A study of syntactic and lexical features of the introduction of English M.A. theses in linguistics in Vietnam and Australia

ISSN 1859-1531 - THE UNIVERSITY OF DANANG, JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, NO. 6(103).2016

101

A STUDY OF SYNTACTIC AND LEXICAL FEATURES
OF THE INTRODUCTION OF ENGLISH M.A. THESES IN LINGUISTICS
IN VIETNAM AND AUSTRALIA
Tran Thi Ngoc Phuong
University of Foreign Language Studies, The University of Danang;
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.
Key words - master’s (MA) thesis; discourse analysis; syntax;
lexicon; English language.

1. Introduction
To get a master’s degree in a certain field, students usually
write a thesis to fulfill the requirements of the course or the
degree, and hence, the introduction to theses plays an integral
part in this process. It is the introduction that helps the readers

decide whether they are interested in that topic or will
continue to read through the thesis or not. At the very least,
introductions consist of a rationale, aims and objectives, a
scope of the study, significance of the study, research
questions and an overview of the structure of the thesis.
Even if the theses are written in English, there are
differences in the way the introductions are written in
universities in Vietnam and in Australia. For years, Australia
is a country whose educational environment has attracted a
great number of Vietnamese students. Therefore, in order to
help Vietnamese students to undertake research or write a
thesis in Australian universities with less trouble and less
confusion, it is necessary to carry out research on this issue.
Moreover, research on the differences and similarities
between English Language Master’s Theses (ELMTs) in
Vietnam and Australia will help to promote training in
Masters of Arts in Linguistics in Vietnam to an international
level in order to achieve a global educational standard.
This study is part of a larger study that aims to analyze
the discourse features of the introductions of master’s
theses written in Englishin the field of linguistics in
Vietnam and in Australia. Due to space limitations, this
particular study is limited to describing the discourse
features of the introductions of the theses in terms of their
syntactic and lexical features in order to illustrate the
potential differences in writing theses in different regions
even when the same language is used.The syntactic and
lexical aspects are less obvious than the layout and
structure, but research into other types of documents
suggests that differences exist [9], hence they form the

focus of the current study.

2. Theoretical Background
2.1. Discourse analysis
Brown and Yule [2, p.iii] describe discourse
as“language in use” and remark that “the term discourse
analysis has become to be used with a wide range of
meanings which cover a wide range of activities at the
intersection of many disciplines from sociolinguistics,
psychological linguistics to computational linguistics”.
Based on concepts proposed by Salkie [10, p. ix], Cook
[5, p. 156] argues that discourse is “stretches of language
perceived to be meaningful, unified and purposeful”.
Furthermore, Nunan [7, p. 5] asserts “Discourse can be
defined as a stretch of language consisting of several
sentences which are perceived as being related in some
way. Sentences can be related not only in terms of the ideas
they share, but also in terms of their functions”.In
conclusion, all the above concepts of discourse have
mentioned the application of language. Hence, recently
discourse analysts have tended to base their research on
observing language usage during conversations in
sequences of sentences. The analysis of discourse is,
necessarily, the analysis of language in use. As such, as
Brown and Yule argue, it cannot be restricted to the
description of linguistic forms independent of the purposes
or functions which these forms are designed to serve in
human relationships [2, p. 1].
2.2. Cohesion
Cohesion can be thought of as all the syntactic and

lexical links that connect one part of a text to another. This
consists of the use of synonyms, lexical sets, pronouns, verb
tenses, time references, grammatical reference, and so forth
to help to sequence a text and link ideas and arguments in
the text. Halliday suggests that a text “has texture and this is
what distinguishes it from something that is not a text… The
texture is provided by the cohesive relation” [6, p.2].
Cohesion refers to the explicit linguistic devices that are
expressed partly through the syntax and partly through the
vocabulary. In other words, cohesion consists of syntactic
cohesion and lexical cohesion. While the term may be used
in a much broader sense as well, in the context of the current
study, the focus is on these two main elements.
3. Method
3.1. Data Collection
The introduction texts analyzed in this study are taken
from a total of 30 ELMTs in Vietnam (15) and in Australia
(15) on topics related to linguistics. All theses are written
in English and include a chapter entitled “Introduction”
ranging in length from 700 - 1400 words. Thesis


