Promotional rhetorical strategies in topic generalizations of increasing specificity

Abstract

This study explores the rhetorical strategies employed in topic generalizations of increasing specificity in the introductions from the leading peer-reviewed journals. Specifically, we identified the substeps in Move1-Step1, which show how the writers promote the significance of the research area. The qualitative approach enabled us to distinguish eight substeps provisionally outlining the common patterning of the discourse and to analyze the linguistic choices enhancing the persuasiveness of claims. Citation, attitude markers, boosters and hedges have been found the most effective devices for preserving balance between assertion and concession. The quantitative analysis of the texts defined the frequency rate of the substeps discerned including their total sum of occurrences and percentages per introduction. The substep level analysis has contributed to scrutinizing the subtle communicative functions of the rhetorical strategies in the textual structure.