Genre Analysis of Conclusion Sections of Pakistani Research Articles in Natural and Social Sciences

Abstract

This study has investigated macro-structures (Move Analysis) of conclusion section of Research Articles (henceforth RAs) in Social Sciences and Natural Sciences. The purpose of the study is to find out the differences in RAs conclusion sections across various disciplines in terms of moves and steps constituting each move. For this purpose, 50 RAs conclusions have been selected for analysis, 25 each from  social sciences and natural sciences. RAs have been selected randomly from different journals written by Pakistani authors. A new model has been proposed for the move analysis by following Yang & Allison’s (2003) and Bunton’s (2005) models for conclusion section. This study has revealed variations in move structure of RAs conclusions across various disciplines in Pakistani context. This study may contribute an understanding of the nature of conclusions of RAs across various disciplines. It may be helpful for both writing instructors, whose purpose is to have their students succeed in using this component of genre, and to writing students, who are willing to take part in distinct discourse communities.

Key Words: Genre Analysis, Research Article Conclusion, Move Analysis, Disciplinary Variation