Abstract
Expressing an authoritative voice is an essential part of academic writing at university. However, the performance of the authorial self in writing is complex yet fundamental to academic success as a large part of academic assessment involves writing to the academy. More specifically, the performance of the authorial self can be complex for English as a Second Language (ESL) student-writers. This research investigated the extent to which ESL first-year students at the Fiji National University perform their authorial voice using interactional metadiscourse in their academic writing. The study employed a quantitative analysis of corpus produced by 16 Fijian ESL undergraduate students enrolled in an EAP course. The research found that the ESL authorial voice was predominantly expressed through boosters and attitude markers, with relatively little usage of other interactional metadiscoursal elements such as hedges, engagement markers and self-mentions. Further, the research showed that this particular cohort expressed their authorial voice and identity through boosted arguments and avoiding language that directly mentions the authorial self. The study concludes that the ESL authorial self for this cohort manifests itself in a selected range of selected interactional metadiscoursal elements, requiring the need to raise the awareness of self-reflective expressions for ESL students. The study also encourages further exploration of ESL authorial identity construction in academic writing at undergraduate level and beyond.
Highlights
BackgroundAcademic writing is key to success for students at university
The performance of the authorial self can be complex for English as a Second Language (ESL) student-writers
The research found that the ESL authorial voice was predominantly expressed through boosters and attitude markers, with relatively little usage of other interactional metadiscoursal elements such as hedges, engagement markers and self-mentions
Summary
Academic writing is key to success for students at university. Writing skills are part of the core study skills students need to succeed. The performance of academic writing can determine the extent to which students are considered successful in higher education. Educational institutions use academic writing as a core mechanism for assessing students’ learning and development, and their understanding of the knowledge they have gained. Success in academic writing requires students to adapt to the specific types of discourse as determined by various domains. A lack of familiarity with the explicit or implicit rules of academic writing can lead to an absence of assuredness amongst university students. The problem can be more pronounced for English as a Second Language (ESL) writers, who face more nuanced issues of self-efficacy in English writing (Lin, 2015; Nelson, 1991), and as such may undervalue the expression of their personal voice and opinions, which could make it difficult to develop a confident authorial voice in written work
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