Tilamsik | Vol. 8, No.

2 | March, 2016 | ISSN: 1656-1953 (Print); 2467-6209 (Online)

Journal of Research of the College of Arts and Sciences, Southern Luzon State University, Lucban, Quezon, PH

Language Use in Writing Research Articles in Science,

Technology, Engineering, Agriculture and Mathematics
(STEAM): A Genre Analysis

Prof. Arsenia A. Abuel, PhD

Assistant Professor IV, Applied Linguistics Program, Department of Languages, Literature,
and Humanities, College of Arts and Sciences, Southern Luzon State University

Abstract

The study reports on the examination of introduction, method, result and discussion
(IMRD) sections of research articles in science, technology, engineering,
agriculture and mathematics (STEAM) which are written and prepared by
non-native speakers (NNS) of English particularly the Filipino professionals.
Specifically, this study identified the rhetorical structures of research articles
published in Philippine journals in STEAM. The corpus consisted of fifty (50) RAs
drawn from a wide range of refereed journals in five discourse communities. The
rhetorical structure of research articles was explored via genre analysis. The
corpus of research articles (RAs) was analyzed following Swales’ framework
(1990 & 2004), Kanoksilapatham ( 2005), Peacock ( 2011) and Yang and Allison’s
(2003) model to segment the IMRD structures into sub-units called ‘moves’ and
‘steps,’ respectively, according to their communicative functions. Based on the
findings, two-level rhetorical structures (moves and steps) of 18 distinct moves:
three moves for the Introduction section, four for the Methods section, four for
the Results section, and seven for the Discussion section characterized research
articles (RAs) published in Philippine journals in STEAM. This study provides a
basic yet comprehensive and typical model of rhetorical structure for organizing
research articles in science, technology, engineering, agriculture and mathematics
(STEAM). In this regard, the notion of conforming to the norms and conventions
laid down by the discourse community can be used as means of marshalling ideas
into an appropriately ordered text and can be presented in the classroom to raise
learner’s consciousness of discipline specific genre writing skills.

Keywords: language use, research articles, genre analysis, moves and

steps, rhetorical structure

Editor’s Note: This paper is originally published in the peer-reviewed

MINSCAT, EDS Business School and TUCST Research Journal Volume 2,
Number 2. Published with permission from the author.

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1.0. Introduction

A unique form of communication in academic setting is research article

writing. In relation to this, the use of the English language has long been
established as the language of scientific communication (Flowerdew & Dudley-
Evans, 2002). It is a norm for journals published in English which require
the writers to provide information that entails meaningful and scientific writing
processes. This is evident in the genre of research article. Linguists describe
genres, as perceived in linguistic approaches, to be characterized in terms
of communicative functions they serve and generic structures (Flowerdew
& Dudley-Evans, 2002) or obligatory and optional elements which comprise
these functions. Researchers and scholars, therefore, conduct genre analysis
in order to bridge discourse communities and observe specific communication
forms used by particular groups. They are either a group of professionals,
practitioners or students whose members share broad communicative
purposes.

These notions relate to Bhatia (1993) and Swales’ (1990, 2004) assertion that
in writing, genre analysis enables the writers to identify how language is used
within a particular context. That is to consider genre analysis as an analytical
framework which reveals not only the utilizable form-function correlations but
also contributes significantly to one’s understanding of the cognitive structuring
of information in specific areas of language use. This principle helps the
English for Specific Purpose (ESP) practitioners to devise appropriate activities
potentially significant for the achievement of desired communicative outcomes
in specialized academic or occupational areas. Hence, it can be noted that
genre-based studies have focused on the textual analysis of a corpus of
texts considered to be representative of a specific genre. These studies have
analyzed genre structure (i.e., the different rhetorical moves that conform to
the genre), lexico-grammatical features (e.g., tenses used in a specific genre
and the function of these tenses in the genre, the use of nominalization, the
type of vocabulary), or textualization (i.e., the conventional use of specific
linguistic features in certain genres).

