A Corpus-Based Study Of Move Analysis And Lexical Bundles Of Chemical Engineering Research Article Introductions

Abstract

Move analysis and lexical bundles of Chemical Engineering Research Article Introductions (CERAIs) were investigated in this research. To create the CERAI Corpus, 90 CERAIs were chosen randomly from three prestigious journals: Chemical Engineering Journal, Chemistry of Materials, and Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research (30 RA introductions from each journal published between 2020 and 2022). In the first phase, 30 CERAIs were chosen at random for move analysis. Then, lexical bundles in all CERAIs were identified by Antconc program, which were then evaluated for structural and functional patterns. Finally, the relationship between move structure and lexical bundles was studied by analyzing the specific lexical bundles in each move. The findings revealed that CERAIs have three conventional moves, namely Move 1: Establishing a territory, Move 2: Establishing a niche, and Move 3: Occupying the niche. Pattern 1: (M1-M2)n-M3, Pattern 2: (M1-M2)n-(M1-M3)m, and Pattern 3: M1-M2-(M1-M3)n-(M1-M2)m-M3 were the three primary move patterns discovered in the CERAIs. The structural and functional pattern analysis was performed on 42 lexical bundles after conducting the exclusion criteria. The most common lexical bundles' structures observed in the CERAIs were noun phrase and prepositional phrase fragments, while the most common functional pattern was research-oriented function. Based on the analysis of lexical bundles frequently found in each move, the specific lexical bundles were discovered in each of the CERAIs' three moves to highlight the move's unique characteristics. For students, professors, and novice researchers in chemical engineering, the findings can be used as a guideline for effectively writing research article introductions.