THE GENERIC STRUCTURE OF POSTGRADUATE

STUDENTS‟ GRATITUDE EXPRESSION IN THESIS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: A LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS

BY

NOOR SUHAILIE BINTI CHE GHANI

A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for

the degree of Master of Human Sciences (Teaching of

English as a Second Language)

Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and

Human Sciences

International Islamic University Malaysia

MARCH 2015

ii

ABSTRACT

In academic writing, the acknowledgment section is considered as a rhetorical section

that is obligatory. Thus, it could be considered as a part of academic writing even

though it seems a personal piece of writing. Compared to other sections like the

abstract, introduction, discussion, findings and conclusion, the acknowledgement

section seems to receive very little attention from genre analysts. However, an

awareness of the rhetorical structures of different genre is useful and necessary

because this will help English teachers to know how language is used in various

contexts. The objectives of this study are to investigate if postgraduate students use

different move structures as well as examine the linguistic elements employed in

postgraduate students‟ thesis acknowledgements. Additionally, it also aims to

investigate if postgraduate students of different faiths use different generic structures

in the writing of thesis acknowledgement. This study analysed 100 acknowledgement

sample texts of 50 Muslim and 50 non-Muslim postgraduate students from two public

universities in Malaysia. This study used the move structures in English thesis

acknowledgements frameworks of Hyland (2004) and Al-Ali (2006) as well as

adopted Hyland and Tse‟s (2004) framework of linguistic elements in expressing

gratitude in order to answer all research questions. Based on the findings, Muslim and

non-Muslim postgraduate students acknowledgement texts were found to consist of

reflecting move, thanking move and announcing move. It was also discovered that

there are three important linguistic elements in acknowledgment texts, which are

patterns of expressing gratitude, modifying thanks and choice of authorial subjects.

Additionally, in the Malaysian context, it was found that differences in faith do not

really influence postgraduate students in writing thesis acknowledgement with the

exception of divine appreciation step. The analysis of this study would benefit English

teachers in order to teach appropriate ways of writing and using lexical choices in

acknowledgements and also benefits the postgraduate students in composing thesis

acknowledgements that meet the expectations of the academic community.

iii

خلاصة البحث

الكتابة الأكاديمية يعتبر جزءاً خطابيا واجبا من الكتابة الأكاديمية حتى وإن كان إن الشكر والتقدير في يبدو أنو قطعة من الكتابة الشخصية . وبمقارنتو مع أقسام البحث الأخرى مثل الدلخص، والدقدمة،

لنوع. لذلك والدناقشة، والنتائج والاستنتاج، يبدو أنو يتلقي القليل جدا من الاىتمام من المحللين لذذا االدختلفة مفيد وضروري لأنو يساعد مدرسي اللغة الإنجليزية لدعرفة البلاغية قوالبفإن الوعي الدعرفي بال

طلاب كانكيفية استخدام اللغة في سياقات مختلفة . وأىداف ىذه الدراسة ترمي إلى التحقيق مما إذا لك دراسة العناصر اللغوية الدستخدمة في وكذ ،الدختلفة البلاغية قوالبالدراسات العليا يستخدمون ال

كان الشكر والتقدير على أطروحات طلاب الدراسات العليا . كما تهدف أيضا إلى التحقق مما إذا طلاب الدراسات العليا من مختلف الأديان يستخدمون الذياكل العامة الدختلفة في كتابة الشكر والتقدير

01 ، منهاشكر والتقديرمن نصوص العينة 011. وفي ىذه الدراسة تم تحليل البحث على أطروحةين من الجامعات الحكومية في تلطلبة غير مسلمين من طلبة الدراسات العليا في اثن 01لطلبة مسلمين و

( في 4112) "آل علي"( و 4112)"ىايلاندـ"ل ىيكل الخطوةإطار ماليزيا. واستخدمت ىذه الدراسة لغوية العناصر لل( 4112) "على تسي"و "ىايلاند"وكذلك إطار ،أطروحة اللغة الإنجليزية اعترافات

عن الامتنان للرد على جميع الأسئلة البحثية. واستنادا على النتائج، فإن طلاب الدراسات التعبيرفي الشكر خطوات الانعكاس و عترافنصوص الإكتاباتهم في الدسلمين تضمنت الدسلمين وغير العليا

