LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VII/1 October 2012 13

THE SCHEMATIC STRUCTURE

OF ENGLISH AND INDONESIAN RESEARCH ARTICLE INTRODUCTIONS

Kasyfur Rahman

IKIP Mataram

Ahmad Sofwan

Semarang State University

ABSTRACT

The article reports an investigation on the differences between the schematic structure of
English and Indonesian research article introduction. By selecting thirty research articles from
each group and analysing them using the CARS model (1990, 2004), this study has unravelled
several differences. At the macro level, the English articles respectively have a higher
percentage of reviewing items of previous research, indicating gap, and summarising
methods. While their Indonesian counterparts tend to have a greater deal with making topic
generalisations, presenting positive justifications, and stating the value of the present
research. In addition, while the Indonesian articles have more unidentified schematic elements
and lack outlining the structure of paper, the English ones demonstrate a higher degree of
move reiteration. At the micro level, the English articles are characterised by the use personal
deixes as self-mention, and more variation of linguistic clues in claiming centrality. On the
other hand, their Indonesian counterparts are depicted by the absence of self-mention, the use
of code mixing, and a major tendency in using amplifiers and evaluative adjectives in claiming
centrality. These differences might be partially influenced by the writers’ culture, knowledge,
editorial policy, social environment, and in certain cases, the technical problems.

Key words: Schematic structure, genre analysis, contrastive rhetoric, research article

introduction, education.

INTRODUCTION

The growing access to the source of

information has recently enabled scholars

to disseminate their scholarly works widely,

especially in the form of published

research articles in a scientific journal.

Meanwhile, there has been considerable

interest among researchers in analysing

the generic structure, discourse features,

and history of such publications. Among

these aspects, the structure of research

articles has been to date the most

attractive concern as Swales (2004: 207),

quoting Montgomery (1996), claims it to be

‘master narrative of our time’. The

introduction section of a research article,

being devoted to introducing the research

topic to the readers (Yakhontova,

2003:105) as well as attracting interest in

the topic and henceforth, the readers

(Swales & Feak, 1994:156), is remarkably

essential. However, simply like composing

the other sections of a research article,

writing the introduction is undoubtedly a

formidable task and more problematically,

academic writers admit encountering more

14 LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VII/1 October 2012

difficulties in constructing the introduction

than its continuation (Swales, 1990:137;

Hopkins & Dudley-Evans, 1988).

Many of recent findings of research on

the structure of research article

introduction dealt with disciplinary

variation. Samraj’s (2002) findings, for

example, suggested that between two

interrelated disciplines, i.e. wildlife behavior

and conservation biology, variation in the

realization of the structure of RAIs possibly

occurs. She found that RAIs of

conservation biology promoted greater

centrality claims than those of wildlife

behavior. Supports for her findings are

provided by Shehzad (2005) and

Kanoksilapatham (2011) whose research

was concerned with the field of computer

science and civil engineering respectively.

These researchers reported several typical

ways the writers of each corresponding

discipline realised the schematic structure

of their article introductions, which were

presumably influenced by their disciplinary

conventions. Nevertheless, cross-linguistic

studies on cultural variation in the structure

of RAIs appear to have been given less

attention than on the disciplinary variation.

Research on the structure of Indonesian

research articles is as well limited. In fact,

to account for cross-linguistic differences of

research article structure is essential since

in writing, transfer of L1 to L2 or foreign

language often occurs in terms of linguistic

pattern and rhetorical convention (Connor,

2002). Similarly, prior contrastive studies

on the organization of research articles

across languages (e.g Martin, 2003; Zhang

& Hu, 2010) revealed the tendency of

different preferences between articles

written in different languages. There is also

a tendency that genre changes due to

temporal and geographical factors partly

inherently and partly as a result of

intertextual acceptance and rejection

(Swales, 2009: 14).

This study investigates the contrast

between research article introductions in

education across English and Indonesian

by addressing (1) elements in the

schematic structure, (2) the realization of

the schematic structure, and (3) the

differences between the schematic

structure of the English and Indonesian

RAIs both at macro and micro level.

METHODS

The data comprise thirty articles in

education published in 2010. Fifteen

English research articles were collected

from internationally recognized refereed

journals in education with high impact

factor according to Thomson Reuters

Journal Citation Report® 2010, involving

Educational Researcher, Learning and

Instruction, Journal of Research in Science

Teaching and Language Learning and

Technology. Fifteen Indonesian journals

were selected from several domestic

journals, namely, Cakrawala Pendidikan,

Jurnal Pendidikan dan Pembelajaran,

Jurnal Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan, and

Jurnal Pendidikan Dasar. The selection of

journals were based on an assumption that

LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VII/1 October 2012 15

these journals belong to discourse

community of educators and educational

researchers.

