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An Appraisal Analysis of Engagement in Published Review Articles in Applied Linguistics and Medicine: A Corpus-based Study

Received: 27 January 2026     Accepted: 10 February 2026     Published: 25 February 2026
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Abstract

This study investigates how professional academic writers construct Engagement in the introduction, literature review and conclusion sections of review articles (RAs) published in Web of Science (WoS)-indexed journals. The Engagement subsystem from the Appraisal framework is used in the current analysis. The study adopts a comparative, mixed-methods, corpus-based research design. Two academic disciplines are selected for comparison: applied linguistics (AL), representing soft-applied disciplines, and medicine (MD), representing hard-applied disciplines. The results revealed that RAs of MD exhibit higher frequencies of monoglossic Engagement, particularly in the introduction and conclusion sections, compared to those of AL. Furthermore, the findings indicate a disciplinary variation in the distribution of heteroglossic Engagement. AL RAs include higher frequencies of expansive heteroglossic Engagement, which expands the dialogic space and conveys propositions as provisional and open for negotiation. In contrast, MD RAs show higher frequencies of contractive heteroglossic Engagement, which restricts the dialogic space and construes propositions as highly warrantable. These findings might be associated with the variation in the nature of knowledge and epistemological foundations across the soft-applied and hard-applied academic disciplines. The findings of this study have important pedagogical implications for academic writing instructors and curriculum designers. Consequently, this study makes the disciplinary-specific use of Engagement accessible to novice writers struggling to produce RAs that meet discoursal conventions in their disciplines.

Published in International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 14, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijll.20261401.16
Page(s) 45-66
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2026. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Appraisal, Engagement, Review Article, Academic Discourse, Heteroglossia, Monoglossia

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  • APA Style

    Aljuraywi, J. A., Alharbi, S. H. (2026). An Appraisal Analysis of Engagement in Published Review Articles in Applied Linguistics and Medicine: A Corpus-based Study. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 14(1), 45-66. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20261401.16

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    ACS Style

    Aljuraywi, J. A.; Alharbi, S. H. An Appraisal Analysis of Engagement in Published Review Articles in Applied Linguistics and Medicine: A Corpus-based Study. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2026, 14(1), 45-66. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20261401.16

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    AMA Style

    Aljuraywi JA, Alharbi SH. An Appraisal Analysis of Engagement in Published Review Articles in Applied Linguistics and Medicine: A Corpus-based Study. Int J Lang Linguist. 2026;14(1):45-66. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20261401.16

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijll.20261401.16,
      author = {Jawaher Abdulaziz Aljuraywi and Sultan Hussein Alharbi},
      title = {An Appraisal Analysis of Engagement in Published Review Articles in Applied Linguistics and Medicine: A Corpus-based Study},
      journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
      volume = {14},
      number = {1},
      pages = {45-66},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20261401.16},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20261401.16},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20261401.16},
      abstract = {This study investigates how professional academic writers construct Engagement in the introduction, literature review and conclusion sections of review articles (RAs) published in Web of Science (WoS)-indexed journals. The Engagement subsystem from the Appraisal framework is used in the current analysis. The study adopts a comparative, mixed-methods, corpus-based research design. Two academic disciplines are selected for comparison: applied linguistics (AL), representing soft-applied disciplines, and medicine (MD), representing hard-applied disciplines. The results revealed that RAs of MD exhibit higher frequencies of monoglossic Engagement, particularly in the introduction and conclusion sections, compared to those of AL. Furthermore, the findings indicate a disciplinary variation in the distribution of heteroglossic Engagement. AL RAs include higher frequencies of expansive heteroglossic Engagement, which expands the dialogic space and conveys propositions as provisional and open for negotiation. In contrast, MD RAs show higher frequencies of contractive heteroglossic Engagement, which restricts the dialogic space and construes propositions as highly warrantable. These findings might be associated with the variation in the nature of knowledge and epistemological foundations across the soft-applied and hard-applied academic disciplines. The findings of this study have important pedagogical implications for academic writing instructors and curriculum designers. Consequently, this study makes the disciplinary-specific use of Engagement accessible to novice writers struggling to produce RAs that meet discoursal conventions in their disciplines.},
     year = {2026}
    }
    

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    T1  - An Appraisal Analysis of Engagement in Published Review Articles in Applied Linguistics and Medicine: A Corpus-based Study
    AU  - Jawaher Abdulaziz Aljuraywi
    AU  - Sultan Hussein Alharbi
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    JO  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
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    AB  - This study investigates how professional academic writers construct Engagement in the introduction, literature review and conclusion sections of review articles (RAs) published in Web of Science (WoS)-indexed journals. The Engagement subsystem from the Appraisal framework is used in the current analysis. The study adopts a comparative, mixed-methods, corpus-based research design. Two academic disciplines are selected for comparison: applied linguistics (AL), representing soft-applied disciplines, and medicine (MD), representing hard-applied disciplines. The results revealed that RAs of MD exhibit higher frequencies of monoglossic Engagement, particularly in the introduction and conclusion sections, compared to those of AL. Furthermore, the findings indicate a disciplinary variation in the distribution of heteroglossic Engagement. AL RAs include higher frequencies of expansive heteroglossic Engagement, which expands the dialogic space and conveys propositions as provisional and open for negotiation. In contrast, MD RAs show higher frequencies of contractive heteroglossic Engagement, which restricts the dialogic space and construes propositions as highly warrantable. These findings might be associated with the variation in the nature of knowledge and epistemological foundations across the soft-applied and hard-applied academic disciplines. The findings of this study have important pedagogical implications for academic writing instructors and curriculum designers. Consequently, this study makes the disciplinary-specific use of Engagement accessible to novice writers struggling to produce RAs that meet discoursal conventions in their disciplines.
    VL  - 14
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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