Semantic and Pragmatic Analysis of Adverbial Clauses of Reason in Applied Linguistics Research: The Case of Because and Since

As a lecturer in the subject of research methodology for Thai EFL learners, they face difficulties in explaining reasons in methodology sections and using the English language to explain reasons. To alleviate this problem, the current study investigates information packaging and factual clauses in reason adjuncts in applied linguistics research methodology. To investigate the factual clauses with the synonyms because and since, the data collection used a purposive sampling method. After checking the SCOPUS website, Journal of English for Specific Purposes and Journal of English for Academic Purposes have similarity at 82 percent. The data analysis used SPSS version 29 called Pearson Correlation to seek relationships between two variables. The results show that there is a statistically significant relationship between factual clauses and adverbial clauses of reasons in the textual analysis of applied linguistics research methodology. The p-value is reported at 0.032. This explains that the similarities of 82 percent in Q1 SCOPUS Journal of English for Specific Purposes and Journal of English for Academic Purposes could refer to their reliability and validity of scientific reasons in research methodology. Even though the connectors because and since are near-synonymous, this study found the newest sense of the connector since to explain its difference from the connector because. The use of the adverbial clauses of reason in the left edge is explained by the pragmatic discourse of givenness. It is suggested that further investigation could lead to the codification of the newest sense of the connector since into the dictionary.