THE CAMBRIDGE APPLIED LINGUISTICS SERIES

Series editors: Michael H. Long and Jack C. Richards

This series presents the findings of recent work in applied linguistics which are
Genre Analysis
of direct relevance to language teaching and learning and of particular interest to
applied linguists, researchers, language teachers, and teacher trainers.

In this series: English in academic and

Interactive Approaches to Second Language Reading edited by Patricia L. Carrel,
Joanne Devine and David E. Eskey
research settings
Second Language Classrooms - Research on teaching and learning
by Craig Chaudron
Language Learning and Deafness edited by Michael Strong
T h e Learner-Centred Curriculum by David Nunan
Language Transfer - Cross-linguistic influence in language learning John M. Swales
by Terence Odlin
Linguistic Perspectives on Second Language Acquisition edited by Susan M. Gass The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
and Jaqueline Schachter
Learning Strategies in Second Language Acquisition by J. Michael O'Malley and
Anna Uhl Chamot
T h e Development of Second Language Proficiency edited by Birgit Harley, Patrick
Allen, Jim Cummins and Merrill Swain
Second Language Writing - Reseach insights for the classroom
edited by Barbara Kroll
Genre Analysis - English in academic and research settings by John M. Swales
Evaluating Second Language Education edited by J. Charles Alderson and
Alan Beretta
Perspectives on Pedagogical G r a m m a r edited by Terence Odlin
Academic Listening edited by John Flowerdew
Power and Inequality in Language Education by James W. Tollefson
Language Program Evaluation - Theory and practice by Brian K. Lynch
Sociolinguistcs and Language Teaching edited by Sandra Lee McKay and Nancy
H. Hornberger
Contrastive Rhetoric - Cross-cultural aspects of second language writing
by Vila Conner
Teacher Cognition in Language Teaching - Beliefs, decision-making, and
classroom practice by Devon Woods
Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition - A rationale for pedagogy
edited by James Coady and Thomas Huckin
Text, Role and Context - Developing academic literacies by Ann M. Johns
Immersion Education: International Perspectives edited by Robert Keith Johnson
and Merrill Swain
Focus o n Form in Classroom Second Language Acquisition edited by Catherine
Doughty and Jessica Williams CAMBRIDGE
Exploring the Second Language Mental Lexicon by David Singleton UNIVERSITY PRESS
Researching and Applying M e t a p h o r edited by Lynn Cameron and Graham Low
Interfaces between Second Language Acquisition and Language Tested edited by
Lyle F. Bachman and Andrew D. Cohen
Network-based Language Teaching edited by Mark Warschauer and Richard Kern
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Contents
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Scries E d i t o r s ' Preface vii

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Thanks ix
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Acknowledgements xi
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
n o reproduction of any p a r t may take place w i t h o u t
the written permission of C a m b r i d g e University Press. PARTI PRELIMINARIES 1 \ /
First published 1990
1 Genre analysis - setting the scene
11th printing 2005
1.1 Aims and purposes 1
Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, C a m b r i d g e 1.2 O u t l i n e of t h e b o o k 8
1.3 Origins a n d influences 13
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data
Swales, J o h n . P A R T II KEY C O N C E P T S 21
Genre analysis.

(Cambridge applied linguistics series).

2 The concept of discourse community 21 v /
2.1 A n e e d for clarification 21
1. English language - Study and teaching (Higher) -
2.2 Speech c o m m u n i t i e s a n d discourse c o m m u n i t i e s 23
Foreign speaker. 2. Interdisciplinary approach in
2.3 A c o n c e p t u a l i z a t i o n of discourse c o m m u n i t y 24
education. I. Title. II. Series.
PE1128.A2S93 1990 428'.0071'1 90-2464 2.4 An e x a m p l e of a discourse c o m m u n i t y 27
2.5 R e m a i n i n g issues 29
British Library Cataloguing in Publication data
Swales, J o h n M . (John M a l c o l m ) , 1 9 3 8 - The concept of genre 33
3.1 Genre in folklore studies 34
Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. -
(The C a m b r i d g e applied linguistics series). 3.2 Genre in literary studies 36
1. English language. Analysis 3.3 Genre in linguistics 38
I. Title 3.4 Genre in rhetoric 42
428 3.5 A w o r k i n g definition of g e n r e 45
3.6 Pre-genres 58
ISBN-13 978-0-521-32869-2 hardback 3.7 Differences a m o n g genres 61
ISBN-10 0-521-32869-1 h a r d b a c k
ISBN-13 978-0-521-33813-4 paperback The concept of task 68
ISBN-10 0-521-33813-1 p a p e r b a c k
4.1 T a s k a n d a c a d e m i c English p r o g r a m s 68
4.2 T o w a r d s a c o n c e p t of task 73
4.3 A p e d a g o g i c a l illustration 77

5 Genres, schemata and acquisition 83

V
 Ef>iitnl0$ in the history of the rtitarck article 111

By talking to each other in a specific format scientists were figuring

7 Research articles in English out how to talk to each other and changed the format according to
what they were figuring out.
(Bazerman, 1983:1)

A n o t h e r powerful force t h a t shaped the early scientific article c a m e from

the existing tradition of published scientific treatises; m o s t immediately,
from the efforts of R o b e r t Boyle a n d his fellow experimentalists in the
decade preceding the a p p e a r a n c e of the first issue of the Transactions to
establish a p r o p e r f o u n d a t i o n for scientific k n o w l e d g e (Shapin, 1 9 8 4 ) .
According to Shapin, Boyle a n d his colleagues s o u g h t t o t r a n s f o r m claims
I have divided this chapter into several sections. It opens with a
a n d speculations into generally-accepted k n o w l e d g e by w a y of the
necessarily brief a n d episodic account of the history of the research article
experimental matter of fact. In o r d e r to achieve this t r a n s f o r m a t i o n ,
over the last 3 0 0 years or so. T h e p u r p o s e of this section is t o place the
Boyle w o u l d a p p e a r t o h a v e developed a largely self-conscious a n d highly
main synchronic analysis against a diachronic f r a m e w o r k , for, like all
c o m p l e x set of strategies. Some of these strategic elements are as follows:
living genres, t h £ RA) is continually evolving, a n d future developments
may find p a r t o r t h e i r e x p l a n a t i o n s in present or previous rhetorical
a) T h e key a p p a r a t u s for his p n e u m a t i c e x p e r i m e n t s w a s t h e air p u m p .
practice. T h e second section examines a n d tries t o inter-relate several
At t h a t time air p u m p s were very expensive, e l a b o r a t e a n d t e m p e r a -
case studies of the processes whereby research articles w e r e actually
m e n t a l ; they were t h u s rare a n d well b e y o n d the m e a n s of t h e great
constructed. Both the first a n d the second sections are therefore evolu-
majority of potential users. Boyle presented his m a c h i n e t o the Royal
tionary, although in very different ways. Sections 7.3 to 7.6 constitute a
Society to ease the p r o b l e m of access a n d t o p r e - e m p t objections t h a t
textual analysis of the genre itself, taking each of the m a i n sections of the
might be based o n traditional o p p o s i t i o n t o alchemical secrecy or to
RA (Introduction, M e t h o d , etc.) in t u r n , while 7.7 a t t e m p t s to s u m m a r i z e
aristocratic aloofness. (Boyle w a s a son of the Earl of Cork.)
o u r current state of k n o w l e d g e . Despite considerable research activity,
conclusions must at present be considered tentative, partly because the b) In Boyle's p r o g r a m of w o r k the capacity of experiments t o yield
e n o r m o u s size of the genre means that the n u m b e r of texts e x a m i n e d m a t t e r s of fact d e p e n d e d less o n getting the a p p a r a t u s t o d o certain
represents extremely m i n u t e p r o p o r t i o n s of the w h o l e , a n d partly things t h a n o n securing the agreement of the relevant c o m m u n i t y t h a t
because we still experience considerable difficulty in m a k i n g well- these things h a d , in fact, been d o n e . H e needed witnesses, the m o r e
validated decisions a b o u t h o w that whole should be divided u p . the better a n d the better qualified the better. E x p e r i m e n t s w e r e
performed before an audience at the Royal Society a n d m e m b e r s w e r e
e n c o u r a g e d t o sign a register as witness t h a t they h a d seen w h a t they
h a d seen.
7.1 Episodes in the history of the research article c) Boyle also recognized t h a t witnesses could be multiplied by e n c o u r -
aging others t o replicate e x p e r i m e n t s . A l t h o u g h he strongly a d v o -
T h e scientific RA emerged, albeit in e m b r y o n i c form, c o n t e m p o r a n e o u s l y
cated this practice, he c a m e soon e n o u g h to realize t h a t m a n y
with the establishment of the first scientific periodical, The Philosophical
a t t e m p t s at replication w o u l d fail.
Transactions of the Royal Society, in 1 6 6 5 . According t o Ard ( 1 9 8 3 ) , the
d) According t o Shapin, Boyle's m o s t i m p o r t a n t w a y of trying to
genre of the scientific article developed from the informative letters t h a t
establish facts w a s by w h a t Shapin calls virtual witnessing: 'the
scientists h a d always written t o each o t h e r - a n d still d o . T h u s , m a n y of
technology of virtual witnessing involves the p r o d u c t i o n in a reader's
the early c o n t r i b u t i o n s to the Transactions t o o k the first person descrip-
m i n d of such an image of a n e x p e r i m e n t a l scene as obviates the
tive narrative form associated with letters, some even having the salu-
necessity for either its direct witness o r its replication' ( 1 9 8 4 : 4 9 1 ) .
tation 'Sir' at their outset. H o w e v e r , as the Transactions a n d s u b s e q u e n t
Boyle set o u t t o achieve this objective by a variety of m e t h o d s :
journals began to assume a role of providing a regular arena for
i) If there w e r e t o b e illustrations of a p p a r a t u s in his published
discussion, the n e w a n d recurring rhetorical situation t h a t emerged led to
w o r k , Boyle w a s insistent t h a t these s h o u l d be realistic, e x a c t a n d
the creation of a new genre increasingly distinct from its letter-writing
detailed.
origin. In Bazerman's w o r d s :

