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Türkçe Anadil Konuşurlarının İngilizce Lisansüstü Teşekkür Metinlerinde Sıfat Kullanımına İlişkin Disiplin ve Derece Düzeyi Farklılıkları

Year 2026, Volume: 10 Issue: 1, 48 - 63, 31.01.2026

Fulya Eslek Onur

https://doi.org/10.51726/jlr.1809829

Abstract

Bu çalışma, lisansüstü yazarların İngilizce yazılan teşekkür yazılarında sıfatları nasıl kullandıklarını, bunların sıklığına, sözdizimsel özelliklerine ve akademik dereceler ile disiplinler arası dağılımlarına odaklanarak incelemektedir. ACK-CO başlıklı derlem, anadili Türkçe olan lisansüstü yazarlar tarafından Beşeri ve Sosyal Bilimler ile Fen ve Doğa Bilimleri olmak üzere iki alanda ve iki derece düzeyinde (yüksek lisans ve doktora) yazılmış 256 teşekkür yazısından oluşmaktadır. Tüm metinler Yükseköğretim Kurulu (YÖK) Ulusal Tez Merkezi'nden derlenmiş ve R ve Sketch Engine kullanılarak analiz edilmiştir. Betimsel analiz, doktora teşekkür yazılarının daha uzun olduğunu ve yüksek lisans tezlerindeki teşekkür yazılarına göre daha fazla sıfat içerdiğini göstermiştir. Ancak, derece düzeyleri arasında sıfat kullanım sıklığını karşılaştıran ki-kare testleri istatistiksel olarak anlamlılığa ulaşmamıştır. Bununla birlikte, sonuçlar doktora teşekkür yazılarında daha fazla sıfat kullanımına doğru az bir eğilim olduğunu göstermiştir. Buna karşılık, disiplinler arası alanların karşılaştırılmasında önemli bir fark ortaya konmuş ve Beşeri ve Sosyal Bilimler alanındaki teşekkür yazılarının genel olarak Fen ve Doğa Bilimleri'ndekilerden daha fazla sıfat içerdiği bulunmuştur. Sıfatların metinlerde nasıl işlev gördüğüne dair daha fazla bilgi edinmek için yapılan sözdizimsel analiz, en yaygın sıfatlar arasında özel, değerli ve harika gibi sıfatların niteleyici sıfatlar olarak isimden önce kullanıldığını ortaya koymuştur. Bu sonuçlar, sıklık örüntüleriyle birlikte, disiplinler arası alanın sıfat kullanımını lisansüstü düzeyinden daha güçlü bir şekilde etkileme eğiliminde olduğunu göstermektedir. Beşeri ve Sosyal Bilimler alanındaki yazarlar, minnettarlık ve takdiri ifade eden sıfatları kullanmaya daha meyilli görünmektedir. Çalışma, lisansüstü teşekkür yazılarında sıfat kullanımının lisansüstü düzeyler ve disiplinler arası alanlar arasında değişebileceğini öne sürerek akademik kesit çeşitliliği üzerine yapılan derlem tabanlı araştırmalara katkıda bulunmaktadır.

Keywords

teşekkür metinleri sıfat kullanımı alan dili akademik söylem lisansüstü akademik yazı

