universidade federal de santa catarina pós-graduação em letras ...

48(ibid.) finds that certain linguistic constructions (e.g., sentence-connectors, negation,lexical phrases) are signals of the rhetorical function of each move in the RA:Step 3 - Reviewing items of previous research:Recent studies have begun to explore these questions at an undergraduate level.In Step 3, the writer acknowledges the work of other researchers and by doing thatdefines the line of research that she chooses to follow/avoid, preparing the stance, i.e.,the position from which her own work and thus the results to be obtained can beexamined.Move 2 - Establishing a niche: After establishing the territory in Move 1, thewriter goes on to Move 2 (ibid.:154), where she establishes a niche for her work withinthe broader disciplinary field. The writer’s main argument to establish a niche for thework being reported is that of the missing link, stating that, despite all the previousresearch already reported, there are questions that remain unresolved in the current stateof knowledge in the field. The writer can do that either by counter-claiming resultsfound in previous research (Step 1A), by detecting a gap in the current state ofknowledge about the topic (Step 1B), by raising questions that remain unanswered (Step1C), or still by presenting her research as a contribution to a tradition in researching thetopic (Step 1D). Linguistic signaling for move 2 includes adversative sentenceconnectors (however, but) and constructions with negative meaning (cannot, limited):Step 1A - Counter-claiming:The first group ...cannot treat...and is limited to...