Master's Thesis Defense Presentation Slides in Applied Linguistics: Move Analysis of the Introduction by Chinese Students

Thesis defense presentation slides (TDPS) are a significant and unique genre in the final ritual of master's students' learning journey. However, few studies have explored this genre, especially its rhetorical structure, so students have scant knowledge of it. This study investigates the moves and steps of this genre focusing on their Introduction section. A move analysis was conducted of 20 TDPS introductions produced by Chinese master's students in Applied Linguistics. Adopting Chen and Kuo's (2012) framework, interviews with the TDPS authors were then conducted. This study confirms that the framework for M.A. theses, i.e., the source genre of TDPS, is applicable to the exploration of the TDPS rhetorical structure. Only Move 3 "Occupying the niche" was found to be obligatory. No obligatory step was identified, and just three steps were found to be conventional. This study provides insights into how Chinese students produce this underexplored genre and argues for more attention to be paid to studies of its rhetorical structure. The findings could raise students' awareness of genre when attempting to produce effective and acceptable presentation slides to better communicate with their target audience.