A comparative genre-based study of research articles’ introductions written by English native/non native speakers

Abstract

This study aims to compare the Introduction section of a number of medical research articles written by non-native speakers of English (Iranian) and English native speakers in terms of their rhetorical structures. The articles published in ISI-indexed journals have been investigated using the models presented by Nwogu and Halliday. The models are related to Moves/Sub-moves and grammatical metaphors, respectively. Using statistical tests such as chi-square tests for goodness of fit and Mann-Whitney U tests, the authors have found that the Iranians used fewer Moves/Sub-moves and grammatical metaphors compared to native speakers. Awareness of this academic writing practice may contribute to pave the ground for Iranian researchers to publish their articles in world-known journals.Keywords: genre, writing, research articles, SFL, ESP, ESL, grammatical metaphors.