LANGUAGE FEATURES OF JOURNAL ARTICLES REPORTING RESEARCH

Sefira Sefriadi1, Patuan Raja2 , Ag.Bambang Setiyadi3

sefirasefriadi1830@gmail.com
Master of English Language Education, University of Lampung

ABSTRACT

This research aims to explore moves and language features in journal articles. Data was taken
from several reputable articles for further research regarding the devices contained in them. The
moves and language features used as references are taken from several expert theories. Using the
qualitative descriptive method, the results of the research are described in detail based on these
aspects. The results show that the majority of journal articles selected have met the requirements
of the theory adopted by researcher.

Keywords: Journal article, language features, moves, introduction, method, result and
discussion, conclusion.

INTRODUCTION
A journal article is one of the categories in academic writing. It is intended for an academic or
technical audience. This is a forum for researchers to deliver their discoveries and knowledge.
Further, it aims to report a research in advancing science. There are several stages and scientific
processes carried out by researchers before reporting the results of their scientific work. Writing
journal articles is a facility for researchers to write them as supporting scientific material.
Besides, for scientific readers, this is useful to help them develop references so that further
research can be supported by theories that have been carried out by previous researchers.
There are several elements that support each section of the journal article. Several publishers
have their own specific criteria for applying each format. However, in general, journal articles
usually have the following sections: abstract, introduction, method, results and discussion, and
conclusion (Rakotsoane, 2019). One of the subsections in a journal article is the abstract. This is
a summary of the entire content of every aspect of the journal article. Readers can use the
abstract as a big picture of the existing content and can also be used to save time in reading the
entire article (Swales et al., 2009). The abstract includes four devices: objectives, methods,
results, and conclusions Briones (2018). Next is the introduction session which is used as an
initial introduction to state the research background. Swales (2004) in Sari et al (2022) classifies
moves into four aspects, they are: field, other studies, gap and the purpose of the research. The
third is the methodology section which is used to answer the formulation of research questions.
These results are summarized in the results and discussion section. Ulya (2022) categories these
sections into background information, reporting results, summarizing results, evaluating the
study, and deducting from the research. To draw conclusions, suggestions and implications, it is
used in the last part which is called the conclusion session.
When writing a journal article the writer must pay attention to the things contained in it. This is
certainly a challenge for every novice writer to apply their ideas and thoughts into a complete
piece of writing. Apart from that, they must consider good language features that are in
accordance with the scientific language contained in journal articles. There are several stages that
each writer of this article must go through in order to have a logical explanation and clear
framework. The two important aspects are rhetorical moves and linguistic features. From what
has been explained above, it is essential to realize that language features and moves are the main
aspects in creating appropriate articles. Therefore, researchers want to explore these aspects
further. It is hoped that this will contribute to other researchers in this field. In addition, by
knowing the important tools in each section in a journal article, it will be easier for other
researchers to publish their scientific work in reputable journals. Based on the background
above, the researcher formulates a research question: What language features are used in writing
an article?

METHODOLOGY
This research aims to look for aspects of linguistic characteristics contained in various articles.
This was reported qualitatively with variables referring to language features and journal articles
included in the tabular analysis. The data sources in this research were five different reputable
journal articles for analyzing their linguistic characteristics by comparing each aspect contained
in the appropriate linguistic characteristic structure. In general, each section contains: abstract,
introduction, method, results and discussion, and conclusion (Rakotsoane, 2019). Every aspect of
the journal article put forward by the reference used as an analysis guide were: Briones (2018),
Swales (2004), and Ulya (2022). The results of the research were summarized using descriptive
explanations.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

This section contains research results that have been analyzed for each section of linguistic
features in the sub-chapters in journal articles by several researchers: Hao and Rozali (2022),
Udu (2021), Arifah et al., (2018), Flora et al. al., (2019), and Alviana (2019).

Table 1. The Percentage and Examples of Language Features in Introduction

Move Percentage Example

Field 100% 1. Students’ ….. performance has been the focus of the ….. .
2. The student’s ….. ability in ….. is ….. that cannot be ignored.
Studies 100% 1. Many studies have been conducted to see its effectiveness
2. is beneficial in teaching because the learners can …..
Gap 60% 1. However, among the previous studies, …. within ….. have not
2. been explored yet.
None of the research has discussed ….
Purpose 100% 1. based on these practical problems and research gaps, this
research explores …..
2. the researcher was motivated to investigate the researcher was
 motivated to investigate …..