To analyze the schematic structure of

these RAIs, a modified CARS by Swales

(2004) model as a theoretical framework

was used, as follows.

MOVE 1: ESTABLISHING A TERRITORY

Step 1-1
Step 1-2
Step 1-3

Claiming centrality and/or
Making topic generalisations and/or
Reviewing items of previous research

MOVE 2: ESTABLISHING A NICHE

Step 2-1A
Step 2-1B
Step 2-2

Indicating a gap or
Adding to what is known
Presenting positive justifications

MOVE 3: PRESENTING THE PRESENT WORK

Step 3-1
Step 3-2
Step 3-3
Step 3-4
Step 3-5
Step 3-6
Step 3-7

Announcing present research descriptively and/or purposively
Presenting RQs or hypotheses
Definitional clarifications
Summarising methods
Announcing principal outcomes
Stating the value of the present research
Outlining the structure of the paper

Swales (1990, 2004)

The analysis was then split into three

main stages. The first stage of analysis,

identification of macro level of each group

of RAI, was presented in a table to identify

the occurrence of move and steps each

research article realizes. Afterward, the

frequencies of the total numbers of steps

were presented in order to find out the

tendency of each step then was followed

by the analysis of the move sequence. The

next stage of analysis, the identification of

micro level of RAI, was the description of

linguistic details, including common lexical

and tense choices in the realization of each

move and step provided with samples

taken from the data. The identification of

lexical choices used semantic categories of

major word classes based on the work of

Biber (2006). At this juncture, the analysis

answered research question 1 and 2.

Finally, the differences between the

schematic structures of each group of

research article introductions at macro and

micro level were identified and

complemented by elaboration about the

implications that could be drawn from the

findings.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Based on the data, there are two typical

types of research article structures: ones

16 LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VII/1 October 2012

using IMRD-like format have embedded

literature review in the introductions while

the other ones have dedicated sections for

literature review. Those with embedded

literature reviews result in long

introductions. Nonetheless, the articles in

two of the English journals, Educational

Researcher and Journal of Research in

Science Teaching, do not clearly state

which parts of theirs are the introductions.

In response to this, the American

Psychological Association (2010:27)

whose manual for scientific publication is

among the most prominent standards

mandating that all types or research

articles must have an introduction section

which is not necessarily labelled because

of the clarity of its position. Secondly, it is

easier to identify the introductory parts by

observing whether they can match the

CARS (1990, 2004) model presented in the

theoretical framework. The initial untitled

parts, based on my investigation, are much

likely to match the three moves thus are

regarded as the introduction sections.

According to Holmes (1996), some journals

might have untitled introductions due to

editorial policy, yet those are still

recognisable. In their Indonesian

counterparts, the issue of untitled

introductions is also identified. Two of the

journals, Jurnal Pendidikan dan

Pembelajaran and Jurnal Pendidikan

Dasar do not clearly state which parts of

their articles are the introductions sections.

Interestingly, these two journals are likely

to use the IMRD–like format. Hence, the

introductions should be the first sections

which are untitled and are immediately

followed by the method section.

This study shows that in the English

data, nearly all the schematic elements in

the theoretical framework are available

except the step announcing the principal

outcome. The data also suggest

unidentified schematic elements involving

stating implication of findings, describing

background information on research

setting and justifying hypotheses. Similarly,

the Indonesian data also follow the majority

of schematic elements in the theoretical

framework but with more exceptions. The

Indonesian articles miss three steps

including adding to what is known,

announcing principal outcome, and

outlining the structure of paper. The

Indonesian articles also demonstrate more

unidentified schematic elements. In the

realisation of these schematic elements,

both English and Indonesian article

introductions typical linguistic features

which are generally similar but differ to a

certain extent.

