ERIC ED595743: Rhetorical Structure Analysis on Introduction Chapters of English Master Theses by Indonesian Postgraduate Students

2018·0.42 MB·English

by  ERIC

Available online at IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education) Website:
http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee
RHETORICAL STRUCTURE ANALYSIS ON INTRODUCTION CHAPTERS OF
ENGLISH MASTER THESES BY INDONESIAN POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS
Indah Afitah Pujiyanti, Safnil Arsyad, Arono
th th th
Received: 28 August 2018; Revised: 28 November 2018; Accepted: 28 Desember 2018
ABSTRACT
This study is aimed at investigating the rhetorical structure of Introduction chapters of English
master theses written by Indonesian postgraduate students and identifying the frequency of
communicative moves and their constituent steps as well as finding how the students justify their
research projects reported in their Introduction chapters. The research design was mixed method
research combining quantitative and qualitative method. Twenty Introduction chapters of English
master theses were taken from two different fields; English language education and applied
linguistics, and they were analyzed using checklists. The results: (1) three moves and fifteen steps
are found in the introduction chapters of master theses and three newly identified steps other than
those specified in Bunton‟s are also found in the corpus of this study and (2) three moves are
considered obligatory moves, seven steps are classified as obligatory, four Steps are conventional
and seven Steps are optional. Further, the majority of Indonesian postgraduate students tend to
rhetorically justify their research project based on the knowledge gap found in the literature. This
study concludes that the move and step model suggested by Bunton (2002) and modified from
Swales‟ CARS is effective enough to capture the possible rhetorical structure of introduction
chapter of master thesis written by Indonesian postgraduate students.
Keywords: rhetorical structure; move analysis; genre analysis; introduction chapters; master thesis
ABSTRAK
Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menemukan pola retorika bab pendahuluan dalam thesis bahasa Inggris
diantaranya mengidentifikasi bagian pendahuluan yang memiliki moves (tahapan), steps (langkah), dan
menjustifikasi pentingnya penelitian dilakukan. Desain penelitian yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah
metode campuran (mixed method) yang menggabungkan kuantitatif dan kualitatif, dan instrumen utama yang
digunakan dalam menganalisis data adalah instrumen ceklist. Data penelitian ini diambil dari dua bidang thesis
yang berbeda; pengajaran bahasa Inggris dan fitur linguistik. Hasil dari penelitian ini: (1) tiga Moves (tahapan)
dan limabelas Steps (langkah) ditemukan dalam bab Pendahuluan thesis pada penelitian ini. Selain itu, ditemukan
juga tiga Steps (langkah) baru yang tidak ditemukan dalam pola Bunton (2002); (2) tiga Moves (tahapan)
dikategorikan harus/wajib ada, tujuh Steps (langkah) diiklasifikasikan harus ada, empat Steps (langkah) boleh ada,
dan tujuh Steps (langkah) boleh tidak ada. Selanjutnya, mayoritas mahasiswa pascasarjana Indonesia cenderung
secara retoris menjustifikasi proyek penelitian mereka berdasarkan pada celah (gap) yang terdapat dalam
penelitian-penelitian terkait terdahulu. Penelitian ini menyimpulkan bahwa pola tahapan (Move) dan langkah
(Step) yang dikemukakan oleh Bunton (2002) dan dimodifikasi dari pola retorika Swales yakni Creating a
Research Space (CARS) cukup efektif digunakan dalam menggambarkan struktur retorika bab pendahuluan pada
thesis yang ditulis oleh mahasiswa pascasarjana Indonesia.
Kata kunci: Struktur retorika; analisis tahapan; analisis genre; bab pendahuluanp; thesis
How to Cite: Pujiyanti, I. A., Arsyad, S., Arono. (2018). Rhetorical Structure Analysis on Introduction Chapters of
English Master Theses by Indonesian Postgraduate Students. IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 5(2),
143-164. doi:10.15408/ijee.v5i2.8423

IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 5 (2), 2018, 143-164
P-ISSN: 2356-1777, E-ISSN: 2443-0390 | DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v5i2.8423

