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A Discourse Analysis of Arabic Research Articles in Islamic Studies

Received: 18 October 2016    Accepted: 27 October 2016    Published: 17 November 2016
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Abstract

This study explores the rhetorical organization of Arabic research article introductions (RAIs) in the field of Islamic studies applying Swales’ [1, 2] Create-a-Research-Space (CARS) model of move/step analysis. A corpus of 20 RAIs, written by first-language Arabic speakers, was selected from the Journal of Islamic Studies. The findings showed that the fit between the CARS model, developed on the basis of RAIs in English, and the RAIs sampled in the current study only partial. That is, while there exist some differences between Arabic RAIs examined and what has been proposed in the CARS model in terms of the treatment of past research and the inclusion of some additional elements in the texts under consideration, there is a complete similarity regarding the degree of explicitness in outlining the purpose of the study and indicating the structure of RAs. Generally speaking, the findings obtained in the current study support those reported in other studies on RAIs in different languages other than English in that texts particularly from the soft disciplines are more likely to be affected by the cultural background of their authors. Limitations and the implications of the findings as well as recommending some suggestions for future research are provided.

Published in International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 4, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijll.20160406.12
Page(s) 198-206
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Genre Analysis, RAIs, Rhetorical Organisation, Arabic, Islamic Studies

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Sultan H. Alharbi. (2016). A Discourse Analysis of Arabic Research Articles in Islamic Studies. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 4(6), 198-206. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20160406.12

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    ACS Style

    Sultan H. Alharbi. A Discourse Analysis of Arabic Research Articles in Islamic Studies. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2016, 4(6), 198-206. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20160406.12

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    AMA Style

    Sultan H. Alharbi. A Discourse Analysis of Arabic Research Articles in Islamic Studies. Int J Lang Linguist. 2016;4(6):198-206. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20160406.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijll.20160406.12,
      author = {Sultan H. Alharbi},
      title = {A Discourse Analysis of Arabic Research Articles in Islamic Studies},
      journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
      volume = {4},
      number = {6},
      pages = {198-206},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20160406.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20160406.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20160406.12},
      abstract = {This study explores the rhetorical organization of Arabic research article introductions (RAIs) in the field of Islamic studies applying Swales’ [1, 2] Create-a-Research-Space (CARS) model of move/step analysis. A corpus of 20 RAIs, written by first-language Arabic speakers, was selected from the Journal of Islamic Studies. The findings showed that the fit between the CARS model, developed on the basis of RAIs in English, and the RAIs sampled in the current study only partial. That is, while there exist some differences between Arabic RAIs examined and what has been proposed in the CARS model in terms of the treatment of past research and the inclusion of some additional elements in the texts under consideration, there is a complete similarity regarding the degree of explicitness in outlining the purpose of the study and indicating the structure of RAs. Generally speaking, the findings obtained in the current study support those reported in other studies on RAIs in different languages other than English in that texts particularly from the soft disciplines are more likely to be affected by the cultural background of their authors. Limitations and the implications of the findings as well as recommending some suggestions for future research are provided.},
     year = {2016}
    }
    

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    AU  - Sultan H. Alharbi
    Y1  - 2016/11/17
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20160406.12
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    T2  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
    JF  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
    JO  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
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    AB  - This study explores the rhetorical organization of Arabic research article introductions (RAIs) in the field of Islamic studies applying Swales’ [1, 2] Create-a-Research-Space (CARS) model of move/step analysis. A corpus of 20 RAIs, written by first-language Arabic speakers, was selected from the Journal of Islamic Studies. The findings showed that the fit between the CARS model, developed on the basis of RAIs in English, and the RAIs sampled in the current study only partial. That is, while there exist some differences between Arabic RAIs examined and what has been proposed in the CARS model in terms of the treatment of past research and the inclusion of some additional elements in the texts under consideration, there is a complete similarity regarding the degree of explicitness in outlining the purpose of the study and indicating the structure of RAs. Generally speaking, the findings obtained in the current study support those reported in other studies on RAIs in different languages other than English in that texts particularly from the soft disciplines are more likely to be affected by the cultural background of their authors. Limitations and the implications of the findings as well as recommending some suggestions for future research are provided.
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Author Information
  • Department of English Language & Translation, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

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