This exploratory study investigated whether rhetorical moves and steps, as functional units of academic discourse, can be adequately accounted for by local grammars. Focusing on the rhetorical step indicating a gap , the study analysed 780 instances retrieved from a corpus of 500 research articles (RAs) across five social science disciplines. Adopting a local grammar approach, we proposed eight context-specific functional terminologies (e.g., Indicator, Topic, Background) to analyse how gap statements are semantically configured. The subsequent analyses identified 28 recurrent local grammar patterns of gap indication, that is, recurring sequences of functional elements that writers use to construct this rhetorical step, ranging from simple structures to complex multi-element configurations. The findings revealed that the vast majority of gap claims are elaborately qualified, most frequently by incorporating a Background element to contextualise the gap within existing scholarship. This study affirmed the feasibility of extending a local grammar approach to move-step analysis, functioning effectively at a mezzo level that bridges macro-level rhetorical structures and micro-level lexico-grammar. The implications for English for Academic Purposes research and pedagogy were also discussed. • This exploratory study pioneers local grammar for rhetorical move/step analysis. • 28 recurrent local grammar patterns were identified for indicating a gap. • Most gap claims are elaborated and qualified. • Local grammar bridges macro structural and micro lexico-grammatical analysis.
Zhang et al. (Mon,) studied this question.