Language of Attribution in Iraqi Students Master Theses

Citation in academic writing used to demonstrate the authors’ knowledge to previous works in the same field of the study. Reporting verbs is one of the most fundamental components of citation in academic writing. This study investigated the frequency of the most used reporting verbs and their function in the Introduction sections of Master thesis written by Iraqi students. Francis (1996) verb groups and explanation were adapted to show the most used reporting verbs. The results show that the highest reporting verbs were found in using “Argue” group of reporting verbs, which suggest uncertainty or disagreement with the author’s line of argument. However, it appears that master students limited to much extent using Think group of verbs in writing the introduction section of their theses, this may be attributed to the master student’s tendency to use specific reporting verbs that did not allow to make a great degree of overlapping.