Inevitably, genre-based studies explore the nature of genre writing theory,

claiming that it is central to the understanding of professional genres, specifically
research articles written by Filipino professionals. For this reason, a corpus
of research articles (RAs) in science, technology, engineering, agriculture
and mathematics (STEAM) served as the main focus for genre analysis. The
present study therefore intends to provide a detailed presentation of the move
structure in the IMRD sections of RAs in five discourse communities.

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2.0. Framework of the study

The present study used the Swales (1990) CARS (Create a Research Space)
Model of genre analysis which suggests a conventional structure of the three
sequenced moves: Move 1 Establishing a Territory; Move 2 Establishing a
Niche; Move 3 Occupying the Niche typically focuses on rhetorical organization.
The first objective of moves analysis is to define and explain the role of each
move as a component of the schematic structure of one particular section in a
genre. In short, a move consists of one or more sentences that are united
under one topic within a paragraph and plays a specific role as a component
of the schematic structure of the introduction section. Peacock (2011)
seen move names in the method section of RAs also lends credence to this
study. Similarly, Kanoksilapatham (2005) four move-structure analysis model
was carried out in the result section of the texts. In the scrutiny of the RAs
discussion section, Yang & Allison’s (2003) framework of seven moves were
also followed to segment the Discussion texts of RAs in science, technology,
engineering, agriculture and mathematics into sub-units called moves and
steps respectively. Therefore, the stated principles and conceptual models
served as the central focus and theoretical bases in the conduct of this study.

3.0. Materials and methods

The study is a descriptive research which is concerned with genre analysis

of the research article written by non-native speakers of English specifically
Filipino professionals. The study focused on the examination of rhetorical
structure in research articles of science, technology, engineering, agriculture
and mathematics (STEAM.). Following Swale’s theory of genre analysis, the
CARS (Create a Research Space) and Kanoksilapatham (2005) models were
used in the scrutiny of the introduction and result section, Peacock’s (2011)
model on the move-step analysis of the method section and Yang and Allison
(2003) framework for the discussion section among RAs examined.

The corpus was composed of fifty (50) research articles, ten (10) from
each discipline namely science, technology, engineering agriculture and
mathematics. These were chosen purposively from the corpus of research
articles in science, the Philippine Journal of Science (PJS), a semi-annual
publication under ISI coverage published by the Department of Science and
Technology, Philippine Information Technology Journal (PITJ), a refereed
journals in all areas of Information Technology, Philippine Engineering
Journal (PEJ), a national medium of exchange of technical information and
dissemination of engineering knowledge through the publication of technical
papers, technical notes and research briefs, Philippine Agricultural Scientist
Journal (PASJ), published quarterly by the College of Agriculture, University

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of the Philippines, Los Baños Laguna and Intersection, the official journal
of Mathematics Teachers Educators (MATHTED), Inc., articles on detailing
quantitative and/or qualitative expositions for the applications of mathematics
education to various fields of endeavors. Five (5) issues from each of the five
local journals were chosen from various issues of the five journals which are
identified as sources of language data. The corpora of RAs were published in
Philippine journals from 2008-2012 issues. In addition, the criteria for choosing
the corpus of the study was based on Bhatia‘s (1993) model.

4.0. Results and Discussion

Figure 1 shows the rhetorical structures of the introduction sections of the

RAs in science, technology, engineering, agriculture and mathematics. The
RA authors of the five discourse communities namely science, technology,
engineering, agriculture and mathematics include the three moves: ‘Move 1:

Fig. 1. Summary of Proposed Models of the RA Introduction Sections in Science,

Technology, Engineering, Agriculture and Mathematics (STEAM)

