Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Volume 12. Number1  March 2021                                       Pp. 515-526
DOI:https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol12no1.33

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 A Comparative Study of Boosters between Genders in the Introduction Section 

Mazlin Mohamed Mokhtar
Faculty of Languages and Communication
Sultan Idris Education University, Perak, Malaysia
Correspondent Author: mazlin@fbk.upsi.edu.my 

Harwati Hashim
Faculty of Education
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia

Puteri Zarina Megat Khalid
Faculty of Languages and Communication
Sultan Idris Education University, Perak, Malaysia

Intan Safinas Mohd Ariff Albakri
Faculty of Languages and Communication
Sultan Idris Education University, Perak, Malaysia

Norfaizah Abdul Jobar
Faculty of Languages and Communication
Sultan Idris Education University, Perak, Malaysiau 

 

Recived: 7/31/2020                   Accepted: 3/8/2021                   Published: 3/28/2021

 

Abstract:
Although there are several studies conducted by linguistics researchers on the differences between the linguistic styles of female and male writers, there are not many studies conducted on the use of boosters in academic writing. Boosters are used to convince and emphasize statements made. This study analyzes the regularity of boosters used in the Introduction section of Ten Research Articles (RAs). The influence of gender differences in the use of specific boosters will also be looked at. A document analysis method was chosen as the 10 RAs were analyzed as the corpus in this study. The findings showed that male writers used more boosters than female writers. Even though the number of words for the female writers was more than the male writers, it did not affect the number of boosters used in the Introduction section of those articles. In conclusion, it can be deduced from the analysis that both the female and male writers used boosters to highlight their claims or their beliefs regardless of their gender, while the use of boosters was more evident among the male RAs as the male writers seemed to be more direct in illustrating and mentioning their claims.
Keywords:  belief, boosters, gender, solidarity

Cite as: Mokhtar, M. M.,  Hashim, H., Khalid, P.Z.M., Albakri, I.S. M. S., &  Jobar, N. A.  (2021).
A Comparative Study of Boosters between Genders in the Introduction Section. Arab World English Journal, 12 (1) 515-526.
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol12no1.33

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Received: 7/31/2020 
Accepted: 3/8/2021 
Published: 3/28/2021
https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol12no1.33

Dr. Mazlin M. Mokhtar is a Senior Lecturer at the Sultan Idris Education University. She is an experienced TESL lecturer who has taught previously in school and polytechnics.  Her research interests are Sociolinguistics, ESP, ESL and ICT in Education. She had also written a few books from Oxford Sdn. Bhd. and journals in UJER, Creative Education, TEFLIN, as well as part of the Editorial Board for AJELP, IJEISR and JPPKK Journals.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8231-2678

Dr. Harwati Hashim is Senior Lecturer at the Research Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching, Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). Her areas of concentration are ESL, Mobile-assisted Language Learning (MALL), technology acceptance as well as language pedagogy, and the use of technology in teaching English as a Second Language (ESL).   ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8817-427X

Dr. Puteri Zarina Megat Khalid is a senior lecturer currently attached to Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Malaysia.  Among her research interests are TESL, genre analysis, modality analysis, pragmatics, TVET, English for Specific Purposes (ESP), and Systemic Functional Linguistics.  She is also a member of the International Association of Applied Linguistics, Malaysian Institute of Applied Linguistics, International Systemic Functional Linguistics Association (ISFLA), Malaysian Society for Engineering & Technology (MySET), and Institute of Marine, Science and Technology (IMAREST). ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9296-8662

Associate Professor Dr. Intan Safinas Mohd Ariff Albakri is an Associate Professor at Sultan Idris Education University, Malaysia. Her areas of expertise are materials and methods in teaching the English Language.  She is currently leading a research on mentoring pre-service and beginning teachers and a member of research on Developing a Quality Teacher Education Framework under the Ministry of Education Malaysia. She is also the Editor-in-chief for the Asian Journal of English Language and Pedagogy. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5499-1709

Dr. Norfaizah Abdul Jobar is a Senior Lecturer in UPSI. She was a secondary school teacher for 15 years before joining the university. She is a Ph.D. graduate in Malay Language from UPSI. She was a subject coordinator and speaker for SPM Malay Language and she is still an instructor in Mualim District. She has also presented nationally as well as internationally and has also published a few research papers in her field of study.
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5888-5492