This paper reports tense choices and shifts in the description of results in Results sections of applied linguistics research articles (RAs). It is reported in Park (2007) that the present tense is preferred throughout RA abstracts with the rhetorical move of results or product (Hyland 2004: 67) highlighted. The present study extends its attention to the Results section of a full paper, focusing on the move of presenting and commenting on results. The analysis of the latest 20 Results sections shows that the present tense is also preferred in the Results section of a full paper, which is in significant contrast with the past tense convention in the description of results. The contextual investigation of tense shifts presents functional types of the present and past tenses. It is hoped that the consideration of tenses shifted from the present to past or vice versa, not independent tenses, will offer more pedagogically applicable tense use types.
1. Introduction
2. Rhetorical Moves and Tense Choices
3. Methods
4. Results and Discussion
5. Conclusion