لتعبير عن اأيضا أن ىناك ثلاثة عناصر لغوية مهمة في الإقرار، وىي أنماط كما أوضحتوالإعلان .في السياق الداليزي ، وجد أن الاختلاف في الدين لا و تعديل واختيار الدوضوعات. و ، الامتنان والشكر

وسوف تفيد نتائج الإلذي. الاعتراف باستثناء التقدير نص يؤثر على طلاب الدراسات العليا في كتابة واستخدام الخيارات ،لكتابةلتعليم االطرق الدناسبة حيث اختيارىذه الدراسة مدرسي اللغة الإنجليزية من

أسلوب أنها تفيد أيضا طلاب الدراسات العليا في كتابةكما كتابة الشكر واالامتنان،الدعجمية في توقعات المجتمع الأكاديمي. وفق شكر والامتنانال

iv

APPROVAL PAGE

I certify that I have supervised and read this study and that in my opinion, it conforms

to acceptable standards of scholarly presentation and is fully adequate, in scope and

quality, as a dissertation for the degree of Master of Human Sciences (Teaching of

English as a Second Language)

…………………………………..

Engku Haliza Engku Ibrahim

Supervisor

I certify that I have read this study and that in my opinion it conforms to acceptable

standards of scholarly presentation and is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a

dissertation for the degree of Master of Human Sciences (Teaching of English as a

Second Language)

…………………………………..

Mohamed Ismail Ahamad Shah

Examiner

This dissertation was submitted to the Department of English Language and Literature

and is accepted as a fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Human

Sciences (Teaching of English as a Second Language)

…………………………………..

Zahariah Pilus

Head, Department of English

Language and Literature

This dissertation was submitted to the Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and

Human Sciences and is accepted as a fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of

Master of Human Sciences (Teaching of English as a Second Language)

…………………………………..

Ibrahim Mohamed Zein

Dean, Kulliyyah of Islamic

Revealed Knowledge and Human

Sciences

v

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this dissertation/thesis is the result of my own investigation,

except where otherwise stated. I also declare that it has not been previously or

concurrently submitted as a whole for any other degrees at IIUM or other institutions.

Noor Suhailie Binti Che Ghani

Signature…………………. Date …..................

vi

INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA

DECLARATION OF COPYRIGHT AND AFFIRMATION

OF FAIR USE OF UNPUBLISHED RESEARCH

Copyright ©2015 by Noor Suhailie Binti Che Ghani. All rights reserved.

THE GENERIC STRUCTURE OF POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS’

GRATITUDE EXPRESSION IN THESIS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: A

LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS

No part of this unpublished research may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,

or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,

recording or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright holder except

as provided below.

1. Any material contained in or derived from this unpublished research may

be used by others in their writing with due acknowledgement.

2. IIUM or its library will have the right to make and transmit copies (print

or electronic) for institutional and academic purposes.

3. The IIUM library will have the right to make, store in a retrieval system

and supply copies of this unpublished research if requested by other

universities and research libraries.

Affirmed by Noor Suhailie Binti Che Ghani

……..……..…………… …………………..

Signature Date

vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In the name of Allah the Most Gracious and the Most Merciful

“Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity” (Al-Baqarah) 2: 286

Alhamdullilah, finally, after a long journey, I managed to complete this thesis which

enables me to fulfill the partial requirement for the degree of Master of Human

Sciences (Teaching English as a Second Language). Above all, I am truly grateful to

Allah the Almighty for giving me the health, strength, patience and courage to

miraculously and unbelievably complete this thesis. Without His Grace I would never

have successfully completed my Master programme.

First and foremost, my heartfelt gratitude and appreciation go to my respected

and dedicated supervisor, Assoc. Prof. Datin Dr. Engku Haliza Engku Ibrahim who

have been very helpful and always devoted her valuable time, guidance, knowledge,

suggestions and patience in the process of preparing and writing this thesis. A special

thank also goes to Dr. Mohamed Ismail Ahamad Shah for his time and thorough

examination of this thesis. Next, my sincere thanks to Sister Norsiah (staff of the

Department of English Language and Literature) for her administrative help.

