English Tense Use In Indonesian Journal Articles
Abstract
This paper reports a study of English tense use in second language writing. Attempting to validate Oster’s (1981) claims on tense use as a rhetorical device in discourse, the study seeks to find out whether Indonesian writers’ use of English tense conforms or confront the previous claims. The data are drawn from twelve journal articles taken from three different Indonesian scientific journals. The use of tense is accounted and analyzed according to the rhetorical functions it plays. The results show that 89% of the present tense verbs are used differently. Contrary to Oster’s claim, this study proves that present tense is also used for generalization. This study also indicates that simple present tense is used more frequently within non-integral citations than the use of simple past tense and present perfect tense in reporting past literature. This paper argues that professional writers are more likely to employ non-integral citations to promote their own ideas to the readers. This is shown by the prominent use of non-integral citations and their combination with the present tense.
Keywords: tense use, Oster’s claims, rhetorical functions, Indonesian writers
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