References

  • Altakhaineh, A. R. M., Younes, A. S., & Allawama, A. (2024). A corpus- driven study of gratitude in English acknowledgements by Arabic-speaking MA students: constructing L2 academic writer identity. Cogent Arts & Humanities, 11(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2024.2346361
  • Atasever Belli, S. (2019). Linguistic patterns in PhD acknowledgements written in Turkish and English. The Asian ESP Journal, 5(1.1), 141–167.
  • Bao, K. & Liu, M. (2024). A contrastive study of lexical bundles expressing gratitude in dissertation acknowledgements produced by Chinese and American PhD students of linguistics. Sage Open, 14(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440241239164
  • Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., & Finegan, E. (1999). Grammar of spoken and written English. Pearson Education Limited.
  • Biber, D. (2006). University language: A corpus-based study on spoken and written registers. John Benjamin Publishing Company.
  • Biber, D. (2012). Register and discourse analysis. In J. P. Gee & M. Handford (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of discourse analysis (pp. 191–208). Routledge.
  • Biber, D. & Gray, B. (2016). Grammatical complexity in academic English. Cambridge University Press.
  • Biber, D. & Conrad, S. (2019). Register, genre, and style (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  • Chan, T. H. T. (2015). A corpus-based study of the expression of stance in dissertation acknowledgements. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 20(4), 176–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2015.09.005
  • Cheng, S. W. (2012). A contrastive study of master thesis acknowledgements by Taiwanese and North American students. Open Journal of Modern Linguistics, 2(1), 8–17. doi: 10.4236/ojml.2012.21002
  • CoHE. (2025). Council of Higher Education Theses Centre. (https://tez.yok.gov.tr/UlusalTezMerkezi/, accessed 1–15 April 2025.)
  • Fang, C. A. & Cao, J. (2015). Text genres and registers: The computation of linguistic features. [eBook edition]. Springer. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/thulbjena/detail.action?docID=1966074
  • Hunter, K. H. & Devine, K. (2016). Doctoral students’ emotional exhaustion and intentions to leave academia. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 11, 35–61. https://doi.org/10.28945/3396
  • Hyland, K. (2003). Dissertation acknowledgements: The anatomy of a Cinderella genre. Written Communication, 20(3), 242–268. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088303257276
  • Hyland, K. (2004). Graduates’ gratitude: the generic structure of dissertation acknowledgements. English for Specific Purposes, 23(3), 303–324. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0889-4906(03)00051-6
  • Hyland, K. & Tse, P. (2004). Acknowledgements in graduate dissertations. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 14(2), 259–275. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1473-4192.2004.00062.x
  • Hyland, K. (2005). Metadiscourse: Exploring interaction in writing. Continuum.
  • Kilgarriff, A. V. B., Bušta, J., Jakubíček, M., Kovář, V., Michelfeit, J., Rychlý, P., & Suchomel, V. (2014). The Sketch Engine: ten years on. Lexicography, 1, 7–36.
  • Kubanyiova, M. (2012). Teacher development in action: Understanding language teachers’ conceptual change. Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Kuhi, D. & Rezaei, S. (2014). An analysis of generic features of acknowledgements in academic writing: Native speakers of English vs. non-native (Iranian). International Journal of English Linguistics, 4(1), 19–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v4n1p19
  • Leech, G. (1989). An A-Z of English grammar & usage. Nelson.
  • Loan, N. T. T. (2017). Generic structures and linguistic features of TESOL master’s thesis acknowledgements written by Vietnamese postgraduates. 3L: The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 23(2), 27–40. http://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2017-2302-03
  • Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G., & Svartvik, J. (1985). A comprehensive grammar of the English language. Longman.
  • R Core Team. (2021). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Version 12.1.0. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. (https://www.r-project.org, accessed 18 October 2024.)
  • Swales, J. M. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge University Press.
  • Yang, W. (2012). A genre analysis of PhD dissertation acknowledgements across disciplinary variations. LSP Journal, 3(2), 51–70.
  • Zare-ee, A. & Hejazi, S. Y. (2019). Acknowledgement structure in Persian and English theses and dissertations: A contrastive genre analysis. Arab World English Journal, 10(1), 347–360. https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol10no1.29