Last but not least, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to my husband,

Mohd Rosdi b. Che daud for his time, patience and support. To my dear children,

Muhammad Rafiuddin and Muhammad Syahmi, thank you for being my strength all

this way. Not to forget my adorable family and in-laws, special thanks to all of you for

your support and dua‟. May Allah rewards and bless all of you in this life and

hereafter, Insya Allah.

Finally, this piece of written word is fully accomplished fully by the grace of

Allah (S.W.T) and He knows best what is true and right. All gratitude and praises be

only to Him.

viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract .......................................................................................................................... ii Abstract in Arabic ......................................................................................................... iii Approval page ............................................................................................................... iv Declaration page ............................................................................................................ v Copyright Page .............................................................................................................. vi

Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... vii List of Tables ................................................................................................................. x List of Figures ............................................................................................................... xi

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... 1

1.0 Introduction................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Background of the Study .............................................................................. 1

1.1.1 Academic Acknowledgement ............................................................ 2

1.2 Statement of the Problem.............................................................................. 4

1.3 Significance of the Study ............................................................................. .5

1.4 Purpose of study ........................................................................................... 5

1.5 Research Objectives...................................................................................... 6

1.6 Research Questions ....................................................................................... 6

1.7 Scope and Limitations of the Study .............................................................. 6

1.8 Organisation of Thesis .................................................................................. 7

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................... 8

2.0 Introduction................................................................................................... 8

2.1 Genre and Genre Analysis ............................................................................ 8

2.2 Theoretical Frameworks of the study ......................................................... 11

2.2.1 Move Structures of Thesis Acknowledgement ................................ 11

2.2.2 Linguistic Elements of Thesis Acknowledgement ........................... 15

2.3 Previous Study on Thesis Acknowledgement ............................................ 17

2.4 Summary of Chapter Two .......................................................................... 25

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ............................................................................ 26

3.0 Introduction................................................................................................. 26

3.1 Data Collection Procedure .......................................................................... 26

3.2 Coding Scheme ........................................................................................... 29

3.3 Data Analysis Procedure ............................................................................ 31

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ...................................................... 36

4.0 Introduction................................................................................................. 36

4.1Findings and Discussion .............................................................................. 36

4.1.1 Research Question 1: Do postgraduate students follow specific move

structures in writing thesis acknowledgements? ......... ..............................36

ix

4.1.2 Research Question 2: What are the linguistic elements employed in

postgraduate students‟ thesis acknowledgements? ................................... 47

4.1.3 Research Question 3: Do postgraduate students of different faiths use

different generic structures in the writing of thesis acknowledgements?64

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION .................................................................................. 68

5.0 Introduction................................................................................................. 68

5.1 Summary of the Study ................................................................................ 68

5.2 Pedagogical Implications ............................................................................ 70

5.3 Recommendation for Future Research ....................................................... 71

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................... 72

APPENDIX 1: LIST OF ANALYSED SAMPLE TEXTS ......................................... 74

x

LIST OF TABLES

Table No. Page No.

2.1 Hyland (2004) and Al-Ali (2006) Move Structures Pattern 13

3.1 Average Length of the Thesis Acknowledgements 28

3.2 Move Structures of Thesis Acknowledgements 30

3.3 Example of Coding 30

3.4 Tabulated Summary of Research Questions 33

3.5 Inter-Rater Results of Percent Agreement 34

4.1 Relative Frequency of Moves and Steps in Thesis

Acknowledgements 37

4.2 Moves and Functions 46

4.3 Occurrence Frequency of each Sentence Patterns 48

4.4 Occurrence of Linguistic Patterns across Thanking Steps 52

4.5 Occurrence of Modifiers in Thanking Acts 56

4.6 Occurrence of Authorial Subjects 59

4.7 The Moves and Steps in Muslim and Non-Muslim

Thesis Acknowledgements 64

xi

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure No. Page No.

2.1 Move Structures of Thesis Acknowledgements 14

2.2 Linguistic Elements in Thesis Acknowledgements 16

3.1 Overview of the Data Collection Samples 27

1

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 INTRODUCTION

This chapter introduces the issues related to the study, explains the statements of the

problem and the significance of the study, states the purpose of the study, establishes

the fundamental questions of this research, justifies the research objectives, provides

the scope of the study and states limitations of the study as well as the overall

organization of the thesis.