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Establishing a territory,’ ‘Move 2: Establishing a niche,’ and ‘Move 3: Occupying

the niche when writing RA Introductions. ‘Move 1: Establishing a territory’
and ‘Move 3: Occupying the niche are the most frequent, occurring in every
Introduction (100% of analyzed dataset). Move 2: Establishing a niche’ is found
quite frequently (72.00%), but not as frequent as the other two moves. Move
1, Step 3 (Reviewing items of previous research) is invariably present and
constantly recognized throughout the 50 RAs Introductions, resulting in the
‘cyclical’ or ‘recursive’ occurrence of this move. Move 2, Step 1B (Indicating a
gap) is pervasive in this corpus, being used in 48 out of 50 Introductions that
have Move 2. Move 2, Step 1A is not as frequently used as Move 2, Step 1B,
as it is found in only six of the 50 Introductions. Similar to Move 1(Establishing
a territory), the cyclical patterning of Move 2 (Establishing a niche) is common,
suggesting that the study being presented is complex, accounting for various
gaps of previous research. Despite variations in their frequencies, all of the
three moves are considered obligatory and prominent in performing their
communicative functions in Introductions. These rhetorical moves appeared
in all of the samples of research article (RA) Introductions. Thus confirms its
obligatory status, and validates the claims made for the CARS Model.

Fig. 2. Summary of Proposed Models of RA Method Sections in Science,

Technology, Engineering, Agriculture and Mathematics (STEAM)

Figure 2 illustrates the three most frequent move names namely subjects/
materials, 41 or 82% out of 50 RAs analyzed, procedures and data analysis,
50 or 100% out of 50 RAs in science, engineering and agriculture, while
RA authors in mathematics do not consistently follow the method section in
writing research articles. These made up 91% of all move names/ moves
analyzed. Other move names were very rare such as limitations, location

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and overview. Limitations were made up of only 7 or 14%, whereas location,

6 or 12% and overview, 4 or 8% of all moves identified. Two move names,
procedure and data analysis appeared in all 50 RAs in science, technology,
engineering, agriculture and mathematics. The move name” materials” was
extremely common in science, engineering and agriculture, 27 or 54% of all
moves, whereas, “subjects” were important in technology and mathematics,
made up of 14 or 28% of all moves being examined.

Fig. 3. Summary of Proposed Models of the Results Sections in Science,

Technology, Engineering, Agriculture and Mathematics (STEAM)

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Figure 3 shows the results section of science, technology, engineering,

agriculture and mathematics which confirm Kanoksilapatham’s model
(2005) that is composed of the four moves: stating procedure, justifying
procedure, stating results and commenting on the results. These moves are
pervasive in 50 or 100% of the RAs analyzed reflecting the order in which
they most often appeared in the corpus. Most of the steps are found in the
four moves in which they are objectively presented. The sequence of these
steps is not consistently demonstrated by RA authors of science, technology,
engineering, agriculture and mathematics. This instance allows for a number
of possible sequence variations such as step 2 (stating research questions)
and step 4 (listing procedures or methodological techniques) of Move 1:
Stating procedures were not found in science RAs. In the same way, step
1 (describing aims and purposes) and step 2 (stating research questions) of
Move 1: Stating procedure did not occur among RAs of engineering, agriculture
and mathematics. In addition, step 4(stating limitations) and step 3 (evaluating
the current findings with those from previous studies or with regard to the
hypotheses) of Move 4: Stating comments on the results did not appear in RAs
of technology and agriculture. Likewise, the Result sections of five discourse
communities achieved the communicative purposes because of the four moves
and various steps invariably present and consistently recognized throughout
the examination of the RAs Results section. The four moves comprising the
Results section of this corpus are also obligatory or conventional while the
steps are optional.

