Genre comparative analysis of English and Chinese medical research articles: a small corpus-based study / 中华医学教育探索杂志

ABSTRACT

In the present study, 15 complete RAs were selected respectively from English and Chinese medical journals based on the principles of representativity, reputation, accessibility and timeliness. Moves and steps were determined with reference to Swales and Nwogu's models, and their distribution and frequency were recorded and genre comparative analysis was performed. The results showed that the English and Chinese RAs shared generally the similar generic structure of 11 common moves. However, obvious cultural differences were found in the frequency, sequence and length between the two corpora. The findings of the present study will provide a practical guide for Chinese medical workers to have their papers published in English medical journals.