I Hi
 il) H e w r o t e deliberately e l a b o r a t e and prolix a c c o u n t s of his
experiments so that the reader w o u l d be e n c o u r a g e d t o believe
that he w a s getting a full and honest a c c o u n t .
iii) H e offered his readers circumstantial a c c o u n t s of failed
experiments.
iv) H e deliberately avoided philosophical speculation.
v) Boyle w r o t e very cautiously a n d m a d e m u c h use of w h a t t o d a y
have b e c o m e k n o w n as ' h e d g e s ' (e.g. Lakoff, 1 9 7 2 ) . As Boyle
himself p u t it, 'in almost every o n e of the following essays I . . .
speak so doubtingly, a n d use so often perhaps, it seems, it is not
improbable a n d other such expressions, as argue a diffidence t o
the t r u t h of the opinions I incline to . . . ' (quoted by Shapin,
1984:495).
e) A further i m p o r t a n t aspect of Boyle's c o n t r i b u t i o n t o the r h e t o r i c of
science w a s his a t t e m p t s to regulate scientific disputes; in particular
he insisted t h a t disputes should be a b o u t findings a n d n o t a b o u t
persons. In this w a y he stood o u t against the c o m m o n ad hominem
style of arguing at t h a t time. As he elegantly p u t s it, 'I love to speak of
persons with civility, t h o u g h of things with freedom' (Shapin,
1984:502).
Of course it is sometimes t h o u g h t t h a t the facts 'speak for themselves';
that is, a scientist's description of n a t u r a l reality, if it is carefully a n d
competently d o n e , is simply a reflection of t h a t reality. H o w e v e r , if this
w e r e to be the case, then Boyle's complex strategy w o u l d have been
unnecessary. R a t h e r , even the foregoing short s u m m a r y of Shapin's
analysis seems t o s h o w clearly e n o u g h h o w h a r d Boyle a n d his collabora-
tors h a d to w o r k to make a rhetoric - to develop a convincing style for the
research r e p o r t . It w o u l d a p p e a r t h a t p h e n o m e n a only acquire fact-like
status by consensus a n d t h a t consensus m a y not be achievable w i t h o u t
rhetorical persuasion. T h e art of the matter, as far as the creation of facts
is concerned, lies in deceiving the reader into thinking t h a t there is n o
rhetoric, that research r e p o r t i n g is indeed 'writing degree z e r o ' (Barthes,
1975) a n d t h a t the facts are indeed speaking for themselves.
Boyle was a great researcher, a n d at least a small p a r t of his greatness
lay in the subtle a n d imaginative perceptions he developed a b o u t the
relationships between d o i n g research a n d writing a b o u t t h a t research.
W e can see w h a t h a p p e n e d to the research article o n a m o r e m u n d a n e
level by taking up B a z e r m a n ' s study of developments in the Transactions
during the period 1 6 6 5 - 1 8 0 0 , which focuses particularly o n changes in
the presentation of the experiment. This study is neither simply a piece of
literary nor a piece of scientific history. As the a u t h o r says:
I hope to show that the story of the experimental report is not one
of simple accretion, but an evolving response to an evolving
discourse situation. Ai literature and knowledge represented by the
literature accumulated and locuses of discussion emerged, the
discussion itself changed in character.
(Bazerman, 1983:4)
B a z e r m a n ' s first finding w a s t h a t relatively few early items in the
Transactions w e r e actually experimental r e p o r t s , a n d even by 1 8 0 0 such
r e p o r t s still a m o u n t e d t o less t h a n 4 0 % of all the articles published. In the
early days, the majority of the items w e r e reports of n o t e w o r t h y natural
events such as e a r t h q u a k e s , or of o b s e r v a t i o n s m a d e by m e a n s of
telescopes or microscopes or by a n a t o m i c a l dissection. Further, Bazer-
m a n is able to s h o w t h a t 'the definition of e x p e r i m e n t moves from any
m a d e or d o n e thing, to an intentional investigation, t o a test of theory, to
finally a proof of or evidence for a c l a i m ' ( 1 9 8 3 : 5 ) . In this process of
evolution, the scientist's relationship w i t h n a t u r e gradually c h a n g e d from
a view t h a t the n a t u r e of things w o u l d be easily revealed by direct or
m a n i p u l a t e d o b s e r v a t i o n to a view t h a t n a t u r e w a s c o m p l e x , o b s c u r e a n d
difficult t o get at. Inevitably e n o u g h , this changing view also m e a n t t h a t
m o r e care began t o be t a k e n in describing h o w e x p e r i m e n t s w e r e d o n e , in
explaining w h y p a r t i c u l a r m e t h o d s w e r e chosen, a n d in detailing pre-
cisely w h a t results w e r e found. All this w a s necessary because it w a s
b e c o m i n g m o r e a n d m o r e clear t h a t m i n o r differences in p r o c e d u r e could
p r o d u c e major differences in findings. T h e supposedly m o d e r n concept of
controlling the variable is n o t far a w a y .
By the e n d of the eighteenth century, these d e v e l o p m e n t s (and others
such as the demise of c o m m u n a l witnessing) h a d led t o a reconfiguration
of the RA:
As phenomena began to be treated as more problematic, articles
began to take on a different organization, opening with an
introduction to the problematic phenomenon, often substantiated
with the story of an experiment that did not go as expected. With
the problem established, the article would chronologically describe
a series of experiments aimed at getting to the bottom of the
mystery. Transitions between each two experiments would draw
conclusions from the previous experiment and point to the
rationale or need for the subsequent one. In the highly developed
continuity we see the experimenter gradually come to an adequate
understanding of the phenomenon, which would then be pulled
together in a concluding synthesis or explanation of the
phenomenon, as in Hewson's investigations into the nature of
blood (60:368-83).
(Bazerman, 1 9 8 3 : 1 6 - 1 7 )
This description of a typical RA offers, I w o u l d suggest, a striking
vindication of Boyle's a t t e m p t s 100 years earlier to establish a rhetoric
 liHKlith
for experimental description. T h e r e are, of course, certain quite m a r k e d
differences between the eighteenth and the twentieth century R A ; a m o n g
t h e m a decidedly m o r e casual a p p r o a c h t o the previous literature a n d
some c o n t i n u a t i o n of the epistolary convention of first person narrative.
This kind of writing has a l m o s t totally d i s a p p e a r e d from the c o n t e m p o -
rary RA, although it exists in other scientific genres such as N o b e l Prize
acceptance speeches (Ard, 1983). A c c o r d i n g t o Ard, the use of T in early
scientific discourse is related to the fact t h a t the observer played a m o r e
central role at t h a t time, at least partly because o b s e r v a t i o n s , especially
with untried a p p a r a t u s , relied m u c h o n individual skill. (And w e could
well r e m e m b e r t h a t early instruments w e r e h a n d m a d e a n d were far from
being the standardized p r o d u c t s in use today.) H o w e v e r , as w e have seen,
a further — if connected - reason for the continuing reliance o n first
person p r o n o u n s derives from the insistence of Boyle a n d o t h e r pioneer
experimentalists for a style of writing t h a t w o u l d project b o t h personal
honesty a n d m o d e s t y . T h i s style should avoid the p r e s u m p t i o n s w h i c h
the passive voice w o u l d bring t h a t others either could or (worse) could
n o t replicate the m e t h o d s a n d results with ease. H o w e v e r , the issue of
impersonality in scientific writing, despite its a p p a r e n t innocent simpli-
city, t u r n s o u t to be complex a n d vexatious, a n d is yet to be fully
understood.
T h e only substantial study k n o w n t o me t h a t traces the textual
development of the RA in the present century is Bazerman ( 1 9 8 4 a ) .
Bazerman investigated a selection of Spectroscopic articles in the Physical
Review from its founding in 1893 to 1 9 8 0 . As he says, 'this period m a r k s
the rise of American physics from b a c k w a r d n e s s to w o r l d d o m i n a n c e ,
reflected by the j o u r n a l ' s rise from a local university o r g a n t o the p r i m a r y
international journal of physics' (1984a: 166). Some of his m a i n conclu-
sions are s u m m a r i z e d b e l o w :
a) ARTICLE LENGTH
From 1893 to 1 9 0 0 the average length of articles fell from a r o u n d 7 , 0 0 0
w o r d s to a r o u n d 5 , 0 0 0 . W i t h some fluctuations they continued to
average a b o u t 5 , 0 0 0 w o r d s until 1 9 4 0 . Thereafter average article length
has steadily increased and reached a b o u t 10,000 w o r d s by 1 9 8 0 . So
much then for the c o m m o n belief t h a t scientific articles h a v e become
m o r e c o m p a c t during this century.
b) REFERENCES
Referencing trends over the 1 8 9 3 - 1 9 8 0 period reveal an intriguing story.
In the early years references were quite c o m m o n (about 10 per article) but
rather general, rarely relating to specific findings or to the specific topics
investigated by the a u t h o r s . As Bazerman says, these characteristics
' w e a k e n the sense of a coherent, moving research front' ( 1 9 8 4 a : 173). By
Epiiodu in tht history of tht rtitarch article 115
1910, the n u m b e r of references h a d b e c o m e severely curtailed, b u t the
very few t h a t r e m a i n e d w e r e all recent, h a d dates a n d w e r e of direct
relevance t o the research being r e p o r t e d . F r o m then o n , the n u m b e r of
references has trended u p w a r d s , whilst m a i n t a i n i n g specific relevance t o
the w o r k at h a n d . T h u s , n e w w o r k b e c o m e s increasingly e m b e d d e d in the
spectroscopic literature. A further sign of this is t h a t references are n o
longer c o n c e n t r a t e d in t h e I n t r o d u c t i o n b u t are distributed t h r o u g h o u t
the R A , so t h a t every stage of the d o c u m e n t b o t h relies on a n d relates t o
the w o r k of others. A n d it is this d e v e l o p m e n t t h a t provides at least p a r t
of the e x p l a n a t i o n for the d o u b l i n g of average article length over the last
4 0 years.
C) SYNTACTIC A N D LEXICAL FEATURES
B a z e r m a n found n o i m p o r t a n t variations in sentence length. T h e aver-
ages of sentence length of a r o u n d 25 w o r d s a c c o r d closely w i t h those of
other investigators (Barber, 1 9 6 2 ; H u d d l e s t o n , 1 9 7 1 ) . H e did find,
h o w e v e r , t h a t relative clauses declined in frequency, whilst b o t h n o u n
clauses a n d t e m p o r a l a n d causal s u b o r d i n a t e clauses have b e c o m e m o r e
frequent. T h e rise of t h e latter (also c o r r o b o r a t e d by H u d d l e s t o n , 1971)
indicates a shift from description t o e x p l a n a t i o n , t h u s suggesting increas-
ing intellectual complexity. O n the lexical level, subjects of m a i n clauses
h a v e over the period become m o r e abstract. C o n c r e t e subjects like
substance, apparatus, a n d so on, have t e n d e d t o give w a y t o n o u n s of
process o r quality such as ionization a n d correlation. Significant changes
in the function of the m a i n verb were also found:
The decrease in reporting verbs (for example, 'Smith reports ...')
and increase in active verbs (for example, 'temperature increases
...') suggest that the finding or theory has increasingly been
brought into the central grammatical position, whilst the
publishing scientists have been given a back seat, thus adding
density to the discussion and integrating source material into the
continuity of the argument.
(Bazerman, 1984:177)
d) NON-VERBAL MATERIAL
T h e s a m e trends t o w a r d s abstraction a n d integration can be seen in t h e
changing n a t u r e of the g r a p h i c material. D u r i n g the period, t h e r e w a s
a decrease in the n u m b e r of a p p a r a t u s d r a w i n g s a n d in the n u m b e r a n d
size of tables. In c o m p e n s a t i o n , there were increases in the n u m b e r a n d
complexity of b o t h g r a p h s a n d e q u a t i o n s .
e) ORGANIZATION
Before 1 9 5 0 only a b o u t 5 0 % of the articles w e r e formally divided into
section titles; after 1 9 5 0 section headings b e c a m e a regular feature. Up
 IT?! Research articles in English
till 1 9 3 0 , if sections w e r e used they usually e n d e d with Results t h u s
implying t h a t the findings could stand alone w i t h o u t further c o m m e n t .
Since then, Discussion a n d Conclusion sections have not only b e c o m e
m u c h m o r e c o m m o n but they also h a v e greatly increased in length a n d
complexity. O n the other h a n d , the p r o p o r t i o n of space given t o M e t h o d
a n d A p p a r a t u s sections has generally declined (c.f. H u c k i n , 1987).
In this pioneering study, Bazerman assembles considerable discoursal
evidence for a n u m b e r of general t r e n d s : g r o w i n g abstraction, the
deepening integration of present w o r k within the relevant literature, the
increasing foregrounding of research as o p p o s e d t o researcher, the
increasingly uphill struggle to i n c o r p o r a t e m o r e a n d m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n ,
a n d a steadily m o r e focused a r g u m e n t a t i o n . T h e finer rhetorical a n d
linguistic detail of these o u t c o m e s will be discussed in later subsections.
T h e fact t h a t B a z e r m a n ' s investigation is pioneering m e a n s t h a t we are
faced w i t h very real p r o b l e m s of e x t r a p o l a t i o n a n d generalization. Is the
Physical Review typical of other i m p o r t a n t American physics journals?
W o u l d the findings apply to c o m p a r a b l e journals from elsewhere? W h a t
a b o u t chemistry, psychology o r sociology? Physics is a large, central a n d
long-established field - w o u l d similarities be found in a field t h a t h a d
n o n e of these characteristics?
In an a t t e m p t to t h r o w a little light o n at least the last of these questions,
I analyzed main articles in the first 2 0 years of the TESOL Quarterly, the
flagship publication of the US-based association of T e a c h e r s of English t o
Speakers of O t h e r Languages (Swales, 1 9 8 8 b ) . F r o m the early 1970s,
average article length - of the m a i n text - has r e m a i n e d relatively stable,
centering a r o u n d a m e a n of very a p p r o x i m a t e l y 5 , 0 0 0 w o r d s . H o w e v e r ,
the articles look longer because of steady u p w a r d trends in the a m o u n t of
non-textual material (principally tables) a n d in the n u m b e r of references.
T h e average n u m b e r of references had g r o w n from four in 1968 to 3 4 in
1 9 8 6 . In addition, the period w a s also characterized by a p r o p o r t i o n a l
decline in citations of b o o k s (particularly ESL textbooks) a n d a rise in
citations of shorter w o r k s (particularly articles, a n d chapters in scholarly
edited collections). Further signs of the a d o p t i o n of a social science (as
o p p o s e d to humanities) p a r a d i g m have been the consistent subsectioning
of articles, increasing c o - a u t h o r s h i p a n d a wider e m p l o y m e n t of statis-
tics. In addition, the fact t h a t a u t h o r s in TESOL Quarterly have
increasingly t e n d e d t o cite previous w o r k published in it m a y be t a k e n t o
imply the existence of a n u m b e r of coherent a n d established research
fronts. O n the o t h e r h a n d , there w a s n o sign of the drift t o w a r d s g r a p h s
t h a t Bazerman noted from the Physical Review, a n d I eventually a b a n -
d o n e d my efforts t o trace increasing lexical abstraction due t o a lack of
firm evidence. (Syntactic features w e r e n o t investigated.)
Overall, this vignette of RA history in the e m b r y o n i c ESL field evinces a
d e t e r m i n a t i o n to professionalize - a particularly pressing a n d under-
Iht constructing of rtstarcb articltt 117
s t a n d a b l c concern given the folkloristic belief t h a t a n y b o d y w h o k n o w s a
language well can teach it. T h e clearest rhetorical evidence of this lies in
a n increasingly s t a n d a r d i z e d m a i n article p r o d u c t which meets a n u m b e r
of requirements, such as the formulation of research questions sited
within a rhetorically-established f r a m e w o r k of previous w o r k , a n d the
presentation a n d discussion of d a t a . O n e consequence of all this can,
especially in the light of the c o m m e n t s m a d e in C h a p t e r 6, be seen as
u n f o r t u n a t e . A l t h o u g h the teaching of English to speakers of other
languages has b e c o m e a major global activity, t h e leading journal in the
field has remained o n e which publishes c o n t r i b u t i o n s from a u t h o r s based
in N o r t h America - even by 1 9 8 6 , articles from outside the US a n d
C a n a d a constituted less t h a n 2 0 % of the total.
7.2 The constructing of research articles
T h e c o n t i n u u m from a gleam in the researcher's eye to the distribution of
the published p a p e r m a y n o t be easily b r e a k a b l e into segments, b u t o n e
possible staging is into the processes of writing prior to submission t o a
journal (internally-moderated changes) a n d into those t h a t m a y occur
subsequently (externally-moderated changes). M y e r s ' (1985a) study —
already m e n t i o n e d at the o p e n i n g of Part III - of the struggles of t w o
biologists t o get their p a p e r s published w o u l d fall into the latter category.
For M y e r s all researchers are faced with decisions a b o u t the level of claim
they might wish to m a k e . T h e higher the level of claim, the m o r e likely
t h a t it will involve c o n t r a d i c t i n g large bodies of the relevant literature
a n d will challenge a s s u m p t i o n s e m b o d i e d in i m p o r t a n t o n g o i n g research
p r o g r a m s . O n the other h a n d , the lowest level claims m a y c o n t r a d i c t
n o t h i n g , b u t may also a d d very little to w h a t is accepted a n d established
w i t h i n the given research field. T h u s , high-level claims are likely to be
i m p o r t a n t but risky, whilst low-level claims are likely t o be trivial b u t
safe. Both of M y e r s ' biologists consistently s o u g h t t o m a k e the highest-
level claim t h a t they could p e r s u a d e a particular journal t o accept, but in
b o t h cases they eventually h a d t o settle for t h e publication of m u c h m o r e
limited a n d lower-level claims t h a n they h a d originally h o p e d for (and
p e r h a p s still h o p e for). C o n c o m i t a n t l y , they h a d t o settle also for a m o r e
limited a n d m o r e specialized readership; in aggregate they m a d e n o fewer
t h a n six a t t e m p t s at publication in Science a n d Nature before a b a n -
d o n i n g these t w o highly visible a n d widely-read journals.
If we t u r n to the earlier stages of the c o m p o s i n g process, the p r e p a r -
ation of a m a n u s c r i p t prior to review, w e can also find impressive
evidence t h a t any vision we may h a v e of the scientist-researcher w o r k i n g
a w a y in the lab or in the field a n d then retiring t o a quiet place t o type u p
quickly the experimental report according t o some stereotyped f o r m a t is
 decidedly at o d d s with reality. Evidence for w h a t really h a p p e n s can be
g a t h e r e d from three recent book-length studies t h a t arc largely concerned
with the construction of research p a p e r s . T w o are case studies of
i m p o r t a n t US laboratories (Latour a n d W o o l g a r , 1 9 7 9 ; K n o r r - C e t i n a ,
1981), the third is an analysis of a controversy in biochemistry (Gilbert
a n d M u l k a y , 1984). All three b o o k s are significant p r o d u c t s of a
relatively new school within the sociology of science in which discourse is
topic rather t h a n resource. As Gilbert a n d M u l k a y p u t it, the a p p r o a c h
concentrates ' o n describing h o w scientists' a c c o u n t s are organized t o
p o r t r a y their actions a n d beliefs in contextually a p p r o p r i a t e w a y s '
(1984:14).
T h e most directly relevant of the three is K n o r r - C e t i n a , for in o n e of
her chapters she presents an extensive textual study, including facsimiles
a n d additionally s u p p o r t e d by direct o b s e r v a t i o n a n d interview, of w h a t
transpired between the first rough notes for a n d the final draft of o n e
p a p e r p r o d u c e d at a large government-financed research center in
Berkeley, California during 1 9 7 7 . T h e subject of the p a p e r is the recovery
of protein from p o t a t o e s , a process of some significance for the food
industry.
T h e first significant p o i n t to emerge is t h a t the public story as told in
the drafts is a reversed, rather t h a n revised, version of w h a t actually t o o k
place within the confines of the l a b o r a t o r y . In the lab, the scientists
r e s p o n d e d opportunistically t o an incidental finding, r a t h e r t h a n
consciously p l a n n e d to try a n d solve a particular p r o b l e m . (The p r o b l e m
w o u l d , in fact, t u r n o u t t o be finding a m e t h o d of extracting valuable
p o t a t o protein w h i c h w o u l d require less energy t h a n the c u r r e n t acid/heat
t r e a t m e n t s a n d which w o u l d also increase nitrogen solubility.) As o n e of
the main researchers c o m m e n t e d :
No. I think I was not clever enough originally to see that it would
be better to recover protein without applying heat treatment. I
probably first read about the ferric chloride . . .
(Knorr-Cetina, 1981:101)
In the laboratory realizing t h a t ferric chloride c o a g u l a t i o n could occur
w i t h o u t h e a t eventually led t o the establishment of a n alternative
m e t h o d , whilst in the paper the story o p e n s with the need to p r o d u c e a
better m e t h o d a n d then offers ferric chloride coagulation as a resolution
of this need. Of course, this reversal of the research d y n a m i c is in its
context neither deceitful n o r misrepresentative - a l t h o u g h it might be
t h o u g h t so if the laboratory notes themselves h a d been revised in this
way. This is because the research paper is a quite different genre to the
l a b o r a t o r y record a n d has its o w n quite separate c o n v e n t i o n s , its o w n
processes of literary reasoning a n d its o w n s t a n d a r d s of a r g u m e n t , within
all of which one powerful shaping p a r a d i g m is that of the p r o b l e m -
solution text type (Hocy, 1979).
But the story of the I n t r o d u c t i o n does n o t end here, because there is a
further w o r l d of difference between the first full version a n d the final
version. In the first there is a clear succession of increasingly specific
p a r a g r a p h s starting with observations a b o u t the large quantities of
valuable p o t a t o proteins available in the w o r l d a n d h o w these are
under-utilized. A description of current recovery m e t h o d s follows w i t h
considerable emphasis o n their d r a w b a c k s . T h e I n t r o d u c t i o n ends w i t h a
discussion of a major alternative c o a g u l a n t (ferric chloride), w h i c h w o u l d
t u r n t h e disadvantages of the current m e t h o d s i n t o a d v a n t a g e s . T h e final
sentence then generalizes the m e t h o d search:
The aim of this work was to find an alternative precipitation
method resulting in a yield comparable to that of protein recovered
by means of the most commonly used acid/heat treatment method,
while achieving a more acceptable quality of the PPC needed for
the application in human foods.
(Knorr-Cetina, 1981:157)
As K n o r r - C e t i n a observes, the switch at t h e close to the Past tense
suggests t h a t the m e t h o d w a s actually found, a l t h o u g h it is n o t identified
at this point in the p a p e r .
Several m o n t h s a n d drafts later, a final version emerged after consider-
able discussion w i t h a n d c o m m e n t s from colleagues, including the
Director of the Institute. T h e s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d a n d s o m e w h a t d r a m a t i c
unfolding of the first version has a l m o s t entirely d i s a p p e a r e d . T h e
general—specific structure (zeroing in o n the solution) has been a b a n d o n e d
for a series of p a r a g r a p h s t h a t discuss various topics at a p p r o x i m a t e l y
equivalent levels of detail, thus p r o d u c i n g a m o r e discursive a n d less
goal-directed text. Further, m a n y ' d a n g e r o u s ' claims have been elimi-
n a t e d ; for instance, only one of the several first-version s t a t e m e n t s a b o u t
the ' d i s a d v a n t a g e s ' of the prevailing protein recovery m e t h o d has sur-
vived. T h e r e h a s also been a considerable increase in ' h e d g i n g ' ; should
becomes could, is becomes has been suggested as possible, good solubility
becomes merely enhanced a n d so on. T h e cautiousness a n d rhetorical
diffuseness of t h e final version is neatly illustrated by the very different
closing sentence of the I n t r o d u c t i o n :
The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of HC1,
FeCl , and HC1 combined with heat, as precipitants of potato
3
protein in the laboratory, as well as under pilot plant conditions,
and to evaluate some compositional, nutritional and functional
characteristics of the protein concentrates recovered by these three
methods.
(Knorr-Cetina, 1981:165)
 120 Research articles in lin^lish
T h u s , the p r e - a n n o u n c e m e n t of a new m e t h o d has been toned d o w n t o a
c o m p a r a t i v e analysis, a n d the early e x u b e r a n c e of the p r i m a r y research-
ers has become the careful u n d e r s t a t e m e n t of a wider g r o u p . In M y e r s '
t e r m s , the level of knowledge-claim has been reduced, p e r h a p s partly in
o r d e r to limit d a m a g e t o the Institute's r e p u t a t i o n s h o u l d subsequent
w o r k go a w r y . T h r o u g h o u t , rhetorical considerations have h a d a per-
vasive role - first in reconstructing events in the l a b o r a t o r y , a n d secondly
in the long process of generating the final draft. H o w e v e r , it is n o t quite as
t h o u g h the lab notes could n o t have been built o n in a linear m a n n e r , n o r
t h a t the first version is clearly u n p u b l i s h a b l e (its m a i n a u t h o r h a d already
published 4 0 papers). R a t h e r w e seem t o see a process of technical
critique a n d social control o p e r a t i n g b o t h in the particular research
setting a n d in a wider half-imagined w o r l d of ' w h a t o t h e r scientists will
t h i n k ' . Knorr-Cetina herself offers a stronger version of this o b s e r v a t i o n :
'the published p a p e r is a multilayered hybrid co-produced by the a u t h o r s
and by m e m b e r s of the audience t o which it is directed' ( 1 9 8 1 : 1 0 6 ,
original emphasis).
Unlike the I n t r o d u c t i o n , the M e t h o d a n d M a t e r i a l s section r e m a i n e d
virtually u n c h a n g e d in succeeding full drafts except for the eventual
deletion of one or t w o statements of p u r p o s e . A sample of M e t h o d
discourse is given b e l o w :
Methods for analysis and functional properties
The standard AOAC methods (AOAC, 1975) were used for the
determination of total solids, nitrogen, crude fat, ash and vitamin
C. Total sugars were determined by the method of Potter et al.
(1968) and the total carbohydrates (in terms of glucose) were
assayed according to the procedure of Dubois et al. (1956). The
method of Kohler and Patten (1967) was followed for determining
amino acid composition.
(Knorr-Cetina, 1981:167)
T h e above text is a bald Past tense narrative with agentives realized by the
m e t h o d rather t h a n by the p r o t a g o n i s t s (the c o n t r a s t w i t h Boyle's
reporting style as described in the previous subsection is p a t e n t ) . There
are n o p r o b l e m s , n o m a t t e r s of discussion, n o questions of choice (even
t h o u g h some of the procedures involved several m o n t h s of testing a n d
modification), n o evidence of failure, a n d n o statements of rationale. T h e
contrast w i t h the M e t h o d sections in the 'soft' social sciences is also
p a t e n t . As Knorr-Cetina observes, ' c o m p a r e d with the relevant w o r k in
the l a b o r a t o r y , w h e r e the making of selections d o m i n a t e s the scene, the
p a p e r offers a curiously residual description, constituted by w h a t is not at
stake in the research (such as the b r a n d n a m e s of devices, or the origins of
a technique) t h a n by w h a t is' ( 1 9 8 1 : 1 1 5 ) . In fact, the M e t h o d sections of
RAs often seem increasingly n o t to be ' r e p o r t s ' in any n o r m a l sense;
//»<• < nmtrm liny, of irsfiin h ,nti, lr% I I
rather, they arc highly abstracted reformulations of final o u t c o m e s in
which a n e n o r m o u s a m o u n t is t a k e n for g r a n t e d .
This conclusion inevitably belies the c o m m o n belief that the p u r p o s e of
M e t h o d sections is to permit replication. As it h a p p e n s , K n o r r - C e t i n a ' s
informants - as well as n u m e r o u s others - d e n y t h a t replication is really
possible. O n one occasion, Knorr-Cetina asked w h e t h e r a r e a d e r could
w o r k o u t the reason for a n unglossed c h a n g e in m e t h o d . T h e reply she
received was as follows:
He could in principle . . . but it would require a lot of thinking.
And he would have to presuppose that I did a lot of thinking too
. . . In practice, he simply would not know.
(Knorr-Cetina, 1981:129)
A p p a r e n t l y , there are m a n y virtually indescribable m a t t e r s of technique
(which require ' k n o w - h o w ' , ' l a b o r a t o r y skills', 'a g o o d pair of h a n d s ' )
t h a t ostensibly m a k e u p m u c h of the difference in the w a y l a b o r a t o r y
events t u r n o u t .
T h e Results a n d Discussion section of the p a p e r also creates a different
reality t o t h a t observed by K n o r r - C e t i n a in the l a b o r a t o r y . In the
l a b o r a t o r y the rhetorical division into the various article sections w a s , t o
all intents a n d p u r p o s e s , non-existent. For instance, K n o r r - C e t i n a n o t e d
t h a t 'methodological c o n s t r u c t i o n s ' w e r e continuously interpreted a n d
discussed; she also found t h a t the researchers recognized t h a t m e t h o d
a n d result w e r e mutually i n t e r - d e p e n d e n t . A n d yet in the published
a c c o u n t , the M e t h o d section is a 'listing of p r o c e d u r a l f o r m u l a e ' w h e r e a s
the Results is largely t a k e n u p with s t a t e m e n t s of similarity a n d differ-
ence. Interestingly, in the rewriting of the Discussion a c o m p a r a b l e
process t o o k place t o the o n e w e have already described for the
I n t r o d u c t i o n . Evaluation w a s gradually squeezed o u t , a n d n o specu-
lations were a t t e m p t e d b e y o n d those previously a d u m b r a t e d in the
o p e n i n g section. A l t h o u g h the final version of the Discussion, e x t r a p o l a t -
ing from the described results, implicitly argues for a c h a n g e in the
existing practice of recovering p o t a t o p r o t e i n , n o longer are there any
explicit p r o p o s a l s .
In all t h e n , at the close of this c o m m e n t a r y o n a splendid b u t individual
case study, w e can carry f o r w a r d t w o m a i n empirical findings: first, we
have seen a long process of rhetorical c o n s t r u c t i o n leading to the drafting
of the first full version; secondly, an equally long process of rhetorical
reconstruction leading t o the published p a p e r . In this way we have »Wt\
o n c e again h o w the ultimate published p r o d u c t attempts to credit I
r e a d e r - e n v i r o n m e n t in w h i c h t h e tentative facts can be allowed
for themselves'. H o w e v e r , we can also see, o n some occasions ,n li i <
t h a t the creation of such a linguistic artifact is neither simple, noi I
n o r particularly n a t u r a l .
 1 2 2 R
T h e 1 9 7 9 L a t o u r a n d W o o l g a r study of the Salk Institute in California
is s o m e w h a t less concerned with rhetorical processes a n d m o r e with t h e
role of language itself in t h e scientific enterprise. They n o t e , inter alia,
t h a t t h e denizens of t h e Institute spend t h e greater p a r t of their days
m a k i n g or reviewing inscriptions: they code, m a r k , correct, read a n d
write. T h e aim of all this d o c u m e n t a r y activity is n o t t o preserve
administrative records, b u t t o m a k e c o n t r i b u t i o n s t o t h e research front in
the form of published p a p e r s :
Firstly, at the end of the day, technicians bring piles of documents
from the bench space through to the office space. In a factory we
might expect these to be reports of what has been processed and
manufactured. For members of this laboratory, however, these
documents constitute what is yet to be processed and manufactured.
Secondly, secretaries post off papers from the laboratory at an
average rate of one every ten days. However, far from being reports
of what has been produced in a factory, members take these papers
to be the product of their unusual factory.
(Latour and Woolgar, 1979:47)
Of course, this l a b o r a t o r y also p r o d u c e s other things; m o s t obviously,
small quantities of rare a n d valuable n a t u r a l a n d synthetic substances.
H o w e v e r , these are n o t sold (Latour a n d W o o l g a r estimate t h a t their
m a r k e t value w o u l d a b o u t cover t h e Institute's expenses); r a t h e r , they are
e x c h a n g e d as p a r t of v a r i o u s k i n d s of deal o r in r e t u r n for v a r i o u s k i n d s
of favor. T h u s their real value lies, as w e might n o w have c o m e t o expect,
in their potential for generating further p a p e r s .
L a t o u r a n d W o o l g a r t h e n p o i n t o u t t h a t t h e o r a l discussion in t h e
l a b o r a t o r y also is largely t a k e n u p with discussion of d o c u m e n t s : ' a l m o s t
w i t h o u t exception, every discussion a n d brief e x c h a n g e observed in t h e
l a b o r a t o r y centered a r o u n d o n e or m o r e items in t h e published literature
. . . In other w o r d s , informal exchanges invariably focused o n t h e
substance of formal c o m m u n i c a t i o n ' ( 1 9 7 9 : 5 2 ) . F o r L a t o u r a n d
W o o l g a r , then, t h e l a b o r a t o r y is constantly performing o p e r a t i o n s o n
statements; citing, b o r r o w i n g , criticizing, m a k i n g stronger or w e a k e r
knowledge-claims in respect t o p r i o r statements. In a d d i t i o n , ' m e m b e r s
of o u r l a b o r a t o r y regularly noticed h o w their o w n assertions w e r e
rejected, b o r r o w e d , q u o t e d , ignored, confirmed o r dissolved by o t h e r s '
( 1 9 7 9 : 8 7 ) . Therefore, for L a t o u r a n d W o o l g a r t h e l a b o r a t o r y is n o
longer so m u c h in c o n f r o n t a t i o n with recalcitrant nature, b u t in o p e n
competition w i t h other research g r o u p s . H o w e v e r , these k i n d s of argu-
m e n t lead t h e m t o a d o p t t h e e x t r e m e subjectivist position t h a t reality is
the o u t c o m e of t h e settlement of a dispute, t h a t facts a r e always
constructed, a n d t h a t — at least by implication — substances, physical
m e c h a n i s m s a n d so o n d o n o t exist until they h a v e been identified.
Tht constructing of rtnarcb articlts 123^
Naturally e n o u g h this view h a s been challenged. Bazerman (1980) in
particular h a s observed that laboratory life conflates fact with s t a t e m e n t
of fact. T h e d o c u m e n t a r y w o r l d of L a t o u r a n d W o o l g a r r a t h e r con-
veniently ignores t h e real substances (and animals) left b e h i n d as descrip-
tion moves progressively f o r w a r d from r a w d a t a t o t h e Results sections
of papers. In t h e e n d , e x p e r i m e n t a l r e p o r t i n g in science is n o t a collective
flight of t h e i m a g i n a t i o n , n o r a mere m a t t e r of s h o o t i n g d o w n t h e
o p p o s i t i o n , b u t is tethered, h o w e v e r t e n u o u s l y a n d obliquely, t o a n
experiential w o r l d of substance.
In contrast t o the t w o o t h e r b o o k s , Gilbert a n d M u l k a y (1984) offer an
analysis of t h e various ways in which a m a j o r controversy in b i o -
chemistry is described a n d discussed by t h e leading p r o t a g o n i s t s . T h e
a c c o u n t i n g for 'the facts' seems t o vary a l o n g t w o major d i m e n s i o n s . T h e
first relates t o w h e r e a particular researcher s t a n d s vis-a-vis t h e currently
fashionable position. M o r e specifically, Gilbert a n d M u l k a y a r e able t o
s h o w t h e tension between a need t o recognize good w o r k by others -
h o w e v e r u n p a l a t a b l e - a n d a need o n t h e researcher's behalf t o protect
his o r her 'investment' in time, e q u i p m e n t , m o n e y , effort a n d k u d o s . T h e
second major variation in a c c o u n t i n g relates t o public a n d private
s t a t e m e n t - m o r e specifically t o the difference between w h a t is said in
formal published p a p e r s a n d w h a t is said in informal interviews with t h e
t w o sociologists. T h u s , Gilbert a n d M u l k a y argue t h a t t h e o r d e r e d
variability of scientific discourse can be explained by recognizing t h e
existence of t w o repertoires: t h e empiricist a n d t h e contingent. The
former is typically used in the research literature:
As we have seen, in research papers experimental data tend to be
given chronological as well as logical priority. Neither the author's
own involvement with or commitment to a particular analytic
position nor his social ties with those whose work he favors are
mentioned. Laboratory work is characterized in a highly con-
ventionalized manner, as instances of impersonal, procedural
routines which are generally applicable and universally effective.
Although the content of experimental papers clearly depends on
the experimenters' actions and judgments, such papers are over-
whelmingly written in an impersonal style, with overt references to
the author's actions and judgments kept to the minimum. By
adopting these kinds of linguistic features, authors construct texts
in which the physical world seems regularly to speak, and
sometimes to act, for itself. Empiricist discourse is organized in a
manner which denies its character as an interpretative product and
which denies that its author's actions are relevant to its content.
(Gilbert and Mulkay, 1984:56)
This depiction of t h e empiricist repertoire h a s , o n t h e o n e h a n d , much 111
c o m m o n w i t h K n o r r - C e t i n a ' s description of t h e R A p r o d u c t , wlnli
 124 Research articles in i.nglish Thi constructing of research articles 125

