A Pragmatic Analysis of Metadiscoursal Markers (Hedges and Boosters) in Linguistics and Biology MA Theses: A Linguascientific Corpus –based Study

Abstract

Metadiscourse or discourse reflexivity is a fundamental property by which writers project themselves into their discourse to signal their understanding of their material and their audience. The study seeks to explore how advanced second language writers employ metadiscoursal markers (particularly hedges and boosters) in two different disciplines: biology and linguistics in a corpus of (30) master theses written by Iraqi MA students with an emphasis on three challenging parts: introduction, results and discussion, and conclusion. In order to show how differences of disciplines or fields of knowledge affect the pattern of usage of metadiscourse in the academic writing produced by novice MA students, the study utilizes a discourse analysis of the written texts with contrastive analysis. Such an analysis reveals the discourse features that distinguish their genre from others and also points to the disciplinary variation with this genre. Reliability is ensured by using two types of test: Chi – square test. The statistical results reveal that metadiscourse is an effective academic phenomenon writers employ to present themselves, their positions, and their readers. It has also been shown that there are significant differences in using hedges and boosters between the two disciplines, e.g. biology and linguistics. In the light of the study findings, it has been recommended that special attention should be paid to such markers, particularly at the advanced levels of the academic writing so as to develop the students ' pragmatic competence.