Move 1 step 1, claiming centrality, it is

found that the English data use more

linguistic resources while the Indonesians

tend to use amplifiers often followed by

evaluative adjectives. In the English

introductions, common lexical entries used

to realise this step are evaluative

adjectives such as important, considerable,

critical, major, increasing, serious, vital,

and prominent. While common nouns used

are cognitive nouns such as interest,

LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VII/1 October 2012 17

attention. The writers also use some

amplifiers such as extensively,

increasingly, significantly, and the others

functioning to emphasise the salience of

the topic. Similarly, in the Indonesian data

this step is characterised by lexical entries

showing the salience of the topic (e.g.

penting (important), menentukan

(determinant), diperlukan (needed)) often

preceded by amplifiers (e.g sangat

(extremely), paling (most)).

 Assessment of the quality and impact

of research output is important to all

academics. (E2)

 One of the curricular domains in which

strategy variety and flexibility have

been extensively investigated is

multidigit subtraction. (E7)

 Untuk mencapai kemampuan itu,

kemampuan kolokasi-menyandingkan

kata secara tepat, lazim, dan

berterima-merupakan aspek yang

sangat menentukan. (I2) (To achieve

such ability, collocational competence-

the ability to collocate words

appropriately, naturally, and accept-

ably- is a very determinant aspect.)

 Aktivitas penelitian merupakan hal

yang penting dilaksanakan oleh guru

dalam rangka pengembangan profesi.

(I3) (Research activity is an important

matter for teachers to do in developing

professionalism.)

Move 1 step 2, making topic

generalisations, in the English data is

mostly realised referring to statement of

practice often using such lexical entries as

use, implement, and incorporate as well as

statements of phenomena signalled by

time adverbials today or now. In the

Indonesian data this also occurs but many

articles tend to show problematic

phenomena(e.g belum optimal (not

optimal), kurang (less), kesulitan

(difficulty), hambatan (obstacle)).

 As today’s public schools become

more culturally and economically

diverse, the demographic divide

between teachers and students

deepens. (E1)

 The use of peer assessment (PA) in

higher education is not new. (E5)

 Secara umum, guru hanya

memanfaatkan bahan referensi/acuan

yang ada di perpustakaan sekolah

masing-masing, ataupun dengan

membeli di tokobuku. (I2) (Commonly,

the teachers simply make use of

references in their school libraries or

purchase in the bookshops.)

 Pada saat ini kegiatan pembelajaran

di PerguruanTinggi (PT) belum

dilakukan secara optimal. (I9)

(Nowadays, teaching activities in

higher education have not yet been

done optimally.)

Step 1-3, reviewing items of previous

research, in the English articles, the writers

use simple present tense, present perfect

tense, and past tense. They also use such

common nouns referring to the product

(research, report, study, experiment,

18 LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VII/1 October 2012

evidence) or the producer (scholar,

author), mental verbs (examine, identify,

observe, validate, asses). In their

Indonesian counterparts this is less. In the

realisation, the writers use common nouns

referring to the products of research

(penelitian (research), hasil (result),

temuan (finding)) or the producers by

showing the names of the researchers

 Karlsdottir and Stefansson (2002)

carried out a longitudinal study over

five years, aimed at identifying what

differentiates the good from the poor

writers and explaining the reasons for

the difficulties experienced by some

children. (E8)

 A particularly inspirational study

was conducted by Jiang and

Nekrasova (2007), in which they

utilised corpus-derived recurrent word

combinations as materials in two

online grammaticality-judgment

experiments. (E14)

 Adanya pengaruh factor social

terhadap perkembangan konsep diri

individu telah dibuktikan oleh

Rosenberg (REF). (I5) (The effect of

social factor on individual self-

conception development was proved

by Rosenberg (REF).)

 Hal ini ditemukan oleh Gasperz

(2007) yang mencatat bahwa lulusan

PT kurang memiliki keterampilan

pemecahan masalah (I9) (This was

found by Gasperz (2007) noting that

graduates of higher education have

low skill in problem solving.)

Move 2 step 1, indicating gap, in the

English articles, is committed by showing

the limitation of previous studies, scarcity

of research on the topic, and the other gap

indicators utilising typical linguistic features

such as attitudinal verbs (neglect,

jeopardise), attitudinal noun (uncertainty),

evaluative adjectives indicating negative

attribute (little, limited, lacking), evaluative

adverbs (inadequately, severely), negation

devices (not, no) and contradiction

connectors (however, nevertheless, yet,

lamentably). In the Indonesian this occurs

in few articles. Furthermore, the writers of

the Indonesian articles use linguistic

signals such as negation devices ‘belum’

and ‘tidak’ as shown below. These two

lexical entries are equivalent to the English

‘not’.