the other, it contrasts sharply with the a c c o u n t s t h a t scientists p r o d u c e k n o w , language is always relatable to c o n t e x t , a n d we w o u l d therefore
w h e n they discuss their w o r k informally. In interviews, a contingent expect t h a t o t h e r settings w o u l d give rise t o additional repertoires.
repertoire w a s manifest in w h i c h the impact of a range of factors not Indeed, M u l k a y has gone o n t o d o this by considering o t h e r genres such
directly concerned with the w o r l d of biochemical p h e n o m e n a w a s as scientific c o r r e s p o n d e n c e a n d N o b e l Prize speeches ( M u l k a y , 1985).
admitted. In interviews 'scientists presented their actions a n d beliefs as
A n o t h e r problem is t h a t , as Gilbert and M u l k a y observe b u t L a t o u r a n d
heavily d e p e n d e n t o n speculative insights, prior intellectual c o m m i t -
W o o l g a r d o not, eventually 'the truth will o u t ' ; for instance, the
ments, personal characteristics, indescribable skills, social ties and g r o u p
relevant discourse c o m m u n i t i e s will eventually agree t h a t 'cold fusion'
membership' (1984:56).
does or does not occur. A third is t h a t sociologists of science not
Further, Gilbert a n d M u l k a y engagingly d e m o n s t r a t e t h a t o n e k i n d of unnaturally need for the g r o w t h of their discipline to find - a n d p e r h a p s
h u m o r in the research w o r l d depends o n playing off o n e repertoire stress - sociological aspects of b o t h the processes a n d p r o d u c t s of h a r d
against the other, a locus classicus being those lists p i n n e d o n research
science e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n . T h u s , the accounts we have m a y n o t them-
s t u d e n t s ' walls which contrast w h a t is written with w h a t 'really' h a p -
selves be i m m u n e t o the e n c r o a c h m e n t of contingent elements; w e have
pened. A version p e r h a p s a p p r o p r i a t e for readers of this b o o k is given in
yet to have in this area an e t h n o g r a p h y of an e t h n o g r a p h y (cf. Lury,
Figure 6.
1982).
Despite these m i n o r caveats, the three m a j o r studies reviewed in this
section indicate in their slightly different w a y s the strength of the
Empiricist Contingent genre-specific conventions t h a t constrain a n d shape the research article.
A sample of 139 reprint requests My own and Bob's down the Consequently, a n d despite a p p e a r a n c e s t o the c o n t r a r y , we find ourselves
was assembled. corridor. far a w a y from a w o r l d in which it is expected t h a t researchers will 'tell it
as it h a p p e n e d ' . Despite the conventional sectioning of the research
The return rate was only 34%. Actually a bit higher but two article, we are far a w a y from a w o r l d in which the research itself is
forms were returned about a
c o m p a r a b l y c o m p a r t m e n t a l i z e d . Despite an objective 'empiricist' reper-
year later, long after I had done
the analysis. toire, we are far a w a y from a w o r l d in w h i c h p o w e r , allegiance a n d
self-esteem play n o p a r t , however m u c h they m a y seem absent from the
An intermediate group of We were already teaching them. frigid surface of RA discourse. A n d yet w e find the research article, this
students was chosen as key p r o d u c t of the k n o w l e d g e - m a n u f a c t u r i n g industry, t o be a r e m a r k -
especially suitable.
able p h e n o m e n o n , so cunningly engineered by rhetorical m a c h i n i n g t h a t
There is evidence that NNS At least some of mine either it s o m e h o w still gives a n impression of being b u t a simple description of
graduate students are concerned panicked or indulged in relatively u n t r a n s m u t e d r a w material.
about academic avoidance strategies. T h e r e is one other kind of rhetorical t r a n s f o r m a t i o n t h a t needs to be
correspondence. considered at this j u n c t u r e : the translation of the RA into various k i n d s
Short introductions were used for I wanted to be able to spread out of m o r e p o p u l a r a c c o u n t . D u b o i s (1986) has traced the process w h e r e b y
the preliminary analysis. single-page texts. articles in journals like the New England Journal of Medicine (which w e
It has long been known that... have already met at the outset of Part III) a p p e a r as news items in local
I haven't been able to remember
papers t h r o u g h the mediation of science journalists w o r k i n g for the
where I read it.
Associated Press wire service. As might be expected, the very clear
differences in anticipated audience have p r o f o u n d rhetorical effects. N o t
Figure 6 The two repertoires only d o wc find expected changes such as the removal of jargon a n d the
diminution of qualification, b u t the structure of the medical news item
takes o n the organizational form of journalistic genres. T h e main
T h e Gilbert a n d M u l k a y study is itself artificially restricted (Halfpenny, conclusions n o w occur in the o p e n i n g sentences, while s u m m a r i e s of
1988) since the division into just t w o repertoires is a direct consequence m e t h o d are placed at the end (where they m a y be cut by local editors
of the dual n a t u r e of their investigation: formal papers a n d semi- w i t h o u t causing the story as a w h o l e t o lose coherence). Further,
structured informal interviews. H o w e v e r , as linguists a n d rhetoricians 'publication of the scientific article is t r e a t e d itself as a n e w s event, with
 126 Research articles in English
the result t h a t t h e status of t h e scientific information m a y a p p e a r t o be
elevated t o t h a t of unalterable fact' ( D u b o i s , 1986:243).
Fahnestock (1986) h a s also studied ' t h e fate of scientific observations
as they pass from original research reports intended for scientific peers
into p o p u l a r a c c o u n t s a i m e d a t a general a u d i e n c e ' ( 1 9 8 6 : 2 7 5 ) . She again
traces translation into o r d i n a r y language, loss of careful qualification a n d
a greater concern t o c a p t u r e h u m a n interest. She also observes:
With a significant change in rhetorical situation comes a change in
genre, and instead of simply reporting facts for a different
audience, scientific accommodations are overwhelmingly
epideictic: their main purpose is to celebrate rather than validate.
And furthermore they must usually be explicit in their claims about
the value of the scientific discoveries they pass along. They cannot
rely on the audience to recognize the significance of information.
(Fahnestock, 1 9 8 6 : 2 7 8 - 9 )
Fahnestock's genre shift is dramatically underlined by M y e r s (forth-
coming), for he is able t o establish major differences between original
versions a n d their a p p e a r a n c e in such prestigious science magazines as
Scientific American a n d New Scientist — periodicals of course often
believed by English teachers t o represent c o n t e m p o r a r y scientific writing.
M y e r s argues t h a t t h e p o p u l a r i z a t i o n s tell a different story a n d h a v e a
different view of science t o t h e originals:
These two views of science are apparent in textual differences in
narrative structure, in syntax, and in vocabulary. The professional
articles I study create what I call a narrative of science: they follow
the argument of the scientist, arrange time into a parallel series of
simultaneous events all supporting their claim, and emphasize in
their syntax and vocabulary the conceptual structure of the
discipline. The popularizing articles, on the other hand, present a
sequential narrative of nature in which the plant or animal, not the
scientific activity, is the subject, the narrative is chronological, and
the syntax and vocabulary emphasize the externality of nature to
scientific practices.
(Myers, forthcoming: 1-2)
M y e r s then goes o n t o s h o w h o w this d i c h o t o m y w o r k s its w a y t h r o u g h
differences in titles, abstracts, overall o r g a n i z a t i o n , i n t r o d u c t i o n s a n d
illustrative material.
T h e r e a r e a n u m b e r of pedagogical messages t o be d r a w n from this
review of w h a t w e k n o w a b o u t t h e processes of c o n s t r u c t i n g ( a n d
reconstructing) research articles. For e x a m p l e , t h e findings of D u b o i s ,
F a h n e s t o c k a n d M y e r s strongly suggest t h a t w e need t o be a w a r e of w h a t
w e a r e d o i n g if w e are t o i n t r o d u c e texts of t h e Scientific American type
into o u r classes. W e need t o recognize t h a t they constitute a different
Textual overview of the research article 127
genre t o the original RAs from which they derive. While, as F a h n e s t o c k
(1986) argues, there m a y be a place for engaging students in exercises of
technical journalism of this kind, they m u s t be recognized as such a n d n o t
seen a s helping s t u d e n t s t o enter p r i m a r y discourse c o m m u n i t i e s of
researchers. Indeed, there m a y be gain in getting students t o test o u t
M y e r s ' t w o narratives p r o p o s a l s with material from their field o r t o
follow controversies t h a t arise from t h e over-simplifications of original
conclusions.
O t h e r easily c o m m u n i c a b l e messages include t h e sheer i m p o r t a n c e of
the writing aspect of research activity, its rhetorical complexity even
within well-established genres, a n d t h e often e l a b o r a t e n a t u r e of t h e
revision process. M a n y of t h e longer q u o t e s cited in this subsection a r e
directly suitable for discussion, c o m p a r i s o n , analysis a n d m a t c h i n g tasks,
as I a t t e m p t e d t o s h o w in Swales 1 9 8 7 b .
7.3 Textual overview of the research article
T h e immediately preceding section offered several case histories of
the processes w h e r e b y research articles get constructed. T h e s e case
histories m a y in fact be s o m e w h a t one-sided in t h a t they consistently
p o i n t t o t h e l o n g - d r a w n - o u t a n d c o m p l e x n a t u r e of these processes.
Unfortunately I d o n o t k n o w of studies w h i c h d o c u m e n t instances w h e r e
RAs w e r e ' d a s h e d off, even t h o u g h t h e very high productivity of certain
researchers w o u l d indicate t h a t such instances very p r o b a b l y o c c u r a n d
recur. Perhaps all w e can conclude a t t h e p r e s e n t time is t h a t it w o u l d be
e r r o n e o u s t o assume t h a t the writing of a RA is necessarily a straight-
f o r w a r d task even for full a n d established m e m b e r s of discourse c o m m u -
nities.
T h e reason for disassociating process a n d p r o d u c t is e n c a p s u l a t e d in
M u r r a y ' s celebrated d i c t u m t h a t 'process c a n n o t be inferred from
p r o d u c t a n y m o r e t h a n a pig can be inferred from a sausage' ( M u r r a y ,
1 9 8 2 : 1 8 ) . H o w e v e r , while t h e a d m o n i t o r y strength of this is obvious
e n o u g h for those w h o w o u l d study t h e w a y s a n d m e a n s of t h e c o m -
positional process, t h e analogy does n o t affect t h e fact t h a t t h e w o r l d
itself evaluates the end p r o d u c t . T h e sausage succeeds or fails o n its o w n
merits. Although there m a y well be some correlation between t h e quality
of t h e materials (plus t h e time a n d care given t o their processing) a n d the
acceptability of t h e o u t c o m e , t h e c o n s u m e r m a k e s a j u d g m e n t on the
thing itself. Similarly, editors a n d reviewers evaluate t h e p r o d u c t they
receive, a n d d o n o t encourage a c c o m p a n y i n g accounts of h o w lon|
h o w agonizing t h e construction processes were. In the RA grim ilii
a m o u n t of effort is ultimately d e e m e d n o t material, as it is Nimiltiilv
d e e m e d in a b o o k like this. This is n o t t o say, of course, th;ii in.ni. • . m
 128 Research articles in English
a l w a y s of an o p e n o r s h u t character. W e m a y , w i t h varying degrees of
formality, distribute or even s u b m i t drafts for c o m m e n t - as the prefaces
t o this a n d m a n y other b o o k s signify - b u t these are subsequently viewed
by their recipients as being drafts a n d treated accordingly. A c c o m p a n y -
ing c o m m e n t a r y will tend t o refer t o the draft as being ' r o u g h ' or
' i n c o m p l e t e ' rather t h a n refer t o the a m o u n t of time or effort e x p e n d e d .
At the end of the day, it is t h e p r o d u c t t h a t c o u n t s .
I believe t h a t sections 7.1 a n d 7.2 should have convinced m a n y t h a t
the R A is anything b u t a simple genre. It is thus quite surprising t o find
t h a t there have been very few a t t e m p t s t o define a n a p p r o p r i a t e p r o c e d u -
ral m e t h o d o l o g y for a p p r o a c h i n g texts of this k i n d (unlike in s p o k e n
discourse, e.g. Ellis a n d D o n o h u e , 1 9 8 6 ; Potter a n d Wetherell, 1 9 8 7 ) .
T h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t set of p r o p o s a l s is p r o b a b l y t h a t of Bley-Vroman
a n d Selinker (1984) in which they a d v o c a t e the following five-step
a p p r o a c h t o ' a n o p t i m u m research strategy':
1. Practical problem areas and current tools
2. 'Quick and dirty' analysis
3. Explicit initial assumptions
4. Highly-valued texts
5. Subject-specialist informants
(Bley-Vroman and Selinker, March 1984:4)
As far as I am a w a r e , the first three steps have received general assent. In
Step 1 Bley-Vroman a n d Selinker a d v o c a t e t h a t research in the g r a m -
matical/rhetorical tradition - as pertaining to academic genres - should
be g r o u n d e d in a perceived inadequacy in e x t a n t teaching materials, in a
perceived dissatisfaction w i t h c u r r e n t m e t h o d s of applied discourse
analysis, or in a perceived dissatisfaction with o u r state of k n o w l e d g e of a
student-relevant text type. U n d e r Step 2 they r e c o m m e n d a r o u g h - a n d -
ready survey of relevant texts in o r d e r t o ascertain t h e incipient p r o b l e m s
of p r o c e d u r e , sampling, text-division a n d so o n . For Step 3 they state t h a t
it is necessary 'to establish a n d explicitly state the initial series of
a s s u m p t i o n s which will guide the researcher studying the unit in the
text(s) u n d e r o b s e r v a t i o n ' (January 1984:2) — a n d this concern for
validating a s s u m p t i o n s is b o t h emphasized a n d e x t e n d e d in C r o o k e s
( 1 9 8 6 a ) . So far so g o o d .
H o w e v e r , Bley-Vroman a n d Selinker then suggest in Step 4 t h a t the
analytic w o r k be limited to an a p p a r e n t l y restricted n u m b e r of 'highly-
v a l u e d ' texts that can be established - by inquiry, interview a n d so o n -
as central to a given field, either by virtue of content or by virtue of form.
T h e r e are, I believe, a n u m b e r of difficulties w i t h this n o t i o n . First,
i m p o r t a n t papers may often be written by powerful luminaries w h o are
consequently able to ride r o u g h - s h o d over m a n y of the accepted linguistic
a n d rhetorical conventions in their given field; A r d (1983), for instance,
Textual overview of the research article 129
h.is pointed out tli.it C h o m s k y ' s later writings (written when he had
already achieved a considerable degree of fame) display very m u c h
greater use of first person p r o n o u n s t h a n his early publications. T h e r e -
fore, there is a very real d a n g e r t h a t the ' c o n t e n t ' version of a highly-
valued text m a y be stylistically atypical, thus offering a misleading
role-model to those trying to e m b a r k u p o n a career as research writers.
A p p a r e n t l y , Bley-Vroman a n d Selinker t a k e ' f o r m ' in the s o m e w h a t
abstract sense of referring to s t a n d a r d ' a r g u m e n t ' or representative
rhetorical o r g a n i z a t i o n . H o w e v e r , as the t w o a u t h o r s n o w h e r e m a k e any
reference to corpus-building o r establishing a representative s a m p l e , this
m e t h o d of ascribing 'high value' seems p r o n e t o circularity. After all, w e
d o n o t k n o w w h a t a m o d e l in t e r m s of ' f o r m ' m a y be unless a n d until
s o m e survey has established t h a t a p a r t i c u l a r text is generally representa-
tive of e x e m p l a r s of the genre. It seems to me t h a t the concept of
highly-valued texts m a y have considerable significance in studies t h a t
trace the intellectual a n d / o r rhetorical history of an a r e a ; h o w e v e r , in o u r
a t t e m p t s to develop genre-specific skills a m o n g apprentices w e m a y d o
better t o o p e r a t e o n a n d with texts t h a t are n o t e x t r a o r d i n a r y by virtue of
i m p o r t , a u t h o r s h i p or whatever, for then they are m o r e likely t o be
prototypical exemplars.
Step 5 , eliciting the help of a specialist i n f o r m a n t in text-selection,
category-establishment a n d interpretation, offers at first sight a con-
vincing w a y o u t of the subjectivist d i l e m m a . H o w e v e r , if we are to give
credence t o the findings of Gilbert a n d M u l k a y a n d others w e have to
recognize t h a t discussions with specialist informants m a y fall squarely
within the contingent repertoire. T h o s e discussions will hence be subject
t o all the subjective features of personality, allegiance, status a n d so o n
t h a t this repertoire exhibits. A l t h o u g h Selinker (personal c o m m u n i -
cation) is clearly right to point o u t t h a t w i t h o u t specialist informants
genre analysts m a y be in d a n g e r of ' n o t k n o w i n g w h a t they d o n ' t k n o w ' ,
over-reliance o n specialist informants m a y invite the opposite d a n g e r of
analysts 'believing all t h a t they h e a r ' . F u r t h e r p r o b l e m s are t h a t specialist
i n f o r m a n t w o r k can be very t i m e - c o n s u m i n g (Huckin a n d Olsen, 1984),
a n d t h a t it raises uncertainty w h e n c o m p a r i n g RAs from different
disciplines (where instability is inevitably created by relying o n different
i n f o r m a n t s for each discipline). W e might conclude, t h e n , t h a t the role of
the subject specialist i n f o r m a n t in RA genre analysis remains, given the
current levels of evaluated experience, s o m e w h a t controversial. Certainly
the evidence is mixed. T h e r e is at least o n e purely textual study that has
been subsequently confirmed by re-analyzing the d a t a with the aid of a
specialist i n f o r m a n t (Selinker, T a r o n e a n d Hanzeli, 1 9 8 1 : 5 2 ) ; a n d yet
there m u s t be m y r i a d instances of language specialists ' m i s r e a d i n g '
specialized texts w h e n w o r k i n g on their o w n . Even m o r e confusingly,
there is o n e case (Huckin a n d Olsen, 1984) in which the original a u t h o r
 UxtMl ovitvitw of tht mtarch articlt 131

TABU). O V K H V . E W O F T H E T E X T U A L I T U D I E I O F T H E E N G L I S H RA
offered a rather different interpretation of his text t o that provided by the
subject specialist i n f o r m a n t in Selinker (1979).
a) The RA as a whole
If there are discernible figures in this carpet they w o u l d suggest the
following. Firstly, there is always a partial a n d supportive role for the Feature(s) c lorpus F ield(s)
Author(s) I Date no. of RAs)
specialist informant: useful for certain types of analysis, for certain parts (>

of texts, for testing formulated hypotheses a n d findings. Secondly, the * engineering

general need for a specialist i n f o r m a n t m a y be in inverse p r o p o r t i o n to Lackstrom et 1972 tense, etc.
the degree of relevant experience possessed by the genre analyst. Thirdly, al.
paragraph * science and
there is a strong suggestion in the literature t h a t the value of specialist L-aCKaLEUll* ti
1973
e ngineering
development and
informants increases w h e n they are n o t only conceived of as sources of al.
tense
information a n d insight, b u t also as objects of e t h n o g r a p h i c study
1978 types of lexis 40 i ange/
themselves as they negotiate textual material within their o w n environ-
inman i indifferentiated
ments (Pettinari, 1 9 8 2 ; Bhatia, 1 9 8 3 ; Z u m r a w i , 1 9 8 4 ; H u c k i n , 1 9 8 7 ) . It
modals 1general science
remains the case, however, t h a t the field still lacks effective studies t h a t Lackstrom 1978
modals 18 range/
evaluate the use of informants in terms of the trade-off between the 1979
r e w a r d s of 'behind the scenes' insight a n d professional confirmation, a n d Ewer undifferentiated
the penalties of extra time a n d n a r r o w e d scope. that-nomma\s 15 biological
W p c t 1980
W CM
science
T h e literature t h a t explores the textual properties of RAs is quite
voice 2 astrophysics
extensive. M o r e o v e r , there is considerable variation a m o n g s t the p a p e r s Tarone et al. 1981
in the scale of research, in the level of analysis (from the straight c o u n t i n g voice and clause * *
Tl nV m lin
I 1 111
1981
of surface linguistic features to the search for underlying structure), a n d verb forms 5 medicine
Wingard 1981
in the methodological a n d linguistic a p p r o a c h e s devised or d r a w n u p o n . * *
1982 tense and aspect
Useful p a r t characterizations of this variety are provided by W i d d o w s o n Ard
definitions *
(1979) and Jarvis (1983). In fact, some of this research a t t e m p t s to D arian 1982
1 J c* 1 I t t l '
NP-development 5 zoology
describe scientific writing in general: research articles, t e x t b o o k s , specia- Dubois 1982
lized reports, a n d sometimes various kinds of scientific journalism. T h o s e tense 16 plant pathology
—
i i i n 11 \\ 1982
investigations t h a t have conflated genres in such a w a y t h a t information nesioi 1 psychology
1982 , f^structur^ *
specific to the RA is irreconstructible will n o t be considered further in this Hill et al. *
Ard 1982 \ personal pronouns
section. This m a y seem arbitrarily dismissive, b u t I believe it is a n o t 9 geotechnical
u n r e a s o n a b l e position t o a d o p t in a b o o k w h o s e major premise is that 198: \ tense
engineering
genre differentiation provides the o p e n i n g strategy in elucidating the medicine
198' \ authorial comment 6
characteristics of recurring a n d regularized c o m m u n i c a t i v e events. Some Adams Smith
1 engineering
of the m o r e i m p o r t a n t pieces of w o r k t h a t have been 'lost' in this w a y are Stanley 198' \ Gtructurcb
60 (paras) agriculture/
Barber (1962), H u d d l e s t o n (1971), Selinker et al. (1976) a n d a series of 198' 4 paragraph
articles on lexis such as Salager (1983). development botany/
engineering
Because of the complexity of the remaining literature, I will first offer a
6 medicine
s u m m a r y overall listing of studies before discussing detailed findings. AHams Smith
i l U C4 X L A <J ^ i » * • ». - -
198 7 variation
6 literary research
T h u s , in Table 3 the studies are principally a r r a n g e d by coverage - all of Jacoby 198 7 citation patterns
the RA or one or m o r e of its p a r t s - a n d secondarily by m a i n feature 20 medicine
Malcolm 198 7 tense
selected for study (tense, voice, etc.). Under the latter h e a d i n g I have used 35 range/
Popken 198;7 topic sentences
the cover-term ' s t r u c t u r e ' to e n c o m p a s s investigations t h a t deal with a differentiated
wide variety of patterns of rhetorical, informational a n d c o n c e p t u a l 2 economics
Tinberg 19*!8 variation
organization. I have also tried to s h o w wherever possible b o t h the size of
c o r p u s a n d the discipline or disciplines covered, the asterisks indicating
 TTZ Kc\r,ii< h ,;///, /, •. I n^h\h
iiwtit.il ornnnr <>/ Ihr leseauh arlu If III

