Acknowledgements in Doctoral Dissertations: A Cross-Cultural Genre Analysis of L1 and L2 English Writers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33806/ijaes1162Keywords:
acknowledgement section, doctoral dissertation, gender, L1 English, L2 English, move structureAbstract
This study analyses the acknowledgement section in doctoral dissertations written by first language (L1) and second language (L2) English writers. The study also aims to explore any gender differences in the construction of this genre. A corpus of 80 dissertation acknowledgements was compiled: 40 written by native English speakers and 40 by nonnative English speakers. Each group was further divided by gender (20 males and 20 females). Drawing upon Hyland’s (2004) move structure model, we found that the two groups of writers did not adhere to the same move structure of acknowledgement. The English acknowledgements produced by native speakers consisted of four moves: Reflecting Move, Thanking Move, Announcing Move, and Signing off Move. On the other hand, the English acknowledgements written by nonnative speakers consisted of seven moves: Opening Move, Praising and Thanking Allah Move, Reflecting Move, Thanking Move, Invoking and Blessing Move, Announcing Move, and Signing off Move. Female native English writers emphasised Reflecting and Thanking for Moral Support, while males prioritised Thanking for Academic Assistance and Accepting Responsibility. Similarly, female nonnative writers focused on Opening and Academic Thanks, whereas males highlighted Moral Support and the Announcing Move.
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