102

introduction samples are those in the library of, University
of Foreign Language Studies, the University of Danang
and the University of Foreign Language Studies, Vietnam
National University, Hanoi or published online. A total of
15 master’s theses are obtained from Australian
universities in the field of linguistics through the thesis

collection of The University of Queensland and through
contacting both teachers and students directly in Australia.
Authors of all theses in Vietnam are Vietnamese while
authors of theses in Australia are varied in their native
languages including English, Chinese, Indonesian,
Swedish and Vietnamese.
3.2. Data Analysis
After collecting the data, these are categorized and
divided into Australiansources and Vietnamese sources.
The introductions are analyzed in terms of the syntacticand
lexical features using both both qualitative and quantitative
methods.For lexical choice, software named AntConc is
used to count the tokens (the total number of words), and
look inside that for the types (the number of repeated
words). From this, it is possible to identify the range of
words being used (type-token ratio) and the most
frequently used words in the theses.
4. Results & Discussion
4.1. Syntactic Features
In this part, we would like to investigate some syntactic
devices used in Australian thesis introductions
(A-ELMTIs) and Vietnamese thesis introductions
(V-ELMTIs), particularly passive voice and sentence types.
4.1.1. Voice in A-ELMTIs and V-ELMTIs
In English, the passive voice is a syntactic form in
which the subject receives the action of a transitive verb,
where the passive sentence emphasizes the process rather
than who is performing the action [14]. Quirk [9] suggests
that the passive voice is more commonly used in
informative than in imaginative writing. The get-passive

often reflects an unfavorable attitude towards the action
[7]. Fortunately, only be-passive is found in our data as can
be found in the examples in Vietnamese thesis #14 [V-14]
and Australian thesis #4 [A-4]:
(1) The fact that little research has been done on
discourse features of AdEs and little instruction has been
given about it in academic writing course in Vietnam
creates a need to have research on it. [V-14]
(2) It was also found that the teacher tended to perceive
the classroom environment that was more positive than
they perceived as actually being the case. [A-4]
Two types of passive voice are investigated in the study;
passive with purpose and passive without purpose. In this
paper, passive voice with purpose is a specific passive
voice used when talking about the aims and objectives or
placing the emphasis on the goal (e.g., I was fined 500.000
VND for speeding). Meanwhile, passive voice without
purpose is a general passive voice which moves the
emphasis from who is performing the action to the object
or the process. (e.g., It is believed that the rising oil price
will have a huge impact on food prices).

Tran Thi Ngoc Phuong

Table 1. Distribution of Passive Voice in A-ELMTIs
and V-ELMTIs
Passive
Voice

A-ELMTIs

V-ELMTIs

Occurrence

%

Occurrence

%

With
purpose

36

11.4

54

18.6

Without
purpose

279

88.6

237

81.4

Total

315

100

291

100

The rate of using passive voice for purpose in AELMTIs and V-ELMTIs is quite modest, accounting for
11.4% and 18.6% respectively. As observed and analyzed
from the data, the majority of cases of passive voice with
purpose are used to point out the aims or purposes to
conduct the theses which are considered as an essential
requirement for any author. For example:
(3) This study was aimed at developing and then
observing the use of a computerized simulation as a
language teaching tool which is designed to help learners
to maintain motivation through their language study
through involving them in meaningful interactions, thus
encouraging learners to continue with their language
studies. [A-1]
(4) The study is expected to investigate and describe
syntactic features, lexical features and cohesive devices
used in this type of discourse. [V-7]
Meanwhile, in some cases, in order to write the

