Structure of Lexical Bundles in Introduction Section of Sociology Research Articles

The purpose of this study was to identify 4-word clusters in the introduction section of sociology research articles and then to categorize them based on their structures. To this end, a one-millionword corpus of research article introductions from various subfields of sociology was compiled. For identifying lexical bundles, a number of computer software programs such as ABBYY FineReader 11 professional edition, and Antconc 3.2.3 were used. The structural analysis of bundles revealed that the highest proportion of lexical bundles belonged to phrasal bundles and prepositional phrases. The result of this study is also in line with the finding of an earlier study carried out by Biber et al. (1999), who acknowledged the superiority of phrasal lexical bundles over clausal bundles in academic writing. The frequency-driven formulaic expressions found in sociology RAs can be of great help to novice writers so that they can follow a more native-like style of academic writing; as such, it should be integrated into EAP curricula.