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Today, it is an accepted fact that mastery of the English language is essential. In order

to be proficient in English language, it is very important to the learner to master four

language skills such reading, writing, speaking and listening. In an academic setting,

the skill of writing is essential because most of the time students need to write reports,

assignments or even theses. For students who do research, they need to write a thesis

in order to complete their study. In the thesis writing process, they have to be familiar

with the structure of thesis writing. In Malaysia, even though the first language is not

English, most of the higher education institutions use English as the medium of

instruction. Thus, students are left with little choice but to master the English

language.

In writing the thesis, the acknowledgment section is a rhetorical section that is

obligatory. Thus, it could be considered as a part of academic writing even though it

seems like a personal piece of writing. To the knowledge of the writer, not many

2

studies on thesis acknowledgements have been done in Malaysia. For example, in the

Malaysian context, a study by Hazadiah, Mohd Khalid and Liyana (2013) focused on

the generic structure of thesis acknowledgements written by Malay and Chinese

postgraduate students in Master of Education (TESL) programme in which the study

looked at the move structure of thesis acknowledgements of both groups as well as

compares and contrasts the linguistics pattern used in Malay and Chinese thesis

writers. This study gives an idea to the researcher to explore further the uniqueness of

thesis acknowledgement genre from the perspective of different religious faiths as this

would enrich the literature in the field of genre analysis.

In the field of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) research, there are

numerous studies that focus on thesis acknowledgements (Hyland, 2004; Hyland and

Tse, 2004; Al-Ali, 2006; Yang, 2012a,b,c; Hazadiah, Mohd Khalid and Liyana,

2013). All of the studies mentioned use genre analysis as an approach in analysing the

acknowledgment text. Genre analysis approach is one of the main approaches in the

area of genre and applied linguistics. According to Paltridge (1997), there are three

main strands of genre studies in the area of applied linguistics, for example, systemic

functional linguistics, English for Specific Purposes (ESP), and written

communication. All the three approaches have their origins in the examination of

written texts, primarily for pedagogic purposes.

1.1.1 Academic Acknowledgement

An acknowledgement refers to the expression of gratitude towards help and

contribution received from any individual(s) or institution(s). This genre can be found

in theses or dissertations, books, or research articles. In thesis writing, compared to

sections like the abstract, introduction, discussion, findings, and conclusion, the

3

acknowledgement section seems to receive very little attention from genre analysts.

However, an acknowledgement is very important in thesis writing as Hyland (2004)

claims that:

Acknowledgements provide writers with unique rhetorical opportunity

not only to convey the writer‟s genuine gratitude for the intellectual and

personal assistance they received in completing their research, but also

to promote a competent scholarly identity by displaying a writer‟s

immersion in scholarly networks, active disciplinary membership and

observance of the valued academic ideals of modesty, gratitude and

appropriate self-effacement (2004: 303).

Hence, it is noteworthy to mention that thesis acknowledgements should be a positive

first impression to the academic community and postgraduate students need to know

how to write a purposeful and necessary acknowledgement texts based on the context

requirements. Moreover, Yang (2012c) mentions that in an academic setting, the act

of expressing gratitude is a common practice and commonly seen in academic texts.

However, thesis acknowledgement is still considered a secondary issue in English for

Academic Purposes (EAP) (Yang, 2012b) due to its rhetorical status as Yang agrees

with Hyland (2003: 243), where he asserted that “acknowledgements seem to fall

through the cracks here and represent something of a „cinderella‟ genre. Like the

heroine in the children‟s fairytale, acknowledgements are a taken-for-granted part of

the background, a practice of unrecognized and disregarded value deserving a greater

attention…” In other words, according to Hyland, thesis acknowledgement section is

neither strictly academic nor entirely personal. Even though this genre is only a

minute manifestation, Mingwei and Yajun (2010) mentioned that it still influences the

process of the completion of theses and without acknowledgements section the thesis

is insignificant.

4

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The genre of thesis acknowledgements has received little research attention. Not much

interest is shown despite it being an indispensable section of a student‟s thesis (Jin-

Pei, 2012). This may be because of its rhetorical position, that is, when compared to

the main academic writing sections such as the introduction, literature review,

methodology, results and conclusion, the acknowledgement section could be

frequently seen as less formal and thus inviting less focus in research. However, an

awareness of the rhetorical structures of different genres is useful and helpful because

this will help English teachers to know how language is used in various contexts

(Hyland, 2003).

