This paper attempts to explicate the countability preference of the noun research in English research article introductions. The study examines the noun’s distribution in the research article introduction and combination with complementary prepositions to see what characteristics are involved in the preference of the singular form. The study concludes that the preference of research in the singular over researches in the plural can be explained by abstractness and/or non-boundedness. Research can be understood as more conceptually abstract or unbounded compared to study, one of other research denoting words. Language users’ conceptions towards the word research affect its countability preference, even though it is grammatically acceptable in the singular or plural.
목차
Abstract I. Introduction II. Method III. Results and Discussion 1. Abstractness 2. Non-boundedness IV. Concluding Remarks Works Cited