 Researchers have been arguing for the

potential benefits of implementing

online PA (REF), yet have spent little

time identifying how students interpret

and what students do in such a

learning environment. (E5)

 Most studies in this area examined a

limited number of teaching contexts

with inquiry instruction addressing

single science topics. (REF) (E9)

 Namun, penelitian mengenai

ketidaklaziman dalam pembelajaran

Bahasa Indonesia untuk penutur asing

(BIPA) belum pernah dilakukan. (I2)

(Nevertheless, research on

unnaturalness in teaching Bahasa

Indonesia as a foreign language has

yet not been done)

LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VII/1 October 2012 19

 Vygotsky tidak melakukan kajian

yang mendalam tentang bagaimana

bahasa secara operasional berfungsi

bagi perkembangan hidup manusia.

(I15) (Vygotsky did not do an in-depth

study on how language operationally

functions for the development of

human life.)

Move 2-1B, adding to what is known is

only realised in the English data. The tense

used to realise this step is past tense while

the lexical items used are deictic reference

(we) and activity verb (extend). The

following excerpt illustrates this step.

 We tried to extend these studies by

(a) working with a more extensive and

systematic set of multidigit subtractions

in our tests…. (E7)

The last step in this move, presenting

positive justifications, is often by

announcing the rationale of the present

research, positing ideal ways to fill the gap

created which are applied in the research,

or by showing the novelty of specific

methods used in the previous or present

research. The linguistic features for this

step in the data are cognitive nouns (e.g.

reason, rationale), mental verbs (egreed,

believe) and the most obvious linguistic

signals are positive evaluative adjectives

(robust, powerful). In the Indonesian data

this step is quite common. The main

indicators for this step are the evaluative

adjectives showing a positive attitude

(relevan (relevant), tepat (appropriate),

sesuai (suitable)) and causative connector

(karena (because)).

 The inquiry units used in this study

feature powerful, dynamic scientific

visualizations. Students use the

visualizations to experiment. (E9)

 There are several reasons for the

focus on this particular educational

stage, high school physics, which are

elaborated below. Our research is

grounded in a theoretical framework

centered around students’ identity. We

believe that this focus provides a basis

for understanding. (E12)

 Materi pokok larutan elektrolit dan non

elektrolit tepat dibelajarkan dengan

metode inkuiri, karena sifat-sifat

larutan elektrolit dan non elektrolit

dapat diamati (I7) (The main topic of

electrolyte and non-electrolyte

solutions is appropriately taught with

inquiry method since the

characteristics of electrolyte and non-

electrolyte solutions can be observed)

 Untuk dapat memenuhi kebutuhan

guru bermutu, konsep manajemen

strategic sangat sesuai untuk

diterapkan. (I13) (To meet a demand

of qualified teachers, the concept of

strategic management is very

applicable.)

In move 3, the first step, announcing

present research is realised by almost all

the articles both in the English and

Indonesian data. Common lexical entries

used by the writers are common nouns

20 LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VII/1 October 2012

referring to the producer (penulis(writer),

peneliti (researcher)) or the product

(penelitian (research), makalah (paper)),

cognitive nouns representing the purpose

(maksud (aim), tujuan (objective)) or verbs

derived from these purposive nouns

(bertujuan (aim), bermaksud (intend)),

communication verbs reflecting the

description of the content of the research

(mendeskripsikan (describe), melaporkan

(report)), and spatial deixis (ini (this)).

 This article investigates the

contradiction between the promise of

college students of the millennial

generation and persistent findings

about pre-service teachers’ views on

cultural diversity… (E1)

 The analyses reported in the

present paper were therefore

intended to (a) examine the general

prediction that initially-supported

collaborative work lead s to social

gains alongside achievement gains;.

(E6)

 Berdasarkan paparan di atas, maka

penulis merasa perlu untuk meneliti,

dengan tujuan untuk menemukan

secara empiris tentang pengaruh

variable konsep diri, sikap siswa pada

matematika dan kecemasan terhadap

hasil belajar matematika. (I5) (Based

on the description above, the writer

feels in need of a study intended to

empirically find out the effects of

variables self-conception, students’

attitude toward mathematics and

anxiety on mathematics achievement.)

