An Analysis of Moves and Tenses in Abstracts of Research Articles Published in the Applied Corpus Linguistics Journal in ScienceDirect

Abstract

This research article aims to analyze the rhetorical moves and tense usage in research article abstracts published in journals related to language corpora available in the ScienceDirect database. The study examined 18 abstracts published in the year 2023 (B.E. 2566), specifically in April, August, and December. These abstracts appeared in Volume 2 of the journal: 3 abstracts in Issue 1, 3 abstracts in Issue 2, and 12 abstracts in Issue 3—representing the complete set of research articles published in that year. The analysis of rhetorical moves was guided by the theories, concepts, and findings of Hyland (2000), Swales and Feak (2004), and Kanoksilapatham (2005). A qualitative research approach was employed, using content analysis as the primary method. The results were presented through frequency distributions and percentages. The analysis revealed the following occurrences of rhetorical moves: 16 instances of Introduction (21.62%), 18 instances of Purpose (23.68%), 18 instances of Method (23.68%), 15 instances of Results (19.74%), and 9 instances of Discussion (11.84%). Regarding tense usage, the following frequencies were found: simple present tense (191 instances, 60.82%), present continuous tense (12 instances, 3.82%), present perfect tense (21 instances, 6.69%), simple past tense (80 instances, 25.48%), past continuous tense (2 instances, 0.64%), past perfect tense (2 instances, 0.64%), and simple future tense (6 instances, 1.91%). This study suggests two key recommendations: 1) improving the clarity and balance of moves in abstracts, particularly in organizing research results in a clear order; and 2) further studying the appropriate use of tenses to match the content and purpose of the research, ensuring clearer and more understandable communication.