THE RHETORICAL STRUCTURE OF PROBLEM STATEMENT SECTION OF THE SUCCESSFUL THESIS OF ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM UNIVERSITY OF BENGKULU

This research aims to provide an overview the results of a study that investigates
the rhetorical structure of Problem Statement (PS) section, following the theory of
Obeso (2019) as the first research question. Movement analysis is used to analyze
the dominant rhetorical structure found in the problem statement (PS) section of the
thesis. The Problem Statement (PS) section communicates the issues that are the
target of the research. Having a clear understanding of his rhetorical moves
facilitates his communication. However, undergraduate students generally do not
worry about this important aspect of writing. The purpose of this quantitative
descriptive research is to explore the rhetorical structure of the problem statement
(PS). 20 samples of theses were examined in the problem statement (PS) section
written in English education student’s undergraduate students and analyzed
following Obeso's model and theory (2019). The results of the study show that the
writer uses move 1 (Generalizing research topic) and move 4 (Posing a question).
Move 1 (Generalizing research topic). The most common pattern is the incomplete
pattern found in this research. The problem statement in the incomplete thesis only
has one move. The findings revealed that the lack of knowledge about rhetorical
aspects on the part of the students had a negative impact on problem statement (PS)
writing. The analysis also showed that some students did not communicate the
questions because of the incomplete move frequency.
Keywords: Problem Statement, Rhetorical Structure, Thesis