Rhetorical Moves and Structural Patterns in the Background of the Study Sections of EFL Master's Theses
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26877/eternal.v17i2.3800Keywords:
Background of the Study, genre analysis, CARS model, rhetorical moves, EFL master’s thesesAbstract
This study investigates the rhetorical structures realized in the Background of the Study sections of EFL master’s theses using Swales’ (1990, 2004) Create-A-Research-Space (CARS) model. Unlike previous studies that primarily focused on move identification, this study examines rhetorical structures in terms of moves and steps as well as their frequency, sequence, and completeness. Employing a qualitative genre-analysis approach, the study analysed 49 Background of the Study sections selected from EFL master’s theses. The data were coded using Bunton’s adaptation of the CARS model to identify rhetorical moves and steps and subsequently analysed for their frequency, sequence, and completeness. The findings reveal that all three CARS moves are present, with Move 1 (Establishing a Territory) dominating the corpus and accounting for 73% of all move occurrences. Within this move, Step 3 (Reviewing Previous Research) and Step 2 (Making Topic Generalizations) occur most frequently. In contrast, Moves 2 and 3 are less frequently realized and are often only partially developed. Furthermore, 45 out of 49 theses (91.8%) follow the conventional Move 1–Move 2–Move 3 sequence, indicating a strong tendency toward the expected rhetorical progression. However, considerable variation exists in the completeness of move realization, particularly in establishing research gaps and justifying the need for the study. These findings suggest that EFL master’s students generally follow the conventional rhetorical organization of the Background of the Study but vary substantially in realizing its communicative purposes. The findings further indicate that rhetorical effectiveness depends not only on structural conformity but also on the extent to which research gaps, justifications, and significance are rhetorically developed. The study contributes to genre-analysis research by providing empirical evidence on rhetorical structures and patterns in EFL master’s thesis writing and offers pedagogical implications for academic writing instruction and thesis supervision.References
Bunton, D. (2002). Generic moves in PhD thesis introductions. In J. Flowerdew (Ed.), Academic discourse (pp. 57–75). Routledge.
Dudley-Evans, T. (1994). Genre analysis: An approach to text analysis for ESP. In M. Coulthard (Ed.), Advances in written text analysis (pp. 219–228). Routledge.
Ghorban Abdolmalaki, S., Geok Imm, L., Abdullah, A. N., & Danarajan, S. S. V. (2026). Establishing a territory in traditional and article-based PhD thesis introductions: A comparison of rhetorical moves and linguistic realisations. Journal of Communication, Language and Culture, 6(1), 94–111. https://doi.org/10.33093/jclc.2026.6.1.5
Hyland, K. (2004). Disciplinary discourses: Social interactions in academic writing. University of Michigan Press.
Hyland, K. (2009). Academic discourse: English in a global context. Continuum.
Hyland, K., & Jiang, F. K. (2022). Academic discourse and global publishing: Disciplinary persuasion in changing contexts. Routledge.
Jiang, F. K., & Hyland, K. (2021). Metadiscursive variation in postgraduate academic writing. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 52, 100996. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2021.100996
Lim, J. M. H. (2023). Research article introductions and the construction of research significance: A genre-based investigation. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 61, 101205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2022.101205
Moreno, A. I., & Swales, J. M. (2022). Strengthening rhetorical analysis in academic writing research: Current trends and future directions. English for Specific Purposes, 67, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esp.2022.03.001
Pandey, G. P. (2022). Genre analysis of introductions of ELT theses: Rhetorical structures and steps. Nepal Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 5(5), 1–14.
Pujiyanti, I., Arsyad, S., & Arono. (2018). Rhetorical structure analysis on introduction chapters of english master theses by Indonesian postgraduate students. Indonesian Journal of English Education, 5(2), 195–214. https://doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v5i2.8423
Rahayu, T., Permatasari, I., Mudofir, I., Sutantohadi, A., & Maftuh, M. F. (2022). Rhetorical moves in the background sections of EFL Indonesian vocational college students. LLT Journal: A Journal on Language and Language Teaching, 25(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.24071/llt.v25i2.4273
Swales, J. M. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge University Press.
Swales, J. M. (2004). Research genres: Explorations and applications. Cambridge University Press.
Swales, J. M., & Feak, C. B. (2012). Academic writing for graduate students: Essential tasks and skills (3rd ed.). University of Michigan Press.
