Scrutinizing Metadiscourse Markers in the Gossip Columns of Lambe Turah and Insert Live: A Corpus Linguistic Study

The need for proficiency in academic writing has never been more important due to its significance for academic success and professional growth. The skills required in academic writing range from research to critical thinking and communication skills. It develops holistic intellectual development and will help one run a successful professional life, more so in highly research-oriented areas where publications become highly valued. This paper has attempted to fill up the research gaps created by the lack of research into corpus linguistic and corpus-based studies in general within the parameters of Philippine academic writing, with its insufficiency of known studies on metadiscourse markers in particular. This paper examined the use of metadiscourse markers in a researcher-constructed 120,000-word corpus of academic papers written by Grade 11 Senior High School students, including concept papers, position papers, reaction papers, and scientific reports. Specifically, the research determined the metadiscourse markers used by students and their frequency across text types, as well as qualitative analysis of their contextual usage. In the current study, it is revealed that students utilize a wide array of interactive and interactional markers, drawing on Hyland's taxonomy of metadiscourse markers (2005) and AntConc V. 3.5.8, a corpus analysis software. The study revealed a predominant use of interactive over interactional metadiscourse markers, with a notable emphasis on transitions within the interactive category. Qualitative analysis also showed that transitions and engagement markers serve various functions, such as clarifying relationships within the text, structuring arguments, and providing additional information for better understanding. Interactional resources were also employed to convey the writer's stance, engage the reader, and present a balanced view by acknowledging different perspectives. However, the present research identified common issues in the application of these markers, including misuse, redundancy, and overgeneralization, which can impede effective communication. Hence, the findings highlighted that text type, rhetorical purpose, and the use of metadiscourse markers interact closely in shaping how the writer communicates and accomplishes their purpose effectively. Future research should address writing ability and experience as factors influencing the choice of metadiscourse markers and examine their variation of use across academic and nonacademic settings.

Authors frequently employ metadiscourse markers (MDMs) in academic literature to encode their perspectives, support their claims and captivate readers. The usage of MDMs based on a variety of taxonomies and models has long been studied by researchers with the interpersonal model being one of the most widely applied. Results have shown a significant relationship between the use of MDMs and the comprehensibility of the texts. Though these findings seem insightful and valuable for fostering academic writing, Arab scholars’ use of MDMs especially the interactional type seems to be neglected. Accordingly, the purpose of the present study is to bridge this gap and reveal the use of interactional MDMS by Arab scholars in the fields of applied linguistics, translation and literature. The study adopted the corpus linguistic method and used a one-million-token specialized corpus that had been compiled for research purposes. The results have shown an imbalanced use of MDMs by Arab scholars using descriptive statistics and Key Word in Context (KWIC) qualitative analysis. The results have shown an imbalanced use of MDMs by Arab scholars. However, despite the limited and imbalanced use of MDMs, they are effectively utilized to serve various pragmatic functions. These findings can have implications for designing training courses that aim at fostering Arab scholars’ and students’ academic writing. Further research that investigates the writing production of Arab scholars in different disciplines is recommended to further support the current findings.

Metadiscourse markers are considered useful for conveying ideas to the audience;  producing and organizing persuasive writing based on expectations and norms of individuals involved; communicating effectively to readers; signaling the speaker’s or writer’s attitude, engage the  audience and organize the discourse. This study compared the use of metadiscourse markers in English research articles by native English writers and non-native English researchers. Metadiscourse markers were identified based on the metadiscourse model as interactive and interactional markers. The researcher read all the forty (40) English applied linguistic research articles carefully and undertook a search for interactional markers in the introduction, material & methods, result & discussion, and conclusion sections. The articles were obtained from Arabic Journals of Humanities and International Academic Journals. Data analysis was undertaken using an independent sample two-tailed t-test. Results revealed that native English writers differ from non-native English writers in their use of interactive and interactional metadiscourse markers. Non-native English writers should master the use of metadiscourse devices in order to write appealing and high-quality research articles, convey ideas to the audience;  produce and organize persuasive  writing based on expectations and norms of individual involved; communicate effectively to readers; signal the speaker’s attitude, engage the audience and organize the discourse research articles.

This paper aimed to investigate the use of metadiscourse markers in scientific journal articles. Data of this qualitative research consisted of metadiscourse markers collected from eight journal articles of a special edition published by LLT Journal: A Journal on Language and Language Teaching. The collected metadiscourse markers used in the journal articles were analyzed using discourse analysis based on ten metadiscourse marker categories. Results showed that the analysed journal articles contained 708 metadiscourse markers, with more interactive metadiscourse markers, reaching 529 occurrences, than interactional metadiscourse markers, occurring 179 times. Transitions, such as “but” and “thus”, with 249 occurrences, were the most frequently-used metadiscourse marker and boosters, such as “in fact” and “definitely”, with 24 occurrences, were the least productive marker. Thus, readers can gain a better understanding of the use of metadiscourse markers when using English. It is expected that English language learners and instructors can benefit from the results of this study, particularly concerning the use of metadiscourse markers in academic writing.

