Moves and Linguistic Analysis of Introductions of First-Year University Students’ Composition: The Case of Selected Students from the University of Cape Coast

Josephine Brew Daniels ORCID iD

Issue: Vol.4  No.5 May 2023  Article 7  pp.568-584
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20234537 |   Published online 12th May, 2023
© 2023 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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This study uses Swales’s Revised version of the create-a-research- space move analysis model and Wiredu’s concepts of structural types of sentences to identify the Moves and linguistic structures used by freshmen and women to realise communicative purposes in their introductory essays. The qualitative research design was used. A total of 150 end-of-semester examination scripts written in 2021 were purposively sampled from a pool of 5000 examination scripts at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. The selection of the scripts was put into three main groups: business, medicine and general. The purpose of the groupings was to aid in making a comparative analysis. Three key findings were made. First, it was found that freshmen and women use 3 Moves in developing their introductory essays. All three groups use 3 Moves in realising their communicative purposes. Few of the medical groups use 4 Moves whereas few of the business groups use 1 Move. The second major finding which showed interest in how the Moves are sequenced also indicates a 3-Move sequence in all three groups. This was followed by a two- Move sequence. The least Move sequence was a 4-Move sequence used by the medical group. The last key finding is in relation to the structural types of sentences. The study found that freshmen and women have kin interest in the use of complex sentences and simple sentences in their introductory essays regardless of the type of group. The study has both pedagogical and theoretical implications for course tutors and future research.

Keywords – Freshmen and women, Communicative Skills, Moves, Introductory essays, Structural Types of Sentences

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Dr. Josephine Brew Daniels is currently a lecturer in the Department of Communication Studies in the University of Cape Coast, which is currently ranked the twenty fourth University globally. She holds a doctoral degree in English Language. Her special areas of interest include academic writing, discourse analysis and English Language related courses. She has written a number of modules that are used for first degree program in one of the renown Colleges of Education in Ghana. She has special interest in teaching English Language methods and has trained a number of teachers to teach English in Ghana.

Brew Daniels, J. “Moves and Linguistic Analysis of Introductions of First-Year University Students’ Composition: The Case of Selected Students from the University of Cape Coast.” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 4, no.5 (2023): 568-584.  https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2023457

© 2023 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Publishers. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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