Contemporary Foreign Languages Studies ›› 2022, Vol. 22 ›› Issue (3): 122-130.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-8921.2022.03.014

• Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

A Meta-functional Analysis of Citations in the English MA Theses in Linguistics

TANG Wei1,2, LIN Zheng jun1,2()   

  • Online:2022-06-28 Published:2022-06-07

Abstract:

In Linguistic MA theses, citations are used to express rich ideational meaning in terms of the construction of experiential meaning. However, Chinese EFL learners do not sufficiently cite the author’s research methods and opinions. With regard to interpersonal negotiation, reporting verbs are overused to express neutral or positive meaning, which weakens the critique. Moreover, Chinese EFL learners are more inclined to employ citations from a single source, exerting negative influence on the interpersonal negotiation between the writer and the author. In textual organization, Chinese EFL learners cannot fully integrate the author and cited content into citations compared with English native speakers.

Key words: MA theses, citations, meta-functions, academic English writing

CLC Number: