Corpus analysis in abstracts’ Ph.D. students in the USA: A case study

Abstract

The aims of this study were 1) To identify the general description of the frequency of use of DMs (adding something) in the Thesis’ Abstracts of Ph.D. writing, and 2) To investigate the relationship between the numbers of DMs (adding something) contribute in the Thesis’ Abstracts of Ph.D. writing. The quantitative and qualitative in discourse markers (DMs) focused on the type of adding type i.e. moreover; in additionally; further; furthermore; further to this; also; besides; and what is more used in the educational theses' abstracts. This investigation examinations 108 abstracts works in the field of education were chosen by purposive sampling from American top-ranking universities. It intended to analyze the relations between the use of DMs, and their functions in the abstracts. The study also identified some qualifications that characterize a Ph.D. Students' writing expertise on DMs selection and use. The key finding has been that learners use a range of discourse markers, some of which are more popularly used than most others. There are lots of DMs (adding), the writers used only some of them when writing the abstracts. Some words were determined as DMs, but the functions were not DMs because they were not at the initial position. “In addition” markers were the most commonly used, abided by "Furthermore" markers. Analysis of the papers suggests guiding results for further research on developing abstracts writing quality.