The Generic Structure of Book Acknowledgments

Studies on the generic structure of thesis and dissertation acknowledgments have resulted in some influential models such as Hyland’s (2004) and Al-Ali’s (2010) models. Few studies, if any, have investigated the generic structure of acknowledgments in books. Therefore, the present study was an attempt to find out whether the acknowledgments of books follow an organizational pattern. To this end, 200 books (100 written by native and 100 by non-native speakers of English) which included acknowledgments section, from a mass of 1000 books, were considered. The data were analyzed with reference to Hyland’s (2004) scheme. The results obtained from the analysis of the acknowledgments written by both native and non-native writers of English revealed that the overall structure of the acknowledgments section of the books follows an organizational pattern which is a combination of two models: Hyland’s (2004) scheme (all moves and steps), Al-Ali’s (2010) model (Praising and Thanking God Step and Signing off Move) and two new moves: Copyright Move and Commenting Move. The findings suggest that a full appreciation of this organizational pattern can help writers to enjoy this unique space for thanking all those who have contributed to the completion of their work and academic identity formation.