Analyzing Rhetorical Structure Development in Korean EAP Students from an Intercultural Rhetoric Perspective: A Corpus-based Genre Study

• Published in: Korea Journal of English Language and Linguistics Vol. 23; pp. 1194 - 1215
• Main Authors: Hong, Ji-Yoon, Yoon, Hyunsook
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 한국영어학회 2023
• Subjects: 영어와문학; Intercultural rhetoric (IR); English for Academic Purposes (EAP); move analysis; L2 development; rhetorical structure
• ISSN: 1598-1398; 2586-7474
• DOI: 10.15738/kjell.23..202312.1194

This study examines the evolution of academic writing among Korean graduate students in terms of rhetorical structure from an intercultural rhetoric perspective. It analyzes four distinct corpora produced by Korean L1 experts, English L1 experts, and English L2 students at two different academic stages, aiming to identify differences in rhetorical structure between English and Korean using move analysis. Initially, it compares introductions in research articles (RAs) authored by experts in English and Korean. Subsequently, it investigates how writings by the same Korean graduate students at different academic levels compare to those produced by expert groups. The study employs quantitative analysis across these corpora and supplements this with qualitative insights drawn from interviews with Korean authors, rhetoric specialists, and Korean L2 students to ensure accurate interpretation. Results indicate that even lower-level Korean graduate students' writings, as L2 writers, exhibit a closer alignment with English rather than Korean rhetoric. The findings advance our understanding of how IR and EAP students' developmental processes unfold in terms of rhetorical structure, highlighting their hybrid nature. This study sheds light on the relatively unexplored area of English L2 writers' acquisition of rhetorical structure within the RA genre and suggests pedagogical implications for EAP genre-based writing. KCI Citation Count: 0