Rhetorical Move Analysis in Humanities and Hard Science Students’ Undergraduate Thesis Abstracts

Abstract

Abstract is an important part of an undergraduate thesis that contains a summary of the entire data. A good abstract must be patterned well using a rhetorical move. This study aims to identify the rhetorical move used in abstracts by Humanities and Hard Science students in Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia. 30 abstracts in Bahasa Indonesia and their translation in English (a total of 60 abstracts) were taken from six disciplines i.e., English Language Education, Indonesian Language and Literature Education, Sundanese Language Education, International Program on Science Education, Chemistry Education, and Mathematics Education. Content Analysis was used as the instrument of analysing data. Hyland’s Five-Move Analysis model was also used as the guideline for the analysis. The result showed that Findings and Methodology were mostly used in the undergraduate thesis abstract. In conclusion, different disciplines affect the implementation of the rhetorical move in abstracts. The finding is important to describe the rhetorical move used by Humanities and Hard Science students in making abstracts. However, this study only reveals the rhetorical move used by six disciplines. Because of that, it is recommended for future researchers to analyse rhetorical move used by other disciplines; not only in making thesis abstracts but also dissertations abstracts.