Linguistic, English Education and Art (LEEA) Journal Volume 6 Nomor 2, Januari-Juni 2023 e-ISSN : 2597-3819 p-ISSN : 2597-9248 DOI : https://doi.org/10.31539/leea.v6i2.6082 386 A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF RHETORICAL MOVE AND GENRE KNOWLEDGE DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH AND INDONESIAN THESIS Ummu Hani Assyita1 Universitas Negeri Surabaya Oikurema Purwati2 Universitas Negeri Surabaya Syafi’ul Anam3 Universitas Negeri Surabaya haniassyita@gmail.com1 Submit, 09-05-2023 Accepted, 29-06-2023 Publish, 30-06-2023 ABSTRACT A number of studies have shown that genre analysis through move analysis is a practical approach to identifying complexity in writing research papers (RAs). However, the development of general knowledge embodied in abstract discourse patterns is rarely known. This study aims to clarify whether educational level influences the development of general knowledge, especially in the field of abstract research. This study uses a descriptive qualitative method and uses Hyland's (2000) five-step analysis model, Introduction, Purpose, Method, Product, and Conclusion (I-P-M-Pr-C). This study analyzes the comparison and identity of thesis abstracts in English and Indonesian. The results of this study showed several differences and similarities in the realization of abstract discourse patterns in the final project abstracts in English and Indonesian. As for genre knowledge, its development is expressed in the level of learning, from undergraduate to postgraduate. As can be seen from the thesis abstracts in both languages, Move1 (Introduction) presents a wider variety of step-by-step implementations. The analysis of the data also shows that there are no significant differences in the development of genre knowledge across languages and study areas. Thus, this study suggested to have more subject data for further comparative research on this particular topic. Keywords: Abstract, English Genre Knowledge, Rhetorical Move, Thesis INTRODUCTION Articles in research journals provide a forum for academic researchers to develop communication strategies for publishing their research results. A communication strategy is systematically and systematically implemented in order for authors to communicate smoothly in the transmission of research results (presenting the results of the author's thoughts on a certain research topic to the reader) of scientific writing. Research papers are currently written and prepared in https://doi.org/10.31539/leea.v6i2.6082 mailto:haniassyita@gmail.com1 387 English for publication in national and international journals. According to Arsyad (2016), writing a research paper in English for publication in an accredited journal is not an easy task for most Indonesian researchers. Most of their problems do not pay attention to well-structured academic writing in English (Wardani, 2020). Academic papers are usually published with an abstract that briefly describes what the paper wants to say. Abstracts of research papers are important in determining whether international readers will find research papers relevant to their research (Fauzan et al., 2020). Everything from the background to the conclusion is presented concisely and thus represents the entire content of the article (Samraj, 2002). Similarly, Tocalo (2021) argues that research paper abstracts are gaining importance. This is particularly due to the increased use of online science web indexes. It aims to pave the way for global academic institutions to have access to research reports. In academia, writing styles can vary due to the influence of the "author's native language" or “author’s mother tongue” (Llantada, 2014). Furthermore, differences in linguistic use systems between native languages and English lead to variations in linguistic realization in the organization of discourse patterns, where variations are accepted or do not follow the rules. Therefore, follow-up is necessary to understand discourse patterns or abstract descriptive patterns in research papers (Pho, 2008). In other words, as members of the academic community, authors must acquire knowledge of the genre in order to successfully publish their research. Genre knowledge is known as the study of text understanding in specific discourse contexts (Tardy, 2009). Hyland (2000) argues that to understand genre knowledge, the authors must use their awareness and prior knowledge built through explicit class genre analysis as part of ESP/EAP studies. The underlying assumption in this context is that academic experience will influence one’s genre knowledge (Rounsaville, 2014). The method of move analysis in genre knowledge analysis is assumed as an effective method for recognizing the complexity of writing research articles. Move analysis is an approach to identifying text (Swales, 2004) and has been used to evaluate different types of genres, such as papers, essays, and articles. Move analysis can be represented as a text analysis for communication purposes and a compositional step to describe how discourse patterns showed in investigated texts. Many researchers have investigated rhetorical move patterns in abstracts with different focuses, but the same main goal is to see what move or discourse pattern is used in each text (Mohsenzadeh, 2013; Nikpei, 2016; Putri et al., 2021). On the other hand, analysis of genre knowledge development provides insight that genre knowledge development is shaped by the exposure that authors receive through various writing courses and transactional boundary-crossing practices (Fox, 2010; Driscoll et al., 2020; Rounsaville, 2014). Although much research has focused on the investigation of abstract patterns of discourse (Lubis & Kurniawan, 2020), not much has been discussed about the development of genre knowledge manifested in abstract move patterns. 