Year 2026, Volume: 10 Issue: 1, 48 - 63, 31.01.2026

Fulya Eslek Onur

https://doi.org/10.51726/jlr.1809829

Abstract

References

  • Altakhaineh, A. R. M., Younes, A. S., & Allawama, A. (2024). A corpus- driven study of gratitude in English acknowledgements by Arabic-speaking MA students: constructing L2 academic writer identity. Cogent Arts & Humanities, 11(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2024.2346361
  • Atasever Belli, S. (2019). Linguistic patterns in PhD acknowledgements written in Turkish and English. The Asian ESP Journal, 5(1.1), 141–167.
  • Bao, K. & Liu, M. (2024). A contrastive study of lexical bundles expressing gratitude in dissertation acknowledgements produced by Chinese and American PhD students of linguistics. Sage Open, 14(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440241239164
  • Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., & Finegan, E. (1999). Grammar of spoken and written English. Pearson Education Limited.
  • Biber, D. (2006). University language: A corpus-based study on spoken and written registers. John Benjamin Publishing Company.
  • Biber, D. (2012). Register and discourse analysis. In J. P. Gee & M. Handford (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of discourse analysis (pp. 191–208). Routledge.
  • Biber, D. & Gray, B. (2016). Grammatical complexity in academic English. Cambridge University Press.
  • Biber, D. & Conrad, S. (2019). Register, genre, and style (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  • Chan, T. H. T. (2015). A corpus-based study of the expression of stance in dissertation acknowledgements. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 20(4), 176–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2015.09.005
  • Cheng, S. W. (2012). A contrastive study of master thesis acknowledgements by Taiwanese and North American students. Open Journal of Modern Linguistics, 2(1), 8–17. doi: 10.4236/ojml.2012.21002
  • CoHE. (2025). Council of Higher Education Theses Centre. (https://tez.yok.gov.tr/UlusalTezMerkezi/, accessed 1–15 April 2025.)
  • Fang, C. A. & Cao, J. (2015). Text genres and registers: The computation of linguistic features. [eBook edition]. Springer. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/thulbjena/detail.action?docID=1966074
  • Hunter, K. H. & Devine, K. (2016). Doctoral students’ emotional exhaustion and intentions to leave academia. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 11, 35–61. https://doi.org/10.28945/3396
  • Hyland, K. (2003). Dissertation acknowledgements: The anatomy of a Cinderella genre. Written Communication, 20(3), 242–268. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088303257276
  • Hyland, K. (2004). Graduates’ gratitude: the generic structure of dissertation acknowledgements. English for Specific Purposes, 23(3), 303–324. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0889-4906(03)00051-6
  • Hyland, K. & Tse, P. (2004). Acknowledgements in graduate dissertations. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 14(2), 259–275. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1473-4192.2004.00062.x
  • Hyland, K. (2005). Metadiscourse: Exploring interaction in writing. Continuum.
  • Kilgarriff, A. V. B., Bušta, J., Jakubíček, M., Kovář, V., Michelfeit, J., Rychlý, P., & Suchomel, V. (2014). The Sketch Engine: ten years on. Lexicography, 1, 7–36.
  • Kubanyiova, M. (2012). Teacher development in action: Understanding language teachers’ conceptual change. Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Kuhi, D. & Rezaei, S. (2014). An analysis of generic features of acknowledgements in academic writing: Native speakers of English vs. non-native (Iranian). International Journal of English Linguistics, 4(1), 19–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v4n1p19
  • Leech, G. (1989). An A-Z of English grammar & usage. Nelson.
  • Loan, N. T. T. (2017). Generic structures and linguistic features of TESOL master’s thesis acknowledgements written by Vietnamese postgraduates. 3L: The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 23(2), 27–40. http://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2017-2302-03
  • Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G., & Svartvik, J. (1985). A comprehensive grammar of the English language. Longman.
  • R Core Team. (2021). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Version 12.1.0. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. (https://www.r-project.org, accessed 18 October 2024.)
  • Swales, J. M. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge University Press.
  • Yang, W. (2012). A genre analysis of PhD dissertation acknowledgements across disciplinary variations. LSP Journal, 3(2), 51–70.
  • Zare-ee, A. & Hejazi, S. Y. (2019). Acknowledgement structure in Persian and English theses and dissertations: A contrastive genre analysis. Arab World English Journal, 10(1), 347–360. https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol10no1.29