 Penelitian ini dilaksanakan dengan

maksud: (a) meningkatkan keaktifan

mahasiswa dengan membiasakan

mahasiswa selalu berfikir… (I6) (This

study was conducted to: (a) Improve

students’ active participation by having

them accustomed to think…)

Step 3-2, presenting research question

or hypotheses, is also quite common in the

both groups of data. In the English data,

furthermore, the writers commonly start by

using personal deixis such as I or We. The

other common nouns used are technical

nouns such as question, hypothesis, and

research question. In the Indonesian data,

common nouns used to present the

research questions are permasalahan

(problems) and rumusan masalah

(statement of problems) while common

type of verbs used are communication verb

(diajukan (propose)) and mental verbs

(dirumuskan (formulate), diharapkan

(expect)).

 More specifically, I aim to address the

following questions… (E1)

 Based on the literature overview, we

formulate the following

hypotheses…(E5)

 Rumusan hipotesis yang diuji dalam

penelitian ini adalah pemberian

pelatihan cara-cara penelusuran

referensi dari sumber internet efektif

untuk meningkatkan pengetahuan

guru-guru SMPN 3 Tabanan tentang

cara-cara penelusuran referensi dari

sumber internet. (I3) (The hypothesis

LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VII/1 October 2012 21

examined in the current study is that

the training of the tips in searching

references from internet sources is

effective to improve knowledge of

teachers of SMPN 3 Tabanan about

the tips in searching references.)

 Berdasarkan paparan latar belakang

masalah penelitian ini adalah (a)

Bagaimanakah penerapan model

pembelajaran learning community

yang dapat meningkatkan keaktifan

mahasiswa? (I6) (Based on the

explanation of the background, the

problems in this study are (a) How is

the learning community teaching

model which can improve students’

participation applied?

Step 3-3, is similar the previous step,

is also common in both groups of data.

However, this does not appear to

functionally occur to present the present

work. Rather, it majorly functions to

introduce the general research topic in

order to familiarise readers with specific

terms with regard to the research topic. To

clarify formal and extended definitions, the

writers of the English articles use some

indicators such as present tense, technical

terms (e.g. phenomenography, cooperative

learning, and collaborative learning),

linking verb (be) and relationship verbs

(e.g. refer, concern, reflect, involve). While

in the Indonesian data, common nouns

used are definisi (definition) or ialah (be)

while the verbs used are relationship verbs

such as merupakan (be), adalah (be), and

the like.

 Cooperative learning typically

involves highly structured, wide

ranging programs of activity, and make

use of jigsaw method, in which students

carry out individual tasks, and then

share outcomes with other members of

group members (REF) (E6)

 By inquiry we refer to learning

experiences that engage students in

various combinations of identifying

questions, collecting and interpreting

evidence, formulating explanations,

and communicating their findings, that

are consistent with science standards

and recent reports (REF) (E9)

 Definisi kolokasi dijelaskan oleh

Baker (1992) sebagai kecenderungan

sejumlah kata untuk bergabung secara

teratur dalam suatu bahasa, tetapi kata

yang mana dapat berkolokasi dengan

kata apa tidak ada hubungannya

secara logis. (I2) The definition of

collocation is explained by Baker

(1992) as a tendency of several words

to pair regularly in a language, yet

there is no logical relationship between

the collocated words.)

 Menurut Sund & Towbridge (1973)

inkuiri diartikan sebagai proses

mendefinisikan dan menyelidiki

masalah-masalah, merumuskan

hipotesis, merancang eksperimen,

menemukan data, dan mengambarkan

kesimpulan masalah-masalah

tersebut. (I7) (According to Sund &

22 LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VII/1 October 2012

Towbridge (1973) inquiry is defined as

a process of defining and investigating

problems, formulating hypotheses,

designing experiments, collecting data,

and drawing conclusions from such

problems.)

Step 3-4 summarising methods, is very

common in the English data indicated by

more than half of the sample articles

realising this while in the Indonesian data

this is very uncommon. To realise this,

some English writers prefer simple present

tense, while the others prefer simple past

tense. This step is characterised by the

use of technical nouns (data, control group,

units, and model), abstract nouns

(measurement, design, analysis,

assessment, methods, and observation).

Some of them typically mention the

subjects of the research using animate

nouns such as children, students, or

teacher. Similar to the English articles,

common linguistic features used in the

Indonesian articles are lexical entries

referring to the participants in the research

(e.g. peneliti (researcher), guru (teacher),

siswa (students)) as well as to the research

procedure, and the technical nouns

referring to specific method, strategies, or

instruments (e.g. STAD, TGT, strategi

(strategy), tes (test)).