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IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 5 (2), 2018
INTRODUCTION Dudley-Evans 1986: 135, Hyland 2004,
Kwan 2006, Loan & Pramoolsook 2014, ,
Currently, rhetorical structure of
Shirani-Chalak 2016, Swales 2004,
particular chapters in master thesis has
Wuttisrisiriporn, 2017). A study
been intensively investigated (e.g
conducted by Bunton (2002)
Bunton, 2002; Dong, 1998; Dudley &
investigated the genre analysis of 45
Evans, 1986; Kwan, 2006; Loan &
Ph.D. thesis Introductions. It was built
Pramoolsook, 2014; Manan & Noor,
based on his own erlier study (Bunton,
2014; Shirani & Chalak, 2016; Thompson,
1998) that analyzed the overall thesis
2005; Wuttisrisiriporn, 2017). These
structure of 21 Ph.D. and M.Phil. theses.
studies have examined how different
He adopted Swales‟ CARS 1990 model
chapters of master thesis in diverse
to investigate the generic moves
disciplines were written using
structure and steps of the Introduction
genre-based approaches. The purpose
chapters across eight disciplines. He
was for identifying predictable presence
found that all Introductions had
of rhetorical moves and steps
sequences of text identifiable as the
embedded in a wide variety of text
three moves in Swales‟s (1990) CARS
types particularly in a certain chapter of
model: Establishing a Territory (T),
master thesis.
Establishing a Niche (N), and Occupying
A large number of studies have
the Niche (O) and he proposed 10 newly
investigated the organisation structure
identified steps in the third move to
of particular chapters in master theses
introduce the present research; Defining
and dissertations including:
terms, Indicating a problem or need,
Introduction on Ph.D. dissertations
Method, Materials or Subjects, Product of
have been conducted such as by Bunton
research (Eg)/Model proposed, Chapter
(2002), Dong (1998), Swales & Najjar
structure, Research questions/Hypotheses,
(1987), Thompson (2005); Literature
Theoretical position, Application of product,
Review (Kwan, 2006); Discussion
and Evaluation of product.
(Dudley-Evans 1986: 135); Conclusion
One of the latest discourse analysis
(Dudley & Evans, 1986); Abstracts in
studies on introduction chapters was
Conservation Biology and Wildlife
conducted by Loan & Pramoolsook
Behavior (Samraj, 2008).
(2014). They employed the modified
Although there have been a
CARS‟ model by Bunton (2002) to
remarkable numbers of investigations
analyze the rhetorical structure of
applying the rhetorical structure on
Introduction chapters of 12 master
particular chapters of master theses, but
theses from the three universities in the
only few studies which focused on
South of Vietnam. They found that three
investigating Introduction chapter
moves; Establishing a Territory,
(Bunton 2002, 2005, Dong 1998,
Establish a Niche, and Occupying the
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IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 5 (2), 2018
Niche and 15 out of 24 steps described All the studies above investigated
in Bunton (2002) were employed by this master theses focusing on Introduction
group of non-native English writers, chapters written by Native Speaker (NS)
although they had little or no formal Students and Non Native Speaker (NNS)
instruction on how to write this genre. students in which the text are written in
Last, they found one newly identified British, American, Australian,
step in a separate section headed Vietnamese and Iranian. The studies
namely Chapter summary. mostly found that there were similarity
of the move employment used by these
A study conducted by
two groups of students. Both NS
Shirani-Chalak (2016) on 40 master
students and NNS students used all
theses Introductions written by EFL
three moves stated in framework of
learners from Iran found that three
CARS model; Establishing a Territory,
moves of the introduction section; (a)
Establish a Niche, and Occupying the
Establishing a territory, (b) Establishing a
Niche and they provided the use of
niche, (c) Occupying the niche were
various steps to accomplish each move.
followed exactly in Iranian EFL
In spite of those similarities, the studies
learners‟ master theses with a high
carried out on introductions written by
degree of distribution; Move 1 presents
Non-Native Speaker (NNS) indicated
70%, Move 2 presents for about 65%
that most NNS writers are more likely
and Move 3 presests 82.5% and
to follow a similar structure of thesis
therefore, these three moves were
Introducion. They tend to follow the
categorized as an obligatory moves in
instruction of thesis guidelines from
Introductions of master theses.
their universities and also conform
Finally, the latest investigation on
thesis Introduction components formed
comparative rhetorical organization of
in theses available in their libraries. In
ELT thesis introductions composed by