Year 2026, Volume: 10 Issue: 1, 48 - 63, 31.01.2026

Fulya Eslek Onur

https://doi.org/10.51726/jlr.1809829

Abstract

References

  • Altakhaineh, A. R. M., Younes, A. S., & Allawama, A. (2024). A corpus- driven study of gratitude in English acknowledgements by Arabic-speaking MA students: constructing L2 academic writer identity. Cogent Arts & Humanities, 11(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2024.2346361
  • Atasever Belli, S. (2019). Linguistic patterns in PhD acknowledgements written in Turkish and English. The Asian ESP Journal, 5(1.1), 141–167.
  • Bao, K. & Liu, M. (2024). A contrastive study of lexical bundles expressing gratitude in dissertation acknowledgements produced by Chinese and American PhD students of linguistics. Sage Open, 14(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440241239164
  • Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., & Finegan, E. (1999). Grammar of spoken and written English. Pearson Education Limited.
  • Biber, D. (2006). University language: A corpus-based study on spoken and written registers. John Benjamin Publishing Company.
  • Biber, D. (2012). Register and discourse analysis. In J. P. Gee & M. Handford (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of discourse analysis (pp. 191–208). Routledge.
  • Biber, D. & Gray, B. (2016). Grammatical complexity in academic English. Cambridge University Press.
  • Biber, D. & Conrad, S. (2019). Register, genre, and style (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  • Chan, T. H. T. (2015). A corpus-based study of the expression of stance in dissertation acknowledgements. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 20(4), 176–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2015.09.005
  • Cheng, S. W. (2012). A contrastive study of master thesis acknowledgements by Taiwanese and North American students. Open Journal of Modern Linguistics, 2(1), 8–17. doi: 10.4236/ojml.2012.21002
  • CoHE. (2025). Council of Higher Education Theses Centre. (https://tez.yok.gov.tr/UlusalTezMerkezi/, accessed 1–15 April 2025.)
  • Fang, C. A. & Cao, J. (2015). Text genres and registers: The computation of linguistic features. [eBook edition]. Springer. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/thulbjena/detail.action?docID=1966074
  • Hunter, K. H. & Devine, K. (2016). Doctoral students’ emotional exhaustion and intentions to leave academia. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 11, 35–61. https://doi.org/10.28945/3396
  • Hyland, K. (2003). Dissertation acknowledgements: The anatomy of a Cinderella genre. Written Communication, 20(3), 242–268. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088303257276
  • Hyland, K. (2004). Graduates’ gratitude: the generic structure of dissertation acknowledgements. English for Specific Purposes, 23(3), 303–324. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0889-4906(03)00051-6
  • Hyland, K. & Tse, P. (2004). Acknowledgements in graduate dissertations. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 14(2), 259–275. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1473-4192.2004.00062.x
  • Hyland, K. (2005). Metadiscourse: Exploring interaction in writing. Continuum.
  • Kilgarriff, A. V. B., Bušta, J., Jakubíček, M., Kovář, V., Michelfeit, J., Rychlý, P., & Suchomel, V. (2014). The Sketch Engine: ten years on. Lexicography, 1, 7–36.
  • Kubanyiova, M. (2012). Teacher development in action: Understanding language teachers’ conceptual change. Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Kuhi, D. & Rezaei, S. (2014). An analysis of generic features of acknowledgements in academic writing: Native speakers of English vs. non-native (Iranian). International Journal of English Linguistics, 4(1), 19–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v4n1p19
  • Leech, G. (1989). An A-Z of English grammar & usage. Nelson.
  • Loan, N. T. T. (2017). Generic structures and linguistic features of TESOL master’s thesis acknowledgements written by Vietnamese postgraduates. 3L: The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 23(2), 27–40. http://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2017-2302-03
  • Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G., & Svartvik, J. (1985). A comprehensive grammar of the English language. Longman.
  • R Core Team. (2021). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Version 12.1.0. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. (https://www.r-project.org, accessed 18 October 2024.)
  • Swales, J. M. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge University Press.
  • Yang, W. (2012). A genre analysis of PhD dissertation acknowledgements across disciplinary variations. LSP Journal, 3(2), 51–70.
  • Zare-ee, A. & Hejazi, S. Y. (2019). Acknowledgement structure in Persian and English theses and dissertations: A contrastive genre analysis. Arab World English Journal, 10(1), 347–360. https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol10no1.29