 In order to do this, data from a group-

work intervention that led to confirmed

achievement gains (Howe, et al, 2007)

were examined for evidence of change

in classroom relationship, and for

effects on these of social context and

group activity. This intervention

involved teachers and students from

single and mixed-age upper primary

(elementary) classes, … (E6)

 To support the participating teachers,

we implemented a targeted

professional development model

(REFs). (E9)

 Kegiatan pengembangan dan

implementasi perangkat dilakukan

secara bersama-sama oleh peneliti

bersama beberapa orang guru

pelajaran IPA SMP. Pemanfaatan

perangkat PSBI di kelas dipadukan

dengan strategi kooperatif tipe STAD

dan TGT. (I8)

(The development activities and

implementation of the media were

done together among the researchers

and several science teachers of SMP.

The application of PSBI media in class

was integrated with cooperative

learning strategies STAD and TGT.)

 Strategi pembelajaran konvensional

yang selama ini diterapkan akan

diubah dengan strategi pembelajaran

pemetaan informasi yang

menitikberatkan pada peran guru

sebagai fasilitator. Bentuk tes formatif

yang akan digunakan adalah bentuk

tes formatif pilihan ganda... (I10)

(The conventional teaching strategies

that have been so far implemented will

be changed with information mapping

strategy emphasising the teachers’

role as a facilitator. The formative test

LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VII/1 October 2012 23

type that will be used is multiple choice

items …)

Step, 3-6, is realised less in the

English but more in the Indonesian data.

The data suggest the use of simple present

tense, cognitive noun (insight), common

nouns (study, benchmark), activity verbs

(provide, serve), and evaluative adjective

(potential) to realise this step. In the

Indonesian data, the use of mental verbs

such as diharapkan (expect) and abstract

nouns ‘manfaat’ (benefit) and ‘kontribusi’

(contribution) become the most common

features of this step.

 …, this article investigates not only

the continuities, the themes that

permeate the literature, but also the

discontinuities. Analysis of the

changes overtime in the reported

findings in the research literature may

provide insights about today’s

millennial-generation pre-service

teachers that do not emerge from a

traditional synthesis.(E1)

 As explained in the method section,

the selected authors are assumed to

have provided sample of reasonably

accomplished scholarship, so that the

patterns identified by the analysis can

serve as a potential benchmark for

junior academics in developing their

publication profiles. (E2)

 Hasil penelitian ini dapat

memberikan kontribusi kepada

pihak-pihak: (a) guru dan dosen yaitu

dapat menguasai dan menerapkan

model pembelajaran keterampilan

menulis ilmiah dengan model learning

community, … (I6)

(The result of the present study might

contribute to the following people: (a)

teachers and lecturers, that they can

master and apply a model of teaching

scientific writing skill with learning

community model,…)

 Hasil penelitian ini diharapkan dapat

bermanfaat dalam upaya

meningkatkan kualitas hasil belajar

siswa terutama keterampilan berpikir

tingkat tinggi dalam bidang bidang IPA

di jenjang SMP. (I8)

(The result of the present study is

expected to be beneficial in an attempt

of improving the quality of students’

learning outcomes especially of their

high order thinking skill in science at

SMP level.)

The last step, outlining structure of

paper only occurs in the English

data.Among the linguistic clues available

for this step in the data, sequential

connectors (first, next, then) become the

most apparent indicators. This can be seen

below.

 This articles first reviews the notion of

impact factor as used in Web of

Science journal rankings and prior

research on Google scholar in the

library and information sciences. (E2)

 The next few sections will first discuss

four domains that are relevant to our

conceptual framework: interest,

24 LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VII/1 October 2012

recognition, performance, and

competence. (E12)

Furthermore, the differences between

the schematic structures of the two groups

are explained in turn. At the macro level, it

is found that the data tend to suggest

similarities rather than differences. Yet, the

differences are strongly obvious if a closer

analysis is taken in terms of the steps.

Apart from these, the difference is also

found in terms of move sequence in that

moves in English articles are more cyclical.

The Indonesian articles also suggest more

unidentified schematic elements.