388 This is clear that additional research is needed. To fill this gap, this study sought to determine whether there is an effect of educational level on the development of genre knowledge, particularly in the area of research abstract writing. This study also aims to compare and identify similarities and differences between abstracts written in English and Indonesian. It is hoped that the findings from this study will provide a clearer picture of (1) the development of abstract writing skills from the postgraduate and the factors that influence them and (2) the differences in the embodiment of abstract discourse patterns at each level and language. LITERATURE REVIEW Rhetorical Move Analysis The rhetorical move serves to explain sections of a research article. The aim is to clarify and clearly describe the rhetorical move of a particular genre, each with the aim of helping newcomers and novices who are not part of a particular discourse community (Parodi, 2010). In other definition, a rhetorical move is a unit that relates to both the writer’s purpose and the way in which the writer’s messages or meaning is conveyed (Nikpei, 2016). Based on these definitions, rhetorical move analysis can be interpreted as a textual analysis of communicative objectives and their constituent steps to understand how the discourse pattern is manifested in the writing that is being analyzed (Zamani & Ebadi, 2016). Move analysis is an analytical approach to text identification (Swales, 1990, 2004) and has been used to evaluate many types of genres, such as articles, theses, or essays. Move analysis can be described as text analysis for communicative purposes and a compositional step to describe how the discourse patterns emerge in the investigated writing. There are many studies focused on analyzing rhetorical moves. Even though the data have different focuses, they all have one thing in common: to see which moves or discourse patterns are used in each text. Researchers are interested in analyzing rhetorical move structures that relate to only one scientific field. For instance, Amnuai (2019) focuses on analyzing the rhetorical move structures and grammatical features of abstracts of two genres (master’s thesis and research articles or RA) in the field of information and communication technology (ICT). This study examines how the abstract of the two genres is rhetorically implemented and identifies three grammatical aspects; tenses, phonetics, and phrases. This study shows that there are differences in the frequency of occurrence of the move Introduction and Conclusion. Other aspects, such as the use of sound, are very different between the two genres. The results of this study provide detailed knowledge of rhetorical patterns and the use of lexico-grammatical features in each move of the abstract. Other researchers compared abstract patterns of discourse written by authors from different backgrounds, such as mother tongue, level of academic writing proficiency, or region. Suryani and Rismiyanto (2019), in their research, used Hyland's five rhetorical move models to study the abstract rhetorical moves of English undergraduate theses written by Indonesian students of non-English majors. The study concluded that few English-language undergraduate thesis abstracts followed Hyland's five-step model. This study also shows that the method steps are included in all English-language undergraduate thesis abstracts. Similarly, 389 Mohsenzadeh (2013) focuses on how different discourse communities achieve their communication goals. The study found that the difference between the prefaces in English and Persian literature lies in the obligatory shift. In the English corpus, the necessary moves are found in the general description of the book, whereas in the Persian preface are found to be the significance of the topic. In summary, there are many studies examining patterns of rhetorical moves in abstracts from different types of papers, considering different contexts. However, the development of genre knowledge which realized in rhetorical move patterns in thesis abstracts. This research gap is the background for conducting this research. Genre Knowledge Development Genre knowledge can be divided into four areas: formal knowledge, rhetorical knowledge, process knowledge, and disciplinary knowledge (Tardy, 2009). Formal knowledge can be defined as one’s own understanding of the characteristics of genre texts, such as norms, the structure of discourse patterns, and linguistic features. Rhetorical knowledge is concerned with understanding the relationship between general goals to be achieved and their associated context. The context of this research is how the authors position themselves in conveying the content of their writings. Process knowledge refers to efforts to achieve a goal to be achieved involving the ability to manage time and find the right resources. Discipline knowledge or field knowledge related to a particular study. In other words, this knowledge is about the author's understanding of the scientific field he is involved in. The development of genre knowledge was shaped by the author's experience with various writing styles and practices across countries. In their study, Artemeva and Fox (2010) used different excerpts from engineering genre competency assessments to examine students' genre knowledge goals and their development. The results of this assessment indicate that students' knowledge of genres does not guarantee success in writing in those genres. To fill this gap, Driscoll et al. (2020) examined genre as an important factor in understanding and facilitating the development of writing. The aim of their research