Geng, Yifan (2015) Appraisal in discussion sections of doctoral theses in the discipline of ELT/Applied Linguistics at Warwick University : a corpus-based analysis. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

The present research, drawing upon Martin and White’s (2005) Appraisal Theory, investigated the deployment of interpersonal meanings in discussion sections of doctoral theses produced by both First Language (hereafter L1) Chinese and L1 English speakers from the Centre of Applied Linguistics (hereafter CAL) at the University of Warwick. This study adopted a corpus-based approach to examining the choices of Appraisal options made by L1 Chinese and L1 English writers. It also explored the patterns of discussing the authors’ own research findings in relation to previous literature by means of Appraisal options or co-articulations of options, which is considered as a key aspect of the rhetorical purpose of discussion sections.

The statistical tests of this study showed that no significant difference was found in the use of Appraisal options between the L1C and L1E sub-corpora. This finding indicates a similar command of these interpersonal resources by both sets of writers and suggests that L1 may not be a constraint for English as second language (hereafter L2) writers on using interpersonal resources at the doctoral level. The qualitative analysis identified different preferences for co-articulating with the three main Appraisal options that the authors adopted to engage with the literature while discussing their findings. It also identified the congruent and non-congruent linguistic realizations of the two main Appraisal options that the authors used to present their claims about findings. Part of the qualitative results was shared with Masters students at CAL for the purpose of raising their awareness of the use of interpersonal language through exploration of extracts from corpus data.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics
Official Date:	January 2015
Dates:	Date Event January 2015 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Centre for Applied Linguistics
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Wharton, Sue
Extent:	ix, 325 leaves : illustrations
Language:	eng

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