Genre analysis: Identifying the move structure in the introduction section of Mechatronic engineering research articles

Abstract

This paper reports on the results of a move analysis as proposed in the CARS model by Swales (1990) on 30 Mechatronic engineering introduction sections of research articles. First, a corpus was systematically compiled from the journal of IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics to ensure that it represents the focused discipline. Then, coding reliability analysis was conducted to demonstrate that, given a set of coding protocols and systematic training and practice, two individuals could agree upon move boundaries. Finally, move analysis of the corpus was conducted. Based on the findings of the analysis it is found that the introduction sections of Mechatronic RA’s do not conform to the CARS framework and there are variations in terms of the Move structure. This study is useful particularly to native and non-native ESP learners and teachers not only allowing them to better understand published research articles for pedagogical purposes but also facilitating the process of writing research articles for publication.