Examining syntactic and lexical features of the Introduction of English M.A. theses in Linguistics in Vietnam and Australia

Abstract

Based on the theories of discourse analysis, this study focuses on describing and analyzing typical discourse features of English language master thesis introductions in Australia (A-ELMTIs) and English language master thesis introductions in Vietnam (V-ELMTIs) in terms of syntactic and lexical features. From the investigation, we have found out their differences and similarities. With regard to syntactic features, it is evident that the largest differences are in the use of simple and compound sentences. Simple sentences are used with far greater frequency in V-ELMTIs than in A-ELTMIs, whereas there is more use of complex sentences in A-ELTMIs. Lexically, A-ELMTIs use a higher proportion of “contrast terms” and “quantifiers and quasi-negatives” than V-ELTMIs do. Meanwhile, the use of “contrast terms” and “negatives” is very low in both.