This study examines the use of visual and linguistic metadiscourse markers in academic posters of private schools in Jordan and their role in persuasion. To this end, the study analyses a corpus of 40 advertisements for the use of visual and linguistic metadiscourse markers. The advertisements were published between 2019 and 2023 and were chosen randomly. The data were analysed qualitatively following framework of visual metadiscourse and Hyland, Kenyland ( 2005 ) model of linguistic metadiscourse. The study compared the use of visual and linguistic metadiscourse markers in the academic posters and examined how the use of these metadiscourse markers plays a crucial role in the process of persuasion and in encouraging parents to choose a particular school over another. The results showed that all types of visual metadiscourse, particularly attraction, convention and consistency, were highly marked in the data examined. The results also showed that directives had the highest frequency compared to other linguistic metadiscourses and were used as essential elements of persuasive language. The study concluded that the role of visual and linguistic metadiscourse in reflecting the goals of academic institutions, engaging audiences, and attracting parents’ interest cannot be ignored and plays an effective role in persuasive writing. The study holds implications for advertising effectiveness, emphasizing cultural sensitivity, strategic appeal deployment, and continuous adaptation. Acknowledging limitations in sample size and temporal specificity, the study recommends a balance of explicit and implicit information, exploration of humor, and collaborative research initiatives for industry growth.

Metadiscourse: Variation across communicative contexts

Academic writing, particularly writing research articles, is an indispensable part of every major in higher education. Hyland (2004) argued that a valuable means of exploring academic writing, and comparing the rhetorical features and preferences of different discourse communities, is through the metadiscourse analysis of the text. The present study examines the differences in the use, type, and frequency of interactional metadiscourse markers in the introduction and conclusion sections of research papers across the two disciplines of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. To this end, 42 research articles (21 Mechanical and 21 Electrical Engineering) written by English native speakers were randomly selected from two major international journals. The current study made use of Hyland’s (2005) model for analyzing the interactional metadiscourse markers used in the selected corpus, consisting of 41484 words. To analyze the data, the frequency, patterns of use, and type of interactional metadiscourse markers were elicited both through a manual corpus analysis and concordance package. Furthermore, to examine whether there is any significant difference in the use of metadiscourse markers in the introduction and conclusion sections of these papers, a Chi-square analysis was run. The results of the quantitative analysis revealed that although there were some minor differences in the frequency and type of these metadiscourse markers, there was no statistically significant difference across the disciplines, which can be attributed to the close nature of these fields. The findings of this study may render some pedagogical implications for ESP courses and especially writing research papers.

This study investigates the persuasive use of interactive and interactional meta-discourse markers in digital advertising, employing Hyland's (2005) model. Interactive meta-discourse encompasses transition markers, frame markers, endophoric markers, evidential, and code glosses, while interactional meta-discourse includes hedges, boosters, attitude markers, self-mentions, and engagement markers. The process of data collection includes extracting data from websites with digital advertisements, analyzing the use of meta-discourse markers in these ads to understand their context and purpose, and categorizing these markers into interactive and interactional categories. Data analysis involves identifying and examining the presence of these markers in digital advertising, interpreting how they contribute to persuasion in the text, and presenting the findings by categorizing interactive and interactional meta-discourse markers while explaining their persuasive significance. The research reveals that in advertisements for beauty products and luxury cars, transition markers are the sole category of interactive meta-discourse used. In contrast, interactional meta-discourse exhibits a broader range of categories in advertising, encompassing attitude markers, self-mention, engagement markers, and boosters.

Variation of metadiscourse in L2 writing: Focus on language proficiency and learning context

Metadiscourse (MD) markers are of great importance in expressing the writers’ stance, and the use of MD markers can be diverse in different genres of writing. This study endeavors to scrutinize the use of MD markers (major groups: interactive markers and interactional markers) in research proposals by Vietnamese postgraduate students in English Applied Linguistics (EAL). A cohort of 20 EAL research proposals was analyzed using AntConc software and descriptive statistics. The results unravel that regarding interactive markers, transition markers are the most used in EAL research proposals while endophoric markers are the least commonly used. Concerning interactional markers, self-mentions markers are the most popular MD markers while attitude markers are the least popular ones used in EAL research proposals. It is further found out that the most common functions of MD markers used in EAL research proposals are to link ideas in texts and texts to readers and show the writer’s presence in the text. Received 1th August 2020; Revised 2nd June 2021; Accepted 20th August 2021

The use of metadiscourse markers is an important writing strategy employed both to structure the text and to engage the reader in the text production. In this connection, the purpose of this study is to assess the use of metadiscourse markers in term papers produced by MATESOL students at university of Khartoum. Forty papers were examined using Hyland's model of metadiscourse markers. Twenty papers were chosen from class 2016-2017, and the other 20 were selected from class 2017-2018. The data were analyzed in percentage terms. The results revealed that trained students use more metadiscourse markers than the untrained students. Additionally, it was found that female students used more metadiscourse markers than male. Also, it was found that all participants used more metadiscourse markers in the background section than in the statement of the problem section.