In addition, based on the observation made on randomly selected IIUM theses

acknowledgement texts, it was found that the thesis acknowledgment texts written

were not fixed to any particular format. In other words, no standardized pattern of

writing thesis acknowledgments could be observed in the sample texts used in this

present study. Hence, it is very useful to investigate on the generic structure used in

order to have a proper structure of thesis acknowledgement writing. Moreover, the

study based on the influence of different faiths in thesis acknowledgement writing

could be an interesting aspect because it will enrich the literature as well as help

postgraduate students to have standardized and purposeful thesis acknowledgements.

To date, no study has compared Muslim and non-Muslim postgraduate students‟ thesis

acknowledgements. Thus, this study attempts to make an additional contribution to the

field of English language teaching in the skill of academic writing, by looking at the

generic structure of thesis acknowledgements and the linguistic elements of gratitude

expressions written by postgraduate students of different faiths.

5

1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

To the knowledge of the writer, to date, no study has looked into the differences

between Muslim and non-Muslim postgraduate students‟ gratitude expressions.

Hence, in order to fill the gap in the current literature, this study examines the generic

structure and linguistic elements of postgraduate students‟ thesis acknowledgements

as well as the influences of religious faiths toward the thesis writers in writing the

acknowledgements. Previous studies (Hazadiah, Mohd Khalid and Liyana, 2013; Al-

Ali, 2006; Yang, 2012a) mentioned that it is important for the students to refer to

reliable sources in order to structure thesis acknowledgements, for instance like the

one as detailed in Hyland‟s (2004) framework so that they know who they need to

address. Equally important, teachers need to create and standardise guidelines of

practice for students to follow, as well as to facilitate more efficient and regular use of

acknowledgements. The teachers can also explicitly instruct students on how to write

purposeful and interactional acknowledgements by analyzing keywords and context of

genre.

1.4 PURPOSE OF STUDY

The overall purpose of this study is to look at the generic structures of

acknowledgements in theses written by Muslim and non-Muslim postgraduate

students. The overriding aims of this study are to identify, classify and quantify the

move structures and linguistic elements of thesis acknowledgements.

6

1.5 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this study are to:

1. investigate if postgraduate students use different move structures in

writing thesis acknowledgements.

2. examine the linguistic elements employed in postgraduate students‟ thesis

acknowledgements.

3. investigate if postgraduate students of different faiths use different generic

structures in the writing of thesis acknowledgements.

1.6 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

This study seeks to answer the following questions:

1. Do postgraduate students follow specific move structures in writing thesis

acknowledgements?

2. What are the linguistic elements employed in postgraduate students‟ thesis

acknowledgements?

3. Do postgraduate students of different faiths use different generic structures

in the writing of thesis acknowledgements?

1.7 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

This present study aims to examine the generic structures and linguistic elements in

postgraduate students‟ thesis acknowledgments and look at the similarities and

differences between Muslims‟ and non-Muslims‟ gratitude expressions in the social

sciences discipline. Thesis acknowledgement texts of 100 postgraduate students from

Malaysian public universities were collected for the purpose of this study. The

acknowledgements were analysed for their move structures and linguistic elements to

7

determine how these writers demonstrated their gratitude. The aim was to determine

the similarities and differences in them.

This present study is not without limitations. The number of samples collected

in this study was relatively small compared to the overall population. Out of a total of

100 samples chosen, 50 Muslims and 50 non-Muslims texts may not represent the

whole population of public university students in Malaysia. Moreover, this study

focuses on only one discipline which is the soft science discipline. Thus, the results

could differ if data were taken from the hard science disciplines. Additionally, it has to

be mentioned that acknowledgements in theses are different in many aspects when

compared to acknowledgements in other genres such as books, research articles or

project reports. Thus, the results and findings of this study could only be applied to the

thesis or dissertation genre only.