introduction, authors tend to use the passive voice without
purpose to emphasize the objects or certain things
mentioned. That is also the reason for this kind of passive
voice to be used very frequently in both ELMTIs, reaching
88.6% and 81.4% respectively. For example:
(5) Action Research is also different to empirical research
which tends to be done by a researcher on “subjects” who
have little to do with the research process. [A-7]
(6) Issues of personal, social, and cultural identity were
challenged every day. [A-6]
(7) This absence of the mentioned above factors in
identifying and recognizing the information organizing
devices and the relationships between portion of pieces of
information will be compensated by resorting the linguistic
materials. [V-10]
(8) This thesis is predicted to help learners and users of
English understand and use tautologies properly. [V-13]
To sum up, in the current study, the passive voice is
used predominantly to focus on the object rather than the
goal or the performer of the action, which is a technique
used quite regularly in academic writing.
4.1.2. Sentence Types
According to Thorne [12], sentence type includes four
categories; simple sentences (consisting of one
independent clause), complex sentences (containing one
independent clause and one or more dependent clauses),
compound sentences (containing two or more independent
clauses joined together by a coordinator, conjunctive
adverb or semicolon) and compound-complex sentences (a

ISSN 1859-1531 - THE UNIVERSITY OF DANANG, JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, NO. 6(103).2016

combination of two or more independent clauses and one
or more dependent clauses).
Table 2. Distribution of Sentence Types in A-ELMTIs

Sentence Types
Simple
Complex
Compound
Compound-Complex
Total

Sentences
160
285
69
77
591

%
27.1
48.2
11.7
13.0
100

Sentences
%

299
45.2
228
34.5
72
10.9
62
9.4
661
100
In contrast, in V-ELMTIs, compound and compoundcomplex sentences appear with modest percentages
(i.e. 10.9% and 9.4% respectively),and simple sentences
are the most preferred in V-ELMTIs, making up the highest
percentage of 45.2% with complex sentences still
accounting for a comparatively large proportion of 34.5%.
4.2. Lexical Choice
Alo [1] defines lexis as “…the level of linguistic analysis
and description concerned with the way in which the
vocabulary of a language is organized”. In linguistics, Yeibo
[13] describes lexis as the storage of language in our mental
lexicon as prefabricated patterns that can be recalled and
sorted into meaningful speech and writing. Thus, lexis, as a
concept, has a distinct identity from other traditional levels
of linguistic study or interpretation, as it refers specifically
to the word-stock of a language from which writers and
speakers make choices for self-expression according to their
purpose or intended meaning.For the purpose of this study,
the following linguistic indicators defined by Swales and
Feak [11] are used in the analysis: contrastive terms
(i.e. however; yet; while/ meanwhile; but; although;

nevertheless), quantifiers and quasi-negatives (i.e. limited;
few; little) and negatives (none of; not been; no).
4.2.1. Contrastive terms
A concordance search is conducted and examined to
determine the role of contrastive terms in the establishment
of opposite statements, as listed in the table below.
Sentence Types
Simple
Complex
Compound
Compound-Complex
Total

Table 4. Contrastive Termsused in A-ELMTIs and V-ELMTIs

But

V-ELMTIs

Occurrence

%

Occurrence

%

28

33.7

35

50

23

27.7

16

22.8

6

7.2

7

10

24

28.9

8

11.4

Yet

2

2.4

2

2.9

Nevertheless

0

0

2

2.9

83

100

70

100

Total

Table 3. Distribution of Sentence Types in V-ELMTIs

A-ELMTIs

Although
While/ meanwhile

The results show that compound-complex sentences
appear to be used rather modestly in A-ELMTIs,
(i.e. 11.7% and 13.0% respectively),and simple and complex
sentences are frequently used. It is quite surprising, however,
that complex sentences are the most preferred in A-ELMTIs
than simple ones, and that they account for the highest
percentage of 48.2% while simple sentences make up a
markedly smaller percentage of 27.1%.

