Reporting Verbs in the Conclusion Section of Research Articles in Applied Linguistics and Sociology

The employment of reporting verbs in academic writing can explicitly situate previous studies into the current research, reflect diverse degrees of alignment and appraisal toward the literature, and implicitly indicate a writer's stance and private intentions. This study investigates the deployment of reporting verbs in the conclusion section of research articles in applied linguistics and sociology. Based on Hyland's (2002) taxonomy, the denotation and evaluation categories and functions of reporting verbs in the conclusion section of 270 research articles were examined. The results show that the use of discourse acts verbs is the most predominant and that writers strongly rely on positive evaluation, both in applied linguistics and sociology. Additionally, 12 types of functions of reporting verbs in the conclusion section of research articles were identified. The findings suggest that the choice of reporting verbs depends not only on the disciplinary nature but also on the specific section of research articles to achieve different communicative purposes and private intentions. This study helps novice writers enhance their awareness concerning the appropriate application of reporting verbs in academic writing.