Corpus-based comparative study of English and Chinese thesis titles in linguistics and literature in mainland China

Crafting titles is a vital aspect of academic writing. An academic text’s title should be self-explanatory and identify the scope, topic, and nature of the study. The structure and information of titles in different academic genres vary, influenced by social, cultural, cognitive, linguistic, and disciplinary elements. Studying Titleology through a comparative approach between different languages is crucial as it reveals how cultural and linguistic factors shape academic norms, filling an unexplored area in understanding cross-linguistic variations. Theses, evaluated by designated examiners, encompass detailed and focused information about research by novice researchers, necessitating that their titles create a favorable initial impression on the supervisors and evaluators. This study aims to identify the similarities and differences in the form and content features of master thesis titles (MTTs), while also investigating the underlying factors of these variations, from both a cross-disciplinary and crosslinguistic perspective. In order to achieve the above goals, this research built a corpus of 2000 English and Chinese MTTs in Linguistics and Literature (collected from China National Knowledge Infrastructure) retrieved from both English major and Chinese major’s theses supplied by 39 prestigious universities in the mainland China context. Using a mixed-method of both quantitative and qualitative approaches, including frequency analysis and thematic coding with tools such as WordSmith 7.0, AntConc 4.2.4, and TagAnt 2.0.5, the study examined title length, syntactic structure, nonalphanumeric usage, lexical features, and information attributes of MTTs with an adapted comprehensive model. The study’s findings indicated that MTTs exhibited distinct variations in their form and content features when analyzed across different academic disciplines and languages. This suggests that the way thesis titles were formulated and what they conveyed might significantly differ based on the field of study and the linguistic context in which they were created. These variations could reflect the unique conventions, expectations, and communication practices within each academic discipline and linguistic context, highlighting the importance of considering both disciplinary and linguistic influences in the creation of thesis titles. To conclude, this study presents empirical research that addresses a previously unexplored area in the study of academic titles. It introduces a modified composite framework for academic titles, offering a tool for subsequent researchers in this field. It also aids novice researchers in enhancing the quality of their crafting MTTs, supports supervisors and examiners in assessing postgraduate theses, and provides valuable insights for researchers in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and Chinese for Specific Purposes (CSP) to design impactful thesis title guidelines.

Text 123872.pdf Download (1MB) Official URL or Download Paper: https://ethesis.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/18732

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