Philippine E-Journals

A Demarcation of the Moves in Discussion and Conclusion Sections of Doctoral Dissertations: A Genre-Based Analysis

Lilian B. Dupa | Renan P. Limjuco

 

Abstract:

This study investigated the rhetorical move structure of the discussion and conclusion sections of Applied Linguistics and Educational Leadership dissertations. By genre analysis, this study specifically scrutinized the difference between the two sections, analyzed the manner in which linguistic signals are written with reference to the moves, and consequently determined the demarcations between them. Two corpora composed of 15 Linguistics and 15 Educational Leadership dissertations were analyzed using Yang & Allison‘s (2003) move model. The results revealed that all the seven moves in discussion and three moves in conclusion of the move model occurred in the corpora, however, with differences in their frequency of occurrence. It was noted that Applied Linguistics and Educational leadership writers did not focus on the importance of generalizing and contributing to existing knowledge. Their conclusion sections summarized the key points of the findings of the research conducted. The findings obtained in the current study may be useful particularly for graduate student writers by facilitating them to better understand the rhetorical structure of research article discussion and conclusion sections in the context of academic research writing. Also, the findings may yield implications for a pedagogical framework for the teaching of academic writing.