Types and functions of reporting verbs in English and Czech-medium master's thesis literature review sections

This study examines the types and functions of reporting verbs (RVs) in L2 undergraduate academic writing and elucidates first language (L1) academic proficiency's impact on verb choice. The data were collected from literature review sections of English and Czech-medium master's theses authored by economics students whose first language is Czech. The study combined corpus-based and contrastive approaches. RVs were classified based on their discourse functions, and tense and voice grammatical categories were identified. Findings indicate that a weaker academic proficiency in the native language may lead to a reduced capacity to utilize rhetorical devices and express one's stance effectively in L2 English learner writing. Limited academic proficiency in L2 English-medium theses was suggested by a restricted vocabulary of RVs and inconsistent use of grammatical patterns. Both L2 English and L1 Czech-medium theses displayed a notable tendency to use non-committal verbs, avoiding making strong textual judgments.