Figure 4 shows the move-step analysis of RAs in science, technology,

engineering, agriculture and mathematics and generates the rhetorical
structures in terms of the presence of the seven moves and their sequence
,which conforms to Yang and Allison’s (2003) model. As regards the moves
found in the Discussion section, the seven moves are conventional, the most
frequent move was Move 4 (Commenting on results) while various steps are
optional because of some slight differences found in terms of the order in
which the steps are presented in the texts. This indicates that the prevalence
of steps in the discussion section depends on the writer’s preferences for
dealing with the information. Results of this observation occurred in RAs of
technology, step 2 (Comparing results with literature) of Move 4: Commenting
on results, step 3(Evaluating methodology) of Move 6: Evaluating the study,
step 1 (making suggestions) of Move 7: Deductions from the research were
not pervasive in this corpus. Similarly the RAs in engineering demonstrated
the non-prevalence of step 1 (indicating limitations) of Move 6: Evaluating
the study and step 1(making suggestions) of Move 7: Deductions from the
research. The most frequent move in the discussion section of RAs analyzed
was Move 4 (Commenting on results) occurring at a frequency of 37 or 95.00%.
Move 2 (Reporting results) was the second most frequent move with 35 out

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of 40 RAs Discussions. The third most frequent move was Move 7 (Deduction
from the research) obtained a frequency of 28 or 70.00% which was found to
be an important move in the text-genre examined. RAs of mathematics did
not conform to the RAs discussion part of the corus. The rhetorical structures
of the Discussion sections of the RAs in science, technology, engineering,
agriculture and mathematics are illustrated below:

Fig. 4. Summary of the Proposed Models of the RA Discussion Sections in Science,

Technology, Engineering, Agriculture and Mathematics (STEAM)

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5.0. Conclusions

Two level rhetorical structures (moves and steps) of 18 distinct moves:

three moves for the Introduction section, four for the Methods section, four
for the Results section, and seven for the Discussion section characterized
research articles (RAs) published in Philippine journals in science, technology,
engineering, agriculture and mathematics by Filipino professionals. Introduction
section of RAs in five discourse communities are mainly composed of Move 1:
Establishing a territory,’ ‘Move 2: Establishing a niche,’ and ‘Move 3: Occupying
the niche. The method section is made up of four move names namely;
overview, subjects/materials, procedures and data analysis. Four moves are
generated from result sections specifically move 1(stating procedures), move
2(justifying procedures or methodology), move 3 (stating results) and move 4
(stating comments on the results). The discussion section consists of seven
move structure such as move 1 ( background information), move 2 ( reporting
results), move 3 (summarizing results), move 4 (commenting on results),
move 5 ( summarizing the study), move 6 ( evaluating the study) and move 7
( deductions from the research).

The proposed model -the rhetorical structure captured by move analysis can
be used as means of marshalling ideas into an appropriately ordered text and
can be presented in the classroom to raise learner’s consciousness of discipline
specific reading skills. The insights generated from the rhetorical structure can
be used as a basic, yet complete and representative template of rhetorical
organization for structuring different discourse communities’ research articles
to better understand published research articles and facilitate the process
of writing research articles for publication. The genre-based approaches to
writing instruction can be emerged in this way and in response to CHED’s main
thrust in education of improving the quality of basic education system and the
graduates. The awareness of the rhetorical structure of research articles may
help discourse community members to become proficient academic readers
because the proposed guidelines for writing builds up a schema as to what
to expect while reading, in what sequence, and what purposes the authors
have while writing an article.

References

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M. (ed.), Language Learning and Success: Studying Through English, 3(1),
London: Modem English Publications in association with the British Council.

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(ed.), Genre in the classroom: Multiple perspectives (pp. 91-102). Mahwah,
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Swales, J.M. (1990). Genre analysis. English in academic and research settings.
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About the Author

Prof. Arsenia A. Abuel is Assistant Professor IV at the Department

of Languages, Literature, and Humanities. She has a Doctorate
degree in English from the Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation
in Lucena City. Her research interests include lexicography,
corpus linguistics, and genre analysis. She teaches both in the
undergraduate and graduate levels in SLSU.
Corresponding author: arsenia.abuel@yahoo.com

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