1.8 ORGANISATION OF THESIS

This thesis is arranged into five chapters. Chapter 1 includes the background of the

study, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, research objectives, research

questions, significance of the study, scope and limitations of the study and states the

overall organisation of the thesis. This is followed by Chapter 2 that highlights the

review of literature and deals with the theoretical frameworks of the study, introduces

related topics and findings from previous studies of the generic structure of thesis

acknowledgements. Chapter 3 covers the methodology which focuses on data

collection procedure, coding scheme, and data analysis procedure of the study.

Chapter 4 reveals the findings and discussion and finally, Chapter 5 will conclude the

thesis and provides summary of this study, pedagogical implications, and

recommendations for future research.

8

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 INTRODUCTION

This chapter reviews the literatures that are related to the area of the study. Firstly, the

chapter deals with the theoretical framework used in the study that focuses on generic

structures and linguistic elements of thesis acknowledgement. In addition, the chapter

also provides the reviews of previous studies regarding move structure and linguistic

features of thesis acknowledgements that are affected by several aspects such as

cultural differences, context variations, disciplinary variations, and cross-generic

differences.

2.1 GENRE AND GENRE ANALYSIS

Various language issues had been discussed in the field of ESP. The notion of genre

and the structure of a text is one part of the area. According to Dudley-Evans and St.

John (1998), grammar, vocabulary, and discourse are among the primary focus in

language issues. Study on genre gives a great significant to the teaching writing in

particular and it is noteworthy to mention that the study of genre will give an impact

for the pedagogical concerns in the EAP and ESP. For example, the analysis of move

structure of the certain genre such as thesis acknowledgement texts would avoid of

styles variation of writing acknowledgement texts among the students. The different

of move structure of a genre might also lead to confusion in teaching and learning

writing.

9

According to Paltridge (1997), in the area of ESP, there are two definitions of

genre. Firstly, Swales (1990) defines genre as:

Comprising a class of communicative events, the members of which

share some set of communicative purposes. These purposes are

recognized by the expert members of the parent discourse community,

and thereby constitute the rationale for the genre. This rationale shapes

the schematic structure of the discourse and influences and constrains

choice of content and style. (1990: 58)

The second definition is by Bhatia (1993), who defines genre as:

A recognisable communicative event characterized by a set of

communicative purpose(s) identified and mutually understood by the

members of the professional or academic community in which it

regularly occurs. Most often it is highly structured and conventionalized

with constraints on allowable contributions in terms of their intent,

positioning, form, and functional value. These constraints, however, are

often exploited by the expert members of the discourse community to

achieve private intentions within the framework of socially recognized

purpose(s). (1993: 13)

Hence, both definitions point towards a text or any communicative event would be an

acceptance to a discourse community if it fulfills the communicative purpose

identified and understood by the members of the academic community. The regularity

that occurs in the writer‟s intent, positioning, form, and functional value show

schematic structure of the discourse would also emerge a standard pattern of a genre.

For example, in the matter of thesis acknowledgement structures, since it is different

from acknowledgements written in other genres such as the books and research

articles, it is better for postgraduates to have generic awareness and skills in order to

fulfil the communicative purpose of the acknowledgement genre by using necessary

and standard pattern of the move structure and with the right lexical choices.

Genre analysis is an analysis that focuses on the regularities of structure that

distinguishes one type of text from another type. Furthermore, Dudley-Evans and John

(1998: 92) believed that in EAP, a learner should be taught the generic skills of

10

different genre in order for students to adopt different stances between different

genres.

In addition, Swales (1990: 24-27) mentions that main objective of genre

analysis is its ability to relate textual findings features of the discourse community

within which the genre is produced. He stated six characteristics to define a group of

people as a discourse community:

1. A discourse community has a broadly agreed set of common public goals.

2. A discourse community has mechanisms of intercommunications among

its members.

3. A discourse community uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to

provide information and feedback.

4. A discourse community utilizes and hence possesses one or more genres

in the communicative furtherance of its aims.

5. In addition to owning genres, a discourse community has acquired some

specific lexis.

6. A discourse community has a threshold level of members with a suitable

degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise.

Thus, based on these six defining characteristics it can be clearly seen that genre

analysis study is very important especially for ESP and EAP teachers to guide the

student to write purposeful and appropriate structure of particular genre in order to

meet the discourse community expectations.