There is very little research on the use of metadiscourse markers in abstracts across different disciplines (especially in a single study) in the research of undergraduates as novice researchers, and little qualitative research has been done on the topic in EFL and ESL contexts altogether. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine the use of metadiscourse markers in EFL and ESL undergraduates’ abstracts in social sciences across three disciplines (English Language and Communication, Mass Communication, and Psychology) in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Liberal Arts at UCSI University, a Malaysian private university. We adopt Hyland’s (2005) interpersonal model which involves two main categories – interactive metadiscourse and interactional metadiscourse – to analyse all 62 abstracts collected from the 2016 Colloquium held at the faculty. The method used is qualitative to categorize the metadiscourse markers accordingly as well as counting their frequencies. The findings showed that the interactional metadiscourse markers were used nearly twice as often as the interactive discourse markers for the three disciplines, and the most used markers are boosters. The most used interactive metadiscourse markers are transitions, followed by frame markers, evidentials, code glosses, and endophoric markers. The findings can be used by ESL and EFL instructors when teaching students learning argumentative writing and research writing to use metadiscourse markers to make arguments and write proper critiques to reflect their stance and voice. This research adds some insights into this neglected genre of academic discourse at the undergraduate level.

The present study investigates the use of hedges (vague language) as the meaning-making practice in the gossip column of the Jakarta Post. The daily newspaper is chosen due to pragmatic purposes, accessibility, and its national coverage. Adapting the framework of Lakoff (1973), Holmes (1990) and Hyland (1996a-b), this study focuses on the hedges’ functions and meanings in a gossip column (informal context), apart from an academic discourse (formal context) in which hedges are frequently discussed. This possibly leads to the diverse functions and meanings of the hedges’ occurrences within the discourse: through the employment of ‘epistemic modal’ (the expression of uncertainty) and ‘affective’ (the expression of solidarity) function. Further, the mostly-found hedges are the epistemic modal ‘about’ (five times) and the affective modal ‘think’ (four times) from six hedge categories. Eventually, it is also revealed that hedges used in the gossip column are to enhance the self-image and trend-setting identity of the celebrities, who indeed are involved in the discourse.

This paper is an attempt to investigate the EFL Iranian learners` use of metadiscourse markers in argumentative writing. The participants of the study are 40 students both male and female. To produce the relevant data, participants were given a pretest of writing ability to check their initial knowledge use of metadiscourse markers. Finally, a post test assessing their writing ability with metadiscourse markers was administered. Writing is a social activity and it is supposed as an important factor of literacy in society despite being mastered in English, students from different cultures and with different first languages seem to be different in developing writing texts. Metadiscourse markers enable the writers to interact with the readers effectively. The findings revealed that both male and female writers employed more interactive markers than interactional markers due to the fact that both genders inserted transition markers frequently to guide readers through the texts. The findings indicated generally that instruction of metadiscourse markers significantly improves EFL learners’ writing ability of advanced students. The Teachers pay more attention to metadiscourse markers in making EFL curricula. Then they ask for the reinforcement of metadiscourse markers through instruction in EFL courses for the improvement of the learners' writing ability.

This study aims at examining the use of metadiscourse markers in literary criticism texts to identify the role of the reader and how these markers are used to produce more persuasive essays. The data of 72,727 words from 17 texts were written by three well-known authors, namely, T.S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf and Stanley Fish. Hyland’s (2005) model of interpersonal metadiscourse markers was used to analyze the data. The analysis revealed that metadiscourse markers are used by literary critics to create coherent and persuasive texts. It was found out that the theory of criticism adopted by the literary critics does not affect the use of metadiscourse markers only maybe in terms of relying more on logos, ethos or pathos. The results of this study comply with those of previous research showing that metadiscourse markers are frequently used in literary criticism texts. This study will contribute to both the literary genre and the genre of critical essays by identifying the linguistic features to be used to produce more effective and convincing literary criticism texts. It will also help future critics to write more persuasive texts by highlighting the means that enable them to influence their readers and to produce more coherent and convincing texts. Keywords metadiscourse; persuasion; literary criticism; essays; critical theory