engleski

In a Nutshell: an Analysis of Thesis Abstracts of Croatian University Students in L2 English

Abstracts are prerequisites for journal publications and conferences, as well as grant applications, which makes writing an efficient abstract a crucial and yet challenging task. This task is particularly demanding for university students who may need to write their thesis abstracts in L2 English. In order to gain insight into students’ abstract writing skills in L2 English at the academic level, the present study gives an analysis of a corpus of 100 thesis abstracts written by Croatian undergraduate and graduate students of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Split. We have conducted an analysis of rhetorical moves in the abstracts and determined the types and frequency of the students’ errors. The results showed that the abstracts frequently lacked the basic information expected in a research abstract, such as a clear explanation of the approach or motivation for the study. Error-wise, the students struggled most with articles and prepositions. Lexical errors, e.g. the mis- selection of words (collocations), were also common, as were problems with punctuation. The identification of these weaknesses in the students’ abstract writing skills is essential for the development of teaching guidelines to be used for their prevention and elimination.

abstracts ; EAP writing ; rhetorical moves ; writing errors

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