It-Bundles in Applied Linguistics Literature Review Texts

A Corpus-Based Contrastive Analysis

Abstract

Lexical bundles have been recognized as valuable tools for the expression of evaluations, opinions, and attitudes in written discourse. As an important component of fluent linguistic production, previous studies have analysed the use of lexical bundles by writers in various academic fields and registers. Despite the great attention given to lexical bundles, their application in review genres remains relatively understudied. This paper aims to explore the use of it-bundles as a specific structural group of lexical bundles with interpersonal functions in literature review texts written by expert writers and student writers in the field of applied linguistics. A corpus-based contrastive analysis is conducted on two specialized corpora: Expert Literature Review Corpus (ELRC) and Malaysian Literature Review Corpus (MLRC). These corpora are assessed using Hewings and Hewings’ (2004) it-clause typology which categorizes it-bundles into four interpersonal roles: hedges, attitude markers, emphatics, and attribution. The results reveal that expert writers and student writers display similar preferences in the use of it-bundles in expressing evaluation through the high use of attitude markers. However, there are notable differences between the two groups of writers indicating distinct writing patterns between them. This study's findings can enhance writing instruction in applied linguistics by helping students effectively utilize it-bundles for expressing evaluations, opinions, and attitudes in their academic writing, including literature reviews. These findings also have broader implications for academic writing and underscore the need for further investigation.