CHALLENGES IN ACADEMIC WRITING: REFLECTIONS ABOUT THE RHETORIC MOVEMENTS OF THE INTRODUCTION SECTION OF THE GENRE SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE

Abstract

Our work aims to present some reflections on the rhetorical movements present in the introduction of the scientific article genre of the Letters course. In the search to stimulate dialogue about strategies that help in the practice of academic writing, the following research question guided our view: can knowing the rhetorical movements present in the introduction of the scientific article help in the elaboration of this academic genre? The choice of introduction section is justified by the fact that this section can draw reader's the attention to the main questions that design the work. In view of these questions, our theoretical framework is supported, as regard to the socio-rhetorical tradition for academic genres analysis, in the studies of Swales (1990), Biasi-Rodrigues and Hemais (2005), Biasi-Rodrigues, Hemais and Araújo (2009), Motta-Roth and Hendges (2010). As to the scientific article, among others, we used the contributions of Silva, Costa, Silva, Souza e Gonçalves (2012). From the important and undeniable contributions of the works influenced by Swales' researches, through the second CARS model, we exemplify some rhetorical movements present in the introduction of the scientific article genre. In general lines, specifically for the writing of the introduction, we conclude that it is important to draw a rhetorical path that it attends, in general, to the movements of presenting the objective and contextualizing the research, showing a justification for the clipping of the article, anticipating the results, briefly, and provide a systematization of the work, among other possible rhetorical movements.