7.1 Review of the Study
Based on the framework of intercultural genre knowledge,this research examined the schematic structure of the opening section of Master’s Theses,and then explored the differences in genre practices among and within three local disciplinary communities.Possible explanations were explored for both the community and individual differences in the use of moves.Four moves were identified as the common communicative functions of the opening section of Master’s Theses(see Table 22).A contrastive genre analysis of the Master’s Theses written in the Applied Linguistics communities in China,New Zealand and America reveals significant differences in the length of Move 2 Providing Rationales for the Present Study and Move 3 Establishing a Theoretical Framework(see Table 23),with the students in China paying more attention to theoretical frameworks and less attention to rationales,especially empirical rationales than their American and New Zealand peers.
Possible factors underlying the variation were explored by looking into the philosophical and social traditions of the three local disciplinary communities.An investigation into the epistemology of the communities shows differences in the way of obtaining knowledge between the Chinese and Western traditions.Although in both epistemological traditions,knowledge is regarded as the underlying rules of natural phenomena(C.Cheng,2006;Rošker,2010;2014),in the Chinese tradition,knowledge is considered to be obtained through secluded meditation and intuition whereas in the Western tradition,observation and reasoning are the main approach to the scientific discovery of knowledge(Chang,1954;C.Cheng,2006;Norton,1982;Rošker,2014).Therefore,empirical investigation of natural or social phenomena is more valued in the Western tradition.This difference may be used to account for the different focus of the students in China(i.e.theoretical frameworks)and their peers in New Zealand and America(i.e.empirical rationales).
As for the social aspect,studies suggest that Chinese academics are not as active in academic socialization and cooperation as their peers in America(e.g.Teichler,Arimoto,&Cummings,2013).Move 2b Providing Empirical Rationales is essentially a social move in that it justifies the choice of a research topic by contextualizing the study in the research area,relating the present study with previous ones and making space for the present study.Under the influence of the Chinese academic tradition,it seems reasonable that students in China pay less attention to reaching out to other researchers in the area and providing empirical rationales.
In regard to individual differences,the two mixed communities(i.e.New Zealand and America)see more variation in individual genre practices than the uniform community(i.e.China).By comparing the writing of the overseas Chinese writers in New Zealand and America with that of Chinese students writing in China,I found traces of the genre conventions of the Chinese Applied Linguistic community in the writing of Chinese overseas students.Hence,the influence of former communities can be regarded as one of the learner factors underlying individual variation within a community.There is also evidence suggesting evolutionary changes over time,but further studies are needed to confirm the provisional findings.
Table 22 The schematic structure of the opening section of master’s theses
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Table 23 Intercultural genre knowledge of master’s thesis
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Note:*=significant at p＜0.05 level;***=significant at p＜0.001 level