From the perspective of systemic functional linguistics, projection is regarded as a logical semantic relation, and reporting verbs are one of the important linguistic devices for projection in academic discourse. This study focuses on the evaluative use of reporting verbs in the literature review sections of master’s and doctoral dissertations in English language and literature, which aims to explore the similarities and differences between them and their causes. The results show that master’s theses tend to use lower-risk reporting verbs to build the foundation of research, while doctoral dissertations use reporting verbs more frequently to carry out critical academic dialogue. These differences are mainly due to differences in research depth and innovation requirements, as well as differences in academic training and ability levels of authors. The present study helps students understand the pragmatic functions of reporting verbs and enhance their interpersonal negotiation and identity-building skills in academic writing. It also provides some pedagogical implications for the teaching of academic English writing.
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Share and Cite
Sun, R. (2025) A Comparative Study on the Evaluation Ability of Chinese L2 Learners – Taking Reporting Verbs in Master’s and Doctoral Dissertations as an Example. Global Education Bulletin, 2(6), 88-99.