contrary, the studies carried out by
Thai and American students was
Native Speaker (NS) student writers
conducted byWuttisrisiriporn (2017), he
which focused on comparing some
found that both Thai and American
various disciplines found that the way
master students followed the moves
rhetorical structures of Introduction
and steps proposed in the framework
sections of master theses vary across
proposed by Bunton (2002) to construct
disciplines. This is due to the reason
their Introduction chapters rhetorically.
that native speaker (NS) students may
The results showed that 274 move
not prefer to use a rigid structure of
occurrences were identified in the ASI
thesis in their local community.
(American student Introduction) corpus
However, the similar studies on
and 284 move occurrences were realized
English master thesis written by
in the TSI (Thai student Introduction)
Indonesian postgraduate students have
corpus.
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been very rarely conducted. As far as Indonesian post graduate students
the author is concerned, there is no majoring in English, particularly from
published research reported on University of Bengkulu, Indonesia.
investigating the rhetorical structure of Applying stratified sampling technique,
Introduction chapter of English master the theses Introductions were selected
theses written by Indonesian from two different fields. Ten were from
postgraduate students in English students who had concerned in English
education. Thus, this is the rationale for Language Education field (EDU) and
the study; in particular,it is aimed at the remaining ten theses were selected
investigating how Indonesian from Applied Linguistics (APL) field.
postgraduate students organize their The distribution of Introduction master
Introduction chapters in their English theses from those two fields represents
master theses.The primary questions the distribution of master theses
addressed in this study are as follows: available at English education study
program at University of Bengkulu. The
a) What generic moves are found in
theses were generated during the years
the introductions chapter of English
2016-2017 and selected based on
master theses written by
purposive sampling technique. Only the
Indonesian postgraduate students?;
theses written during this period of time
b) What moves and steps are
were selected because generic structures
obligatory, conventional, and
are subject to variation across time and
optional found in Introduction
the selection of these theses is intended
chapters of master theses written by
to reflect the current practice of thesis
Indonesian postgraduate students? ;
writing written by Indonesian
and
postgraduate students as non-native
c) How do Indonesian postgraduate English speaker (NNES) students on
students justify their research English education.
projects reported in their English
The decision about the number of
master theses on introduction
20 thesis Introductions included in the
chapters?
corpus of this study is that with this size
of corpus the thesis Introductions can
METHOD represent the rhetorical style adopted by
the authors in writing their Introduction
Corpus of the Study
chapters. This is also because according
This research is genre-based study
to Pett (1997) and Salkind (2004) as
and can be categorized as
cited in Corder & Foreman (2009) the
mixed-method study. The data of this
minimum requirement for the number
study were taken from 20 Introduction
of text to be included in a quantitative
chapters of master theses written by
or qualitative analysis is 20. In addition,
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IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 5 (2), 2018
another reason for selecting 20 comprehensive framework for
introductions was also made based on analyzing the introduction and many
the assumption that this present study other researchers have applied it
focuses on only one discipline (English successfully and extensively (Loan &
Education) so that the number of 20 Pramoolsook, 2014; Wuttisrisiriporn,
Introductionchapters is acceptable (see 2017).
Loan & Pramoolsook, 2014; p.64). This is
Figure 1. Modified CARS model for Thesis
also due to the review of the literature
Introduction from Bunton (2002)
revealed that Dudley-Evans (1986)
Often present Occasionally
investigated only 7 master theses, Loan
present
& Pramoolsook (2014) analysed only 12
Move 1: Establishing a
master theses, Samraj (2008) analysed 24 Territory
STEPS
Introduction chapters across three
1: Claiming centrality
disciplines (an average of 8 each), while 2: Making topic
generalizations and giving Research
Bunton (2002) identified the structures background information parameters
of 45 Introductions across 8 disciplines 3: Defining terms
4: Reviewing previous
(an average of 5.5 Introduction/a research

