By
Ahmed
Baba MUSTAPHA
Department
of English and Literary Studies
Kashim
Ibrahim University, Maiduguri – Nigeria
Email:
ababamustafa@gmail.com
and
Alhaji Malah GALTI
Department
of Education
Kashim
Ibrahim University, Maiduguri – Nigeria
Abstract
This study
investigated the use of reporting verbs indicating distal, proximal, and
neutral evaluative stances of Nigerian authors in their journal articles
selected for analysis, using Thompson and Yiyun (1991). The framework was used
to examine how writers employ reporting verbs in literature review sections to
construct stance and position themselves in relation to prior research. A
qualitative discourse-analytical approach was used to identify reporting verbs
in the selected academic texts. The findings reveal a dominance of neutral
stance verbs, which emphasize methodological description and
objectivity. Elements of proximal stance verbs are also frequently used to
express strong alignment with previous studies and present findings as
credible. In contrast, distal stance verbs, which are used to
express caution and epistemic distance, occur less frequently. The findings
conform to the selected framework’s explanation that reporting verbs function
as strategic resources for stance construction in academic discourse. The
findings also show that Nigerian authors/writers have little awareness of how
reporting verbs are appropriately used in discoursal context. Therefore, the
study concludes that Nigerian writers primarily alternate between neutral and
proximal stances, with limited use of distal stance verbs, which indicates
writer argument is weak. Furthermore, this analysis recommends further studies
to investigate how Nigerian writers use Hyland’s (1992) classifications in
their journal articles.
Keywords: Distal Stance, Neutral Stance, Proximal Stance, Reporting Verbs, Writer’s Stance
DOI: www.doi.org/10.57233/tjllc.2026.v05i03.004
author/Ahmed Baba MUSTAPHA & Alhaji Malah GALTI
journal/Tasambo JLLC 5(3) | February 2026 |