TABLE . O V E R V I E W O F T H E T E X T U A L S T U D I E S O F T H E E N G L I S H RA
3
observations on Table 3 may be useful. In s o m e of the studies, there are
b) Introductions c o m p a r i s o n s between genres, such as Heslot's study of e x p e r i m e n t a l a n d
review articles or A d a m s Smith's 1 9 8 7 search for differences a n d
Autbor(s) Date Feature(s) Corpus similarities between original RAs a n d their p o p u l a r i z a t i o n . Typically, I
Field(s)
(no. of RAs) have excluded the d a t a t h a t is less prototypical of the RA. Secondly, it is
easy t o see t h a t some fields are m u c h less well represented t h a n o t h e r s ; for
Hepworth 1979 ^structure) e x a m p l e , there is very little o n disciplines such as e c o n o m i c s a n d
Oster 1981 tense 2 sociology. T h i r d , I have n o t t h o u g h t it w o r t h w h i l e to i n c o r p o r a t e in
engineering
Swales 1981 ^structure^)etc. 48 T a b l e 3 p a p e r s t h a t have already been quite extensively discussed for
range/
o t h e r p u r p o s e s (Bazerman, 1 9 8 4 a ; H u c k i n , 1987), a l t h o u g h relevant
differentiated
Trimble and 1982 tense aspects of these fine studies will n o t be neglected. Finally, the listed p a p e r s
science/
Trimble vary considerably in their analytic perspective. Bruce, D u b o i s , Weissberg
engineering
/ S. a n d W o o d have been influenced by the Functional Sentence Perspective
Zappen 1983 (structure) engineering of the Prague school; Stanley a n d J a c o b y by the Clause Relations of
Kinay et al. 1983 concluding 50 range/ W i n t e r (e.g. W i n t e r , 1 9 8 6 ) ; a n d O s t e r , T a r o n e a n d others by the
sentences differentiated Rhetorical-Grammatical Approach associated with L a c k s t r o m , Selinker
Cooper 1985 structure 15 electronics a n d T r i m b l e . A n u m b e r of o t h e r studies have a t t e m p t e d t o develop an
Hopkins 1985 structure 5 analysis which reflects the characteristics of the genre itself - a p o s t u r e
agriculture
engineering already r e c o m m e n d e d m o r e t h a n once in this volume.
Crookes 1986 structure 24(96) range/ A n u m b e r of p a p e r s have a t t e m p t e d an a c c o u n t of the c o n c e p t u a l
differentiated m a c r o s t r u c t u r e of the research article: Stanley (1984) p r o p o s e s a
Swales and 1 1987 results statements 110 physics/ p r o b l e m - s o l u t i o n structure, Bruce (1983) suggests t h a t t h e Intro-
Najjar educational duction-Method—Results—Discussion format follows the logical cycle of
psychology inductive inquiry, a n d H u t c h i n s (1977) offers for the RA a modification
c) Methods and Results of Kinneavy's cycle of Dogma-Dissonance-Crisis-Search-New Model
Wood 1 982 (Kinneavy, 1 9 7 1 ) . H o w e v e r , little textual evidence is p u t f o r w a r d t o
structure 10 chemistry justify such configurations a n d , as the previous section has m a d e clear,
Bruce 1 983 structure *
medicine there can often be considerable distance between research actuality a n d
its formal presentation. Perhaps then a m o r e m a n a g e a b l e starting-point
d) Discussions
for a discussion of shape of m a c r o s t r u c t u r e is the hour-glass d i a g r a m
Belanger 1 982 structure 10 neuroscience (Figure 7) p r o p o s e d by Hill et al.
McKinlay 1 984 structure 30 medicine A l t h o u g h this schematic d i a g r a m is a p p a r e n t l y derived from but a
Peng 1 987 structure 10 single p a p e r in psychology - a n d one with a n off-beat content at t h a t - it
chemical
engineering intuitively accords with m u c h of the discussion in the previous t w o
Hopkins and l!388 structure 12 ranee/ sections. As the a u t h o r s say, 'research p a p e r s m a k e the transition from
Dudley-Evans differentiated the general field or c o n t e x t of the e x p e r i m e n t to the specific e x p e r i m e n t
by describing a n i n a d e q u a c y in previous research t h a t motivates the
present e x p e r i m e n t ' ( 1 9 8 2 : 3 3 5 ) . T h e M e t h o d a n d Results sections (sub-
s u m e d u n d e r Procedure in Figure 7 overleaf) then continue along a
t h a t information is not available. T h e use of ' r a n g e ' in the final c o l u m n n a r r o w , particularized p a t h , whilst the Discussion section mirror-images
refers t o a spread of fields or disciplines; the range m a y be undiffer- the I n t r o d u c t i o n by m o v i n g from specific findings to wider implications.
entiated (i.e. the findings are consolidated) or differentiated (i.e. similari-
T h e findings of West (1980) a n d Heslot (1982) can n o w be fitted into
ties a n d differences between fields can be traced).
this scheme. West studied the occurrence across sections of r / ? ^ - n o m i n a l s
Before we e x a m i n e some of the m o r e interesting findings, a few general
(elements of the type in italics in the following e x a m p l e sentence): ' W e
 Textual overview of the research article 135

makes claims about other statements and consequently has almost

genornl no that-nominal constructions.
(West, 1 9 8 0 : 4 8 6 - 7 )
Introduction
Of course, c o m m e n t i n g o n the w o r k of others can be expressed by a
variety of syntactic devices other t h a n t h a t - n o m i n a l s (West himself
particular m e n t i o n s the infinitive), a n d at this stage w e might not w a n t t o accept t o o
readily W e s t ' s descriptions of the purposes of the various RA sections;
nevertheless, the statistical differences in r e g a r d t o this linguistic feature
are b o t h striking a n d indicative.
Procedure
Heslot (1982), in a useful p a p e r , e x a m i n e s tense, voice a n d ' p e r s o n
m a r k e r s ' across the four sections in 16 R A s from the j o u r n a l Phyto-
pathology. Again the distributions are highly significant (percentages
have been r o u n d e d w h e r e not 0.5).
particular

TABLE 4 . T E N S E A N D V O I C E PER S E C T I O N IN I 6 RAS (after Heslot)

Discussion

/ M R D
% % % %
general

Simple Present 48.5 4.0 6.0 48.5

Figure 7 Overall organization of the research paper (Hill et al., 1 9 8 2 ) . 94.0 94.0 39.0
Simple Past 35.0
Active 67.0 17.0 72.0 83.5

have s h o w n that genres have considerable generative power'. H e found

3 0 6 such structures in the 15 biology RAs he e x a m i n e d . As might be
expected, they w e r e distributed differently across the I n t r o d u c t i o n -
M e t h o d - R e s u l t s - D i s c u s s i o n (IMRD) s t r u c t u r e ; very rare in M e t h o d s ,
fairly u n c o m m o n in Results, frequent in Discussions a n d most frequent in
I n t r o d u c t i o n s . H e provides the following e x p l a n a t o r y c o m m e n t :
Because that-nominalization relegates statements to secondary
positions in other statements, that-nominals are used when making
claims about other statements rather than simply making state-
ments. The Introduction section, as the rhetorical section that
motivates the study, normally includes a review of previous
research. The fact that a primary function of the Introduction
section is to make claims about statements from other research
accounts for the high density of that-nominal constructions.
Similarly, the Discussion section, as the rhetorical section whose
primary function is to explain the statistical findings in non-
statistical English, makes many claims about the research findings
and therefore contains many thar-nominals. The Results section,
which describes the process of manipulating the data obtained
from the Methods section and makes only limited claims about the
statistical tests, has fewer that-nominals. The Methods section,
which simply describes the process of obtaining the data, rarely
Both the p r o c e d u r a l M a n d R sections in this s a m p l e are a l m o s t
exclusively 'past', but the former strongly favors the passive w h e r e a s the
latter equally strongly favors the active. T h e I a n d D sections are similar
in s h o w i n g a smallish p r e p o n d e r a n c e for the present a n d in having
c o m b i n e d percentages for the t w o m a i n tenses in the 8 0 - 9 0 % range (as
o p p o s e d to 9 8 - 1 0 0 % for M and R), t h u s suggesting t h a t o t h e r verb
forms, such as the Present Perfect a n d m o d a l complications, t e n d t o occur
principally in these t w o sections.
Heslot also c o m m e n t s t h a t first person forms did not occur in M and R,
b u t did so in I a n d D , a l t h o u g h she does n o t give any figures. This finding
conflicts with t h a t of T a r o n e et al. (1981) w h o s h o w e d that we was
widely distributed across the (more complicated) sectioning of t w o
astrophysics RAs - indeed, if a n y t h i n g , it o c c u r r e d less frequently in the
o p e n i n g a n d closing sections. If there is a simple explanation lot tliii
a n o m a l y , it m a y lie in the fact t h a t astrophysics papers have no ohv lj
p r o c e d u r a l sections b u t largely consist in descriptions of and argUfl
for an increasingly refined set of e q u a t i o n s t o account for astroph) li >l
phenomena.
Leaving aside the T a r o n e results, further s u p p o r t for the I'MHIKIIIM
 Introduction! 137
136 Research articles in English

conclusion t h a t the different sections perform different rhetorical

functions a n d thus require different linguistic resources t o realize those M R D
Feature /
functions is provided by A d a m s Smith, w h o investigated ' a u t h o r ' s
c o m m e n t ' in (amongst other genres) six medical research p a p e r s . T h e narrow narrow inside-out
Movement outside-in
relevant p a r t of her figures is given in T a b l e 5 below.
(Hill et al.)
high very low low high
T A B L E 5 . I N S T A N C E S OF A U T H O R ' S C O M M E N T PER RA S E C T I O N
Reporting
(simplified from Adams Smith, 1984) statements
(West)
Instances of Comment/ high low low high
Present Tense
author's comment No. of lines line ratio (Heslot)
fairly low very high very high fairly low
1 58 173 1:3 Past Tense
M and R 18 385 1:21 (Heslot)
D 202 436 1:2,2 high variable variable
Passive Voice low
(Heslot)
high very low very low high
Again we see a m a r k e d contrast between I a n d D o n the o n e h a n d , a n d M Authorial
a n d R o n the o t h e r ; in this particular case a difference close to an o r d e r of comment
m a g n i t u d e . According to A d a m s Smith, the m a i n w a y in w h i c h I- a n d (Adams Smith)
D-clustered authorial c o m m e n t is introduced is by m o d a l auxiliaries, of
which may and then should are the most frequent. (In A d a m s Smith's
sample can is rare, although H u d d l e s t o n (1971) r e m a r k s t h a t it is
Figure 8 Features across the IMRD sections
c o m m o n in physical science papers.) In fact, modality accounted for
a b o u t half of the instances of comment, the other half being expressed by
adverbs a n d adjectives of 'probability' such as possible, certainly, a n d so t o indicate o n e o r t w o linguistic a n d functional features t h a t o c c u r very
o n ( a b o u t 1 5 % ) a n d by a wide range of 'attitudinal m a r k e r s ' (the rarely, if at all, in any section of a R A . Progressive or c o n t i n u o u s forms
remaining 3 5 % ) such as adverbs like surprisingly, m a r k e d choice of n o u n are extremely rare (Barber, 1 9 6 2 ; W i n g a r d , 1 9 8 1 ) . Second person
(view v. hypothesis), switch to first person, a n d u n u s u a l use of m e t a p h o r p r o n o u n forms are absent (in contrast t o t e x t b o o k s ) , except for t h e occa-
or analogy. Functionally, by far the m o s t c o m m o n type of a u t h o r i a l sional imperative verb in c o m m e n t s o n non-verbal d a t a or in footnotes.
c o m m e n t in the six RAs in the sample is epistemic, t h a t is, relating to the Explicit definitions (again unlike t e x t b o o k s ) are very rare ( D a r i a n , 1 9 8 2 ;
probability (from 0 t o 1 0 0 % ) of a proposition or a hypothesis being true. Swales, 1 9 8 1 a ) .
T h e three other uses t h a t occurred with any frequency w e r e recom-
mending, emphasizing a n d evaluating. If we p u t these preliminary
findings together we get an overview as in Figure 8. 7.4 Introductions
T h e evidence thus suggests a differential distribution of linguistic a n d
I n t r o d u c t i o n s are k n o w n t o be t r o u b l e s o m e , a n d nearly all a c a d e m i c
rhetorical features across the four s t a n d a r d sections of the research
writers a d m i t to h a v i n g m o r e difficulty w i t h getting started o n a piece of
article. By a n d large, w e have seen evidence for a t w o - w a y division into
a c a d e m i c writing t h a n they h a v e w i t h its c o n t i n u a t i o n . T h e o p e n i n g
'simple' M a n d R a n d ' c o m p l e x ' 1 a n d D - a n d at this juncture we could
p a r a g r a p h s s o m e h o w present the writer w i t h a n u n n e r v i n g wealth of
bear in m i n d K n o r r - C e t i n a ' s observation t h a t in her case study it w a s the
o p t i o n s : decisions h a v e t o be m a d e a b o u t the a m o u n t a n d type of back-
I n t r o d u c t i o n a n d Discussion t h a t were serially redrafted whilst the M a n d
g r o u n d k n o w l e d g e t o b e included; decisions have t o be m a d e a b o u t an
R drafts survived to publication virtually u n c h a n g e d . T h e following
authoritative versus a sincere stance (Arrington a n d R o s e , 1 9 8 7 ) ;
sections will e x a m i n e each of the four p a r t s in m o r e detail by con-
decisions have t o be m a d e a b o u t the w i n s o m e n e s s of the a p p e a l t o the
sidering, inter alia, the rationale behind such findings, exceptions to
r e a d e r s h i p ; a n d decisions h a v e to b e m a d e a b o u t the directness of the
t h e m , a n d cross-disciplinary variation. This, however, is a suitable point
 138 Research articles in English

a p p r o a c h . If w e a d d t o the above brief catalogue the a s s u m p t i o n that first

impressions m a t t e r (especially in a n era of e x p o n e n t i a l l y - e x p a n d i n g
In the recent past, Neelakantaswamy et al. (1-4)
literature), t h e n w e are n o t surprised t o n o t e t h a t over the last 10 years or
developed a class of microwave radiators termed as
so there has been g r o w i n g interest in the i n t r o d u c t o r y p o r t i o n s of texts.
'Gaussian-beam launchers' to produce a focused
As far as the R A is concerned, p a r t of this literature has been listed in
exposure field in biological experiments for
Table 3 . partial-body irradiations. These compact and simple
O n e possible a p p r o a c h is to view RA i n t r o d u c t i o n s as encapsulated structures with their ability to focus the microwave
p r o b l e m - s o l u t i o n texts. This, for instance, is the position a d o p t e d by GOAL energy in a very small region indicate their practical
Z a p p e n (1983) w h o , following T o u l m i n ( 1 9 7 2 ) , argues t h a t researchers utility, in the areas of biological researches and
in their writing need continuously t o address the context of the intel- medical applications of microwaves, such as for
lectual discipline wherein they are located. M o r e specifically ' t h e selective heating of diseased/cancerous tissues.
researcher addresses the goals, current capacities, p r o b l e m s , a n d criteria These launchers can also be used in noninvasive
beam-wave reflectometric and spectrometric
of evaluation t h a t derive from a n d o p e r a t e within t h a t discipline'
instrumentations for measuring complex permittivity of
( Z a p p e n , 1 9 8 3 : 1 3 0 ) . As Figure 9 shows, Z a p p e n ' s analysis follows this
biological material at microwave frequencies, as
series of sub-contexts: goal in the first p a r a g r a p h , current capacity (the indicated by Neelakantaswamy elsewhere (5-7).
best w e can d o a t the m o m e n t ) , problem ( H o w e v e r , . . . ) , solution (In the When compared to the microwave beam-launching
present w o r k , . . . ) a n d criteria of evaluation. CURRENT system described in (8), which consists of a
While the emphasis o n the disciplinary audience in this characteri- CAPACITY plane-wave irradiated dielectric sphere (lens), the
zation is b o t h salutary a n d necessary, a n d while the five-part rhetorical launcher formed by combining a scalar horn and
division is itself plausible, the labeling of those divisions suggests a rather dielectric sphere (1) is a more practical source of
flat a n d certainly sunny w o r l d in which the empiricist repertoire of logic, microwave Gaussian beam. However, the use of a
PROBLEM dielectric sphere as the focusing lens results in a
objectivity a n d reason strongly p r e d o m i n a t e s . H o w e v e r , if we e x a m i n e a
little m o r e closely the Figure 9 text t h a t Z a p p e n himself chose to illustrate significant amount of spherical aberrations in the focal
his a p p r o a c h , we can see t h a t this short i n t r o d u c t i o n is firmly e m b e d d e d field, as indicated by Neelakantaswamy et al. in ( 9 ) . . .
SOLUTION In the present work, a Gaussian-beam launcher is
within the localized field of the researchers' previous w o r k . Eight of the
formed by placing a dielectric hemisphere (instead of
nine references cite previous p a p e r s by the first a u t h o r . All b u t o n e of the
a full sphere) at the aperture end of corrugated
self-citations are positive, the exception being (9), while the solitary circular waveguide (scalar horn). This enables a
outside reference (8) is considered to m a k e a less 'practical' p r o p o s a l t h a n reduction in the path length of the ray in the
the a u t h o r s ' o w n . T h e exception t o the positive evaluation of their o w n lens-medium, and hence the spherical aberration
w o r k lies in Z a p p e n ' s Problem section w h e r e the a u t h o r s need b o t h to CRITERIA OF effects are relatively minimized. Further, by using a
motivate their present w o r k a n d t o justify its publication by s h o w i n g t h a t EVALUATION hemisphere in the place of a full sphere, the launcher
their c o n t r i b u t i o n t o the discipline, whilst previously established as structure becomes less massive and smaller.
significant a n d reference-worthy, is as yet incomplete. In a d d i t i o n , the
(from P. Neelakantaswamy and F. Hong. 1 9 7 9 . Dielectric Hemisphere-Loaded Scalar
story t h a t N e e l a k a n t a s w a m y a n d H o n g tell is not w i t h o u t its rhetorical Horn a s a Gaussian-Beam Launcher for Microwave Exposure Studies. IEEE Transac-
interest. They o p e n their account with the bold claim t h a t they h a v e tions on Microwave Theory and Techniques. MTT, 2 7 : 7 9 7 )
developed n o t a ' n u m b e r ' n o r a 'series' b u t a 'class' of i n s t r u m e n t s - a n d
one t h a t has been given a class n a m e . These are ' c o m p a c t ' a n d 'simple',
have 'practical utility' a n d are 'non-invasive'. Unfortunately, this class of Figure 9 A problem-solution model of article introductions
i n s t r u m e n t does p r o d u c e a 'significant a m o u n t of spherical a b e r r a t i o n s ' , ( Z a p p e n , 1983)
but in the latest version as presented in the c u r r e n t p a p e r 'the spherical
a b e r r a t i o n effects are relatively minimized'. (But n o t eliminated c o m -
pletely.)
T h u s , this 'simple' a n d short engineering i n t r o d u c t i o n is rich in
evaluative c o m m e n t a r y t h a t n o t only reveals the a u t h o r s addressing the
 Ullll'tll" ll'">

nu Research articles In English

expectations of the discourse c o m m u n i t y (as the T o u l m i n - Z a p p c n model

