Investigating Generic
Structure of English research Articles:
Writing Strategy
Differences between English and Indonesian Writers
Ni Ketut Mirahayuni
Research into English research
articles (RAs) has largely been focused on articles produced by native English
writers. This paper reports a study aiming to investigate the textual structure
of research articles written by non-native English (i.e., Indonesian) writers,
which may contribute to their acceptance for international publication. A
comparison is made between RAs written by native English speakers, Indonesian
writers writing in English, all in the field of Language and Language
Teaching. It explores the relation of text’s generic structure based on
Swales’ (1990) Create-A-Research-Space (CARS) model of moves. The
analysis focuses on two RA sections: Introduction and Discussion. The findings
indicate significant differences in both forms and functions of organizing
strategies between the native and non-native texts. The differences may partly
due to the influence of writing practices in the non-native writers’ first
language and partly to the writer’s attempt to find an appropriate format in
the absence of well-established research writing conventions in the first
language. Consequently, non-native English texts may show organizing strategies
unfamiliar to both the native English and native Indonesian texts. Findings
from research highlight two issues. First, formal and functional differences of
generic structure elements and their realizations between the native and
non-native English texts may disadvantage the non-native writers, particularly
with regards to employment of unfamiliar organizational strategies. Second,
non-native English writers need to acquire knowledge of commonly used formal
generic structure, and more importantly, the knowledge of the nature of
scientific writing in English to be able to gain wider readership. The
implications for further research and the teaching of academic writing are
discussed.
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Mirahayuni, N. K. (2002).
Investigating generic structure of English research articles: Writing strategy
differences between English and Indonesian writers. TEFLIN Journal, 13(1),
22-57.
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