Evaluative language in applied linguistics research article discussions: exploring the functions and patterns of that-structures in argumentative texts

Abstract Research on academic stance and evaluation has been prolific over the past few decades. Few studies, however, have focused on exploring the evaluative potential of that-constructions in shaping the structure of academic arguments. To address this lacuna, the current study aimed at exploring the potential impact of the distinct communicative functions of the research article discussion on the way its argument structure is linguistically shaped through the utilization of evaluative that-structures in applied linguistics research article discussions. Textual analysis was carried out for identifying the forms and functions of that-clauses. The findings indicated that the subtleties of the writers’ intended purposes depict themselves in the way they linguistically structure their arguments by taking advantage of the evaluative potential of that-clauses to specify the findings of their research, to specify the interpretations and implications of their findings, and to comment on the work of others.