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Modeling Claim - Evidence - Stance link in the Discussion Section of Research Genres: A Comparative Case Study of Expert and Student Writers in Applied Linguistics

Received: 5 January 2023     Accepted: 25 January 2023     Published: 4 February 2023
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Abstract

The previous genre-based studies have emphasized the rhetorical organization of the discussion section in research articles or thesis writing. The present study extends this trend by exploring the argumentative structure and its link to stance-taking features in the discussion part-genre written by both expert and student writers. Two corpora were compiled, including discussion samples taken from published research articles and those chosen from Master’s theses in applied linguistics. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted to identify any differences and similarities between the two groups of writers in terms of their organization of argumentative structure and the stance-taking manner. The results demonstrated that expert and student writers significantly differ in the manipulation of supporting evidence albeit their similar tendency to craft claim-evidence link. The significant differences were particularly found in the realization of interpretive arguments, with student writers employing more use of reason-result pattern whereas established writers presenting the higher occurrence of concessive clauses to reinforce the strength of arguments. Besides, the study also revealed that student writers tend to favor more numerical data while expert writers show greater preferences for generalized evidential and research evaluation to seek support for knowledge claims. Furthermore, the analysis of stance markers highlighted that stance-taking devices are inextricably interwoven with the claim-evidence link, with hedges and self-mentions predominantly serving for the interpretive evidence, attitude markers for both evidential and evaluative labels, and boosters for claim sets and factual evidence. Statistically significant differences between two corpora were also observed across the allocation of stance markers in relation to argumentative structures. The findings of the study have both theoretical and pedagogical implications for EAP writing instruction and learning needs.

Published in International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation (Volume 9, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijalt.20230901.11
Page(s) 1-11
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Argumentative Patterns, Stance Markers, Discussion Section, Corpus-Based Analysis

References
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  • APA Style

    Meiling Wang, Liming Deng. (2023). Modeling Claim - Evidence - Stance link in the Discussion Section of Research Genres: A Comparative Case Study of Expert and Student Writers in Applied Linguistics. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation, 9(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20230901.11

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    Meiling Wang; Liming Deng. Modeling Claim - Evidence - Stance link in the Discussion Section of Research Genres: A Comparative Case Study of Expert and Student Writers in Applied Linguistics. Int. J. Appl. Linguist. Transl. 2023, 9(1), 1-11. doi: 10.11648/j.ijalt.20230901.11

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    AMA Style

    Meiling Wang, Liming Deng. Modeling Claim - Evidence - Stance link in the Discussion Section of Research Genres: A Comparative Case Study of Expert and Student Writers in Applied Linguistics. Int J Appl Linguist Transl. 2023;9(1):1-11. doi: 10.11648/j.ijalt.20230901.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijalt.20230901.11,
      author = {Meiling Wang and Liming Deng},
      title = {Modeling Claim - Evidence - Stance link in the Discussion Section of Research Genres: A Comparative Case Study of Expert and Student Writers in Applied Linguistics},
      journal = {International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation},
      volume = {9},
      number = {1},
      pages = {1-11},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijalt.20230901.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20230901.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijalt.20230901.11},
      abstract = {The previous genre-based studies have emphasized the rhetorical organization of the discussion section in research articles or thesis writing. The present study extends this trend by exploring the argumentative structure and its link to stance-taking features in the discussion part-genre written by both expert and student writers. Two corpora were compiled, including discussion samples taken from published research articles and those chosen from Master’s theses in applied linguistics. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted to identify any differences and similarities between the two groups of writers in terms of their organization of argumentative structure and the stance-taking manner. The results demonstrated that expert and student writers significantly differ in the manipulation of supporting evidence albeit their similar tendency to craft claim-evidence link. The significant differences were particularly found in the realization of interpretive arguments, with student writers employing more use of reason-result pattern whereas established writers presenting the higher occurrence of concessive clauses to reinforce the strength of arguments. Besides, the study also revealed that student writers tend to favor more numerical data while expert writers show greater preferences for generalized evidential and research evaluation to seek support for knowledge claims. Furthermore, the analysis of stance markers highlighted that stance-taking devices are inextricably interwoven with the claim-evidence link, with hedges and self-mentions predominantly serving for the interpretive evidence, attitude markers for both evidential and evaluative labels, and boosters for claim sets and factual evidence. Statistically significant differences between two corpora were also observed across the allocation of stance markers in relation to argumentative structures. The findings of the study have both theoretical and pedagogical implications for EAP writing instruction and learning needs.},
     year = {2023}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Modeling Claim - Evidence - Stance link in the Discussion Section of Research Genres: A Comparative Case Study of Expert and Student Writers in Applied Linguistics
    AU  - Meiling Wang
    AU  - Liming Deng
    Y1  - 2023/02/04
    PY  - 2023
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20230901.11
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijalt.20230901.11
    T2  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
    JF  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
    JO  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
    SP  - 1
    EP  - 11
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2472-1271
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20230901.11
    AB  - The previous genre-based studies have emphasized the rhetorical organization of the discussion section in research articles or thesis writing. The present study extends this trend by exploring the argumentative structure and its link to stance-taking features in the discussion part-genre written by both expert and student writers. Two corpora were compiled, including discussion samples taken from published research articles and those chosen from Master’s theses in applied linguistics. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were conducted to identify any differences and similarities between the two groups of writers in terms of their organization of argumentative structure and the stance-taking manner. The results demonstrated that expert and student writers significantly differ in the manipulation of supporting evidence albeit their similar tendency to craft claim-evidence link. The significant differences were particularly found in the realization of interpretive arguments, with student writers employing more use of reason-result pattern whereas established writers presenting the higher occurrence of concessive clauses to reinforce the strength of arguments. Besides, the study also revealed that student writers tend to favor more numerical data while expert writers show greater preferences for generalized evidential and research evaluation to seek support for knowledge claims. Furthermore, the analysis of stance markers highlighted that stance-taking devices are inextricably interwoven with the claim-evidence link, with hedges and self-mentions predominantly serving for the interpretive evidence, attitude markers for both evidential and evaluative labels, and boosters for claim sets and factual evidence. Statistically significant differences between two corpora were also observed across the allocation of stance markers in relation to argumentative structures. The findings of the study have both theoretical and pedagogical implications for EAP writing instruction and learning needs.
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Author Information
  • Research Institute of Foreign Languages, College of Foreign Languages and Literature, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

  • Research Institute of Foreign Languages, College of Foreign Languages and Literature, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China

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