discipline).
Move 2: Establishing a Niche

STEPS

1A: Indicating a gap in
Data Analysis Counter-claiming
research

1B: Indicating a problem or
Since this study concerned with
need

genre analysis, the researcher 1C: Question-raising
1D: Continuing a tradition

employedchecklists containinga
Chapter structure
Move 3: Announcing the
conceptual framework as the main Research questions/
Present Research (Occupying
Hypotheses
instrument in analyzing the data. The the Niche)
Theoretical position
STEPS
conceptual framework employed for 1: Purposes, aims, or objectives Defining terms
Parameters of
2: Work carried out
analyzing the introduction sections of research
3: Method
Application of
theses was drawn from Bunton‟s (2002) 4: Materials or Subjects
product
5: Findings or Results
modified CARS model of Swales (1990) Evaluation of product
6: Product of research/Model
for Ph.D dissertation Introductions as proposed
7: Significance/Justification
shown in Figure 1. 8: Thesis structure

It was used as a reference
Data Analysis Procedures
framework since Bunton (2002)
accomplished the Swales‟ model by The processes of identifying the
distinguishing and adding 10 new steps communicative units or moves in the
to the CARS model. Another reason for introduction chapter of master theses,
selecting Bunton‟s Modified Swales' following Dudley & Evans (1986) and
(1990) CARS model is that, it has been Loan & Pramoolsook (2014), goes
the improvement of the most through the following 5 steps. First, the
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IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 5 (2), 2018
title or section headings, sub-titles, and Triangulation Analysis
key terms in Introduction chapter of
An independent rater involved in
each master theses were read to get a
this study was an English teacher who
rough understanding of the content of
has good capability in English and she
each Introduction. Second, the whole
is in the final semester of Magister
Introduction chapter was read to get
Program at English department of
better understanding Third, the
education faculty of Bengkulu
introduction chapter of each master
University. The co-rater was trained
theses was read again to look for the
how to code the text into its possible
available discourse and linguistic clues,
communicative units or moves with the
such as specific lexicons, discourse
use of research instrument as previously
markers, formulaic expressions,
explained in order to assure that the
particular lexical items and cohesive
co-rater clearly understood how to code
markers. Fourth, the possible
the master thesis introduction chapter.
communicative units in the master
Then, the co-rater was asked to identify
theses introduction were identified by
the possible moves in a sample of
using linguistic and discourse clues and
randomly selected introduction and if
by understanding and inferring from
any miscoding act occured then a
the text. Fifth, the common discourse
discussion, negotiation and clarification
structure of master theses introduction
was held in order to reach an agreement
was identified by employing the
between the researcher and the co-rater.
framework of revised CARS model
Last, the co-rater worked independently
suggested by Bunton (2002), then the
to code sample texts (25% of the entire
frequency of their occurances were
corpus) randomly selected from the 20
classified to distinguish whether moves
introductions. Inter-rater correlation
and steps employed in the Introduction
analysis results showed 88,2%
master theses were adequately qualified
agreement.It shows a strong agreement
to be regarded as obligatory, conventional,
(above 88%).
or optional.Referring to
Kanoksilapatham (2005), if the moves
FINDING AND DISCUSSION
occured in all master thesis
Introductions they were categorized as The GenericMoves found in
IntroductionChapters of English
obligatory, then if they occured between
Master Theses
60-99% of the Master theses
introduction they were categorized as
The data analysis results revealed
conventional, but if they occured less
that the generic moves found in
than 60% in the master theses they were
Introduction chapters of master theses
categorized as optional.
are as presented in Table 1.

