Iranian Journal of Applied Linguistics

en Move Structures in “Statement-of-the-Problem” Sections of M.A. Theses: The Case of Native and Nonnative Speakers of English تخصصي Special پژوهشي Research <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" hspace="0" vspace="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="text-align: justify;">Understanding how to structure the “Statement-of-the-Problem” (SP) section of a thesis is necessary for EFL students to develop a logical argumentation for a problem statement. This study intended to compare <em>Move </em>structures of SP sections of theses written by native speakers of Persian (NSPs) and English (NSEs). To this end, 100 SP sections (50 SP sections written by NSEs and 50 written by NSPs) of theses in the field of English language teaching (ELT) were selected and analyzed by the researchers based on Swales' (1990, 2004) CARS models. The analysis of the data revealed that <em>Move</em> structures of SP sections of the two corpora were similar. In both corpora, the three <em>Moves</em> of “Establishing a territory”, “Establishing a niche”, and “Presenting the present work” were considered obligatory. There were some differences in the <em>Steps </em>and many Move pattern variations in the two corpora. The results can broaden the understanding of the nature and function of this genre and can have important implications for EFL instructors.</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <div style="clear:both;"></div> Genre analysis, Move structure, Statement-of-the-Problem sections, Cultural variations 195 228 http://ijal.khu.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-818-2&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Soheila Parsa Soheila Parsa 10031947532846001204 10031947532846001204 Yes Sheikhbahaee University, Isfahan Mohammad Hassan Tahririan Mohammad Hassan Tahririan 10031947532846001205 10031947532846001205 No Sheikhbahaee University, Isfahan