Moves Steps
English RAIs Indonesian RAIs

Percentage (%) Percentage (%)

Move 1

1 13.37 12.59

2 9.88 20.28

3 21.51 10.49

In move 1, English articles spend most

spaces to review items of previous

research, while their Indonesian

counterparts mostly prefer making topic

generalisations. This finding differs from

Zhang & Hu’s (2010) findings in which

Chinese articles mostly realise step

claiming centrality in move 1. Further,

previous research in the English context is

considered very important as a foundation

for new research. As Nwogu (1997)

comments, the aim of referring to previous

research is to indicate that the current

research is originated from a lively tradition

of well-known works in the field. This step

also corresponds to the next move since

the step of gap indication and adding to

what is known are often associated with

the context of previous research. The

Indonesian articles, on the other hand,

show making general statements about the

topic as the more preferable step.

Similarly, only a few Indonesian articles

review previous research, and in some

cases the review tends to be theoretical or

be based on the writers’ own observations.

Rather than of cultural differences, it is

assumed that the issue of fewer reviews of

previous research is more of non-cultural

issues. There are at least three possible

issues to be the reasons why Indonesian

writers have fewer reviews of previous

research. First, even though in recent

times sources of information are widely

available as references, many Indonesian

researchers do not have adequate skill in

comprehending contents of the references

especially written in languages other than

their first language. Second most possible

reason is the lack of knowledge in

searching or accessing the intended

references. This can be associated with

LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VII/1 October 2012 25

lack of knowledge in the advanced use of

search engine. The last and weakest

possible reason might be the unavailability

or inaccessibility of the relevant references.

On the internet, for example, the

references the writers need might be

available, yet are commercial and

unaffordable.

Moves Steps
English RAIs Indonesian RAIs

Percentage
(%)

Move 2

1A 12.21 1.40

1B 0.58 0.00

2 4.65 11.89

Furthermore, for move 2 in English, the

highest frequency of occurrence belongs to

the step indicating gap. This also confirms

Swales’ (2004) account that gap indication

is the most common way to create a

research space. The Indonesian articles, in

contrast, more focus on presenting positive

justifications rather than indicating gap.

This is perhaps the influence of fewer

reviews of previous research since gap

indication is often associated with criticism

to previous studies. Actually, indicating gap

is not necessarily indicated by making

criticism to previous research. It can be

realized by using polite gap indication by

asserting the scarcity of research on the

topic or by asserting less investigation on

it. This difference seems cultural and

confirms the previous study by Zhang and

Hu (2010) that eastern mindset tends to be

associated with being humble and avoiding

criticism to others’ works.

Moves Steps
English RAIs Indonesian RAIs

Percentage (%) Percentage (%)

Move 3

1 12.79 14.69

2 5.81 6.29

3 5.23 6.29

4 6.98 1.40

5 0.00 0.00

6 1.16 4.20

7 1.74 0.00

26 LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VII/1 October 2012

In move 3, the difference between

English and Indonesian is that Indonesian

articles have more frequencies in stating

the value of present research but fewer

frequencies in summarizing methods. In

summarizing methods, 7 out of 15 English

articles realize this, implying that this step

is common in English RAIs while in their

Indonesian counterparts, it is very few; only

2 out of 15 RAIs realizing this step.

However, the ways the English and

Indonesian articles realize this step are

similar by describing the research

procedure, design, often subjects/objects

of research and the role they play in the

research. Additionally, in stating the value

of present research, Indonesian articles

have 4.20 % of step frequencies compared

to the English ones with 1.16 % of total

available steps. Nevertheless, the

differences in the other remaining steps

such as presenting RQs or hypotheses and

definitional clarifications in this move are

relatively insignificant. In step definitional

clarifications, for example, although the

percentage of its frequencies in Indonesian

articles is slightly higher than in the English

articles, both are equal in its actual

numbers. The motive why writers define

terms could be that they assume that their

readers are unfamiliar with the terms. This

might occur due to a very wide range of

audiences of the journals in which the

articles are published. The sample journals

in this study cover a very broad area in

education; hence it is not surprising that

definitional clarifications are necessary to

accommodate wider audiences. Finally,

outlining the structure of the articles is very

uncommon in the Indonesian articles since

none of the sample articles realize this

step. Whereas, 3 out of 15 articles realize

this in the English data, implying that this

step is also relatively uncommon in the

English educational articles.