suggests) but also addressing the development of their research area Movel E s t a b l i s h i n g • territory
particularly as it relates to their own c o n t r i b u t i o n s , past, present and Step 1 Claiming centrality
future. A l t h o u g h the level of self-citation in the text may be a b n o r m a l l y
high, scientist colleagues consistently r e s p o n d to my queries with com- and/or
u
ments like ' y ° c a n n o t avoid citing your previous w o r k in science'. This
Step 2 Making topic generalization(s)
suggests, a m o n g s t other things, t h a t p a r t of the difficulty with fitting a
p r o b l e m - s o l u t i o n schema o n t o i n t r o d u c t i o n s is the fact t h a t ' p r o b l e m s ' and/or
or research questions or unexplained p h e n o m e n a are the life-blood of •r
Step 3 Reviewing items of previous research
m a n y research u n d e r t a k i n g s . A d a m s Smith (1987) cites her i n f o r m a n t as
Declining
follows:
rhetorical
Biomedical research, he said, is not a matter of problem-solving. effort
Rather it is the observation of something interesting that does not
seem to fit the pattern, followed by the observation of this Move 2 Establishing a niche
phenomenon over a period of time, and the recording and
explanation of the findings. It is common for a piece of research to Step 1A Counter-claiming
answer the question it has set out to clarify while at the same time
it raises other questions to be accounted for in the course of further or
investigation. SteplB Indicating a gap
(Adams Smith, 1 9 8 7 : 1 9 - 2 0 )
or
SteplC Question-raising
Perhaps it is n o t therefore surprising t h a t A d a m s Smith (1987) found t h a t
the medical RAs she e x a m i n e d either failed to contain a recognizable or
problem or t e n d e d n o t t o foreground it. In contrast, the derived p o p u l a r i -
Step 1D Continuing a tradition
zations emphasized p r o b l e m or controversy, partly by placing the issue Weakening
early (presumably for reasons of ' n e w s w o r t h i n e s s ' discussed in the knowledge
previous section). claims
M y earliest a t t e m p t t o offer an alternative sui generis m o d e l to a c c o u n t
for the rhetorical m o v e m e n t in article i n t r o d u c t i o n s w a s Swales, 1 9 8 1 b . Move 3 Occupying the niche
Although the ' 4 - m o v e ' m o d e l presented in t h a t m o n o g r a p h has h a d some
little influence (sometimes m o r e t h a n I w o u l d wish), certain defects have Step 1A Outlining purposes
become increasingly a p p a r e n t . Several analysts (Lopez, 1 9 8 2 ; Bley- or
V r o m a n and Selinker, 1 9 8 4 ; C r o o k e s , 1986a) have c o m m e n t e d o n the
Step 1B Announcing present research
difficulties of separating M o v e 1 and M o v e 2. T h e fact t h a t the original
corpus w a s deliberately restricted to short i n t r o d u c t i o n s led t o the Step 2 Announcing principal findings
creation of a separate citational category (Move 2 - S u m m a r i z i n g
Step 3 Indicating RA structure
Previous Research) clearly at odds with the increasing practice of
Increasing
spreading references t h r o u g h o u t the i n t r o d u c t i o n (Jacoby, 1 9 8 6 ) . A
explicitness
further consequence of the corpus choice w a s neglect of the recycling
possibilities in longer i n t r o d u c t i o n s . In addition, the range of o p t i o n s in
tj»«4inal t w o moves w a s overly restrictive (Jacoby, 1 9 8 7 ; C o o p e r , 1 9 8 5 ) .
( i n j t h e revised Create a Research Space (CARS) model (Figure 10) I
have t a k e n the ecological analogy rather further t h a n h i t h e r t o , because it
Figure w) A CARS model for article introductions
seems to me t h a t it adequately captures a n u m b e r of characteristics of RA
 Z \ V w . I M / ' ,1111, Irs in \\ngllsh
i n t r o d u c t i o n s : t h e need t o re-establish in t h e eyes of the discourse
c o m m u n i t y the significance of the research field itself; the need t o 'situate'
t h e actual research in t e r m s of t h a t significance; a n d t h e need t o s h o w
h o w this niche in t h e wider ecosystem will b e occupied a n d defended. It
follows t h a t the a m o u n t of rhetorical w o r k needed t o create such a space
d e p e n d s o n t h e existing ecological c o m p e t i t i o n , o n t h e size a n d i m p o r t -
ance of the niche t o b e e s t a b l i s h e d , a n d o n various other factors such as
the writer's r e p u t a t i o n ^
If w e apply this rrtottel t o t h e Z a p p e n t e x t (Figure 9) w e c a n see t h a t
M o v e 1 is coterminous with goal a n d current capacity, M o v e 2 w i t h
problem a n d M o v e 3 with solution of criteria of evaluation. W e w o u l d
ascribe M o v e 1 as containing only a Step 3 because there a r e n o o p e n i n g
generalizations of a type t o b e discussed shortly. H o w e v e r , t h e Step 3
(literature items 1-8) is, as w e have already seen, quite m a r k e d b y u p b e a t
expressions of significance a n d relevance, p r e s u m a b l y because of t h e
self-citational n a t u r e of t h e review. T h e single sentence M o v e 2 c a n be
identified as a Step I B (indicating a gap). A possible alternative w o u l d be
t o t a k e M o v e 2 as a Step I D (continuing a tradition) b u t t h e use of t h e
adversative however suggests otherwise.
T h e four o p t i o n s for M o v e 2 can be illustrated as w i t h t h e following
versions of t h e Figure 9 text:
Step 1A However, the use o f . . . results in such a
(Counter-claim) degree of spherical aberration that radical
design changes have become necessary.
Step IB However, the use o f . . . results in a
(Gap) significant amount of spherical
aberrations . . .
Step 1C However, it is not clear whether the use
(Question) o f . . . can be modified to reduce spherical
aberration to acceptable levels.
Step I D The remaining issue is to find a way of
(Continuation) better controlling spherical aberration.
Finally, w e c a n assign t h e third p a r a g r a p h t o M o v e 3 , t h e first sentence
being Step I B , a n d t h e final t w o being Step 2 .
Figure 11 offers a sample Move—Step analysis of a slightly longer,
14-sentence i n t r o d u c t i o n , b u t again from the h a r d sciences area. Both t h e
text itself a n d the issues it raises for the genre analyst are quite intriguing.
In t h e first place, t h e establishment of territory in M o v e 1 utilizes all three
step o p t i o n s , again suggesting t h a t w e w o u l d be u n w i s e t o c o m e t o a n y
swift conclusion t h a t science a n d engineering R A i n t r o d u c t i o n s tend t o
avoid (or d o n o t need) t h e m o r e rhetorical o p t i o n s . In fact, t h e o p e n i n g
t w o sentences represent a p r o t o t y p i c a l instance of b o t h t h e ' n a r r o w i n g '
effect a n d of w h a t I have called claiming centrality:
I Introduction
(1) The increasing interest in high-angle-of-attack
aerodynamics has heightened the need for computational
tools suitable to predict the flowfield and the aerodynamic
coefficients in this regime. (2) Of particular interest and STEP 1
complexity are the symmetric and the asymmetric separated
MOVE 1 vortex flows which develop about slender bodies as the
angle of attack is increased./(3) The viscous influence on
the separation lines and the unknown three-dimensional STEP 2
(3D) shape of the vortex wake are some of the main flow
features that must be modeled in the construction of a
computational methodtoproperly treat this problem.
(4) Among the many potential flow methods developed in
attempting to solve body vortex flows are early two
dimensional (2D) multivortex methods,*~* 2D time-stepping
5-8
vortex models that include boundary-layer considerations,
9
and a quasi-3D potential flow method that uses source and
vortex elements. (5) Linear, unseparated potential flow
models as well as purely viscous models, are not mentioned
here. (6) A survey of the various methods may also be found STEP 3
in Ref. 10. (7) The potential flow methods are of special
interest because of their ability to treat 3D body shapes and
their separated vortex flows using a simple and relatively
inexpensive model./(&) However, the previously mentioned
methods suffer from some limitations mainly concerning the
treatment of the vortex wake formation and its interaction
2
with the body. (9) The first group of methods ~* cannot treat
3D flows and is limited to very slender bodies. (10) The
5-8
MOVE 2 second group of computational methods is time
consuming and therefore expensive, and its separation
prediction is not sufficiently accurate. (11) Both the methods
in this group and the method in Ref. 9 suffer from the
dependency on too many semiempirical inputs and
assumptions concerning the vortex wake and its separation. STEP 1B
11-12
(12) The steady, 3D nonlinear vortex-lattice method,
upon which the present method is based, eliminates many
of these limitations by introducing a more consistent model,
but it can treat only symmetricalflowcases./tl 3) The
present work extends the use of the last model to
asymmetric, body-vortex flow cases, thus increasing the
range of flow problems that can be investigated. (14) In
MOVE 3 addition, an effort is made to improve the numerical
procedure to accelerate the convergence of the iterative
solution and to get a better rollup of the vortex lines STEP 1B
representing the wake.
( 0 . Almosino. 1985. High Angle-of-Attack Calculations of the Subsonic
Vortex Flow in Slender Bodies AIAA Journal23 ( 8 ) : 1 1 5 0 - 6 )
Figure 11 A sample Move-Step analysis
I am grateful to Changyu Yang for bringing this text to my attention.
 51 The increasing interest in . . . has heightened the need for...
52 Of particular interest and complexity are . . .
Centrality claims are appeals t o the discourse c o m m u n i t y whereby
m e m b e r s are asked t o accept t h a t the research a b o u t t o be r e p o r t e d is p a r t
of a lively, significant or well-established research area. Some typical
examples of the linguistic e x p o n e n t s — a n d signals - of centrality claims
are given below in abbreviated form. In all these cases, a n d in s u b s e q u e n t
ones, the examples have been t a k e n from actual RA texts, unless
indicated otherwise.
Recently, there has been a spate of interest in how to . . .
In recent years, applied researchers have become increasingly interested in . . .
The possibility . . . has generated interest in . . .
Recently, there has been wide interest in . . .
The time development... is a classic problem in fluid mechanics.
The explication of the relationship between . . . is a classic problem o f . . .
The well-known . . . phenomena . . . have been favorite topics for analysis both
in . . .
Knowledge of . . . has a great importance for . . .
The study of . . . has become an important aspect o f . . .
The theory t h a t . . . has led to the hope t h a t . . .
The effect o f . . . has been studied extensively in recent years.
Many investigators have recently turned to . . .
The relationship between . . . has been studied by many authors.
A central issue in . . . is the validity of . . .
As the a b o v e list indicates, a u t h o r s of a RA can m a k e a centrality claim
at the i n t r o d u c t i o n ' s outset in a n u m b e r of w a y s . T h e y can claim interest,
or i m p o r t a n c e ; they can refer t o the classic, favorite o r central c h a r a c t e r
of the issue; o r they can claim t h a t there are m a n y o t h e r investigators
active in the area. In the t w o c o r p o r a t h a t I have e x a m i n e d in detail
(Swales, 1 9 8 1 b ; Swales a n d Najjar, 1987) the exercise of the Step 1
o p t i o n w a s comparatively c o m m o n , averaging a little u n d e r 5 0 % for the
c o m b i n e d sample of 158 introductions. It also seems quite widely
distributed across various disciplinary areas, a l t h o u g h exercised s o m e -
w h a t less in the physical sciences. Possible rationales for utilizing or
avoiding a centrality claim r e m a i n an u n e x p l o r e d b u t interesting research
area. A m o n g the variables t h a t might t u r n o u t to be relevant are the
disciplinary area itself; some felt sense of the expectations of p a r t i c u l a r
journals; the n a t u r e of the research itself (as w h e n a u t h o r s m i g h t w a n t t o
enhance with centrality claims a particular piece of research or scholar-
ship that others might conceive of as marginal); or individual rhetorical
predispositions for or against marked rhetorical activity of this type.
Centrality claims are typically c o m m u n i c a t e d in a single sentence, b u t
can, as Figure 11 s h o w s , e x t e n d over t w o o r m o r e sentences. T h e y are
also typically, b u t n o t inevitably, i n t r o d u c t i o n initial. In t h e following
case, for instance, Steps 1 a n d 2 h a v e been reversed:
51 An elaborate system of marking social distance and respect is
found in the morphology of Nahautl as spoken in
communities of the Malinche volcano area in the Mexican
States of Tlaxcala and Puebla. (Step 2)
52 The complexity of the morphology involved, the semantic
range of the elements, and variation in the system of use raise
questions of considerable interest for our understanding of the
form and function of such systems, both in Nahautl itself and
in other languages. (Step 1, my emphases)
(J. H. Hill and K. C. Hill. 1978. Honorific Usage in Modern Nahautl.
Language 54:123)
This i n t r o d u c t i o n opens with a topic generalization of a Step 2 type, a n d
as such does little t o a p p e a l to any b u t those with a specialized interest in
M e x i c a n languages. T h e ' r e p a i r ' , if o n e is needed, immediately follows,
for the elements t h a t I h a v e italicized m a k e a s t r o n g claim t h a t t h e
about-to-be-described findings are of central interest t o sociolinguists of
w h a t e v e r areal specialty. It w o u l d d o u b t l e s s h a v e been possible t o
reverse the o r d e r in s o m e w a y , or t o h a v e i n c o r p o r a t e d the s u b s t a n c e of
SI into S2, a l t h o u g h at the p r o b a b l e cost of increased syntactic c o m p l e x -
ity. M y reading of the i n t r o d u c t i o n as a w h o l e suggests t h a t the u n u s u a l
o r d e r m a y be relatable to the a u t h o r s ' concern t o establish early t h a t their
study w a s based o n very extensive field w o r k . This w o u l d explain the
early circumscription t o 'as spoken in c o m m u n i t i e s of the M a l i n c h e
v o l c a n o area', which in t u r n w o u l d explain t h e difficulty of initiating the
i n t r o d u c t i o n with Step 1. f\
T h e m o r e general p o i n t raised by this p a r t i c u l a r text is t h a i there are
g o o d general a n d applied reasons for assigning numerical sequence t o X
textual elements t h a t occur in suitably r o b u s t preferred o r d e r ^ In the case
of R A i n t r o d u c t i o n s t h e three m o v e s o c c u r a t a high frequency in their
assigned o r d e r . Swales a n d Najjar (1987) found, for instance, only 10 o u t
of 110 i n t r o d u c t i o n s beginning w i t h a M o v e 3 . An a n o m a l y percentage
of u n d e r 1 0 % is well within acceptable b o u n d s in discoursal a n d textual
studies for, even m o r e t h a n s y n t a x , discourse is a p h e n o m e n o n of
propensities. Discourse generalizations are p e r m e a b l e t o e x c e p t i o n s , a n d
are n o t consequently falsified by limited n u m b e r s of counter-instances.
Further, t h e occasional recurrence of m i n o r dispreferred structures is
 RTi Kf.i-.iii h ,11 tit Irs in illgllth
itself a p h e n o m e n o n of interest b o t h intrinsically a n d in t e r m s of what It
m a y reveal a b o u t t h e rationale behind t h e major preferred ones.
Step 2 h a s been labeled as making a topic generalization a n d represents
a m o r e neutral k i n d of general statement t h a n Step 1. Step 2s can t a k e a
variety of forms, b u t generally fall into t w o categories: statements a b o u t
knowledge or practice, o r statements a b o u t phenomena. Representative
authentic b u t abbreviated examples of t h e first g r o u p a r e :
The aetiology and pathology o f . . . is well known.
There is now much evidence to support the hypothesis t h a t . . .
The . . . properties o f . . . are still not completely understood.
A standard procedure for assessing has been . . .
Education core courses are often criticized for . . .
Typically, these Step 2s express in general terms the c u r r e n t state of t h e
art - of k n o w l e d g e , of technique, or as in t h e case of t h e Figure 11 text,
of current requirements for further progress. T h e second g r o u p of topic
generalizations refers t o p h e n o m e n a , such a s :
. . . is a common finding in patients with . . .
An elaborate system o f . . . is found in the . . .
English is rich in related words exhibiting 'stress shifts'.
There are many situations where . . .
As these examples indicate, there is a strong tendency for phenomena
topic generalizations in particular t o establish territory by emphasizing
the frequency a n d complexity of the d a t a - indeed I suspect t h a t if
territory c a n n o t be easily established in this w a y a Step 2 of this type
w o u l d be dispreferred. C o n s i d e r these alternates:
a l ) English is rich in related words exhibiting 'stress shifts'.
a2) English is poor in related words exhibiting 'stress shifts'.
b l ) There are many situations where examination scripts are marked and
then re-marked by another examiner.
b2) There are few situations where . . .
In the case of (a2) the bald a n n o u n c e m e n t of the relative absence of the
p h e n o m e n o n w o u l d seem, prima facie, to surrender territory; w e w o u l d
therefore be m o r e inclined to expect that the a u t h o r w o u l d a t t e m p t t o
regain g r o u n d with something like:
a3) English is surprisingly poor in related words . . .
for w e c a n n o w expect some interesting a c c o u n t of t h e reasons for t h e
impoverished p h e n o m e n o n . T h e (b) e x a m p l e , which is discussed in detail
m Swales ( 1 4 8 7 b ) , is the o p e n i n g sentence from .in e x p e r i m e n t in e x a m
re-marking. In that context, it would m a k e little rhetorical sense t o imply
(by using 'few') t h a t the p h e n o m e n o n u n d e r investigation is of marginal
status. O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , territory might be established via t h e insertion
of a couple of small w o r d s t h a t carry implications of being 'state of t h e
art':
b3) There are as yet few situations where . . .
T h e a u t h o r m a y then be in a position t o a d v a n c e a k n o w l e d g e claim t h a t
the innovation is provisionally promising.
Indeed, w e see t h e precise m i r r o r - i m a g e of t h e frequency r e q u i r e m e n t
in studies t h a t p u r p o r t t o be case reports. H e r e is a skeletalized version of
an i n t r o d u c t i o n in a medical j o u r n a l :
51 Primary m a l i g n a n t . . . lymphomas o f . . . are very rare.
52 In the Department of..., this diagnosis has been made in only ten patients
during the last fifty years.
53 Retrospective analysis showed that one of these cases showed a very
uncommon . . .
54 A review of the recent literature yielded only two reports o f . . . : both of
these reports paid little attention to clinical details.
55 L . . . reported fourteen cases, . . . but in this report, too, clinical data are
not given.
56 In the present report we shall describe the chemical... findings in a case of
. . . lymphoma . . . with an uncommon clinical course.
It is often believed t h a t straightforward research reports begin with a
straightforward thesis s t a t e m e n t or s t a t e m e n t of p u r p o s e . While it might
h a v e been possible for t h e a u t h o r s of this article t o have so begun by
o p e n i n g with S 6 , study of t h e a b o v e text s h o w s clearly e n o u g h w h y they
chose t o establish b o t h a territory a n d a niche before S6. M o s t obviously,
given t h e fact t h a t they h a d o n e case t o r e p o r t - a n d p r e s u m a b l y o n e d u g
o u t of t h e archives a t t h a t - they w e r e u n d e r some rhetorical pressure t o
establish its rarity a n d possibly near uniqueness. After all, t h e chances of
being able t o publish in a R A (as o p p o s e d t o a t e x t b o o k ) a description of a
single s t a n d a r d case of a s t a n d a r d disease a r e likely t o be very slim.
H e n c e , w e a r e n o t surprised t o find t h e a u t h o r s ' e n d e a v o r i n g t o establish
in t h e first three sentences t h e rarity of t h e p h e n o m e n o n in their o w n
medical institution, a n d then t o g o o n t o n o t e t h a t t h e mere 16 cases
found in t h e literature lack clinical details. T h e c o m p l e x establishment of
the first five sentences t h u s prepares t h e discourse c o m m u n i t y t o accept
t h a t there is indeed a niche being o c c u p i e d in t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n ' s final
sentence.
 148 Research articles in English Intioilm tuHI\

T h e third step in establishing a territory is the review of o n e or m o r e

items deemed by the a u t h o r s t o be relevant t o t h a t establishment. Apart
Integral Non-Integral
from at least o n e exceptional disciplinary area, minimal reference to
previous w o r k is the obligatory step in M o v e 1, while the o t h e r steps,
la Brie (1988) showed that Na Previous research has
from a corpus perspective, are discretionary. O n e exception t o a s t r o n g
the moon is made of shown that the moon is
literature-citation requirement w a s discovered by C o o p e r (1985) in her made of cheese (Brie,
cheese.
study of IEEE publications dealing with advances in c o m p u t e r tech- 1988).
nology. Four of her 15 i n t r o d u c t i o n s did n o t contain a Step 3 , a n d she
suggests that there may be a n u m b e r of special circumstances t h a t lb The moon's cheesy Nb It has been shown that +R
composition was the moon is made of
account for the light referencing: the fact t h a t the field is relatively n e w
established by Brie cheese (Brie, 1988).
and has little accumulated research t r a d i t i o n ; a n d the fact t h a t there is
heavy commercial involvement in the field; a n d the fact t h a t w o r k tends (1988).
to be product-related r a t h e r t h a n concerned with hypotheses per se. Ic Brie's theory (1988) Nc It has been established
C o o p e r ' s findings are interesting because they suggest t h a t evolving claims that the moon is that the moon is made of
1 3

discourse communities on the periphery of the academic w o r l d m a y be made of cheese. cheese. "
developing alternative conventions for their central genres.
T h e Step 3 is one of the main occasions w h e r e the RA a u t h o r needs t o
relate what has been found (or claimed) with who has found it (or
claimed it). M o r e precisely, the a u t h o r needs to provide a specification (in
varying degrees of detail) of previous findings, an attribution to the
research w o r k e r s w h o published those results, a n d a stance t o w a r d s the
findings themselves. M y earlier attempts (e.g. Swales, 1981 b) t o provide a Id Brie's (1988) theory of Nd The moon is probably
useful account of the attribution variables - a n d their typical tense lunar composition has made of cheese (Brie,
correlates - h a v e n o t fully w i t h s t o o d the test of critical c o m m e n t a r y general support. 1988).
(particularly by J a c o b y , 1987) and I n o w offer a modified position. T h e
Ie According to Brie (1988), Ne The moon may be made -R
basic distinction I w o u l d wish to m a k e is between integral a n d non- 1-3
the moon is made of of cheese.
integral forms of citation. T h e distinction has the merit of being easily
cheese.
applicable because it depends merely on recognizing surface features of
text. An integral citation is one in which the n a m e of the researcher Nf The moon may be made
occurs in the actual citing sentence as some sentence-element; in a of cheese (but cf. Rock,
non-integral citation, the researcher occurs either in parenthesis or is 1989).
referred to elsewhere by a superscript n u m b e r or via some o t h e r
device. T h e main p a t t e r n s are illustrated with constructed e x a m p l e s in
Figure 12.
Figure 12 Integral and non-integral citation
T h e integral citations s h o w the n a m e of the researcher as subject (la),
passive agent (lb), as p a r t of a possessive n o u n phrase (Ic a n d d) a n d as She labeled such references as ' c o n t r a s t i v e ' because they g o against the
w h a t T a d r o s (1985) calls 'an adjunct of r e p o r t i n g ' (Ie). T h e non-integral drift of the conclusions being reached in the sentence itself. Contrastive
citations show three parenthetical citations and t w o superscripted ones. references seem very unevenly distributed in a c a d e m i c writing. T h e y are,
In Figure 12 the citations all in fact occur at sentence-final position, but for e x a m p l e , very u n c o m m o n in the scientific areas, b u t quite c o m m o n
scrutiny of technical RA i n t r o d u c t i o n s will reveal instances of o t h e r in scholarly legal c o m m e n t a r y . In the h u m a n i t i e s , they seem t o form p a r t
placements, especially w h e n g r o u p s of researchers and related topics are of s o m e academics' writing style, b u t rarely, if ever, occur in the writings
introduced (as in sentence 4 of the Figure 11 text). T h e final type of of o t h e r s . Of J a c o b y ' s six texts dealing variously with literary research,
non-integral citation listed in Figure 12 (Nf) w a s , t o my k n o w l e d g e , first only t w o m a d e m u c h use of contrastive references b u t these t w o texts
discussed in the discourse analysis literature on RAs by J a c o b y (1986). e m p l o y e d t h e m quite consistently. T h e y are w o r t h further study.
 J a c o b y (1987:55) also p r o p o s e s a category of reference which she calls
summary: 'In these references n o particular research predecessor is
n a m e d , as a rule, b u t clear reference t o t h e state of previous research as a
w h o l e or t o t h e state of consensus k n o w l e d g e can be identified'. I have n o t
a d o p t e d this p a r t i c u l a r p r o p o s a l . In cases w h e r e n o previous researchers
are specifically cited, I see n o reason n o t t o assign t h e text t o Step 2 (topic
generalization). In cases w h e r e specific previous researchers a r e cited,
text elements can usually be assigned t o o n e of t h e categories illustrated
in Figure 12. As J a c o b y implies, t h e p r o b l e m a t i c cases occur w h e n t h e
writer refers t o g r o u p s or 'schools' of researchers a n d scholars. C o m p a r e
the following:
a) Generative grammarians have recently modified their position.
b) Generative grammarians influenced by Chomsky have recently . . .
c) Chomskyan grammarians have recently . . .
d) Chomsky and his co-workers have recently . . .
Even in t h e case of (d) t h e m o s t w o r k a b l e assignment p r o c e d u r e w o u l d
seem t o be o n e t h a t asks w h e t h e r there is a n actual citation o r n o t . If there
is, as in:
e) Chomsky and his co-workers (e.g. Napoli, 1988) have recently . . .
t h e n it falls u n d e r o n e of t h e Figure 12 categories (i.e. N d ) . If there is
n o n e , as in (d), then it is n o t a citation.
T h e final c o l u m n in Figure 12 is labeled +R. o r — R. T h e + R citations
are reporting; t h a t is t o say t h e R A a u t h o r employs a ' r e p o r t i n g ' verb
(show, establish, claim, etc.) t o i n t r o d u c e previous researchers a n d their
findings. In t h e lower sections of t h e figure, t h e citations are non-
reporting (—R). T h e d i c h o t o m o u s classification w o r k s fairly well except
for uncertainties t h a t c a n arise with a small set of verbs, particularly find
a n d be associated with. For e x a m p l e , w e can give t w o possible readings
t o t h e sentence: ' X w a s found t o be i m p a i r e d ' (Sang et al. 1 9 7 2 ) . W e
could read this as reporting:
a l ) X was found by Sang et al. (1972) to be impaired.
a2) Sang et al. (1972) found that X was impaired.
Alternatively w e could read it as non-reporting:
b l ) X was impaired (Sang et al., 1972).
b2) Impairment of X occurred (Sang et al., 1972).
This existential reading h a s affinities w i t h such c o m m o n uses of find in
the passive as: ' C o a l is found in t h e g r o u n d ' (i.e. coal occurs in t h e
ground).
As we have already seen, Bazerman (1984a) noted a firm trend from
reporting t o n o n - r e p o r t i n g citations in t h e Physical Review d u r i n g this
century. H o w e v e r , this trend m a y be partly d u e to t h e fact t h a t t h e
Physical Review uses a numerical/superscript system. Such systems d o
not easily permit integral reporting choices:
? Reference 3 established that the moon was made of cheese.
In 16 biological a n d medical R A s from t h e 1970s, I found t h a t the
n o n - r e p o r t i n g / r e p o r t i n g ratio w a s only 4 0 - 6 0 (Swales, 1981b) w h e r e a s
J a c o b y (1987) found a 2 5 - 7 5 ratio a m o n g her literary critics. T h e
survival of b o t h integral a n d non-integral reporting structures can fairly
clearly be a t t r i b u t e d t o their considerable discriminatory p o w e r . In t h e
first place, t h e repertoire of reporting verbs t h a t a n a u t h o r can d r a w o n is
quite large ( a r o u n d 5 0 possible candidates) ranging from highly frequent
choices such as suggest, report a n d show t o rarities like asseverate.
Secondly, this class can be b r o a d l y divided into t w o m a i n g r o u p s ; those
w h o s e use asserts t h e a u t h o r ' s c o m m i t m e n t t o t h e a t t e n d a n t p r o p o s i t i o n
(show, demonstrate, establish, etc.) a n d those w h o s e use carries n o such
c o m m i t m e n t {suggest, propose, examine, etc.). T h e distinction is a
powerful rhetorical tool in a u t h o r s ' a t t e m p t s t o create research spaces for
themselves, because it allows t h e m t o signal early w h e t h e r claims are t o
be t a k e n as substantiated or n o t . Thirdly, t h e i n c o r p o r a t i o n of a
r e p o r t i n g verb c o n c o m i t a n t l y involves a choice of tense, t h e selection of
w h i c h m a y be highly indicative.
In fact, E A P studies of references t o previous research have tended t o
focus o n providing an a c c o u n t of tense a n d aspect usage (Lackstrom et
al., 1 9 7 2 ; Swales, 1 9 8 1 b ; Oster, 1 9 8 1 ; A r d , 1 9 8 2 , 1 9 8 5 ; Een, 1 9 8 2 ;
T r i m b l e a n d T r i m b l e , 1 9 8 2 ; M a l c o l m , 1 9 8 7 ) . These studies have e x a m -
ined in particular t h e use of t h e three forms, t h e Past, t h e Present Perfect
a n d t h e Present Simple, t h a t together realize over 9 0 % of all finite verb
usages in citational statements. T h e r e a r e , I believe, three b r o a d kinds of
response t o t h e issue of tense usage in this literature. O n e is t o say t h a t t h e
'general rules' a r e largely a d e q u a t e (Ard, 1 9 8 2 a n d 1 9 8 5 ; M a l c o l m ,
1987). A second a p p r o a c h , best illustrated by O s t e r ( 1 9 8 1 ) , p r o p o s e s a
special set of e x p l a n a t i o n s of tense/aspect t h a t are closely associated with
the n a t u r e of t h e claims being m a d e a b o u t t h e previous literature. T h e
third a p p r o a c h (Swales, 1 9 8 1 b ; Een, 1982) h a s argued t h a t t h e use of
tense/aspect in referenced statements is best explained in t e r m s of w h e r e
a n d h o w t h e reference t o t h e previous researcher is i n t r o d u c e d into those
statements.
W e might begin w i t h t h e c o m m o n l y - m a d e o b s e r v a t i o n t h a t t h e
'general rules' for t h e Past, Present a n d Present Perfect seem t o be less
powerful in expository texts t h a n in narrative o n e s , this being pre-
s u m a b l y d u e t o t h e fact t h a t time-lines a n d time-sequences, w h i c h a r e

