Abstract
Generally speaking, writers use various resources for introducing themselves to their readers. Among these, stance and engagement discourse markers are fundamental properties which manifest the underlying interaction process between writers and readers. The present paper sought to investigate whether male and female Iranian EFL learners performed differently in terms of using stance and engagement features in their writing assignments. To this end, a corpus comprising 80 argumentative essays written by advanced learners (40 males and 40 females) were collected and analyzed respectively. Hyland’s (2008) framework of stance and engagement features including hedges, boosters, attitude markers and self-mention as well as readers’ use of engagement markers such as pronouns, directives, questions, and shared knowledge served as a tertium comprationis for comparing and contrasting the written corpora created by male and female students. For analyzing the data, a software named Hermetic Word Counter was utilized to determine the frequency of the targeted tokens. The findings revealed that male and female writers made a differential use of stance and engagement features in writing argumentative essays. The significance of the differences was further attested by the application of a chi-square statistical technique. Regarding stance-taking, it was found out that both groups followed the same patterns of stance-taking except for the use of hedges and boosters. Moreover, compared to male students, the female writers tried to create reader engagement by asking questions.
Highlights
The past few decades have witnessed increasingly rapid advances in area of research concerning academic writings in which writers tend to interact with their readers through the application of different strategies based on the appraisal of the circumstances evoking a specific kind of emotional or affective response
The findings revealed that male and female writers made a differential use of stance and engagement features in writing argumentative essays
It has conclusively been demonstrated by concerned practionaires such as Hyland (2000) and Swales (1999) that linguistic resources utilized in a rhetorical event like writing argumentative essays can reveal the writers’ stance and engagement, which play a pivotal role in our understanding of an interactive writing process
Summary
The past few decades have witnessed increasingly rapid advances in area of research concerning academic writings in which writers tend to interact with their readers through the application of different strategies based on the appraisal of the circumstances evoking a specific kind of emotional or affective response It has conclusively been demonstrated by concerned practionaires such as Hyland (2000) and Swales (1999) that linguistic resources utilized in a rhetorical event like writing argumentative essays can reveal the writers’ stance and engagement, which play a pivotal role in our understanding of an interactive writing process. Hyland (2009) focuses on the interactive function of metadiscourse markers which help writers to convey the intended message within a particular context of situation where the reader’s cognitive context is attracted towards a particular perception (Anderson, 2003) Such a conscious attempt to direct the readers’ attention along carefully planned rhetorical paths requires the application of crucial properties of argumentation such as stance and engagement
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
