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Article published In:
English Text Construction
Vol. 15:1 (2022) ► pp.30–67

Direct quotations in the rhetorical structure of literature PhD thesis introductions

| Keio University
| Birkbeck, University of London
Direct quotation (DQ) use varies considerably across disciplines, from complete absence in hard sciences to relative frequency in social sciences. This study investigates DQs in literature, focusing on PhD thesis introductions in English. A corpus of 15 introductions tagged for move-and-step genre analysis was used to investigate DQ frequency, their distribution in the rhetorical structure of introductions, and source text types used for DQs. The findings show that (i) DQs are the most common source use practice in the corpus; (ii) DQs are concentrated in three rhetorical steps: reviewing previous research, presenting the analysed literary work, and making topic generalisations; and (iii) source text type used for DQs is associated with specific rhetorical steps. These findings suggest that DQs are essential for the realisation of the rhetorical purpose of the steps which carry them and for knowledge construction in literature PhD theses.
Keywords: direct quotation, genre analysis, PhD thesis, introduction, source use
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Related literature
    • 2.1Rhetorical structure of PhD thesis introductions
    • 2.2DQs in student writing
    • 2.3Types of sources
  • 3.Methods
    • 3.1Corpus
    • 3.2Identification of DQs and other source use practices
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1DQs and other source use practices in PhD thesis introductions
    • 4.2Distribution of steps and DQs
    • 4.3Quotation environment
    • 4.4Source types used for DQs
  • 5.Discussion
    • 5.1What is the frequency of DQs in relation to other source use practices in literature PhD thesis introductions?
    • 5.2Which rhetorical steps carry DQs in literature PhD thesis introductions?
    • 5.3What is the relationship between the steps carrying DQs and those preceding and following them?
    • 5.4What types of source texts are used for DQs in literature PhD thesis introductions?
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 27 March 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/etc.00049.ono
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