The Rhetorical Structure of Literature Reviews in Egyptian-Authored English Research Articles in Linguistics

Abstract

The present paper seeks to examine the rhetorical structure of the literature review (LR) sections of English research articles (RAs) written by Egyptian researchers in the field of linguistics. For this purpose, a sample of ten LRs was selected from RAs published in local and international English-medium journals in linguistics between 2013 and 2019. The study deployed hybrid techniques and approaches for data collection (random/non-random sampling) and data analysis (genre-based/corpus-driven and qualitative/quantitative). Findings showed rhetorical variation in the LRs written by both groups, especially concerning Move 2 and Move 3 that were used more frequently in the international sample than in the local one, where the focus was on Move 1. In addition, some new steps emerged. The findings also shed light on the problems within the rhetorical structure of the LRs published locally, implying that the lack of rhetorical knowledge is one of the major reasons that hinder writing professional LRs. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the generic structure of RA LRs by proposing a modified version of Kwan's (2006) model. It has pedagogical implications for teaching Egyptian and apprentice researchers how to write more effective RA LRs. Future studies on a larger corpus of complete RAs written by Egyptian and international researchers in soft and hard sciences are needed to provide more generalizable findings.