This study analyzed the macro and micro structures of thesis and dissertation abstracts across disciplines and cultures. The researchers examined 552 abstracts written by native English speakers, native Persian speakers, and other language speakers. They found that introduction and statement of aims were obligatory elements, while structures like IMRD were optionally used. Cultural and disciplinary differences also influenced structure selection. The researchers then explicitly taught abstract structure models to 35 Iranian researchers. After instruction, the Iranian researchers' abstracts more closely followed the target structures, showing the benefits of explicit genre instruction for non-native speakers.

1. A Contrastive Generic Analysis of
Thesis and Dissertation Abstracts:
Variations across Disciplines and
Cultures
By: Dr. Jalilifar and Dr. Vahid Dastjerdi
Professor: Dr. Zand
Presented by: Mojgan Azimi

2. The aim of the study:
Finding out the influence of culture on the macro- and
micro-structures of texts in abstract.
Analyzing thesis abstracts by 3 groups of researchers,
native speakers of English (NSE), native speakers of
Persian (NSP) and native speakers of other languages
(NSO) in areas of human and applied sciences.

3. Phase one
Examining macro- and micro-structures of 552 thesis
and dissertation abstracts across 7 disciplines :history,
literature, social sciences, linguistics, nursing and
midwifery, applied linguistics and geology.
Analysis of the abstracts examines inter- and intra-group
variations, as well as interdisciplinary variations in the
structure of abstracts.

4. Classification,
Instrumentation
Macro-structure: IMRC (introduction, method, results and conclusion).
Additional macro-structure :
Santos’ (1996) move represented here as statement of the problem
Belanger’s (1982)‘What research suggests’ (suggestions)
Dudley-Evans's (1986) background information, called ‘setting the scene’ here which is
an optional step appearing in the introduction
Samraj’s (2005) problem-solution structure
Topic description: the whole abstract is a description of a person, place or object not
necessarily characterizing any move structure common in abstract writing.
Sequence of chapters
mention of references
Micro-structure:
Based on models proposed by Swales (1990), Dudley-Evans (1986, 1991), and Martin
(2003).
Focused on presenting background, justification of present study, and statement of aims
characterizing the introduction, introducing new research characterizing the method,
principal findings characterizing the results, implications, suggestions, and need for
further research specifying the conclusion section.

5. Findings revealed obligatory structures by the
researchers regardless of their language background
(for example: Introduction as a macro structure and
statement of aims as a micro structure appears to be
mandatory in majority of abstracts).
However, findings also showed optional structures
( for example:MRC )
Cultural and disciplinary differences appeared to affect
the selection of the structures.
Macro and Micro-Structure
Analysis

6. Phase Two
Give explicit instruction of macro- and micro-moves to
the Iranian thesis writers in the two academic areas .
RQ: To what extent does the teaching of macro- and
micro-structures facilitate learning the patterns of
abstract organization?

7. Method
The researchers selected the move structures that had
been employed by the native speakers of English as the
criterion for the structural organization for disciplines
under the study: IMRC, I(MRC)
These models begin with a move that establishes the aims
of the research.Then they generally discuss aspects of
procedure.

8. Participants
35 Persian researchers who had already finished their MA,
MSc or PhD theses or dissertations took part in this phase of
the study.
They were randomly selected according to their availability to
the researcher.
Researchers included participants with the various sub-
disciplines dealt with in the previous phase.

9. Procedures
Instruction was carried out in three steps:
1. Introductory stage aiming at clarifying theoretical aspects of
writing abstracts.
2. Contrastive rhetoric was introduced.
3. They received a description of the different model abstract
structures for their discipline.
After the instructional phase, they were given around a week to revise
their abstracts in light of the instruction they had received.
Participants received intensive instruction during a short
writing course taught by the researchers over four days
on the micro and macro-structure of the abstracts.

10. Data Analysis
Macro and micro structure analysis revealed the
effectiveness of explicit instruction.
Comparison of rhetorical organization before and
after instruction indicated that Persian researchers
benefited from knowledge of the rhetorical structures
because they adhered to the target model.
Many researchers preferred to shorten elements such
as ‘chapter sequence’ or ‘topic description’ ( micro
structure )in their abstracts.

11. Discussions and conclusions
This study showed that abstracts are interrelated in
different ways in the disciplines under study and that they
may not always be distinctive in rhetorical structures .
Introduction appears to be an inseparable part of the
majority of abstracts by researchers.
Other components of MRC were optionally employed.
Swales’s model of IMRC was typically useful for
describing the overall structure of applied sciences and
linguistics in all the three groups .
Other structures were also found to be common.

12. Non-English authors use recognizably different
discourse patterns.
The differences :can be accounted for the socio-
cultural factors, learning styles, cultural patterns,
academic experience, the writer himself and the
discourse community that is being addressed.
Another reason is non-native speakers’
unawareness of the macro structures employed by
native speakers.
Learning a genre itself is a form of acquiring culture.

13. Iranian researchers select one macro structure as the primary
structure for abstract writing (both in English and Persian) and
make generalizations.
The study showed that teaching the rhetorical organization of
abstracts to non-native speakers could at least have short term
benefits as it helped researchers organize their abstracts more
effectively.
The study also proved genre-based instruction useful for
advanced learners of English. It made them sensitive to those
meta-linguistic elements present in their abstracts.

14. Thank You