Non-Native Speakers’ Rhetorical Commonalities in Writing Script Introduction Section

Abstract

This research analyzed the rhetorical pattern (RP) of script Introduction section written by undergraduate students at four selected universities in Aceh. Information about the RP of introduction section had been found in literature, including the work of Indonesian students in general. However, specific information about the RP of the work of EFL students in Aceh was not determined yet. The main aim of the study was to explore whether Acehnese studentsperformed the exact pattern of written Academic English. Understanding the RP of this section was important because it helped readers to have a description of the whole script. A qualitative method was applied in this study to draw the RP through the content analysis. The data were taken from twenty undergraduate students’ scripts at four selected universities. CARS model was used to analyze all the data. In general, the result shows a unique RP of the Introductionsection by Acehnese students where RP of introduction section maintains the circular way of thinking.

Establishing a Niche in Research: Rhetorical Strategies in Undergraduate and Postgraduate Writings in the Department of English, University of Cape Coast

“…Generally, this finding collaborates what earlier researchers in Ghana or, at least, Department of English, revealed; that is, the writers adopt "Indicating a gap" as their first choice in establishing a niche (e.g., Adika, 2014;Coker & Coker, 2012;Davis, 2014). This finding is not surprising as it is similar to some findings reported from both native and non-native speakers of English around the globe (e.g., Farnia & Barati, 2017;Lim, 2012;Mahzari & Maftoon, 2007;Nimehchisalem et al, 2016;Samad et al, 2017;). However, this finding contrasts several studies which found "Establishing problem and need" as the first choice (e.g., Zainudden & Shaari, 2017;Jalilifar et al, 2011;Parsa & Tahririan, 2017;Salom et al, 2008).…”

“…This study"s findings are crucial in contributing to pedagogy and academic writing, especially in the Departments of English. This is due to the fact that introduction section of research works is regarded very complicated (Samad et al, 2017;Swales, 1990). Abdullah (2016) claims that the introduction section provides the synopsis of a research to readers and therefore its organisation should be in a position to clarify its focus and make the problem significant.…”

“…While "Indicating a gap" strategy was found to be an obligatory and a first choice (Lim, 2012) and second frequently choice used by Malaysian PhD thesis writers (Zainudden & Shaari, 2017), it was reported to be optional in RA introductions of Malaysian writers (Suryani, et al, 2018). In the context of Indonesia, writers preferred "Indicating a gap" as their first choice, although not all that significantly different from "Continuing tradition" strategy (Samad et al, 2017). Philippines research introductions also showed extremely first choice utilisation of "Indicating a gap" strategy (Porras & Ingilan, 2017).…”

“…Writers such as Chodurova (2010) and Hamee (2008) In Examples (1) to (4), we see that the boldened expressions mark the transition from the assessment of previous studies to the identification of what was not captured or areas of limitations. This means that, in order to proffer comments that are critical to address a specific gap in a research, students tend to stress the areas of previous studies that they deem problematic or unresolved (Farnia & Barati, 2017;Samad et al, 2017). In simple terms, establishing a gap requires two steps: relying on previous studies and identifying the gap (Areas of previous studies + Gap).…”