i m p o r t a n t elements in the traditional e x p l a n a t i o n s , arc m o r e p r o m i n e n t
in narratives. T h u s in a story the following three statements might easily
be explained in terms of 'general rules':
A disagreed with B.
A has disagreed with B.
A disagrees with B.
H o w e v e r , in the c o n t e x t of a r e p o r t o n an academic d e b a t e with, say, A
being Halliday a n d B C h o m s k y , w e can see, as L a c k s t r o m et al. (1972)
have observed, t h a t the three s t a t e m e n t s are typically interpreted n o t in
t e r m s of increasing present-ness or increasing relevance t o the present,
b u t in t e r m s of increasing generality. It is the perceived role of such
concepts as generality a n d relevance t h a t has led t o the second a p p r o a c h ,
w h i c h so far h a s reached its fullest published form in O s t e r (1981). She
p r o p o s e s the following principal hypotheses:
i) The Present Perfect tense is used to claim generality about past
literature. The Past tense is used to claim non-generality about
past literature.
ii) The Past tense is used when it refers to quantitative results of
past literature that are non-supportive of some aspects of the
work described in the technical article. The Present tense is
used when it refers to quantitative results of past literature
that are supportive or non-relevant.
iii) The Present Perfect tense is used to indicate the continued
discussion of some of the information in the sentence in which
the Present Perfect tense occurs.
(Oster, 1 9 8 1 : 7 7 )
A l t h o u g h O s t e r ' s sample is small (two articles from chemical engin-
eering), she is able t o s h o w t h a t the a b o v e hypotheses apply quite well t o
her texts. T h e first hypothesis, of course, fits well with general a c c o u n t s —
a n d we have already seen m a n y instances of the Present Perfect in b r o a d
centrality claims a n d t o p i c generalizations. Of the o t h e r t w o hypotheses,
the third is the m o r e interesting because it provides a discoursal r a t h e r
t h a n a semantic/sentential e x p l a n a t i o n via its suggestion t h a t the Present
Perfect can o p e r a t e as a signal t o the reader t o expect further discussion of
the topic. In Swales (1981b) I a t t e m p t e d to validate this claim in 16
biological a n d medical p a p e r s , b u t w i t h o u t m u c h direct success.
H o w e v e r , I did find several instances of a corollary t o O s t e r ' s hypothesis:
the Past tense following a Present Perfect (or series of Present Perfects) in
a discussion of a particular piece of research is a p p a r e n t l y used to indicate
t h a t discussion is terminating.
T h e m o r e general difficulty of an a c c o u n t such as O s t e r ' s , particularly
from a pedagogical p o i n t of view, is t h a t of deciding w h a t is going to
Introduction* I "> t
'count as' continued din union tnd to forth. In order to provide a simple
'safe rule' alternative (Sclmker et al., 1985) I provided a correlational
match that, in terms of the updated classification of references provided
here, would look like Figure 13.
Integral Non-integral
reporting Past Present Perfect
Brie (1988) showed It has been shown that...
that... (Brie, 1988)
non-reporting Present (or modal)
The moon may be made of
cheese (Brie, 1988)
Figure 13 Reference and tense
This a c c o u n t m a t c h e s tense w i t h an easily identifiable structural feature
a n d t h u s offers a serviceable 'rule of t h u m b ' to non-native writers.
H o w e v e r , it only exhibits statistical tendencies: Een (1982) in a follow-
u p study of geotechnical texts found confirmation as far as n o n - r e p o r t i n g
a n d non-integral r e p o r t i n g citations w e r e concerned, b u t in integral
r e p o r t i n g citations in i n t r o d u c t i o n s the occurrence of the Past fell t o 5 0 % .
M a l c o l m (1987) a d o p t s the usefully eclectic position t h a t there is need
for b o t h 'general' rules (as outlined by Celce-Murcia a n d Larsen-
F r e e m a n , 1 9 8 3 ; C o m r i e , 1 9 8 5 ; etc.) a n d 'special' ones. She p r o p o s e s , for
instance, t h a t ' a n a d e q u a t e theory of tense usage in EST discourse needs
t o a c c o u n t n o t only for obligatory constraints o n tense usage, but also
for strategic choices t h a t provide a u t h o r s with the capability of m a n i p u -
lating t e m p o r a l references for their o w n rhetorical p u r p o s e s ' ( 1 9 8 7 : 3 2 ) .
A l t h o u g h M a l c o l m , unlike Swales, starts from a generalist perspective,
her findings o n the use of tense in citational text - based o n the Journal
of Pediatrics - t u r n o u t t o be c o m p a r a b l e . She p u t s f o r w a r d three h y p o -
theses:
1. Generalizations (as indicated by verbs w i t h o u t researcher agents) will
t e n d t o be in t h e Present tense. (Found t o be 7 4 % t r u e in her sample.)
2 . References t o specific experiments (as indicated by a researcher agent
a n d a footnote t o a single study) will tend t o be in the Past tense.
(Found t o be 6 1 % true in h e r sample.)
3 . References t o areas of inquiry (as indicated by agents a n d / o r foot-
I t4 Ki'ifilH l< tUtli Irs IH l nylr.l

sufficiently accurate). There ii alio a caie of verb negation in S9 (cannot

notes t o more than o n e study) will tend to be in t h e Present Perfect
tense. (Found t o be 7 4 % true in her sample.) treat).
In fact, t h e linguistic e x p o n e n t s of establishing a niche are extremely
As Een (1982) also found, the greatest variability occurred in the data for
interesting a n d have n o t yet received t h e a t t e n t i o n they deserve either
hypothesis 2. This is n o t surprising because c o m m e n t a r y on a single
from a general o r a n applied perspective. In a 'quick a n d dirty' survey of
p a p e r is a key location for strategic tense choice:
100 M o v e 2 instances d r a w n from a r a n g e of fields (physics, geology,
a) Malcolm pointed out that there is both constraint and choice in tense psychology a n d composition) t h e m e a n s of niche-establishment b r o k e
4
usage .
d o w n into t h e following categories, w h i c h a r e listed in o r d e r of decreas-
b) Malcolm has pointed out t h a t . . . ing frequency.
c) Malcolm points out t h a t . . . a) Negative or quasi-negative quantifiers (28 instances)
Ard (1985) correctly w a r n s us - note use of tense! - against a t t e m p t i n g t o no 12
little
determine a rationale for such choices in specific instances, b u t I believe
none (of)
m o s t readers w o u l d see the progression from (a) t o (c) as being o n e of few / very few 4
s o m e kind of increasing proximity. T h e reasons for an a u t h o r choosing neither . . . nor 1
the m o r e r e m o t e (a) form m a y (or m a y n o t be) c o m p l e x : choice could
Interestingly, these quantifiers either o c c u r r e d sentence-initially (or fol-
relate t o placing t h e cited a u t h o r ' s w o r k in a chiefly historical c o n t e x t ; it
l o w i n g a n adversative), o r w e r e merely preceded by existential there, as
could emphasize concern with text r a t h e r t h a n c o n t e n t ; it could de-
in: ' H o w e v e r , there is little research t h a t . . . '. It is quite possible,
emphasize relevance t o present c o n c e r n s ; o r it could p r e p a r e t h e w a y for
therefore, t h a t t h e s o m e w h a t preferred choice of t h e negative quantifier
critical discussion. W h a t e v e r t h e reasons, t h e tense choice m a y indicate
f o r m a t m a y be connected, a t some level of consciousness, w i t h a wish t o
s o m e t h i n g of t h e a u t h o r ' s stance t o w a r d s t h e cited w o r k , a n d it is
signal early t h a t a niche is n o w being established.
p r o b a b l y this facility, allied t o a rich choice of lexical verbs, t h a t
continues t o m a k e reporting structures attractive t o R A a u t h o r s . T h e o t h e r c o m m o n e x p o n e n t e m p l o y s lexical negation o r quasi-
W e can n o w consider in a little further detail M o v e 2 of the CARS negation.
model (Figure 10). W e can begin with t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n illustrated in
Figure 1 1 , for this provides an elaborate e x a m p l e of t h e rhetorical w o r k b) Lexical negation (26 instances)
15 (fail 5, lack 2, overlook 2, plus 6 single
Verbs
u n d e r t a k e n t o establish a niche for a b o u t - t o - b e - p r e s e n t e d research. T h e instances)
key signals are repeated in skeletal form below:
7 (inconclusive, complex, misleading,
Adjectives
58 However, the previously mentioned methods suffer from some elusive, scarce, limited, questionable)
limitations ...
59 The first group . . . cannot t r e a t . . . and is limited to ... Nouns 3 (failure 2, limitation)
S10 The second group . . . is time consuming and therefore expensive, and (without regard for)
its . . . is not sufficiently accurate. Other 1
SI 1 Both . . . suffer from the dependency on ... T h e subtlety of t h e verbal repertoire available at this j u n c t u r e is p r o b a b l y
S12 The . . . method (upon which the present study is based) eliminates connected with t h e frequency of its a d o p t i o n . T h e R A a u t h o r m a y o p t for
many of these limitations by . . . , but it can treat only ...
a t r e n c h a n t fail, imply oversight w i t h neglect, overlook o r underestimate,
As w e can see, t h e m o v e o p e n s with an adversative sentence-connector. suggest complacency with be content to, i m p u t e a certain n a r r o w n e s s of
Across various samples of R A i n t r o d u c t i o n s , a b o u t a q u a r t e r of M o v e 2s vision w i t h concentrate on, be restricted to o r be limited to, o r offer
are initiated w i t h such signals, m o s t c o m m o n l y however b u t also
r a t h e r m o r e sympathetic u n d e r s t a n d i n g w i t h constrain.
nevertheless, yet, unfortunately a n d but. T h e type of M o v e 2 is clearly 1B
c) Negation in the verb phrase (16 instances)
- t h a t of indicating a gap. T h e a u t h o r does n o t counter-claim t h a t t h e
previous w o r k is hopelessly misguided, b u t rather 'suffers from some not 14
limitations'. M o s t of t h e gaps are signaled lexically in t h e verb [suffer; is rarely 1
limited to) or in adjective phrases [time consuming; expensive; not ill 1
 P)T< Hrsdin h ,ulu Irs in English
Introductions 157
T h e relative infrequency of this type of e x p o n e n t , at least c o m p a r e d t o
so-called 'general English', might suggest t h a t it is s o m e w h a t contra- comprise a relatively small and mutually supportive discourse commu-
indicated w h e n referring to the w o r k of others. It is possible t h a t the use nity and one not without its external antagonists and detractors.
of not in conjunction w i t h m a n y verbs is seen as p r o v i d i n g a potentially The underlying theme that has linked this discussion of the RA
hostile depiction of previous w o r k . Indeed, this possibility is strength- i n t r o d u c t i o n has been a felt sense t h a t the typical i n t r o d u c t i o n is a crafted
ened w h e n we n o t e t h a t as m a n y as five of the 16 instances employed we rhetorical artifact. At the published textual level, the i n t r o d u c t i o n is a
as the subject as in ' W e d o n o t yet k n o w . . . ' . T h e inclusive we obviously manifestation of rhetorical m a n e u v e r . T h e extent of this rhetorical w o r k
includes the present a u t h o r s as c o - m e m b e r s of the unsuccessful g r o u p . can often be seen w h e n we c o m p a r e expert a n d n o n - e x p e r t p r o d u c t s . T h e
T h e remaining m i n o r w a y s of establishing a niche can be listed text presented in Figure 14 w a s written by a J a p a n e s e masters s t u d e n t as
together. an exercise in writing research i n t r o d u c t i o n s for o n e of my courses
(Swales, 1 9 9 0 ) .
d) Questions (8 instances)
Direct 6
Indirect 2 (e.g. 'A question remains whether . . . ' )
(1) The 55 mph National Maximum Speed Limit on
e) Expressed needs!desireslinterests (8 instances) highways was decided and became effective after the
e.g. 'The differences need to be analyzed . . . ' historic Arab oil embargo in 1974. (2) Though it was
i t is desirable to perform test calculations . . . ' MOVE 1 originally a temporary measure to conserve energy the
i t is of interest to compare . . . ' government decided to make it permanent because of its
great contribution to highway safety. (3) In 1984, after a
f) Logical conclusions (6 instances) decade had passed, the Transportation Research Board
Must 3 (e.g. 'This must represent...') made a research about the 55mph speed limit, and
Seem/appear 2 recommended that the federal government continue the
low speed limitations because of its safety benefit.
'One would intuitively e x p e c t . . . ' (4) However, the low maximum speed limit imposes some
g) Contrastive comment (6 instances) MOVE 2 burdens on drivers and social economy. (5) The
additional travelling time caused by the lower speed limit
'The research has tended to focus on . . . , rather than . . . ' increases costs of freight transportation, especially in
'They center mainly on . . . , rather than on . . . ' rural states where average length of trips is longer.
'Studies most often c o n t r a s t . . . , rather than . . . ' (6) The purpose of this research is to find out the gross
'Researchers have focused primarily on . . . , as opposed to . . . ' MOVE 3 national economic defects of the 55mph National
'Emphasis has been on . . . , with scant attention given to . . . ' Maximum Speed Limit on highways.
'Although considerable research has been done on . . . , much less is known
as to . . . '
h) Problem-raising (2 instances)
'The application presents a problem . . . ' Figure 14 An NNS introduction
'A key problem in many . . . is . . . '

An (e) or (f) format seems to be chosen w h e n there is a w e a k e r challenge
t o the previous research, as w e m o s t typically find in a continuing a especially if we bear in mind t h a t the s t u d e n t h a d h a d n o p r i o r English-
tradition Step I D . Clear evidence of this is the quite frequent co-
occurrence of the sentence c o n n e c t o r therefore (rather t h a n however) in
these contexts. F o r m a t s (e) a n d (f) were m u c h c o m m o n e r in physics a n d ,
to a lesser extent, in geology t h a n in psychology o r c o m p o s i t i o n . O n the
o t h e r h a n d , m o s t of the instances of w h a t I have called contrastive
comment (g) occurred in c o m p o s i t i o n research. T h e milder t o n e of the (g)
examples m a y be connected t o the fact t h a t c o m p o s i t i o n researchers
T h e a b o v e text is, I w o u l d suggest, a quite effective piece of writing,
m e d i u m a c a d e m i c experience a n d w a s only t w o m o n t h s into a US degree
p r o g r a m . Certainly it suffers from few of the o r i e n t a t i o n p r o b l e m s
found in Scarcella (1984) in N N S i n t r o d u c t i o n s ; there is little un-
necessary b a c k g r o u n d information a n d there is a d e q u a t e use of
attention-getting devices. A l t h o u g h there are occasional 'off-register'
elements such as made a research about in S 3 , the text moves s m o o t h l y ,
swiftly a n d quite authoritatively t o w a r d s the a n n o u n c e m e n t of the
research topic in the final sentence.
 158 Research articles in English

H o w e v e r , it r e m a i n s t h e case t h a t t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n r e m a i n s s o m e w h a t
flat in t h e second half. T h e a u t h o r seems t o have s o m e h o w missed a n Among the many potential flow methods developed In
o p p o r t u n i t y to highlight t h e gap b e t w e e n surmise a n d s u b s t a n t i a t e d 1--3 attempting to solve bodv vortex flows are early two-dimensional
2 -

o p i n i o n , a n d between present qualitative j u d g m e n t s a n d potential 2D multi-vortex methods. V However, these methods cannot
2- -B treat 3D flows and are limited to very slender bodies./An
q u a n t i t a t i v e ones. W e can see this if w e c o m p a r e t h e original final three
alternative is time-steoDinq vortex models that include
sentences with m o r e ' m o d u l a t e d ' variants (Latour a n d W o o l g a r , 1 9 7 9 ) .
1--3 boundary-laver considerations, * * / but these are time
S4-original . , i n / j a n r i therfifnm expensive. In addition, their
c r n n m

