دانشگاه اصفهان نشریه پژوهش های زبان شناسی 2322-3413 18 4 2026 12 22 Structural Analysis of Lexical Bundles in Linguistics Research Article Abstracts: A Comparison of International and Local Arabic Journals Structural Analysis of Lexical Bundles in Linguistics Research Article Abstracts: A Comparison of International and Local Arabic Journals 11 24 30425 10.22108/jrl.2026.148639.1952 FA Alaa Alnajjar Ph.D. student of Linguistics, Department of Linguistics, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran Rezvan Motavallian Associate professor, Department of Linguistics, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran Journal Article 2026 04 09 This study presents a structural analysis of three-word lexical bundles in English research article abstracts from the field of linguistics, comparing abstracts authored by native English-speaking scholars in international journals with those written by Arab scholars in local Arabic journals. Drawing on a specialized corpus of approximately 175000 words compiled from international and local Arabic journals, the study employed a corpus‑driven and comparative approach to identify and categorize bundles according to the structural taxonomy of Biber et al. (1999). The findings revealed a macro-level convergence in the dominance of phrasal structures with both groups relying heavily on Noun Phrases (NPs) and Prepositional Phrases (PPs) to convey information density. However, certain micro-level divergences were observed. While the Non‑Native Speaker (NNS) group demonstrated a slightly wider inventory of unique bundles, the Native Speaker (NS) corpus exhibited a significantly higher overall frequency and density of bundle usage. Structurally, the NNS group displayed a marked underuse of (DET) + NOUN + VERB + (SCONJ)/(DET) patterns compared to their NS counterparts (χ² = 7.32, p < 0.01). While the analysis revealed no statistically significant differences between the two groups in the use of passive voice constructions or complex syntactic structures, a qualitative tendency was observed: The NNS group exhibited a somewhat greater reliance on passive voice and anticipatory it patterns. This tendency likely reflected the influence of prescriptive pedagogical norms commonly emphasized in English for Academic Purposes instruction. The study therefore advocates for English for Academic Purposes (EAP) pedagogy that extends beyond structural templates to foreground the acquisition of active voice and stance‑taking formulaic sequences—explicitly<strong> </strong>targeting the underused (DET) + NOUN + VERB + (SCONJ)/(DET) pattern that marks authorial presence in native writing. This study presents a structural analysis of three-word lexical bundles in English research article abstracts from the field of linguistics, comparing abstracts authored by native English-speaking scholars in international journals with those written by Arab scholars in local Arabic journals. Drawing on a specialized corpus of approximately 175000 words compiled from international and local Arabic journals, the study employed a corpus‑driven and comparative approach to identify and categorize bundles according to the structural taxonomy of Biber et al. (1999). The findings revealed a macro-level convergence in the dominance of phrasal structures with both groups relying heavily on Noun Phrases (NPs) and Prepositional Phrases (PPs) to convey information density. However, certain micro-level divergences were observed. While the Non‑Native Speaker (NNS) group demonstrated a slightly wider inventory of unique bundles, the Native Speaker (NS) corpus exhibited a significantly higher overall frequency and density of bundle usage. Structurally, the NNS group displayed a marked underuse of (DET) + NOUN + VERB + (SCONJ)/(DET) patterns compared to their NS counterparts (χ² = 7.32, p < 0.01). While the analysis revealed no statistically significant differences between the two groups in the use of passive voice constructions or complex syntactic structures, a qualitative tendency was observed: The NNS group exhibited a somewhat greater reliance on passive voice and anticipatory it patterns. This tendency likely reflected the influence of prescriptive pedagogical norms commonly emphasized in English for Academic Purposes instruction. The study therefore advocates for English for Academic Purposes (EAP) pedagogy that extends beyond structural templates to foreground the acquisition of active voice and stance‑taking formulaic sequences—explicitly<strong> </strong>targeting the underused (DET) + NOUN + VERB + (SCONJ)/(DET) pattern that marks authorial presence in native writing. https://jrl.ui.ac.ir/article_30425_5418ecaa1c50159daba331221697241b.pdf