In general, the linguistic features the

English and Indonesian RAIs used to

realize the schematic structure are

relatively similar with the following

exceptions. For step 1-1, in claiming

centrality, the English and Indonesian RAIs

have a relatively similar number of RAIs

realizing this step. Nonetheless, in its

realizations the English writers employ

more various lexical entries and linguistic

resources. English articles use several

lexical items actually having equivalences

in Indonesian such as challenge and

interest or use statements that the

research topic has attracted many previous

researchers. These variations in this step

realization seem to be uncommon in the

educational research articles in the

Indonesian context. Instead, the

Indonesian writers tend to mostly use

amplifiers (e.g. sangat (extremely), paling

(most)) often followed by evaluative

adjectives (e.g. penting (important), kuat

(strong))

In step 1-2, making topic

generalizations, the differences between

the English and Indonesian articles is that

LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VII/1 October 2012 27

the English ones typically realize this step

in very brief sentences while the

Indonesian ones tend to make longer

generalizations of topics. In some cases,

Indonesian articles also realize this step by

identifying problems occurring in the

phenomena under study which are

indicated by nouns representing

problematic phenomena (e.g kesulitan

(difficulty), hambatan (obstacle)). One

might think that this phenomenon is the

influence of the nature of research. While it

is true that some research methods such

as classroom action research and

educational design research are

established to solve real world problems in

education, the numbers of the Indonesian

research articles reporting studies that

employ these methods are few; only three

articles are based on these methods.

Further, the numbers of Indonesian articles

realizing this step are greater than their

English counterparts.

For step 3-1, the difference that can be

found is in terms of lexical entries used;

none of Indonesian articles use personal

deixis I and We as self-mention. This might

be considered very informal and less

academic in the Indonesian educational

contexts to use such personal deixis, while

it is very common to use such linguistic

features in the English articles. In an

interesting paper on self-mention in

research articles, Hyland (2001) points out

that self-mention has a role to construct a

credible authorial identity. By using self-

mention, the writers attempt to show their

unique roles in interpreting phenomena.

On the other hand, Hyland (2001)

contends that the use of impersonality

(avoidance of self-mention) is an approach

to amplify the credibility of the writers and

to elicit the authority from the reader.

Perhaps the writers of Indonesian articles

and Indonesian journal editors still adopt

the positivist view that academic research

is best displayed as if without any human

agency in its process.

In presenting RQs the English articles

based on the data invariably use research

questions or questions while the

Indonesian articles mostly use statements

of problems or simply problems to refer to

research questions. This phenomenon

might be the influence of social

environment in the Indonesian research

context in that statements of problems

have been conventionalized to refer to

research questions.

For the step of definitional

clarifications, the difference between the

English and Indonesian RAIs is the use of

code mixing in Indonesian articles. Some

articles define terms or refer to previous

authors’ claims by citing their English

version without any translation attached.

The probable motivation for this

occurrence is to gain wider audiences and

to show the expertise of the writers in the

field. The following excerpts illustrate the

code mixing.

 Sejalan dengan itu, dalam Oxford

Collocations Dictionary (2002:vii)

dijelaskan bahwa kolokasi adalah ”the

28 LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VII/1 October 2012

way words combine in a language to

produce a natural-sounding speech and

writing”. (I3)

 Gluek (1996) mengatakan bahwa:

management strategic is concept of

the set decision and action which result

in formulating strategy and its

implementation to achieve of the

corporation”. (I13)

For the remaining steps in move 3,

except outlining the structure of paper and

announcing principal outcomes, the

differences in linguistic realization do not

seem notable and therefore it is safe to

assume that these remaining steps

suggest similarities rather than differences

at the micro level.

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

In the English data, nearly all the

schematic elements in the theoretical

framework are available except the step

announcing the principal outcome. The

Indonesian data follow the majority of

schematic elements in the theoretical

framework but with more exceptions. In the

realization of these schematic elements,

both English and Indonesian article

introductions make use of typical linguistic

features which are generally similar but

differ to a certain extent. At the macro level

in terms of moves, the findings suggest

similarities rather than differences yet in

terms of steps, significant differences are

quite apparent in each move. Despite the

differences irrespective of the language

with which the RAIs are written, there

seems to be a tendency that educational

scientists do not normally announce their

findings in the introduction sections. The

differences in presenting RQs or

hypotheses and definitional clarifications

are also minor. It is recommended that the

teaching of genre is still recommended

especially for adult learners because it

helps them get started with piece of

academic writing. Regarding the cultural

variation in the schematic structures,

exposing the differences is crucial to

sensitize EFL students therefore the

pattern they apply and the realization they

perform can match the international

standard as English is increasingly

becoming global academic Lingua Franca.

These may also imply the importance of

knowledge of the differences between

genre realized in different cultures that can

be incorporated when designing material

and tasks for English academic writing for

EFL students.

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