Contrastive
Terms

However

103

A significantly high usage of “but” is found in both
A-ELMTIs and V-ELMTIs, making up 33.7% and 50%
respectively. “But” usually signals two types of contrast:
(i) “denial-of-expectation” (what is expected after a
reading of the first conjunct turns out not to be true from a
reading of the second); and (ii) the “marker of semantic
contrast” (Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman, [3]).
“However” is another contrastive term used frequently in

both ELMTIs with 23 instances (27.7%) in A-ELMTIs and
16 cases (22.8%) in V-ELMTIs, but this word alone does
not guarantee a clear indication of the gap between issues.
With nearly the same number of examples in A-ELMTIs
and V-ELMTIs (6 cases and 7 cases respectively),
“although” seems to be a popular choice after “but,
however, while” for the expression of knowledge when the
authors want to hedge the weaknesses identified in the
already used research and point out what need to be
studied. There is insufficient space to provide examples of
all of the sentences types, but two of the more notable
expressions are “yet” and “nevertheless”. There are only
two cases each for A-ELMTIs and V-ELMTIs for “yet”,
and an example of each is given below.
(9) It is interesting that people use incomplete sentences in
conversations and even in written texts, yet they are still
successful in communication; and that a set of separate
sentences put together can make sense while correct sentences
connected by lots of cohesive devices cannot. [V-11]
(10) Language loss research may be conducted in a
variety of way. It may be studied in its sociocultural,
political, pedagogical or psycholinguistic context; yet all
aspects will deal with the competence-performance
dichotomy as expressed in Chomsky’s model… [A-15]
Two clear-cut cases of the use of “nevertheless” are
found in V-ELMTIs while no cases are found in
A-ELMTIs to express opposing ideas as in the following
examples.
(11) Nevertheless, the study of culture, especially crossculture, is not recognized well enough in Vietnam. [V-6]
(12) Especially, all risks of medicine are enumerated in

advertisements so as to help people avoid unexpected
reactions and allergies. Nevertheless, it is sometimes
difficult to express medical terms in simple ways without
changing their meanings. [V-9]
The reason for the lack of use of this expression in the
Australian theses is not clear, but it could simply be a result
of the sample size in the current study.
4.2.2. Quantifiers and quasi-negatives
According to Swales and Feak [11, p.258], the “most
common way to indicate a gap is to use a ‘quasi-negative’
subject”. Quantifiers, such as the following, could be


104

Tran Thi Ngoc Phuong

helpful in pointing out the shortcomings of the previous
research and thus preparing ground to accommodate the
current work. “Few” and “little”, although not
morphologically negative, are negative in meaning and in
syntactic behavior. There is a different trend in using
quantifiers and quasi-negatives in A-ELMTIs and VELMTIs, as shown in the table below:
Table 5. Quantifiers and quasi-negatives used in A-ELMTIs
and V-ELMTIs
Quantifiers
and quasinegatives

A-ELMTIs

V-ELMTIs

Occurrence

%

Occurrence

%

Limited

4

26.7

5

41.7

Few

8

53.3

0

0

Little

3

20

7

58.3

Total

15

100

12

100

In particular, while “few” with a 53.3% occurrence
seems to be at the top in A-ELMTIs, “Little” which is
found with a 58.3% occurrence seems to be at the top in
V-ELMTIs, no cases of “little” are found in the AELMTIs. Using “limited” is one way to show that other
investigators’ work or the scope of the thesis has been
limited in certain ways or to certain areas, and thus it is
intended to be encompassed by the present research. The
word “limited” appear four times in A-ELMTIs and five
times in V-ELMTIs. Some examples of usage from the
sample are given below:

