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English Acknowledgements in Ma Theses by Native and Chinese Writers

Author: LiuZuo
Tutor: JiangYaJun
School: Xi'an International Studies University
Course: Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics
Keywords: genre analysis acknowledgements generic strucutre linguistic features
CLC: H315
Type: Master's thesis
Year: 2011
Downloads: 70
Quote: 0
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Abstract

The genre of acknowledgements is universal in thesis or dissertation writing, which can offer writers a unique chance to express their genuine gratitude for assistance and to establish their academic and social identity, but it has been largely neglected in the EAP (English for Academic Purposes) literature. With reference to genre analysis and Hyland’s model (2004), the present study aims to investigate the features of English-language acknowledgements accompanying 84 MA theses composed by MA student writers in Chinese universities and their counterparts in American and Canadian universities, attempting to discover cross-cultural differences between them in terms of generic structure and linguistic features.Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, the study calculated the frequency of each move and step and analyzed their communicative purposes in order to discover the macro-linguistic differences betwee the samples composed by the two groups of writers. The results show that, while both groups of writers follow the established conventions in composing their acknowledgements which generally contain three-move conventions, significant differences in terms of the generic structure and linguistic especially lexico-syntactic features have been detected. Native writers have a tendency to employ more steps in Move 2 to create relatively long and complex acknowledgements, whereas Chinese writers tend to construct shorter and less complex acknowledgements. As for the differences in the linguistic realizations of the moves or steps, native writers tend to use performative verbs and nouns more frequently, while Chinese writers are more inclined to nouns and adjectives.The findings of the research are expected to contribute to the cross-cultural research on English and Chinese academic discourse and, at the same time, be helpful to Chinese MA candidates in the field of applied linguistics in developing their academic communicative competence in cross-cultural communucation.

English Acknowledgements in Ma Theses by Native and Chinese Writers

Abstract

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