was to explain how writing classes influence the development of students' genre knowledge and metacognition and how these factors affect writing performance. The results show that students make significant progress in writing during the course. However, Rounsaville's (2014) study focuses on a case study of how students' transnational genre knowledge developed in response to a series of transfers between Italy and the United States. In this study, it was found that students' reading and writing histories reveal a transnational nature, particularly in applying prior genre knowledge to new writing situations. Based on the previous studies above, this study not only analyzed the quality of the discourse patterns presented by authors in their postgraduate thesis abstracts but also how their knowledge of genre evolved with their experiences during their postgraduate’s degrees. The purpose of this study focuses on the potential role of an individual’s academic level of education in relation to their academic writing skills. 390 RESEARCH METHOD Research Design A comparative qualitative design was used in this study because this study aims to analyze and compare the implementation of abstract discourse patterns from master's theses at Surabaya State University and the development of their genre knowledge. Specifically comparing the rhetorical organization of abstracts written in English and Indonesian. This study uses two main instruments. Hyland's abstract move analysis model (2000) was adopted as the first tool to analyze abstract discourse patterns (see Table 1). Table 1 Move Analysis Guideline from Hyland (2000) Move Step M1- Introduction S1- Arguing for topic significance S2- Making a topic generalization S3- Defining key term(s) S4- Identifying a gap, M2- Purpose Stating the research purpose M3- Methods S1- Describing participant/data sources S2- Describing instrument S3- Describing procedure and context, Describing the main result M4- Findings Describing the main results M5- Conclusion S1- Deducing conclusion S2- Evaluating the significance of the research S3- Stating limitation S4- Presenting recommendations and implication Data Collection The data for this study were collected from postgraduate thesis abstracts at Surabaya State University. A total of eight abstracts in two languages (English and Indonesian) were carefully selected. As this study focuses on the development of genre knowledge, the number of abstracts examined was intentionally limited in order to improve the researchers' understanding of each participant's genre knowledge development. Participant selection was based on the following criteria: • The participants are 4 English language students and 4 Indonesian language students who have undergraduate degrees and have written a thesis. • All participants have degrees from Indonesian universities (local graduates). • Abstracts will be written in each research field (English and Indonesian). The second tool, the interview, consists of three main sections, each consisting of several questions. The first part aims to clarify the background of this research theme and the identity of the individual. The second part aims to demonstrate the acquisition of genre knowledge in relation to Tardy's (2009) four 391 domains of genre knowledge. Furthermore, the second part is also adapted to the development of general knowledge at the postgraduate level, which is influenced by personal, social, and socio-historical factors. Section 3 aims to collect information on postgraduate levels and the process of transition from undergraduate to postgraduate. The interview protocol was based on several theoretical studies. The genre knowledge question is based on research by Tardy (2009) and Devitt (2015), and Tardy et al. (2020) used as the basis for questions about the factors that contribute to the development of 'author' genre knowledge. Data Analysis Hyland's (2000) abstract rhetorical five-moves model was chosen as a guideline for data analysis. The first move, the Introduction, establishes the context of the paper and the motivation for the research and discussion. The second move aims to show the intent behind the paper and give an idea of it. The third move, method, provides information about the design, procedures, assumptions, approaches, and data. The fourth movement, findings or results, shows the most important results and arguments. And the last move is the fifth move, interpreting the results, drawing conclusions, and showing broader applications or implications (Kurniawan et al., 2019). The process begins by breaking down all abstracts into sentences. Then label the sentences according to the guidelines. Manually analyzed data using the Hyland model (2000) was ported into Excel to facilitate the identification and variations in the emergence of abstract discourse patterns in academic studies of all kinds. Abstracts written in English are assigned E1 and E2, and abstracts written in Indonesian are assigned I1 and I2. Numbers refer to respective papers. Perform appropriate processes to determine trends and changes in language realization. Survey data obtained from interviews in this study used the interview data analysis method from Creswell (2012). During the interview session, the answers to each question were transcribed and entered into a table. The responses of each participant were compared and concluded. Responses were also used to derive general conclusions about the participants' development of genre knowledge. Semi- structured interviews were used because there were some adjustments depending on the results of the text analysis and the participant’s responses to each question. Data presented from abstracts and interviews are coded D (data) in all articles. Learned moves