The language features used in the introduction include field, studies, gap and purpose. These four
aspects are features that are needed in the introduction to present an initial statement regarding
the journal article.
Based on the article analysis summarized in Table I above, only the fields and studies section
reached 100%, which means that the five journal articles included fields and studies. Meanwhile,
in the gap and purpose sections, both did not reach perfect numbers, where only 60% of
researchers stated gaps in their journal articles, followed by purpose, with 80% of researchers
using it in the introduction section.

Table II
The Percentage and Example of Language Features in Method
Move Percentage Example
Design 100% 1. This research used a ….. research design
2. The study utilized a ….. research design.
Data 1. explore the effectiveness of ….. on …… students’ …..
Variables 100% ability.
2. the researcher identified the variables ….
Data 1. Participants in this study are ….. grade students in two
Source 100% classes.
2. The sampling procedure for selecting participants in this
study is … sampling by ….. .
Instrument 1. When answering ….., this study adopted
100% 2. The researcher developed and utilized ….. of instruments for
data collection.
Data This study used ….. to analyze the data.
Analysis 100% Data analysis was carried out using …..

Methodology plays an important role in a journal article. It functions as to examine the question
or hypothesis. The aspects are covered in the language features as summarized in table II
regarding these features. By looking at all the numbers 100%, this proves that the researcher
included all the language features which are intended for the reader to understand how the
researcher answered the formulation of the research question.

Table 3. The Percentage and Examples of Language Features in Result Discussions

Move Percentage Example

Background 80% 1. The researchers conducted …..
Information 2. The main focus of this study was to investigate …..
Reporting 1. The results showed that ….. is more effective than
Results 100% 2. ….. also let the students to
Summarizing 100% 1. This condition is similar to the previous study conducted
Results by
2. This also supported by the previous research done by
Evaluating 1. However, …… To overcome this problem …..
 the Study 80% 2. However, knowing or owning these,

Another important part is the results and discussion. Table III refers to each linguistic feature
proposed by Ulya (2022) which contains: background information, reporting results,
summarizing results and evaluating the study.
As can be seen in the table 3, only two features are 100% involved in writing journal articles,
namely reporting and summarizing results, while the other two features are followed by 80%;
background information and evaluating the study.

Table 4. The Percentage and Examples of Language Features in Deduction

Move Percentage Example

Conclusion 80% 1. In summary, it can be concluded that
2. Therefore, it can be concluded that students
Suggestion 60% 1. Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended that
2. For future similar research,
Implication 80% 1. Teachers also need to
2. Next, the steps of teaching should

In the conclusion section not only contains things that can be drawn from the research, but also
contains suggestions for future researchers and implications for teachers. As can be seen in table
IV, 80% of researchers use conclusions, followed by implications for teachers in the classroom
which indicates a figure of 80%, while suggestion is the smallest percentage, only 60% of
journal articles for the five researchers use language features in this part.
The five articles taken by each researcher were analyzed in each sub-chapter to see each
linguistic feature listed. The results show different numbers, indicating 100% as the highest
number, which means that every researcher applies these linguistic features to their journal
articles, while the percentage of 60% is the lowest.
There are several previous studies that contain the same research. Karmila, K., & Laila, M.
(2020) in his research revealed that the following aspects are often found in abstracts: purpose,
methodology, results, and conclusion of results. Furthermore, Darabad (2016) stated that in the
introduction section it contains: field, previous studies, gap, and purpose. and, in the method
section, Sovann and Syafryadin (2022) explain the devices which include: clarifying research
design, data collection such as samples and instruments, and data analysis. The following things
include results and discussion background information, reporting results, summarizing results,
evaluating the study, and deducting from the research (Ulya, 2022). Finally, in the last section,
the conclusion includes judgment, implications and recommendations.

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

In creating a journal article, researchers must consider the crucial role in writing it to present a
clear explanation of the statements contained in the article. This can be done by paying attention
to linguistic features. Each sub-chapter has its own provisions for implementing each feature.
Those are differentiated based on the function of each part.
For further researchers, it is hoped that this can become an additional reference in theories about
journal reporting to broaden and deepen understanding of supporting theory. Moreover, for
teachers, it is hoped that this research can provide teaching information about how to write
journal articles to students by providing additional theory regarding similar research.