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IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 5 (2), 2018
Tabel 1. The Generic Moves found in 20 these three moves are necessary
Introduction Chapters of English Master required or stated to be obligatory,
Theses therefore, all graduate students have to
Moves ED AP T % Categ follow this thesis instruction guidelines
U L ot ories as well as thesis Introduction
(n= (n=
components constituted in theses
10) 10)
submitted to the university such as
M Establis 10 10 2 1 Obliga
section headings, subheadings, and
-1 hing a 0 0 tory
Territor 0 even feedbacks from thesis supervisors.
y This implies that if one student does not
M Establis 10 10 2 1 Obliga
address these three moves in his/her
-2 hing a 0 0 tory
thesis Introduction it will be categorized
Niche 0
M Occupy 10 10 2 1 Obliga incomplete.
-3 ing the 0 0 tory
An interpretation of the finding is
Niche 0
that the feedbacks from thesis
supervisors and examiners during the
As can be noticed in Table 1, all
prosess of supervision or examination
Introduction chapters of master theses
have a great effect on an arrangement of
adopted three substantial moves
thesis Introduction organization. When
proposed by Bunton (2002), namely:
one student writes incomplete thesis
Move 1 (Establishing a territory), Move
introduction chapter, his/her
2(Establishing a niche)and Move
supervisor or examiner may have to
3(Occupying the niche). The presence of
advise him/her to complete it. It can be
these three moves in all introduction
infer that the writers of master theses
chapters have made them obligatory and
have been advised by their supervisors
confirms the finding of previous study
or examiners to include extensive
on this definite chapter (Loan &
information related to the topic under
Pramoolsook, 2014), which also showed
research by adopting these three moves
that all three moves in Bunton‟s (2002)
in their introduction chapter in order to
Modified CARS model occured in their
demonstrate their knowledge of the
corpus. This result implies that all
field and justify their claims toward
graduate students of both EDU and
topic of the research being investigated.
APL fields employed all these three
moves to construct their thesis This finding is compatible with
Introductions or to introduce general Loan & Pramoolsook (2014), in which
perpectives of their studies to the the twelve Introductions of Vietnamese
readers. The possible reason for this is students in TESOL had all three moves
probably in the guideline of thesis in Bunton‟s (2002) Modified CARS
writing provided by the university model. They explained by the fact that
these students followed the guidelines
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provided by their universities. This the current research would occupy
result is also in line with (Move 2), and the announcement of the
Wuttisrisiriporn (2017) who compared present research (Move 3). Move 1
the Introduction chapters of MA theses and Move 2 as well as all of their Steps
in ELT (English Language Teaching) were recommended to be completed in
written by Thai students to those the section heading of Background of the
written by American university study. While Move 3, the way to
students. He found that the entire ASI announce the present research, was
(American student Introduction) and accomplished in almost all generic
TSI (Thai Student Introduction) corpora section headings except Background
adopted all three moves shown in the and Roadmap of the study; Research
analytical framework proposed by questions /Hypotheses, Research objectives
Bunton (2002). He stated that Thai /Purpose, Significance of the study,
students are more likely to follow a Definition of Key terms, and Chapter
similar organization of thesis Structure. The following are examples of
Introducion as well as thesis Move 1, Move 2 and Move 3 occured in
supervisors‟ comments. Similarly, this the corpus of this study:
result conforms the finding of the study
Example : The ability to write in
on analyzing introductory sections of 21 1 English effectively is
Ph.D theses written in Spanish becoming increasingly
important in today’s modern
conducted by Salom et al. (2008),these
world since the
moves occured in every Introductions
communication through
text with different cyclical patterns and language has become more and
making them obligatory moves in Ph.D more essential in such for
education and work
thesis Introductions.
world.Lately, technology
and internet are mostly
The analysis results of this study
needed by some people or
found that the way to introduce the
students. [M1-S1, EDU9]
field of study or the background Example : There are very few research
information related to the research topic 2 with similar topic conducted
in ...however the aspects of
and establishthe niche for the current
the both variables were not
study conform the guideline of theses
investigated. [M2-S1, EDU6]
writing provided by English Example : The purpose of this study is
postgraduate study program of 3 to improve students‟
speaking ability...[M3-S1,
Bengkulu University, in which each
EDU8]
Introduction is realized by some