Year 2026, Volume: 10 Issue: 1, 48 - 63, 31.01.2026

Fulya Eslek Onur

https://doi.org/10.51726/jlr.1809829

Abstract

References

  • Altakhaineh, A. R. M., Younes, A. S., & Allawama, A. (2024). A corpus- driven study of gratitude in English acknowledgements by Arabic-speaking MA students: constructing L2 academic writer identity. Cogent Arts & Humanities, 11(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2024.2346361
  • Atasever Belli, S. (2019). Linguistic patterns in PhD acknowledgements written in Turkish and English. The Asian ESP Journal, 5(1.1), 141–167.
  • Bao, K. & Liu, M. (2024). A contrastive study of lexical bundles expressing gratitude in dissertation acknowledgements produced by Chinese and American PhD students of linguistics. Sage Open, 14(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440241239164
  • Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., & Finegan, E. (1999). Grammar of spoken and written English. Pearson Education Limited.
  • Biber, D. (2006). University language: A corpus-based study on spoken and written registers. John Benjamin Publishing Company.
  • Biber, D. (2012). Register and discourse analysis. In J. P. Gee & M. Handford (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of discourse analysis (pp. 191–208). Routledge.
  • Biber, D. & Gray, B. (2016). Grammatical complexity in academic English. Cambridge University Press.
  • Biber, D. & Conrad, S. (2019). Register, genre, and style (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  • Chan, T. H. T. (2015). A corpus-based study of the expression of stance in dissertation acknowledgements. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 20(4), 176–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2015.09.005
  • Cheng, S. W. (2012). A contrastive study of master thesis acknowledgements by Taiwanese and North American students. Open Journal of Modern Linguistics, 2(1), 8–17. doi: 10.4236/ojml.2012.21002
  • CoHE. (2025). Council of Higher Education Theses Centre. (https://tez.yok.gov.tr/UlusalTezMerkezi/, accessed 1–15 April 2025.)
  • Fang, C. A. & Cao, J. (2015). Text genres and registers: The computation of linguistic features. [eBook edition]. Springer. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/thulbjena/detail.action?docID=1966074
  • Hunter, K. H. & Devine, K. (2016). Doctoral students’ emotional exhaustion and intentions to leave academia. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 11, 35–61. https://doi.org/10.28945/3396
  • Hyland, K. (2003). Dissertation acknowledgements: The anatomy of a Cinderella genre. Written Communication, 20(3), 242–268. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088303257276
  • Hyland, K. (2004). Graduates’ gratitude: the generic structure of dissertation acknowledgements. English for Specific Purposes, 23(3), 303–324. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0889-4906(03)00051-6
  • Hyland, K. & Tse, P. (2004). Acknowledgements in graduate dissertations. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 14(2), 259–275. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1473-4192.2004.00062.x
  • Hyland, K. (2005). Metadiscourse: Exploring interaction in writing. Continuum.
  • Kilgarriff, A. V. B., Bušta, J., Jakubíček, M., Kovář, V., Michelfeit, J., Rychlý, P., & Suchomel, V. (2014). The Sketch Engine: ten years on. Lexicography, 1, 7–36.
  • Kubanyiova, M. (2012). Teacher development in action: Understanding language teachers’ conceptual change. Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Kuhi, D. & Rezaei, S. (2014). An analysis of generic features of acknowledgements in academic writing: Native speakers of English vs. non-native (Iranian). International Journal of English Linguistics, 4(1), 19–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v4n1p19
  • Leech, G. (1989). An A-Z of English grammar & usage. Nelson.
  • Loan, N. T. T. (2017). Generic structures and linguistic features of TESOL master’s thesis acknowledgements written by Vietnamese postgraduates. 3L: The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 23(2), 27–40. http://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2017-2302-03
  • Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G., & Svartvik, J. (1985). A comprehensive grammar of the English language. Longman.
  • R Core Team. (2021). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Version 12.1.0. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. (https://www.r-project.org, accessed 18 October 2024.)
  • Swales, J. M. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge University Press.
  • Yang, W. (2012). A genre analysis of PhD dissertation acknowledgements across disciplinary variations. LSP Journal, 3(2), 51–70.
  • Zare-ee, A. & Hejazi, S. Y. (2019). Acknowledgement structure in Persian and English theses and dissertations: A contrastive genre analysis. Arab World English Journal, 10(1), 347–360. https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol10no1.29

Variation across Disciplines and Degrees in the Use of Adjectives in Postgraduate Acknowledgements Written in English by Turkish L1 Writers

Year 2026, Volume: 10 Issue: 1, 48 - 63, 31.01.2026

Fulya Eslek Onur

https://doi.org/10.51726/jlr.1809829

Abstract

This study investigates how postgraduate writers use adjectives in acknowledgements written in English, focusing on their frequency, syntactic characteristics, and distribution across academic degrees and disciplinary domains. The corpus, titled ACK-CO, comprises 256 acknowledgements written by Turkish L1 postgraduate writers in two domains, Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), and at two degree levels (MA/MS and PhD). All texts were compiled from the Council of Higher Education (CoHE) National Thesis Centre and analysed using R and Sketch Engine. Descriptive analysis showed that acknowledgements in PhD dissertations were longer and contained a higher density of adjectives than those in MA/MS theses. However, chi-square tests comparing the frequency of adjective use across degree levels did not reach statistical significance. The results, nevertheless, suggested a slight tendency toward higher adjective use in the PhD acknowledgements. In contrast, comparison of disciplinary domains revealed a significant difference, with HSS acknowledgements containing more adjectives overall than those in STEM. To gain further insight into how adjectives function within texts, a syntactic analysis revealed a strong preference for an attributive position among the most common adjectives, such as special, valuable, and great. These results, together with the frequency patterns, indicate that disciplinary domain tends to influence adjective use more strongly than degree level. Writers in the soft sciences appear more inclined to use adjectives expressing gratitude and appreciation. The study contributes to corpus-based research on academic register variation by suggesting that adjective use may vary across degree levels and disciplinary domains in postgraduate acknowledgements.

Keywords

acknowledgements adjective use register academic discourse postgraduate writing

Ethical Statement

Ethical approval was not required for this study, as the data were collected from publicly accessible documents in the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) National Thesis Center (Ulusal Tez Merkezi) database.

