Genre and Metadiscourse Analysis of Corresponding Effects between Introduction and Conclusion in Empirical Research Articles: Focusing on Chinese Foreign Language Journals
Abstract：Abstract: Based on 155 empirical research articles on applied linguistics and foreign language teaching from 7 CSSCI foreign language journals published in 2015, this study, focusing on their introduction and conclusion sections, explores the corresponding effects, metadiscourse features as well as the dominant corresponding pattern from the perspectives of genre and metadiscourse. The main research findings are: 1）73 articles maintain a prominent correspondence, whereas the rest either demonstrate a loose or a weak correspondence. 2）As for the use of metadiscourse, more interactive resources than interactional resources are found. The writer-centered correspondence on the basis of building up ties with readers can be demonstrated according to the textual and semantic cohesion and coherence and the theoretical basis. Writers are suggested further negotiating their claims with the readers instead of strengthening their persuasion. 3) The genre of the dominant corresponding pattern mainly starts from establishing the research territory, announcing the research content, to summarizing and evaluating the present work and then recommending the further study. In general, the current corresponding effects between the introduction and conclusion in the selected articles is not satisfactory. Therefore, more attention should be paid to achieve all-around, multi-angle correspondence between the two sections. The findings are expected to raise the writers’ awareness of correspondence in writing high-quality academic journal articles.
Key Words: Correspondence (between introduction and conclusion sections); move; step; metadiscourse
