TEXTUAL METAFUNCTION AND THEMATIC PROGRESSION IN ABSTRACT WRITING: A GENRE-BASED SFL ANALYSIS OF PAKISTANI RESEARCH ARTICLES

Abstract

Abstracts of research articles are genre-governed texts, which have to simultaneously respond to a number of communicative tasks-orienting the reader, previewing the purpose of the research, methods, results, and establishment of scholarship-within an approximate word-limit of 150–250 words. The clause-level realization of these communicative purposes, despite this textual reductionism, has not been investigated widely in Pakistani academic writings. Using Halliday & Matthiessen’s (2014) account of Theme-Rheme, Dane’s (1974) four patterns of thematic progression and Hyland’s (2000) five-move genre description of RAAbstract, a qualitative-dominant mixed-method study was designed to investigate 25 RA abstracts written by Pakistani scholars of Applied Linguistics and published in 5 HEC-recognized journals during 2018–2024. Inter-rater reliability for clause-by-clause coding of 387 clauses (388 transitions) were established as = 0.84 (Theme type) and = 0.79 (progression patterns). It was observed that the use of unmarked topical Theme is predominant (56.3%). It was also found that thematic progression patterns were not distributed randomnly in terms of moves of the genre. Constant Theme is favored in Method moves (59%), linear progression in Product and Conclusion moves (45% and 61%), respectively; split-rheme organizes parallels of findings in Product moves (24%); and derived theme maps multidimensional problem-situation in Introduction moves (20%). More critically, 48% of the abstracts failed to make a Conclusion move and did not have any interpersonal Theme, nor any progression to claim significance; these are identified as problem areas of the corpus texts written by Pakistani scholars of Applied Linguistics who clearly are very much genre-sensitive but show a definite pattern of weakness in their constructive abilities towards making an evaluative move. Corpus and coding data are available from the researcher upon reasonable request.