Move analysis of discussion section of thesis to find common patterns in applied linguistics and chemistry

The purpose of this study was to find a common pattern of schematic move structure in theses discussion sections written by Iranian MA students in the fields of TEFL and MS students in the fields of chemistry using Hopkins and Dudley Evan s model. To this end 60 theses discussion sections were selected. Among which 30 were from different state universities in TEFL and 30 from Razi university of Kermansha in chemistry. The data collected from each field was analyzed and the moves were identified and compared. The Chi square tests were run to see whether the moves were significant or not. The results of the analysis indicated that despite low discrepancies in common patterns of the two fields, They tended to follow Hopkins and Dudley Evan s model. This demonstrated that all graduate students tried to orient themselves to structure of theses through reading and imitating MA theses. This may imply that in order to enhance students awareness in relation to discussion section, their awareness concerning common patterns be raised.