Abstract
Good student writers are often seen as a benchmark to the weaker writers. In the area of metadiscourse in students’ writing, previous studies show that good undergraduate writers use more metadiscourse markers as compared to the weaker writers. However, there are limited previous studies which observe the use of metadiscourse among Malaysian ESL undergraduate writers whose Bahasa Malaysia is their first language. Therefore, further studies involving undergraduate writers from this particular setting is significant to add more literature to the field of metadiscourse among ESL undergraduates. This paper aims to present the metadiscourse markers found in a corpus of good undergraduate writers’ essays (GUWE corpus). These metadiscourse markers are classified in the main categories and sub-categories based on Hyland’s (2005) interpersonal model of metadiscourse. Using a concordance software, this study aims to reveal the frequency of the metadiscourse markers use in good essays produced by 269 Malaysian undergraduate writers. The findings presented in this paper are hoped to be useful for other researchers who are interested in the same field of metadiscourse among ESL student writers especially among Malaysian undegraduates.
Highlights
1.1 Undergraduates’ Essay Writing and MetadiscourseNowadays, the ability to write effectively among undergraduates has become significant at the tertiary education level
This study aims to reveal the frequency of the metadiscourse markers use in good essays produced by 269 Malaysian undergraduate writers
It is found that the total hits of interactive metadiscourse markers are 6,740 while the total hits of interactional metadiscourse markers are 5,286
Summary
The ability to write effectively among undergraduates has become significant at the tertiary education level Throughout their undergraduate programme, they have to write many types of writing including reports, essays, summaries and so on. As English as a Second Language learners, undergraduates in Malaysia have to enrol an English language class every semester for the period of at least one year to two years of studying In this class, they are taught to write many types of essay writing especially persuasive and argumentative essays. Persuasive writing, for example, determines the success in language among students at school because the students have to give reasoning and supportive arguments in their essays (Rustipa, 2014) Students write their essays with cautiousness to structure their sentences and put words together to convey their ideas clearly. One of the ways is to use metadiscourse in their writing
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