Revealing argumentative patterns underlying the genre-specific moves in research article introductions

Abstract

This study investigates argumentative patterns in research article introductions (RAIs) by integrating genre analysis with argumentation theories. Although Swales’ Create-a-Research-Space (CaRS) model has received sustained attention in genre-analytic research, particularly for its pedagogical value, its inherently argumentative dimension remains underexplored. Addressing this gap, the study reconceptualizes CaRS rhetorical moves as argumentative activity types and examines how argumentative patterns are mobilized in published peer-reviewed RAIs. Drawing on Pragma-Dialectics and the Argumentum Model of Topics (AMT), forty RAIs from Scopus-indexed journals in applied linguistics were analyzed using a three-tier framework: (1) identifying issues and standpoints in relation to communicative goals, (2) reconstructing argumentation structures, and (3) identifying underlying loci. The findings demonstrate how rhetorical organization and reasoning jointly establish research legitimacy, position studies within existing literature, and substantiate their scholarly contribution. The study also proposes an integrative framework bridging macro-level genre analysis and micro-level argumentation analysis, offering empirically grounded guidance for academic writers.