A corpus-based analysis of the lexical bundles use in academic discourse

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the frequency of four-word lexical bundles (LBs) in research papers authored by faculty members from the English Department at King Khalid University. Additionally, it seeks to classify the functions of these bundles based on Biber’s (2004) taxonomy. The study’s corpus comprises 171 research papers published between 2016 and 2022. Lexical bundles were identified using three key criteria: frequency, range, and function. WordSmith 4.0 software was employed to extract and analyze the LBs from the corpus. The results reveal variation in the use of LBs, with referential bundles being the most common, followed by discourse organizers and stance bundles. These findings align with previous research in this area and offer valuable insights for studies on English for Academic Purposes (EAP). They may also benefit EAP instructors, curriculum developers, and policymakers.