(13) Of the relatively few studies that have specifically
addressed the role of written autobiographical narrative,
Pavlenko’s (1998; also Pavlenko&Lantolf, 2000) research
is most relevant to mine. [A-11]
(14) Many studies regarding the speech act of request,
giving and receiving compliments, promising or
addressing terms and so on have been carried out in
Vietnam and in other interlanguage of English learners of
different language backgrounds, but little attention is paid
to the speech act of complaining. [V-4]
(15) However, research on the topic of language
chunks is limited, particularly compared with studies in
syntax, phonology, discourse and other aspects of second
language acquisition (SLA). [A-14]
The role of limiting the scope of the respective areas
being described is very clear from the above examples. It
can be contrasted with the following section.
4.2.3. Negatives
The third category of the linguistic indicators studied in
this data analysis is negatives. As Celce-Murcia and
Larsen-Freeman [3, p.196] explain,“The chief use of
negatives is directed at a proposition already in the
discourse” and they are used more to respond than to
initiate. They further elaborate that one might assume that
the negative would receive prominent stress whereas it is
reduced to mitigate the disagreement, presumably in the
interest of maintaining social harmony. Negatives are
generally known to be used for pinpointing something
which is either faulty or has not been paid sufficient
attention to. One would then assume the use of negatives

as a natural choice to pave the way for one’s own work.
Contrary to this speculation, the tendency of the usage of
negatives is lower here when compared to that of
conjunctions and quantifiers/quasi-negatives, as shown in
the following table.
Table 6. Negatives used in A-ELMTIs and V-ELMTIs
Negatives

A-ELMTIs
Occurrence

V-ELMTIs
%

Occurrence

%

None

0

0

0

0

Not been

2

100

3

100

No

0

0

0

0

2

100

3

100

Total

“None” and “no” do not appear in any of the thesis

introductions, while “not been” occurs twice in A-ELMTIs
and three times in V-ELMTIs. For example:
(16) There have not been a great number of
computerised simulations documented to date, but the
reactions of learners to the ones that have been utilised
have been very positive so far. [A-1]
(17) In other words, complaining in an area that has
not been researched much. [V-4]
It might be thought that the use of “none” and “no” are
too definitive, indicating that there are absolutely no
examples of research that have been conducted before. In
both of the examples above, “not been” has been softened
through the use of “a great number” and “much”
respectively, suggesting that there are studies that have
been carried out before, although these may not necessarily
be described in the introduction.
5. Conclusion
This study describes an analysis of the syntactic and
lexical features of master’s thesis introductions written in
English in Australia and Vietnam to identify if differences
exist in ELMTIs written in these two different
environments. With regard to syntactic features, it is
evident that the largest differences are in the usage of
simple and compound sentences. Simple sentences are
used with far greater frequency in V-ELMTIs than in AELTMIs, whereas there is more use of complex sentences
in A-ELTMIs. With regard to lexical choice, both ELMTIs
in Australia and Vietnam use a specific number of
“contrast terms”, “quantifiers and quasi-negatives” as well
as “negatives” to express opposite statements among
related issues. In particular, A-ELMTIs use a higher

proportion of “contrast terms” and “quantifiers and quasinegatives” than those in V-ELTMIs, namely “contrast
terms” and “negatives”, which are used at a very low rate
in both.
Thesis writing is a specialized form of writing requiring
knowledge of not only vocabulary and syntax but also of
discourse features. While similar findings appear in other
types of documents [9], it should be pointed out that the
purpose is not to distinguish ELMTIs from other genres, but
rather to shed light on thesis introductions written in English
in different environments.Through investigating the
discourse features of A-ELMTIs and V-ELMTIs, learners of


ISSN 1859-1531 - THE UNIVERSITY OF DANANG, JOURNAL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, NO. 6(103).2016

English who intend to pursue a master’s degree in English
linguistics can gain a better understanding of how to write
their theses and of the potential variations that might exist. It
is hoped the research can contribute to our knowledge of
typical discourse features in writing of this kind.
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(The Board of Editors received the paper on 05/10/2015, its review was completed on 20/01/2016)