A Comparative Move Analysis of Methodology Sections of Pakistani Researchers Articles from Impact and Non-impact Factor Applied Linguistics Journals

Abstract

This study examines the rhetorical organization and corpus-based linguistic patterns of methodology sections in Pakistani research milieu. The researchers analyzed articles published in Impact Factor Journals (IFJ) and Non-Impact Factor Journals (NIFJ). The study aims to identify how methodology sections in the two journal categories differ in terms of move structure, methodological density, procedural elaboration, and linguistic realization. Using a comparative corpus-assisted genre analysis, the study applies Peacock’s move analysis framework to methodology sections and integrates AntConc-based corpus evidence through wordlist, keyword, cluster, collocation, and concordance analysis. The corpus was divided into two sub corpora: IFJ methodology sections and NIFJ methodology sections. Each methodology section was manually coded according to Peacock’s seven moves: Overview, Location, Research Aims/Questions/Hypotheses, Subjects/Materials, Procedure, Limitations/Delimitations, and Data Analysis. The corpus-assisted analysis was then used to support and validate the move-based findings. The results show that both IFJ and NIFJ methodology sections share a common rhetorical core, particularly through Subjects/Materials, Procedure, and Data Analysis moves. However, IFJ methodology sections are more methodologically dense, context-sensitive, and rhetorically elaborated. They include stronger attention to Location, sampling techniques, procedural clarity, validity, reliability, coding, and limitations. NIFJ methodology sections, by contrast, are more compact and systematically designed, often highlighting participants, sample, questionnaire, SPSS, frequency, and analysis with limited methodological justification. The study contributes to ESP, EAP, genre analysis, and academic writing pedagogy by showing how move analysis and corpus evidence can be integrated to examine publishable methodology writing.