April 2008 Volume 4 Issue 1
Article 1.
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Article Title
Genre Analysis: An Investigation of the Discussion Sections of Applied Linguistics Research Articles

Author
Zahra Amirian, Zohreh Kassaian & Mansoor Tavakoli
Isfahan University, Iran

Bio Data
Zahra Amirian is a PhD student of TEFL in Isfahan University, Iran. She has taught English to EFL students for more than 8 years. Her research interests are academic writing and genre analysis.

ZohrehKassaianholds a PhD in TEFL. She is an assistant professor in Isfahan University, Iran and has taught English to EFL students for 28 years. Her research interests are psycholinguistic studies and genre analysis.

Mansoor Tavakoli holds a PhD in TEFL from Isfahan University, Iran. He is an assistant professor and has taught English in Isfahan University for 12 years. His research interests are language teaching and assessment.

Abstract         
This study analyzes the discussion sections of applied linguistics research articles (RAs)  from the perspective of genre. For this purpose, first the discussion sections of English RAs published in international English journals of the field are compared with a parallel corpus of Persian RAs published in professional Persian journals of the same field in order to find the differentiating factors between published English and Persian research articles at the level of move schemata. Then, a corpus of English RAs written in English by Persian EFL writers rejected by international journals of applied linguistics are studied in terms of their move schemata. The results of this study reveal considerable differences across the three corpora regarding the generic features under investigation. The results are useful particularly to native and non-native writers, allowing them to better understand published research articles and facilitating the process of writing research articles for publication.

Key words: Genre analysis, research article, discussion section, move schemata