A Genre Analysis Of Informative English Abstracts

As the epitome of research thesis, abstracts not only describe the scientific research objectively but also help the readers learn about the main contents of the thesis. And they are the important tools showing the newest academic trend to researchers in the same field. Among abstracts, informative abstracts are the most common kind, which could convey information to readers to the utmost extent with limited words. Nowadays, the internationalization of academic communication makes English abstract writing more important.However, according to the author's investigation, many of the researchers put much focus on their major research and pay little attention to the study of the generic or linguistic features of abstracts. Thus, the content and purposes of their papers can not be presented clearly in their English abstracts, which limit the efficient communication among the researchers and readers. It is necessary to study the generic features of abstracts, especially informative English abstracts to promote the academic sharing, and to provide guidance for abstract writing.Some scholars home and abroad have made research on abstract, including its writing skills, grammar, word using and linguistic features, etc. But the research is far from systemic. Thus, the author chose the informative English abstracts as the subject to conduct the study based on the theory of Generic Structural Potential and metafunctions of language.This study is conducted based on the database established by the author. And five kinds of authoritative international journals are defined based on the classification of natural and social science. The five journals selected are Applied Linguistics, Educational Action Research, Economic Journal, Physical Review Letters, and Chemical Engineering Journal. Firstly, 120 English abstracts are chosen, among them 40 informative English abstracts are selected according to their definition. The number of informative English abstracts selected from each journal above is basically equal, which aims to ensure the accuracy of the study.The present study adopts the theory of"Generic Structural Potential"and the metafunctions of language, to analyze the 40 informative English abstracts selected from the database from macro and micro perspectives. The generic structures, transitivity system, interpersonal meanings and textual organization of the selected abstracts are analyzed. Qualitative and quantitative methods are adopted to compare the results from the study. Then the common linguistic features are generalized through the statistics of the frequency of each linguistic feature.Through the present study, it is found that: (1) there are 7 generic structural elements in the GSP of the informative English abstracts. Among them, Purpose of Study, Research Design and Results are obligatory element (Research Design is called General element in the present study); (2) material and relational processes are most common processes, which are used to construct the experiential meanings; (3) the patterns of thematic progression are various, and Linear Thematic Pattern is the main pattern employed in the database, which suits the human's habit of receiving information. Moreover, unmarked theme holds the most proportion in thematic distribution; (4) a great number of declarative sentences are used to give information, and low-value auxiliaries are employed to show the objectivity of the content presented in abstracts. Meanwhile, the use of the auxiliaries is the main method to realize interpersonal meanings.The findings obtained in the present study could be used to guide the writing of informative English abstracts and give some hints for pedagogy.