References

  • Altakhaineh, A. R. M., Younes, A. S., & Allawama, A. (2024). A corpus- driven study of gratitude in English acknowledgements by Arabic-speaking MA students: constructing L2 academic writer identity. Cogent Arts & Humanities, 11(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2024.2346361
  • Atasever Belli, S. (2019). Linguistic patterns in PhD acknowledgements written in Turkish and English. The Asian ESP Journal, 5(1.1), 141–167.
  • Bao, K. & Liu, M. (2024). A contrastive study of lexical bundles expressing gratitude in dissertation acknowledgements produced by Chinese and American PhD students of linguistics. Sage Open, 14(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440241239164
  • Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., & Finegan, E. (1999). Grammar of spoken and written English. Pearson Education Limited.
  • Biber, D. (2006). University language: A corpus-based study on spoken and written registers. John Benjamin Publishing Company.
  • Biber, D. (2012). Register and discourse analysis. In J. P. Gee & M. Handford (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of discourse analysis (pp. 191–208). Routledge.
  • Biber, D. & Gray, B. (2016). Grammatical complexity in academic English. Cambridge University Press.
  • Biber, D. & Conrad, S. (2019). Register, genre, and style (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  • Chan, T. H. T. (2015). A corpus-based study of the expression of stance in dissertation acknowledgements. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 20(4), 176–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2015.09.005
  • Cheng, S. W. (2012). A contrastive study of master thesis acknowledgements by Taiwanese and North American students. Open Journal of Modern Linguistics, 2(1), 8–17. doi: 10.4236/ojml.2012.21002
  • CoHE. (2025). Council of Higher Education Theses Centre. (https://tez.yok.gov.tr/UlusalTezMerkezi/, accessed 1–15 April 2025.)
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There are 27 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Corpus Linguistics, Discourse and Pragmatics
Journal Section Research Article
Authors

Fulya Eslek Onur 0000-0003-1790-8560

Submission Date October 24, 2025
Acceptance Date January 27, 2026
Publication Date January 31, 2026
Published in Issue Year 2026 Volume: 10 Issue: 1

Cite

APA Eslek Onur, F. (2026). Variation across Disciplines and Degrees in the Use of Adjectives in Postgraduate Acknowledgements Written in English by Turkish L1 Writers. Journal of Language Research, 10(1), 48-63. https://doi.org/10.51726/jlr.1809829
AMA 1.Eslek Onur F. Variation across Disciplines and Degrees in the Use of Adjectives in Postgraduate Acknowledgements Written in English by Turkish L1 Writers. JLR. 2026;10(1):48-63. doi:10.51726/jlr.1809829
Chicago Eslek Onur, Fulya. 2026. “Variation across Disciplines and Degrees in the Use of Adjectives in Postgraduate Acknowledgements Written in English by Turkish L1 Writers”. Journal of Language Research 10 (1): 48-63. https://doi.org/10.51726/jlr.1809829.
EndNote Eslek Onur F (January 1, 2026) Variation across Disciplines and Degrees in the Use of Adjectives in Postgraduate Acknowledgements Written in English by Turkish L1 Writers. Journal of Language Research 10 1 48–63.
IEEE [1]F. Eslek Onur, “Variation across Disciplines and Degrees in the Use of Adjectives in Postgraduate Acknowledgements Written in English by Turkish L1 Writers”, JLR, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 48–63, Jan. 2026, doi: 10.51726/jlr.1809829.
ISNAD Eslek Onur, Fulya. “Variation across Disciplines and Degrees in the Use of Adjectives in Postgraduate Acknowledgements Written in English by Turkish L1 Writers”. Journal of Language Research 10/1 (January 1, 2026): 48-63. https://doi.org/10.51726/jlr.1809829.
JAMA 1.Eslek Onur F. Variation across Disciplines and Degrees in the Use of Adjectives in Postgraduate Acknowledgements Written in English by Turkish L1 Writers. JLR. 2026;10:48–63.
MLA Eslek Onur, Fulya. “Variation across Disciplines and Degrees in the Use of Adjectives in Postgraduate Acknowledgements Written in English by Turkish L1 Writers”. Journal of Language Research, vol. 10, no. 1, Jan. 2026, pp. 48-63, doi:10.51726/jlr.1809829.
Vancouver 1.Eslek Onur F. Variation across Disciplines and Degrees in the Use of Adjectives in Postgraduate Acknowledgements Written in English by Turkish L1 Writers. JLR [Internet]. 2026 Jan. 1;10(1):48-63. Available from: https://izlik.org/JA89XS79RM