A LONGITUDINAL SFL-BASED INVESTIGATION INTO TEXTUAL FUNCTIONS OF NOMINALIZING METAPHORS IN CHINESE POSTGRADUATES’ ACADEMIC WRITING

Abstract

While the textual functions of nominalizing metaphors have been extensively discussed in theoretical literature, empirical research in this area remains limited. Existing studies often cross-sectionally compared texts authored by students at different proficiency levels, which may inadvertently reinforce and perpetuate linear, Western-centric ideologies of language development. Longitudinal studies are comparatively rare and typically involve either qualitative analyses or a small number of participants. To address these concerns, this study examines how a cohort of 50 Chinese postgraduate students develop their use of nominalizing metaphors serving textual functions in the literature review chapters of their MA dissertations and PhD theses. The findings indicate that these students consistently used nominalizing metaphors least frequently for building cohesion through anaphoric reconstruals. However, they consistently demonstrated the highest tendency to employ nominalizing metaphors to foreground clause meanings as the focus of new information. Over time, they also placed a significantly stronger emphasis on thematizing “process > thing” metaphors as a point of departure for further argumentation, while their use of thematized “quality > thing” metaphors remained stable. The findings above suggest both shift and stability in relation to the students’ use of nominalizing metaphors with textual functions. The study concludes by discussing the pedagogical implications of the above observations within the Chinese academic context.