خلاصة:
Previous research has identified the nominal group as the most distinctive feature of the research article title. In contrast, the findings reported in this paper suggest Theme/Rheme is the dominant structure in title text. Theme/Rheme structures order and tie nominal groups in titles. When a title starts with a methodological term the first position nominal group acts as a theme marker. Thus, the following nominal groups yield coherence and generate summarization. This finding is based on an analysis of 347 research article titles randomly selected from 99 SSCI journals in linguistics. Focusing on titles with a research construct in first position, and using the most frequently found term, effect, as the basis for comparison, this article presents an analysis of how titles summarize content. The combination of nominal groups, Theme/Rheme, and coherence summarizes the content of the research article more effectively compared to titles that rely solely on the information packaging function of high-density nominalization.
ملخص الجهاز:
Dual function of first position nominal groups in research article titles: Describing methods and structuring summary Alex Rath Email: rattle@cc.
The combination of nominal groups, Theme/Rheme, and coherence summarizes the content of the research article more effectively compared to titles that rely solely on the information packaging function of high-density nominalization .
Since the pressure to publish in English- language international journals keeps increasing for second language writers (Braine, 2005; Curry & Lillis, 2004; Flowerdew, 1999), ESP-based research has provided assistance with many aspects of research writing, including titles.
In the process of becoming proficient in publishing research articles in English-medium journals, Dressen-Hammouda (2008) describes how novices adopt the disciplinary identity of their fields at the same time as they master the syntactic structures used in their discourse communities.
The compacting of disciplinary content information in pre-modified nominal groups, called taxonomic nouns by Halliday (1998), is an important feature of research article titles.
Like Haggan (2004) and Soler (2007), Wang and Bai conclude that summary of the research article content is achieved through nominal group construction and that pre- and post- modification realize meaning by densely packing information.
In addition, this article addresses the question of application for the ESP community: Should second language writers concentrate on nominal groups and try to compact as much information as possible through pre- and post modification into the title to fulfill the synoptic function and communicate contents to readers?
However, a first position nominal group with a dual function does more as it specifies something about a research construct while structuring the title in Theme/Rheme terms.