Genre analysis in ESP began with Swales‟ (1990) pioneering work on the

introductions of academic articles. According to Swales (1990) (as cited in Dudley-

Evans and St. John, 1998) a regular pattern of “move” and “step” emerges in a certain

order in most of the introductions examined. He explains that a “move” is a defined

11

and bounded communicative act to achieve one‟s main communicative intention that

helps fulfil the overall communicative purpose of the genre while a “step” is a smaller

functional unit under the unit of “move” to help realize the communicative intention

of the move. Furthermore, Swales‟ (1990) study on introduction triggered further

research by Hyland (2004) but his work was based on thesis acknowledgements genre.

Hyland (2004) investigated the moves and structures of thesis acknowledgements and

came out with the three move structures of thesis acknowledgements.

2.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF THE STUDY

2.2.1 Generic Structure of Thesis Acknowledgement

In order to identify the generic structures of thesis acknowledgements, this study uses

the thesis acknowledgment generic structure model by Hyland (2004). Hyland‟s

(2004) framework comprises of a three-tier structure acknowledgement. He

established the three-tier structure of thesis acknowledgement based on his analysis of

generic structure of 240 PhD and MA dissertations written by non-native speakers of

English from six different academic disciplines in five Hong Kong universities. He

also mentions that the importance of a dissertation acknowledgement lies in the fact

that it is a way to express gratitude publicly towards those who helped and supported

the writer throughout the process of dissertation writing.

Hyland‟s (2004) three-move structures framework of thesis acknowledgements

can be sub-divided into a number of steps. The three-move structures consist of the

reflecting move, the thanking move and the announcing move. Meanwhile, the steps

under thanking move are presenting participants, thanking for academic assistance,

thanking for providing resources and thanking for moral support. The steps under

announcing move are accepting responsibility for possible shortcomings in the data,

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and dedication of thesis. The reflecting move refers to introspective comments on the

writer‟s research experience, the thanking move refers to the authors mapping credit

to any individual(s) and institution(s), and the announcing move refers to statement

that delineate responsibility and inspiration. Based on the research data (Hyland,

2004), the thanking move is the only obligatory move while reflecting and announcing

moves are optional.

Using the framework of the move structures of thesis acknowledgements

proposed by Hyland (2004), Al-Ali (2006) studied acknowledgement texts randomly

collected from PhD dissertations written in English by Arabic native speakers from

Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Sudan, Saudi, Arabia and Egypt. His study has

significantly found cross-cultural similarities and differences in thesis

acknowledgement texts. In the study, he encountered a new step under the thanking

move which is “Thanking Allah”. The main reason for this addition is due to the

socio-cultural factors such as religious beliefs, academic and social conventions of the

participants.

One of the similarities between participants in Hyland‟s (2004) and Al-Ali‟s

(2006) studies is that they were all non-native speakers of English. However, Al-Ali‟s

(2006) disciplinary focuses were humanities and social sciences compared to Hyland‟s

(2004) that looked at a variety of disciplines such as Applied Linguistics, Biology,

Business Studies, Computer Science, Electronic Engineering, and Public

Administration. Table 2.1 compares Hyland‟s (2004) and Al-Ali‟s (2006) move

structures framework of thesis acknowledgements:

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Table 2.1

Hyland (2004) and Al-Ali (2006) Move Structures Pattern

Hyland’s Move structure of

Dissertation Acknowledgements

Al-Ali’s Move structure of Dissertation

Acknowledgements

I Reflecting Move I Reflecting Move

II Thanking Move II Thanking Move

1. Presenting participants

2. Thanking for academic

assistance

3. Thanking for providing

resources

4. Thanking for moral support

1. Thanking Allah (God)

2. Presenting participants

3. Thanking supervisor (s) and

other academicians

4. Thanking for data access and

clerical and technical support

5. Thanking for financial

support

6. Thanking for moral support

III Announcing Move III Announcing Move

1. Accepting responsibility for

possible shortcomings in the

data

2. Dedicating the thesis

1. Accepting responsibility

2. Dedicating the thesis

Table 2.1 portrays the Hyland (2004) and Al-Ali (2006) move structures

pattern‟s framework. The difference between these two is an additional step in Al-

Ali‟s framework which is Thanking Allah (God). Other moves and steps were the

same. The difference that occurred in the text might be influenced by the social

background of the thesis writers.