This study revisits rhetorical variations in the introductions of experimental research articles between Chinese and Anglo-American materials scientists by utilizing QSR NVivo2. Rhetorical underdevelopment can be observed at the high generic-structure level of discoursal move in Chinese texts but not necessarily so at the subordinate generic-structure level of step. A couple of rhetorical steps like Claiming Centrality bear evident deviations from our traditional understanding of non-Anglophone scientific writing in that the disciplinary community of Chinese materials science has undergone drastic changes in its social context but at the same time embraces its own distinct community heterogeneity and knowledge gap in knowledge negotiation.
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