However, the low maximum speed limit imposes some burdens on drivers
and social economy.
S4-modulated
However, it would seem that the low maximum speed limit imposes a
certain amount of burden on drivers and the social economy.
SS-original
The additional travelling time caused by the lower speed limit increases
costs of . . .
SS-modulated
In particular, the additional travelling time caused by the lower speed limit
can be expected to increase costs o f . . .
S6-original
The purpose of this research is to find out the gross national . . .
S6-modulated
The purpose of this research is to arrive at a preliminary quantitative
estimate of the gross national . . .
T h e relatively m i n o r alternatives t h a t I have been p r o p o s i n g t a k e fuller
a d v a n t a g e , I believe, of the o p p o r t u n i t y t o create a research space via
m o r e precise specification of t h e g a p a n d of t h e a t t e m p t t o fill it.
T h e final issue with regard to M o v e 2 is its cyclicity. A n u m b e r of
investigators ( C o o p e r , 1 9 8 5 ; C r o o k e s , 1 9 8 6 a ; H o p k i n s a n d Dudley-
Evans, 1988) have p o i n t e d out t h a t niche-establishment does not neces-
sarily o c c u r only at t h e e n d of a literature review, b u t m a y follow reviews
of individual items, so t h a t cycles of M o v e 1/Step 3 a n d M o v e 2 recur.
C o n s i d e r the Figure 11 text for a final time. As w e have seen, t h e a u t h o r
of this text o p t e d for a c o m p o s i t e ' c h u n k e d ' M o v e 1/Step 3 followed by a
c o m p o s i t e M o v e 2. H e could have o p t e d instead for a cycling solution t o
his effort t o create a research space (Figure 15).
In o u r present state of k n o w l e d g e , it is not possible to d o m o r e t h a n
speculate a b o u t the factors t h a t might predispose a u t h o r s to c h o o s e
c o m p o s i t e o r cycling configurations. It is likely t h a t the length of t h e
i n t r o d u c t i o n plays s o m e p a r t , so t h a t t h e longer t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n t h e
greater t h e probability of s o m e recycling ( C r o o k e s , 1 9 8 6 a ) . It is also
likely t h a t choice is influenced by h o w t h e research field is perceived. If
t h e relevant research t r a d i t i o n is viewed as linear a n d cumulative, then a
c o m p o s i t e a r r a n g e m e n t m a y w o r k well. H o w e v e r , if t h e field is viewed as
2--B separation predictions are not sufficiently accurate. / A third
Dossibilitv is a quasi-3D potential flow method" that uses source
1--3 and vortex elements./Unfortunately, this method, like the
previous ones, suffers from the dependency on too many
2--B semiempirical inputs and assumptions ...
Figure 15 An example of cyclicity
b r a n c h i n g - consisting of several loosely-connected topics - t h e n a cyclic
a p p r o a c h m a y be preferred. T h e c o m b i n a t i o n of length a n d divergence
m a y c o n t r i b u t e t o t h e cyclicity m o r e evident in t h e social sciences, a n d
brevity a n d linearity t o the compositeness m o r e characteristic of the
n a t u r a l a n d life sciences a n d of engineering.
W e can n o w t u r n briefly to M o v e 3 , w h i c h I have labeled occupying the
niche (Figure 10). T h e role of M o v e 3 is t o t u r n t h e niche established in
M o v e 2 i n t o t h e research space t h a t justifies t h e p r e s e n t article. T h e link
b e t w e e n t h e moves is a s t r o n g o n e . W h e n e v e r a M o v e 2 occurs - a n d
there is a m i n o r i t y of instances in w h i c h it does n o t (Swales, 1 9 8 1 b ;
C o o p e r , 1 9 8 5 ; C r o o k e s , 1986a) - the e n s u i n g M o v e 3 variously offers t o
s u b s t a n t i a t e the particular counter-claim t h a t h a s been m a d e , fill the
created g a p , a n s w e r t h e specific question o r c o n t i n u e t h e rhetorically-
established t r a d i t i o n .
T h e obligatory element in M o v e 3 is Step 1. This can t a k e o n e of t w o
p r e d o m i n a t i n g forms:
Step 1A The author or authors indicate their main purpose or purposes.
Step IB The author or authors describe what they consider to be the main
features of their research.
In b o t h cases the o p e n i n g step is a kind of p r o m i s s o r y s t a t e m e n t , a n d in
b o t h cases its onset is typically m a r k e d by (a) the absence of references t o
previous research a n d (b) the use of deictic references t o t h e present text.
T h e m o r e c o m m o n deictic elements, in a p p r o x i m a t e decreasing o r d e r of
frequency, a r e : this, the present, we, reported, here, now, I a n d herein.
Typical e x a m p l e s culled from RA i n t r o d u c t i o n s are:
 160 Research articles in English
a) This paper reports on the results obtained . . .
b) The aim of the present paper is to give . . .
c) In this paper we give preliminary results o f . . .
d) The main purpose of the experiment reported here was to . . .
e) This study was designed to evaluate . . .
f) The present work extends the use of the last model . . .
g) We now report the interaction of . . .
T h e r e are a n u m b e r of c o m m e n t s t h a t can be m a d e a b o u t the language of
M o v e 3s. First, there is a strong tendency for the deictic signal to occur
early - as the above examples s h o w - a n d , in general, the only items t h a t
precede them are occasional linking phrases such as 'In view of these
observations'. Of the 4 8 i n t r o d u c t i o n s in t h e 1 9 8 1 c o r p u s , there w a s only
o n e in which the deictic in this paper p h r a s e occurred at sentence-final
position. H o w e v e r , apprentice writers, b o t h N S a n d N N S , are m o r e
p r o n e to delay the M o v e 3 signal - a n d by d o i n g so likely to create
uncertainty, in the reader. Secondly, there m a y be an o p p o r t u n i t y ,
d e p e n d i n g s o m e w h a t o n style-sheet instructions, for using either a
s t a n d a r d descriptive form or a collapsed structure:
a) In this paper, we argue t h a t . . . (standard)
b) This paper argues r h a t . . . (collapsed)
A l t h o u g h collapsed structures are quite c o m m o n , there are little-
u n d e r s t o o d constraints o n the co-occurring verb:
This paper utilizes the notion o f . . .
? This paper hopes to show t h a t . . .
?? This paper measures the extent o f . . .
T h e r e is also some evidence t h a t the co-occurrence of i n a n i m a t e subject
a n d a n i m a t e verb varies in its acceptability from o n e language to a n o t h e r .
Kojima and Kojima (1978), for e x a m p l e , argue t h a t it is dispreferred in
J a p a n e s e a n d c o n c o m i t a n t l y p r o d u c e evidence t h a t J a p a n e s e scientists
tend to avoid collapsed structures w h e n they write in English.
A third observation concerns tense in purposive Step I s . In cases w h e r e
the deictic refers to the genre (paper, report, n o t e , review, etc.) tense is
restricted to the present. H o w e v e r , in cases w h e r e the deictic refers to the
type of inquiry (investigation, study, e x p e r i m e n t , etc.), a u t h o r s m a y
choose between present a n d past:
The purpose of this investigation is to . . .
The purpose of this investigation was to . . .
Introductions 161
For reasons c o m p a r a b l e to those discussed in connection with r e p o r t i n g
previous research, there seems to be a s t r o n g preference for a Present
tense c o p u l a , p r e s u m a b l y because it e n c o u r a g e s a n impression of con-
t e m p o r a r y relevance.
M a n y , p e r h a p s m o s t , RA i n t r o d u c t i o n s end with a M o v e 3 - S t e p 1.
T h e r e a r e , h o w e v e r , t w o further o p t i o n s . O n e is t o follow the Step 1 with
a s u m m a r y a n n o u n c e m e n t of the principal findings. Swales a n d Najjar
(1987) investigated this o p t i o n in t e r m s of quite a large s a m p l e (110
introductions) d r a w n from t w o very different fields: physics a n d edu-
cational psychology. T h e y found t h a t the Step 2 o p t i o n w a s utilized 4 5 %
of the time in physics b u t only 7 % of t h e t i m e in e d u c a t i o n a l psychology.
W e seem to see here, t h e n , a quite m a r k e d disciplinary divergence t h a t
has n o t so far been attested for either type or form in Step 1.
A final o p t i o n in the i n t r o d u c t i o n is t o indicate in varying degrees of
detail the structure - a n d occasionally the content - of the r e m a i n d e r of
the RA. If Step 3 occurs, it is always at the end of the i n t r o d u c t i o n .
Examples are:
a) We have organized the rest of this paper in the following way . . .
b) This paper is structured as follows . . .
c) The remainder of this paper is divided into five sections. Section II
describes . . .
C o o p e r (1985) found a Step 3 in as m a n y as 10 o u t of her 15 IEEE
i n t r o d u c t i o n s a n d w a s further able t o r e p o r t t h a t specialist i n f o r m a n t s in
the c o m p u t e r technology field b o t h expected a n d w e l c o m e d such indi-
cations of organization. In m o s t o t h e r fields, the percentage of intro-
ductions closing w i t h Step 3 seems to b e m u c h lower. T h e high incidence
in C o o p e r ' s study m a y well be connected to the absence of an established
schema for research r e p o r t i n g in a n e w a n d rapidly evolving field.
In this section I h a v e m a d e s o m e fairly bold claims a b o u t the rhe-
torical organization of RA i n t r o d u c t i o n s across a range of fields. T h e
m o s t o b v i o u s w a y of validating these claims is t o test t h e m o u t o n new
d a t a . T o this e n d , I h a v e e x a m i n e d h o w well the m o d e l fits w i t h the RAs
in the latest journal I received at the t i m e of writing. T h a t journal was
Research in the Teaching of English tor F e b r u a r y 1 9 8 8 , R T E also
incidentally covering a disciplinary area (composition research) little
studied in the literature o n i n t r o d u c t i o n s . T h e February 1988 issue
contains four research articles, the first exceptionally long, the other
three of n o r m a l length. T h e basic 'facts' a b o u t the four i n t r o d u c t i o n s
are given in T a b l e 6.
T h e i n t r o d u c t i o n t o the long 3 5 - p a g e o p e n i n g article (Berkenkotter et
al.) follows closely b o t h the M o v e - S t e p sequences a n d the linguistic
signals t h a t previous research tells us t o expect.
 162 Research articles in English

T A B L E 6. F O U R I N T R O D U C T I O N S F R O M RTE
specifically establishes the niche that Berkenkotter et al. are attempting to
fill. And I take it at lerendipitoui that the metaphor they choose ii the
No. of refs geographic one of 'unexplored territory'! The final paragraph is given
Author(s ) Nc >. of paras No. of lines (including repeats)
over to M o v e 3 ; it contains the only first person pronominal form in the
1. Berkenkotter et a . 5 entire i n t r o d u c t i o n a n d concludes with a general c o m m e n t a b o u t the
71 22
2. Slater et al. 13 m a i n findings.
129 43
T h e second i n t r o d u c t i o n poses rather m o r e of a p r o b l e m for the C A R S
3. Cordeiro 4 44 7 m o d e l , b u t , as I shall h o p e t o s h o w , for r a t h e r interesting r e a s o n s . T h e
4. Roen and Willey 9 Slater et al. i n t r o d u c t i o n can be outlined as follows:
125 39

RA 2 OUTLINE STRUCTURE

RA I OUTLINE STRUCTURE Move—Step Signals (my emphases)

Move—Step Signals (my emphases) Para. 1 1--2 (SI) Recently, the relationships between . . . have
been explored by scholars from a number of
Para. 1 1-1 (SI) Recently there has been considerable disciplines.
interest in . . . 1--3 (S2)
2-1B (S3) Yet there is a dearth of information 1--2 (S3)
2-1C (S4/5) (2 direct questions)
Para. 2 2--IB (SI) However, the precise nature o f . . . has not
Para. 2 1-3 (SI) been delineated.
The existence . . . may be inferred f r o m
recent studies . . . (S2) . . . a considerable amount of research has
1-3 (S2) The work of these researchers sheds been . . . but little research . . .
light... (S3) a considerable amount of research . . . , while a
Para. 3 1-3 minimal amount of this research
SI) Composition scholars Bizzell (1982c
1 (S4) As a result, no comprehensive theory appears
1983b) a n d . . . '
2-1B ( S3) to exist.
Yet understanding . . . is only part
1-3 Paras 3-8 1--3
Para.4 1-2 ( SI) Para. 9 1--2 (SI) Taken together, these studies indicate ...
Understanding . . . appears, therefore
2-1C ( S2/S3) (2 direct questions) Paras 10-12 1--3
1-3 ( 54) Recent studies have begun to explore thesr
O w
w A I / I V l t LI 1 C 3 t
Para. 13 3--1A (SI) The purposes of the present study were
questions at an undergraduate level. two-fold:
2-1B («55) Understanding . . . in the context of ? (S2) The study thus extends the findings of
however, is as yet unexplored territory. previous work by examining . . .
Para. 5 3 IB (SI) This study attempts to enter this territory

3-1B (S2) Our focus will be on . . . After a n o p e n i n g b r o a d p a r a g r a p h , the i n t r o d u c t i o n proceeds (with o n e

( S 5 )
The changes t h a t . . . show a skilled novice exception) t o review previous research until it reaches the final p a r a -
learning...
g r a p h , the review typically consisting of a series of paired statements like
' X e x a m i n e d the effects of . . . Results indicated t h a t . . . ' T h e main
exception is the second p a r a g r a p h , w h i c h is a highly e l a b o r a t e M o v e 2
As we might expect in an i n t r o d u c t i o n of a r o u n d 7 0 lines, a considerable
designed t o establish t h a t ' n o comprehensive t h e o r y ' exists. T h e outline
a m o u n t of cycling occurs, especially with regard to gap-ind cat o n
s h o w s t h a t there are n o further closing-in M o v e 2s, especially immedi-
^ " ' ^ four instances of a M o v e 2 segment i n t h e first four
ately prior t o the onset of M o v e 3 — unlike in the first i n t r o d u c t i o n . A
p a r a g r a p h s ; these are of increasing specificity a n d it is the final o n e t h a t
close reading of the text brings o u t the u n u s u a l character of this
 Introduction* 165