are shown in bold in the data view. DISCUSSIONS This section also aims to answer the research objectives: (1) to examine whether there is an effect of educational level on the development of genre knowledge, particularly in the area of research abstract writing, and (2) to compare and Identify whether there is a difference between the English and Indonesian abstracts. The Existences of the Moves and Steps This subchapter describes the occurrence of moves and steps in each language and learning level. A total of 122 moves are obtained from the data obtained. Here there are 19 moves on E1, 33 moves on E2, 25 moves on I1, and 45 392 moves on I2. The number of the second move, Objectives, is the smallest among all the papers compared to his other four steps. This could mean that the authors of the conclusion paper did not focus on the outline and intent behind the paper that brought it into the goal move. Another step that is least common is Move 5 (Conclusion). On the other hand, Move 4 (Findings) has the most occurrences of I2 and E1. At I1 and E2, M3 (Method) and M1 (Introduction) occur at the highest level. The proportion of each step realized was rarely considered in previous studies, as the majority were more concerned with the meaning of movement (Kurniawan et al., 2019). As such, this analysis also focuses on describing the frequency of cross-sector transfers and valuation levels. According to Hyland (2000), Move 2 (objective) and Move 4 (finding) have no steps, so only the remaining moves were investigated further, focusing on step manifestations. This study analyzed the similarities and differences in the development of steps. Based on the findings, the similarity suggests that step 3 of move 1 (define key terms) is the least realized step, followed by step 1 of move 1 (Arguing for topic significance). On the other hand, step 3 of move 3 (description of procedure and context) is the most common of all completed tasks. Interestingly, neither language uses Move 5, step 2 (Evaluating the significance of the research), and Step 3 (Stating limitations). Each language difference has a case that further explains the evidence of the difference. Step 2, move 1 (Making topic generalization), and move 3 (Describing instrument) are performed less initially for abstracts written in Indonesian than for abstracts written in English. In contrast, Step 1 of move 3 (Describe participants/data sources) is used less in English abstracts than in Indonesian abstracts. The Development of Genre Knowledge This sub-chapter discusses the impact of education level on the development of general knowledge, which is embodied in the writing of research abstractions. The first hypothesis of this study is that research-level influences the development of genre knowledge, as revealed in their research papers (Alamargot & Fayol, 2009; Berninger et al., 2002; McCutchen, 1996, 2000). From the analysis, it can be concluded that abstracts in both languages show some developments in genre knowledge. This is especially seen in the abstract movement pattern from Move 1 (Introduction). Interestingly, writers in both English and Indonesian learned to write research abstracts primarily through self-study and discussion with peers. The development of genre knowledge through this procedure is further supported by the work of Freedman (1987). Freedman presents genre learning as a gradual event with little or no explicit instruction. Artemeva (2005, 2008, 2009) also states that genre knowledge is the result of various spice combinations, including but not limited to classroom and workplace practices. Comparing the development of genre knowledge in the individual learning domains (English and Indonesian), there is no significant difference between the two languages. This means that there are no identifiable significant differences between writing and learning research papers in any subject area in Indonesia. The participant added that he adopted a culture of academic writing, especially the last 393 assignment, especially in the context of lecture assignments. They also consider the final project a requirement for graduation. In summary, the abstracts of both languages studied showed signs of the evolution of genre knowledge, as manifested in abstract movement patterns. This development, however, seems to be converging across two different languages and two different fields of study (Indonesian and English). CONCLUSION From this study, it concludes that the development of genre knowledge is reflected at the educational level, in this case, from the undergraduate to postgraduate level. From papers in both languages, we can see that the implementation of Move 1 (introduction) has more varied stages. Genre knowledge is realized and developed through self-study and peer discussion. It also concludes that there is no significant difference in the development of genre knowledge in the two fields of study, suggesting that research writing and learning can be consistent in each field in Indonesia. Indeed, such claims need further investigation. Although the sample used in this study was limited, the results may help clarify the characteristics of English and Indonesian languages and research fields. The results are also believed to help students write abstracts in future research papers. However, given the small sample used in this study, the results are difficult to generalize to all situations. A larger corpus provides a completely contrasting picture of the rhetorical and grammatical features of English and Indonesian abstracts. REFERENCES Alamargot, D., & Fayol, M. (2009). Modeling the development of the written composition. The SAGE Handbook of writing development, 23-47. 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