REFERENCES

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East and North Africa (MENA) perspective. Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 6.
Darabad, A. M. (2016). Move analysis of research article abstracts: A cross-disciplinary
study. International Journal of Linguistics, 8(2), 125-140.
Flora, F., Raja, P., & Mahpul, M. (2022). DISCOVERY LEARNING STRATEGY:
INTEGRATING THINK-PAIR-SHARE AND TEACHER’S CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK
TO ENHANCE STUDENTS’WRITING LANGUAGE ACCURACY (SIMILARITY
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Sari, N. P., Azwandi, A., and Arsyad, S. (2022). Rhetorical moves in introduction sections of
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Sovann, L., Safnil, S., and Syafryadin, S. (2022). Rhetorical structure of method section: A
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 APPENDICES
Language Features of Introduction
I II III IV V
F 1. Students’ ….. For students …. is one of the 1. In this modern Based on the
performance has attending ….., important era with the preliminary, the
been the focus of the onus is on language skills massive researcher found
the ….. . them to become that should be development of many problems in…
2. The student’s ….. proficient in mastered by the technology, …
ability in ….. is ….. has become more
that cannot be essential …..
ignored.
2. …. need to
3. There have been
consider about
various methods to
the appropriate
find ….. to improve
technique.
the students’ …..,.
S most studies show that Some studies A teacher should be 1. Many the research
….. have identified able to implement studies have conducted by …..
….. the teaching been conducted in…. by , assumes
technique that, one to see its that can .....
of the teaching effectiveness
techniques is ….., 2. is
beneficial in
teaching
because the
learners can …..
G 1. There is a lack of Unfortunately, - 1. However, -
2. studies on …. are no study known among the
very limited. to the author has previous studies,
investigated this …. within …..
problem in ….. have not been
explored yet.
2. None of the
research has
discussed ….
P based on these the researcher This research aims Therefore, this -
practical problems and was motivated to investigate ….. present research
research gaps, this to investigatethe attempts to find
research explores ….. researcher was out the ….
motivated to
investigate …..
Language Features of Methods
I II III IV V
Design This research used a the study The design of this In this the researcher applied
….. research design utilized a ….. research was study, the ….
research design. writer used
…..
Design.
Data explore the to predict and This research took the the researcher
Variables effectiveness of ….. seek involved three ….. skill identified the
on …… students’ explanations for kinds of variables variables ….
….. ability. the namely,
relationships
among the
variables …..
Data Participants in this formed the ….. . The target The using ….. of the
Source study are ….. grade of participants population was the participants sample;
students in two in the study. …. of this
classes. study were
The sampling …..
procedure for
selecting
participants in this
study is …
sampling by ….. .
Instrument When answering The researcher The researchers There were The research
….., this study developed and used two two instrument in this
adopted. utilized ….. of instruments in instruments research was….
instruments for collecting data, used in this
data collection. research,
Data This study used ….. Data analysis it was followed by ….. was The researcher used
Analysis to analyze the data. was carried out testing the research measured
using ….. by ……
Language Features in Result and Discussions
I II III IV V

BI The researchers The main focus of The data from ….. The research results -
conducted ….. this study was to tests were analyzed were analyzed based
investigate ….. by on the formulated
research questions
for this study.
he data was
compared in order to
examine the
difference between
RR  it can be inferred  This means that  The results  It shows that the As a result, the …..
that  This shows that showed that ….. is  there was technique
 which indicates a more effective than improvement of promoted the
difference in  ….. also let the  the idea showed indicated that the
 can stimulate the students to that
students’ ….
SR This finding is The finding also  This condition is It is in line with the In line with the
consistent with agrees with those similar to the concept of statement above
of previous study
conducted by
 This also
supported by the
previous research
done by
ES - The current study On the contrary, However, …… To However, knowing
did not examine overcome this or owning these,
whether a problem …..
significant
difference existed
in
 Language Features of Conclusion

I II III IV V
Con In summary, it can be This paper Therefore, it can be This study premised (there is no
concluded that concludes that concluded that that conclusion section)
students
Sug Several Based on the For future similar - (there is no
recommendations can findings of the research, conclusion section)
be made as a study, it is
consequence of this recommended that
study …..
Imp Regarding the study The findings of this  teachers should in the teaching- (there is no
findings, there are study have several  Teachers also learning process, conclusion section)
some implications for implications. need to teacher should find a
teacher’s instruction,  Next, the steps of way in dealing with
teaching should ….