. Additionally, all sentences were evaluated for syntactic complexity, considering measures such as global, clausal and phrasal complexity. The findings reveal that expert writers exhibit a more balanced use of syntactic complexity across moves, effectively fulfilling the rhetorical objectives of abstracts. On the other hand, MA students tend to rely excessively on embedded structures and dependent clauses in an attempt to increase complexity. The implications of these findings for academic writing research, pedagogy, and assessment are thoroughly discussed.展开更多
This study presents statistical results of a comparison between English abstracts in a leading intemational medical journal and those in a Chinese one. With a genre analysis and discussion of linguistic features of th...This study presents statistical results of a comparison between English abstracts in a leading intemational medical journal and those in a Chinese one. With a genre analysis and discussion of linguistic features of these abstracts, the paper points out the weak points in the abstracts by Chinese writers and provides some suggestions for writing abstracts of medical research articles展开更多
文摘The rhetorical structure of abstracts has been a widely discussed topic, as it can greatly enhance the abstract writing skills of second-language writers. This study aims to provide guidance on the syntactic features that L2 learners can employ, as well as suggest which features they should focus on in English academic writing. To achieve this, all samples were analyzed for rhetorical moves using Hyland’s five-rhetorical move model. Additionally, all sentences were evaluated for syntactic complexity, considering measures such as global, clausal and phrasal complexity. The findings reveal that expert writers exhibit a more balanced use of syntactic complexity across moves, effectively fulfilling the rhetorical objectives of abstracts. On the other hand, MA students tend to rely excessively on embedded structures and dependent clauses in an attempt to increase complexity. The implications of these findings for academic writing research, pedagogy, and assessment are thoroughly discussed.
基金Supported by the Scientific Research Project(Humanities and Social Sciences)in 2012 Granted by the Education Department of Shaanxi Provincial Government(12JK0268)
文摘This study presents statistical results of a comparison between English abstracts in a leading intemational medical journal and those in a Chinese one. With a genre analysis and discussion of linguistic features of these abstracts, the paper points out the weak points in the abstracts by Chinese writers and provides some suggestions for writing abstracts of medical research articles