sections headings. The generic section
headings employed in these Example 1 is coded as a Move
Introduction chapters showed the field 1(Establishing a territory). The research
of the research (Move 1), the niche of statement of thesis EDU9 in Example 1
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IJEE (Indonesian Journal of English Education), 5 (2), 2018
clearly opens the Introduction. In this authors previewed previous research,
example, the author briefly claims and then pointed out gaps or problems
thatthe research topic being presented or raised questions, and finally went on
‘ability of writing through technology and to announce their own research.
internet’ is quite important and
Compatible with this moves feature,
significant. The second example is
Dudley-Evans (1986) remarked that the
coded as a Move 2 (Establishing a niche).
writers of thesis Introductions seemed to
In this example, the author clearly states
lead the readers from very general to
that there is a gap of knowledge left by
specific topics in a narrative style.
previous studies in the field using
Therefore this made the section of the
contradiction connectors of „however‟ or
Background of the study which was
‘but’. The last example is coded as a
accomplished by Move 1 and Move 2 in
Move 3 (Occupying the niche). In
these Introductions the longest, the
example 3, the author tells explicitly
length of Move 1 and Move 2 in these
what the present research is about by
Introductions is more than half that of
stating the purpose and/or the
the whole chapter, then it followed by
significance of the study. Clearly, the
Move 3 which had relatively shorter
use of deictic center lexical item (this),
length; occurred only in approximately
in conjunction with the formulaic
one or two paragraphs for each section
expression the purpose(the purpose of
heading.
this study), is used to state the
objectives pertaining to this particular Classification of Steps in Introduction
study. Chapters of English Master Theses
The feature of these three Moves in
The second analysis in this study is
the corpus of this study is similar to the
on identifying which steps are obligatory,
three-moves progression described by
conventional, and optional found in
Loan & Pramoolsook (2014), where
Introduction chapters of master theses.
there was no move cycle occured in
The result of identification and
their Introduction corpus. This implies
classification of the steps employed by
that all three moves follow in a single
the writers of graduate students in both
progression; the beginning move of
fields of Introduction chapters
Move 1: Establishing a territory
ispresented in Table 2.
(establishing the topic), followed by
Move 2: Establishing aniche (justifying
the present study), and concluded by

Move 3: Occupying a niche (describing

the present study). This is where the

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Table 2. Frequency of Steps Found in Moves in Introduction Chapters of Master
Theses
Moves Steps F Tot % Categories
EDU APL
Move 1 1: Claiming centrality 2 9 11 55 Optional
2: Making topic generalizations and 10 10 20 100 Obligatory
giving background information
3: Defining terms 6 4 10 50 Optional
4: Reviewing previous research 6 10 16 80 Conventional
Move 2 1A: Indicating a gap in research 4 9 13 65 Conventional
1B: Indicating a problem or need 10 10 20 100 Obligatory
1C:Solution* 8 2 10 50 Optional
Move 3 1: Purposes, aims, or objectives 10 10 20 100 Obligatory
2: Work carried out 0 2 2 10 Optional
3: Method 4 3 7 35 Optional
4: Materials or Subjects 1 0 1 05 Optional
5: Significance/Justification 10 10 20 100 Obligatory
6: Chapter structure 8 4 12 60 Conventional
7: Research questions/ Hypotheses 10 10 20 100 Obligatory
8: Defining terms 10 10 20 100 Obligatory
9: Parameters of research 10 10 20 100 Obligatory
10: Chapter Summary* 8 5 13 65 Conventional
11: Roadmap of the Research* 6 1 7 35 Optional

As indicated in Table 2, there are 15 steps categorized as the main aspects
out of 24 steps described in Bunton that should be included in composing
(2002) and three newly identified steps Introduction chapter of master theses. It
were found in the corpus of this study is also quite noticeable that the students
(See Table 3). The most frequently used tends to follow a common writing
steps or obligatory steps found in pattern of completed theses submitted
Introduction chapters consist of 7 steps to the university. As commonly known,
(Step 2 of Move 1 or Making topic new thesis writers are likely to apply a
generalization and giving background repeated pattern of those theses
information, Step 1B of Move 2 or submitted.
Indicating a problem or need, Steps of Move
Below are the examples of obligatory
3 Purpose of the resarch, Research
steps realized in Move1, 2, and 3taken
questions/Hypotheses, Significance of the
from the corpus of this study:
study, Limitation of the resesarch/Research
Parameters and Chapter structure). The Example 4 : Lately, technology and
internet are mostly needed
presence of these seven steps as
by...The available of
obligatory steps in the corpus of this
internet connection helps
study is probably because in the the lecturers and others
educators...By using
guideline of theses writing, these seven
152-164 http://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/ijee | DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15408/ijee.v5i2.8423

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