A Contrastive Genre Analysis of MA Thesis Abstracts Written by Iraqis in EFL (Iraqi Universities) and ESL (American Universities) Contexts

Abstract

Abstract is the first essential section of academic research that should be written in style to attract readers to read the entire research. Recently, analyzing abstracts based on specific genre analysis has become a need for recent research exploring thesis writing skills. Some of these genres are rhetorical move analysis (e.g., Introduction, Purpose, Method, Product, and Conclusion)and meta discourse marker-based analysis. Although there is a considerable number of research comparing abstracts written by international and native MA holders in English-speaking countries, research regarding a comparison of written thesis abstracts of English as a second language (ESL) and English as a foreign language (EFL) in two different academic contexts has not been investigated yet. Henceforth, this study aims to determine the rhetorical moves of Arabic-speaking graduates’ thesis abstracts written in Iraqi universities and those written in American universities. Furthermore, it examines the meta discourse markers in each move of the abstract.

The sample of this corpus study consisted of20 abstracts from Master of Arts (M.A) theses in the English language disciplines written in Iraqi and American universities. Hyland (2000) and (2005) models are used as analytical instruments in the current study. The findings show that there are some similarities and differences in the rhetorical moves in the two contexts. The results also indicate that ESL group have used both rhetorical moves and meta discourse markers in their thesis abstracts more than those of the EFL group. In conclusion, these results reflect the effect of the context on how graduate students structure the thesis abstract. Based on the research findings, some pedagogical implications are suggested.