introduction. T h e ' n o comprehensive t h e o r y ' a r g u m e n t t u r n s o u t not t o As the outline s h o w s , this i n t r o d u c t i o n opens with a M o v e 3 . Although
be establishing a niche to be filled, because the a u t h o r s in fact never this o p t i o n is certainly possible, it docs not seem as generally c o m m o n as
return t o the issue of the need t o start m o v i n g t o w a r d s such a theory, n o r m a n y might suppose. It occurred, for e x a m p l e , just 10 times in a c o r p u s
d o they ever claim t h a t their present p a p e r can be seen as m a k i n g a of 110 i n t r o d u c t i o n s (Swales and Najjar, 1 9 8 7 ) , a n d o n several occasions
c o n t r i b u t i o n t o theory. Rather, the second p a r a g r a p h seems to be already in this section I have alluded to b o t h the likely concerns t o create
designed to justify the fact t h a t it is a p p r o p r i a t e in the circumstances t o a research space, a n d t h e perils of failing t o engage the w i d e r discourse
a d d a small further piece of empirical evidence t o the puzzle. In o t h e r c o m m u n i t y by t o o n a r r o w l y focused an o p e n i n g . S o m e t h i n g of this peril
w o r d s , w h a t w e seem to have here is a n e w sub-type of M o v e 2 - S t e p I B can be imagined by considering the o p e n i n g sentence in full: 'This study
which, by claiming that the gap is currently unftllable, obliquely estab- of the writing of 2 2 first graders a n d 13 third graders is concerned with
lishes a continuing-a-tradition research space. This reading also brings h o w children learn the rules of p u n c t u a t i o n ' ( 1 9 8 8 : 6 2 ) . T h e readers of
the final sentence into focus, which w a s left unassigned in the outline. At this sentence are immediately faced by specifics w h i c h , while strongly
first sight, the sentence looks as t h o u g h it might be o p e r a t i n g as an appealing t o a few, are likely t o disengage m a n y w i t h n o direct interest in
atypically-placed M o v e 2 - S t e p I D (finding extension). H o w e v e r , w e can this research topic. A p a r t from the p r o m o t i o n of M o v e 3 , the intro-
n o w see it as a typically closing M o v e 3 - S t e p I B for it announces the d u c t i o n largely follows the m o d e l ; for instance, it closes w i t h the M o v e 2,
(limited) status of the present research. which seems typical of the relatively few i n t r o d u c t i o n s of this type that
Analysis of this k i n d will, o n occasion, bring t o light a m b i g u i t y a n d have been e x a m i n e d .
rhetorical uncertainty. If the a b o v e analysis is o n the right lines, then it T h e r e are, in fact, a n u m b e r of interesting research questions related to
seems definitely o d d t h a t the a u t h o r s did n o t t a k e u p the implication of i n t r o d u c t i o n s t h a t begin w i t h a M o v e 3 . Are they processed a n d
their second p a r a g r a p h in any of the ensuing 1 1 . Indeed, o n e might even c o m p o s e d differently? C a n they be associated with less experienced
suggest t h a t the i n t r o d u c t i o n w o u l d h a v e been tidier a n d easier t o process writers, or with those w h o feel, for w h a t e v e r r e a s o n , less need to establish
if they h a d d o n e so. H e r e is w h a t might have been: a territory? Are they m o r e likely t o occur in situations w h e r e the RA is a
result of a research grant, given the w i d e s p r e a d e x p e c t a t i o n in research
Para. 13 The preceding review suggests that further empirical research is g r a n t applications t h a t there should be early indications of w h a t will be
necessary before a comprehensive theory can be developed. In
order to develop the research base, the present study was designed done? A n d if so, are they consequently o n the increase?
with the following two purposes in mind: . . . The study thus T h e final i n t r o d u c t i o n (Roen a n d Willey) is a l m o s t as long as the
extends the findings . . . second but has in fact almost n o cycling. T h e first seven of the nine
p a r a g r a p h s establish the territory. T h e final t w o p a r a g r a p h s have the
T h e third introduction (Cordeiro) is the shortest a n d has the following following structure:
a n o m a l o u s structure:
RA 4
RA 3 OUTLINE STRUCTURE
Move-Step Signals (my emphases)
Move-Step Signals (my emphases)
Para. 8 2--1B (SI) Despite the announced importance o f . . . ,
Para. 1 3-lB (SI) few researchers have experimentally
This study ...is concerned with . . .
3-lB (S2) tested . . .
Specifically, it addresses . . .
1-3 (S3-6) 1--3 (S2^I) Of course many studies have examined . . .
3-lB (S7) 2--IB (S5) No study, however, has used an
In the present research, ...
experimental design.
Para. 2 1-3
Para. 3 Para. 9 1--3 (SI) In the light of this absence of experimental
1-3
work, we conducted a pilot study (Roen,
Para. 4 1-3 (Sl-4) 1985) . . .
2-1B (S5) However, the terms . . . were not 3--1A (S2) We subsequently designed the present study,
semantically or syntactically an experiment to test...
descriptive enough to solve . . . 3--IB (S3) Our two research questions were . . .
166 / Mfthodt
T h e only unexpected aspect of this introduction is the character of the
opening sentence in the final p a r a g r a p h . Its o p e n i n g phrase evinces close
links with the M o v e 2, a n d it further builds u p expectations of M o v e 3 by
the switch into we. O n the other h a n d , the Past Simple a n d an earlier
dated reference disconflrm those expectations. In effect, the o p e n i n g of
the final p a r a g r a p h c o m m u n i c a t e s a s o m e w h a t mixed message.
H o w e v e r , this is precisely w h a t we might expect w h e n a u t h o r s use, as a
transition, discussion of their own previous w o r k which is directly a n d
causally related t o the study actually being presented.
In general, therefore, the four test i n t r o d u c t i o n s usefully confirm the
claims m a d e for the CARS model, particularly in t e r m s of the linguistic
e x p o n e n t s used t o express moves and their associated steps. In outline the
first and last i n t r o d u c t i o n s fit well, while the third a p p e a r s to be a fairly
typical e x a m p l e of the fronted-Move 3 subtype. T h e fact t h a t 2 5 % of a
very small sample o p e n e d with a M o v e 3 needs a little further investi-
gation. Accordingly, I checked the 16 RAs published in RTE in 1 9 8 7 a n d
found t h a t 13 used the s t a n d a r d placement for M o v e 3 , t w o w e r e fronted,
while the r e m a i n i n g article was h a r d to categorize as it used an a n e c d o t e
from the study as an attention-getting opening. If w e leave this last aside,
three o u t of 19 RTE RAs were fronted; certainly a higher p r o p o r t i o n t h a n
found in Swales a n d Najjar (1987), but still u n d e r 2 0 % . T h e major
a n o m a l y occurred in the second i n t r o d u c t i o n , w h e r e there w a s n o M o v e
2 t h a t could be related t o M o v e 3 in any but the m o s t indirect of w a y s . It
was suggested that this m i s m a t c h did n o t so m u c h represent a possible
w e a k n e s s in the Create a Research Space m o d e l as a possible w e a k n e s s in
the i n t r o d u c t i o n itself a n d , moreover, o n e that the analytic p r o c e d u r e s
themselves assisted in revealing.
7.5 Methods
In 7.2, ' T h e constructing of research articles', I have already presented
some general findings o n the language of M e t h o d sections. H e r e I a t t e m p t
to characterize the discourse of this p a r t of the RA genre a little m o r e
explicitly a n d to d r a w some tentative conclusions a b o u t disciplinary
variation. W e can begin with the opening sentences of a biochemistry
M e t h o d section cited by Gilbert and M u l k a y (which is very similar to the
o n e from Knorr-Cetina discussed in 7.2):
Heavy beef heart mitochondria were prepared by the method of
Wong and stored in liquid nitrogen. Well coupled mitochondrial
particles were prepared by a modification of the procedure of
Madden. These particles were used to prepare inhibition-protein-
depleted particles by centrifuging under energized conditions
according to the method of Gale . . .
(Gilbert and Mulkay, 1984:51)
167
W c sec in this fragment several of the features of M e t h o d s that have been
noted by other investigators, for e x a m p l e T o m l i n (1981) a n d Bruce
(1983). T h e Past Passive is consistently chosen a n d the identity of the
underlying agent is consistently t h a t of the e x p e r i m e n t e r s . T h e r e is also a
s o m e w h a t restricted range of predicate verbs (prepared; prepared; and
used to prepare). H o w e v e r , the m o s t interesting feature of the above
extract is the w a y in w h i c h the m e t h o d is described - or p e r h a p s in this
case not described:
a) . . . by the method of Wong;
b) . . . by a modification of the procedure of Madden;
c) . . . according to the method of Gale.
T h e r e are a n u m b e r of points w o r t h n o t i n g . First, the m e t h o d is merely
labeled rather t h a n characterized. Second, in the case of (b) if n o t for the
o t h e r s , replication w o u l d a p p e a r t o be impossible given the fact that the
n a t u r e of the modification is not m a d e clear. T h i r d , the p r e p a r a t i o n
processes attributable t o the three researchers are, o n the o n e h a n d ,
simply associated with their n a m e s , while, on the other, they have not
a p p a r e n t l y reached the status of being named m e t h o d s , t h a t is, The Wong
Method, Madden's Procedure. It is t h u s unlikely t h a t o t h e r w o r k e r s
could easily look u p the m e t h o d s themselves in a reference w o r k . T h e
m e m b e r s of this discourse c o m m u n i t y w o u l d seem t o t a k e m e t h o d o l o g i -
cal a p p r o p r i a c y a n d rigor m o r e for g r a n t e d t h a n we will find to be the
case in other c o m m u n i t i e s .
T h e o p e n i n g fragment also illustrates the i m p o r t a n t process of N P
stacking discussed by D u b o i s (1982a) a m o n g o t h e r s :
heavy beef heart mitochondria
well coupled mitochondrial particles
inhibition-protein-depleted particles
As the p r e p a r a t i o n becomes increasingly specialized it becomes in-
creasingly c o m p l e x syntactically; indeed D u b o i s (1982a) has a r g u e d that
there m ? y well be a coincidence of cognitive c u l m i n a t i o n a n d syntactic
culmination. W e can also n o t e t h a t in this particular instance, there is
little N P identity across the sentence b o u n d a r i e s : as far as the non-
specialist is concerned, ' m i t o c h o n d r i a ' h a v e been mysteriously par-
ticulated, while the particles have been equally mysteriously trans-
formed from 'well c o u p l e d ' into ones t h a t are 'inhibition-protein-
depleted'.
Bruce (1983) m a k e s a b r o a d l y similar p o i n t a b o u t a M e t h o d section
from a medical j o u r n a l :
Urography was performed in a routine manner, the patient
micturating immediately beforehand. Tomography was used
to detail the caliceal pattern when necessary. Abdominal
168 Research articles in English
compression was avoided and the bladder not drained during the
examination . . .
As he says, t h e text 'might a p p e a r at first sight t o be incoherent -
completely lacking in the cohesive feature of a n a p h o r i c reference; b u t the
coherence is, of course, supplied by t h e shared k n o w l e d g e of these
investigative p r o c e d u r e s , a n d their likely sequence, t h a t the r e a d e r brings
t o the text' ( 1 9 8 3 : 8 ) . For Bruce the w e l l - k n o w n if difficult-to-apply
G i v e n - N e w p a r a d i g m (cf. Halliday, 1978) needs replacing in m a n y
M e t h o d sections by a K n o w n - N e w p a r a d i g m . Either w a y t h e n , either
t h r o u g h the use of N e w T h e m a t i c Subjects {new o n t h e discoursal level),
or, as w e s a w earlier, by a process of cognitive b u t n o t discoursal
development of the initial n o m i n a l g r o u p , ESP-related inquiries c o r r o b o -
rate the sociologists' observations (e.g. Gilbert a n d M u l k a y , 1 9 8 4 ;
M y e r s , 1985a) t h a t M e t h o d sections often read like checklists.
In this context, s o m e of Weissberg's findings are particularly interest-
ing. Weissberg (1984) classified cohesive devices in 2 0 M e t h o d p a r a -
g r a p h s d r a w n from a range of disciplines a n d found only seven uses of
p r o n o u n s a n d three instances of s u p e r o r d i n a t e expressions. O n the o t h e r
h a n d , he n o t e d n o less t h a n 5 4 occasions w h e r e 'inferential bridging' — by
relying o n the r e a d e r s ' b a c k g r o u n d k n o w l e d g e or experience — w a s
needed for coherence. This need for ' b r i d g i n g ' w a s m u c h m o r e noticeable
in M e t h o d s t h a n in I n t r o d u c t i o n s a n d Discussions, a n d is t h u s further
evidence for the ' i n c o n s i d e r a t e ' n a t u r e of M e t h o d s texts.
O n e further aspect of Weissberg's p a p e r is directly relevant. W h e r e a s
the 2 0 I n t r o d u c t i o n a n d 2 0 Discussion p a r a g r a p h s tended t o manifest a
linear progression p a r a g r a p h development (in o t h e r w o r d s , the 'classic'
G i v e n - N e w p a r a d i g m ) , the M e t h o d p a r a g r a p h s were m u c h m o r e vari-
able a n d i n d e t e r m i n a t e in structure. Weissberg's r a t h e r p a t c h y results,
plus the extensive reliance o n inferential bridging, suggest t h a t M e t h o d
sections, like o t h e r condensed texts such as abstracts a n d telexes, evince
in Hallidayan t e r m s coherence b u t little cohesion, or in F u n c t i o n a l -
Sentence-Perspective terminology are heavy o n rheme b u t light o n
theme. Therefore, it m a y well be the case t h a t a different type of
p a r a g r a p h development needs t o be established for M e t h o d - o n e w h i c h
w e might characterize as broken linear. In m a n y M e t h o d p a r a g r a p h s the
sentences are like islands in a string, islands w h i c h only those with
specialist k n o w l e d g e a n d experience can easily j u m p across from o n e t o
the next.
T h e three fields Weissberg investigated were b o t a n y , agriculture a n d
engineering, Gilbert a n d M u l k a y looked at biochemistry, Bruce medi-
cine, a n d D u b o i s zoology. These are all areas w h e r e m a n y research
methodologies are well established, indeed protocolized, a n d w h e r e
scattered n e t w o r k s of specialists form active discourse c o m m u n i t i e s .
Methods Id 9
T h e s e then are all field* that may favor the elliptical r e p o r t i n g of M e t h o d
t h a t w e have c o m e to expect. Indeed, H u c k i n (1987) h a s recently
p r o d u c e d evidence to suggest t h a t , in t h e biochemical area a t least, t h e
M e t h o d section is b e c o m i n g increasingly de-emphasized. M e t h o d sec-
tions m a y be d o w n g r a d e d by being physically relocated t o w a r d s the end
of the p a p e r . Additionally they increasingly occur in smaller print t h a n
t h a t used for o t h e r sections, a n d , a c c o r d i n g t o H u c k i n , t h e Journal of
Biological Chemistry h a s recently b e g u n t o publish the M e t h o d section in
p r i n t s o small t h a t it c a n n o t be read w i t h o u t t h e aid of a magnifying glass.
H o w e v e r , it w o u l d be d a n g e r o u s t o s u p p o s e t h a t such trends are
equally detectable in 'softer', emerging o r inter-disciplinary fields. H e r e ,
for instance, is the first p a r a g r a p h from W e s t ' s M e t h o d section in an
article published in TESOL Quarterly, by n o m e a n s a j o u r n a l aimed at a
n a r r o w - b a n d research r e a d e r s h i p (West, 1 9 8 0 : 4 8 4 ) . This p a r a g r a p h has
a clear Given—New c h a r a c t e r , which I have a t t e m p t e d t o d i a g r a m
informally in Figure 16. In so d o i n g I have b r o k e n the p a r a g r a p h into
individual sentences.
I. M e t h o d
t-jTo test this hypothesis,||15 research articles] in the biological
sciences^were randomly selected! from the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 76 (79).
j j a c h of the selected articles| had been divided by| the authors! into
^the above-mentioned four sections.lfThe number of authors^
, r o m t 0
jper article"! ranged four, and no|authorAppeared
twice in [the corpus.l
|The corpusftf/ontained 39,578 words, and the average length of the
[was 2639 words (SR = 499).
Figure 16 Given and New in a Method paragraph
This M e t h o d text seems t o have a very different flavor t o the preceding
extracts from the h a r d sciences. T h e careful step-by-step description,
massively s u p p o r t e d by a n a p h o r i c reference a n d lexical repetition, pro-
duces the k i n d of explicitness t h a t w e associate w i t h s t a n d a r d academic
description. In c o n t r a s t , M e t h o d sections in the physical a n d life sciences
170 Research articles in English
are enigmatic, swift, presumptive of b a c k g r o u n d k n o w l e d g e , n o t
designed for easy replication, a n d with little s t a t e m e n t of rationale or
discussion of the choices m a d e . These differences can p r e s u m a b l y be
related t o a n u m b e r of sociological a n d intellectual p h e n o m e n a , such as
the nature of the discourse c o m m u n i t y , the level of a g r e e m e n t a b o u t
a p p r o p r i a t e m e t h o d o l o g y , the extent to which a demonstrably adequate
m e t h o d o l o g y is deemed necessary, a n d the role assigned to controlled
experiment in the discipline. Presumably, it is p a r a m e t e r s such as these
t h a t explain w h y the M e t h o d section assumes great i m p o r t a n c e in m o s t
psychological a n d educational research, but can be assigned scant
attention and space in an area like biochemistry.
7.6 Results, Discussions and Conclusions
In the t w o previous sections on Introductions a n d M e t h o d s , various
claims have been a d v a n c e d which are fairly specific as to w h a t w e might
expect t o find in particular sets of circumstances. O u r present state of
k n o w l e d g e a b o u t the last t w o elements in the I M R D p a t t e r n is, regretta-
bly, largely restricted t o an e x p l o r a t o r y rather t h a n hypothesis-testing
stage. O n e initial sign of unfirm g r o u n d is the fact t h a t we d o n o t yet
k n o w h o w matters tend t o be arranged even in t e r m s of the three section
labels t h a t provide the title for this section. Even if a majority of RAs
have closing Results a n d Discussion sections, others coalesce the t w o ,
while even others have additional or substituted sections labeled C o n c l u -
sions, Implications o r Applications a n d so on. M o r e particularly, there is,
from the discourse analyst's viewpoint, much variation in the extent to
which Results sections simply describe results a n d the extent to which
Discussion sections redescribe results.
Consider again, for e x a m p l e , the four articles from RTE 2 2 (1) used t o
validate the CARS m o d e l for introductions. In the first article Results
runs to 2 0 pages; in the second, Results consists of three tables a n d 3 0
lines of text. Even m o r e significant p e r h a p s is the w a y results are
presented in the second RA:
Para. 1 The ANOVA on . . . indicated . . .
Cell means . . . are shown in Table 1.
Tukey post hoc tests indicated t h a t . . .
No other effects of interest were significant.
Para. 2 The ANOVA on . . . indicated . . .
Cell means . . . are shown in Table 2.
Tukey post hoc tests indicated t h a t . . .
No other effects of interest were significant.
Para. 3 The ANOVA on . . . indicated . . .
The cell means . . . were . . .
Results, Discussions and Conclusions 171
Para. 4 The ANOVA on . . . Indicated . . .
Cell m e a n t . . . are shown in Table 3.
Tukey post hoc tents indicated t h a t . . .
No other effects of interest were significant.
Para. 5 The ANOVA on . . . indicated t h a t . . .
Students' mean rating f o r . . . w a s . . .
T h e astonishing repetitive regularity of this Results section (in p a r a g r a p h
o r g a n i z a t i o n , in g r a m m a t i c a l structure and in lexical choice) is pre-
sumably deliberate, especially if w e b e a r in m i n d t h a t the a u t h o r s are
specialists in writing. T h e section's style a n d structure seems to be
designed t o d e n y o n the a u t h o r s ' p a r t a n y associative c o n t a m i n a t i o n with
c o m m e n t a r y or o b s e r v a t i o n . It is n o t Slater a n d C o m p a n y w h o are
talking here, b u t their statistical p a c k a g e .
T h e third a n d fourth RAs from RTE also present q u a n t i t a t i v e results.
T h e third's Results section (in fact called Findings) o p e n s with a
p a r a g r a p h connecting some of the present findings w i t h the previous
literature. T h e ensuing p a r a g r a p h s deal with the results b u t in a m u c h
m o r e evaluative w a y t h a n in RA 2. T h e r e are also s o m e observational
asides such as ' . . . b u t it m u s t be r e m e m b e r e d t h a t this study does not
a c c o u n t directly for sentence complexity . . . ' ( 1 9 8 8 : 6 8 ) . T h e final article
deals with statistical measures similar t o those in the second, b u t again
offers greater rhetorical intervention. A N O V A S , for instance, reveal
r a t h e r t h a n indicate, a n d there is some justificatory c o m m e n t a r y — 'Given
these results, w e applied three a posteriori tests' ( 1 9 8 8 : 8 1 ) .
As even a u t h o r s within a single issue of a journal can a p p a r e n t l y
distribute very differently the knowledge-claims they w a n t t o m a k e
across the Results—Discussion divide, I have decided t o frame the
r e m a i n i n g discussion w i t h i n the general area of results a n d their discuss-
ion. Even so, the fact t h a t I k n o w of only a handful of studies in this area
m e a n s t h a t t r e a t m e n t will be brief.
Belanger (1982) analyzed 10 Discussion sections from articles in the
field of neuroscience. O n the basis of this d a t a , he w a s able t o s h o w t h a t
' t h e structure of the discussion section is closely correlated t o b o t h the
n u m b e r a n d k i n d of research questions posed in the i n t r o d u c t i o n sections
of the p a p e r ' ( 1 9 8 2 : 1 ) . Belanger p r o p o s e s t h a t after a possible general
i n t r o d u c t i o n a n d before a possible general conclusion, each research
question or R Q (as identified with the help of a specialist informant) is
then passed t h r o u g h 'a cycle':
1. Summarizing results a n d stating conclusions w i t h references t o pre-
vious research;
2 . What research suggests with references t o previous research a n d / o r to
the current w o r k ;
172 Research articles in English
3. Further questions sometimes with possible e x p l a n a t i o n s and some-
times with references.
H e finds t h a t all three elements are not always present for each R Q , but
any elements occurring follow the o r d e r given a b o v e ; he also found t h a t
sometimes the discussion of a particular R Q w a s iterated t h r o u g h the
cycle several times - an interesting parallel w i t h C r o o k e s ' a n d o t h e r s '
observation of 'cycling' in i n t r o d u c t i o n s (Crookes, 1 9 8 6 a ) . It is n o t clear
w h e t h e r the nesting of 1-3 mini-discussions can be related t o Weissberg's
(1984) finding t h a t linear topic d e v e l o p m e n t w a s the c o m m o n e s t type of
Discussion p a r a g r a p h . A final conclusion from Belanger's pioneering
study is t h a t the Hill et al. diagram (1982) is over-generalized. R a t h e r
t h a n a b r o a d m o v e from specific t o general, Belanger finds a series of
small-scale e x p a n s i o n s of scope t h a t c o r r e s p o n d t o discussion of each
research question.
Subsequent w o r k has underlined the cyclic n a t u r e of Discussion
sections. A l t h o u g h I n t r o d u c t i o n s may also be cyclic, they equally m a y n o t
be (as we saw in the Figure 11 text). In contrast, a ' c h u n k e d ' c o m p o s i t e
form of Discussion seems to be a rare p h e n o m e n o n . T h e subsequent
w o r k (McKinlay, 1 9 8 4 ; H o p k i n s , 1 9 8 5 ; Peng, 1 9 8 7 ; H o p k i n s a n d
Dudley-Evans, 1988) has largely been concerned with e l a b o r a t i n g a n d
refining the M o v e - S t e p s in the cycle a n d in searching for recurring
p a t t e r n s in the M o v e - S t e p s . Peng (1987) a n d H o p k i n s a n d Dudley-Evans
(1988), for e x a m p l e , b o t h offer 1 1 - M o v e schemes which differ only in
m i n o r detail. T h e m o r e frequent moves are glossed as follows.
1. Background information. This is a s o m e w h a t free-standing m o v e t h a t
can occur at any p o i n t in the cycle. As its n a m e implies, this m o v e is
employed by a u t h o r s w h e n they wish to strengthen their discussion by
recapitulating m a i n p o i n t s , by highlighting theoretical i n f o r m a t i o n , or
by reminding the reader of technical information.
2. Statement of results. If there is a quasi-obligatory m o v e in Discussion
sections it is this o n e . Evidence suggests, as w e might expect, t h a t it is
the starting point of a cycle - a n d is only likely to be preceded by a
M o v e 1. M a n y Discussion sections will have several cycles beginning
with a M o v e 2 ; H o p k i n s (1985) found t h a t three cycles were the
c o m m o n e s t p a t t e r n in his study of p a p e r s published in the proceedings
of an irrigation and drainage conference. Additionally, we might
expect t h a t the stronger results will be dealt with in an early cycle a n d
w e a k e r results in a later one. O n this issue, H u c k i n (1987) m a k e s the
following interesting observation:
One of my biologists, who serves on the editorial board of a major
journal in the field, said that the first paragraph of a discussion
should always be reserved for the strongest claim in the study.
Though he stated this as a prescription, my survey of papers in
Results, Discussions and Conclusions 173
both biology mul physics showed il to be « description of actual
practice anyway,
(Huckin, 1 9 8 7 : 1 2 - 1 3 )
3 . (Un)expected outcome. H e r e the writer c o m m e n t s o n w h e t h e r the
result is unexpected or not. This w a s , in fact, quite a rare m o v e in
Peng's chemical engineering texts, occurring in only four o u t of 5 2
cycles.
4 . Reference to previous research. After M o v e s 1 a n d 2, p r o b a b l y the
most c o m m o n m o v e . T h e r e are t w o m a i n sub-types or steps: reference
for purposes of comparison w i t h present research a n d references for
p u r p o s e s of providing support for present research.
5 . Explanation. This m o v e is particularly c o m m o n w h e n the writer
suggests reasons for a surprising result, or o n e at o d d s with those
r e p o r t e d in the literature. At present t h e relationship b e t w e e n M o v e s 3
a n d 5 is s o m e w h a t obscure, particularly as t o w h e t h e r 5 is subsequent
t o 3 or an alternative t o it.
6. Exemplification. E x a m p l e s are m o s t often used to s u p p o r t an expla-
n a t i o n ( H o p k i n s a n d Dudley-Evans, 1 9 8 8 ) .
7. Deduction and Hypothesis. This m o v e is used to m a k e a claim
(however qualified) a b o u t the generilizability of some or all of the
reported results.
8. Recommendation. T h e writer a d v o c a t e s the need for further research
or m a k e s suggestions a b o u t possible lines of future investigation.
H o w e v e r , H u c k i n (personal c o m m u n i c a t i o n ) believes t h a t the specific
identification of interesting research questions at the end of a cycle or
at the end of the Discussion section as a w h o l e is a move being
increasingly a b a n d o n e d by US scientists because they d o n o t wish t o
give a d v a n t a g e t o others in a n increasingly competitive m a r k e t for
research grants.
This distilled list of eight moves provides a useful provisional framework
for m u c h needed further w o r k o n the structure of RA Discussion
sections. T h e existence of cycles seems well-established, as is t h e fact t h a t
complexity of the cycle can be related t o the degree t o w h i c h the results
are ' c o m p a t i b l e ' with previous w o r k a n d / o r with the expected o u t c o m e
t o hypotheses o r questions. T h e w o r k reviewed here, a n d t h a t of H u c k i n
(1987) give s u p p o r t t o the view t h a t Discussions, in strict contrast to
I n t r o d u c t i o n s , m o v e d u r i n g a cycle in a n 'inside-out' direction; they move
from stating the results themselves, t o placing t h e m within the established
literature, to reviewing their general significance.
H o w e v e r , we k n o w little a b o u t disciplinary variation a n d little a b o u t
the linguistic e x p o n e n t s of the moves. Indeed, o n the latter p o i n t , a certain
a m o u n t of obfuscation m a y have been caused by the heavy attention
given t o the famous article by W a t s o n a n d Crick o n D N A (e.g. Bazerman,

1 9 8 1 ; C r o m b i c , 1 9 8 5 ; Fahnestock, 1 9 8 6 ; M y e r s , 1989), a n d to the
c o m m e n t s o n its c o m p o s i t i o n in The Double Helix ( W a t s o n , 1968). T h e
celebrated penultimate sentence in the article, 'It has n o t escaped o u r
notice t h a t the specific pairing w e h a v e p o s t u l a t e d immediately suggests a
possible copying mechanism for the genetic material', is a M o v e 7
d e d u c t i o n - h y p o t h e s i s . T h e d o u b l e negative (nor escaped), the choice of
postulated as reporting verb, insertion of possible, a n d the use of
suggests, all characterize a very m o d e s t k n o w l e d g e claim n o t gainsaid by
the m o r e assertive immediately. H o w e v e r , as F a h n e s t o c k c o m m e n t s ,
' W a t s o n and Crick could afford to be coy' ( 1 9 8 6 : 2 7 8 ) ; they k n e w t h a t
the scientific w o r l d w o u l d a c k n o w l e d g e their major b r e a k t h r o u g h . T h e
'cause celebre' t r e a t m e n t of W a t s o n a n d Crick's closing s t a t e m e n t s h a s , I
suggest, distracted attention a w a y from w h a t m a y t u r n o u t t o be m o r e
n o r m a l practice. In m o r e n o r m a l circumstances, a u t h o r s m a y well feel a
need to advance the significance of their w o r k in m o r e positive t e r m s .
7.7 Review
In this chapter, the longest in the b o o k , I have a t t e m p t e d to offer a
depiction of w h a t w e k n o w a b o u t research articles, especially t h o s e of a
m o r e experimental character. In m a n y cases I have p r o v i d e d an overview
of the m a i n results of a particular investigation. T h e a d v a n t a g e of this
a p p r o a c h is t h a t the reader is provided with some content, a n d so does
not necessarily have t o follow u p references in o r d e r t o o b t a i n substantive
findings. T h e disadvantage is that the space available for investigating
theoretical a n d p r o c e d u r a l issues has sometimes been curtailed.
In C h a p t e r 7 I have tried to bring together several distinct a p p r o a c h e s
to research writing (quantitative, historical, sociological, rhetorical,
discoursal, linguistic) in an effort to b o t h b r o a d e n a n d deepen the
perceptions of those w h o are concerned with the genre in practical or
applied w a y s , as teachers of research writing a n d critical reading, as
research writers themselves, as advisors, as editors, as abstracters, as
citation analysts a n d so o n . In particular, I have tried t o illustrate w a y s in
which genre conventions m a y be seen t o be o p e r a t i n g , so t h a t applied
w o r k can be g r o u n d e d in w h a t e v e r sense of reality the c u r r e n t state of
k n o w l e d g e permits. O n the other h a n d , in the second half of C h a p t e r 7,1
have given p r o m i n e n c e t o w o r k in t h e EAP/Applied Discourse Analysis
tradition, in the h o p e t h a t the careful textual studies t h a t this tradition
usually represents can offer s o m e t h i n g in return t o the w i d e r inter-
disciplinary field.
As has been suggested m o r e t h a n o n c e , the picture we have of the
research article is far from complete. T h a t picture suggests t h a t there are
Rcvu-w
certain c h a r a c t r n s i u s ol KAn which, by and large, tend to occur and
recur in samples d r a w n h u m .in extensive range ol disciplines. It is a moot
point w h e t h e r the similarities are sufficiently d o m i n a n t to s u p p o r t
W i d d o w s o n ' s a s s u m p t i o n of a ' m a c r o g e n r e ' ( W i d d o w s o n , 1 9 8 3 a ) .
H o w e v e r , it remains the case t h a t RAs are rarely simple narratives of
investigations. Instead, they are complexly distanced r e c o n s t r u c t i o n s of
research activities, at least p a r t of this reconstructive process deriving
from a need to anticipate a n d d i s c o u n t e n a n c e negative reactions to the
k n o w l e d g e claims being a d v a n c e d . A n d this need in t u r n explains the
long-standing (Shapin, 1984) a n d w i d e s p r e a d use of ' h e d g e s ' as rhe-
torical devices b o t h for projecting h o n e s t y , m o d e s t y a n d p r o p e r caution
in self-reports, a n d for diplomatically creating research space in areas
heavily p o p u l a t e d by other researchers.
O n the o t h e r h a n d , the RA varies from one disciplinary sector to
a n o t h e r in t e r m s of degree of s t a n d a r d i z a t i o n a n d of the prevalence of a
nominalized impersonal style (Smith, 1 9 8 2 ) . In those areas of k n o w l e d g e
variously described as ' h a r d ' , ' e x a c t ' o r 'physical', consensus o n objec-
tives, g r o u n d - r u l e s a n d points of d e p a r t u r e has led to textual p r o d u c t s
with regularized m a c r o - s t r u c t u r e a n d w i t h rhetorics t h a t follow identifia-
ble role-models. In these fields, there is a perceivable inter-relationship
between the RA as a p e e r - g r o u p intellectual object, the abstract n o m i n a l
style, a n d the presence of authorial intrusion mainly in contexts t h o u g h t
t o need persuasive s u p p o r t , or t o need s o m e revelation of the a u t h o r s '
individual cognitive processes. As is well k n o w n , certain g r o u p s in the
social a n d behavior sciences have tried, w i t h varying degrees of success, t o
a d o p t a n d a d a p t the h a r d science p a r a d i g m (cf. Bazerman, 1 9 8 7 ) . O t h e r s ,
such as e t h n o g r a p h e r s of various p e r s u a s i o n s , have n o t . These a n d many
in the h u m a n i t i e s t e n d t o align their scholarly a n d research p r o d u c t s t o
their preferred intellectual schools a n d scholarly traditions r a t h e r t h a n t o
disciplines as such. In general, differences between the genres of articles,
b o o k s , reviews, a n d so o n are less m a r k e d in the h u m a n i t i e s .
Finally, there are t w o principal corollaries of this variation - a n d o n e
unexpected o u t c o m e . First, the m o r e established the c o n v e n t i o n s , the
m o r e articulated the genre. T h u s o n a superficial level, the RA text
becomes increasingly divided into s t a n d a r d i z e d divisions ( I M R D or a
disciplinary v a r i a n t ) ; o n a less o b v i o u s level, the m o r e likely w e will find
t h a t different sections will have different rhetorical features (e.g. Intro-
d u c t i o n s in c o n t r a s t t o M e t h o d s ) . T h e second corollary is t h a t as we
m o v e t o w a r d s the diffuse end of the c o n t i n u u m the m o r e necessary it
becomes for a u t h o r s t o engage in acts of persuasion t h a t will e n c o u r a g e
the readerships to share particular visions of the research w o r l d . T h e
surprise is t h a t , o n preliminary evidence at least, the major differences d o
n o t lie so m u c h in I n t r o d u c t i o n s a n d Discussions (where I believe m o l t
176 Research articles in English

people w o u l d expect it) but rather in the M e t h o d a n d Results sections.

Finally, there is p e r h a p s an element of irony in a situation wherein social
scientists are engaged in a cognitive a n d rhetorical u p g r a d e of M e t h o d at
8 Observations on other
a time w h e n their m e n t o r s in the h a r d sciences a r e beginning, rhetorically
at least, to d o w n g r a d e its i m p o r t a n c e .
research-process genres

As the length of C h a p t e r 8 d e m o n s t r a t e s , I have given in this b o o k a lion's

share of the available space to the research article. I believe this decision
can be justified in a n u m b e r of w a y s . In m a n y scholarly o r research^dx»t«n,
discourse c o m m u n i t i e s , the RA is t h e key genre b o t h quantitatively a n d
qualitatively. T h e r e is also little d o u b t t h a t , even in a state of considerable
ignoTance," we k n o w m u c h m o r e a b o u t the RA t h a n o t h e r research-
process genres. Further, o n e of t h e aims of this b o o k h a s been t o s h o w
h o w the actual process of genre analysis might be u n d e r t a k e n a n d I have
n o t been able to see h o w this aim can be achieved by simply s u m m a r i z i n g
results. An initial stage of this process involves the presenting of textual
extracts. While this need soon r u n s u p against space constraints, it h a s
been possible t o satisfy it in a small n u m b e r of selected genres, of which
t h e RA h a s been one a n d the reprint request will be a n o t h e r .
T h e r e is a final reason, h o w e v e r , for giving p r o m i n e n c e to t h e R A : the
RA_has a d y n a m i c relationship with all the o t h e r puhHf research-process
jjejirfis.. Even w h e n we leave aside private a n d semi-private c o m m u n i c a -
tive activities connected with the RA (cover letters, reviewer's r e p o r t s ,
reprint requests, etc.), the RA still r e m a i n s at the center of a spider's w e b
(Figure 17).

abstracts - presentations

research articles grant proposals

theses and books and

dissertations " * monographs

Figure 17 The RA and other research-process genres

i - i t