Frequency Of Metadiscourse Markers Research Articles

The use of metadiscourse markers in applied linguistics research proposals written by Vietnamese MA students

This study aimed to investigate how the metadiscourse
 markers are used in Applied Linguistic research proposals written by
 Vietnamese MA students. Besides, it also examines what the most
 and least common types of metadiscourse markers are used in this
 kind of proposals. The study used the corpus consisting of Applied
 Linguistic research proposals written by a total of 20 students. The
 analysis of the type and frequency of metadiscourse markers used in
 the selected research proposals was based on Hyland’s (2005)
 model. With the support of the concordance computer programme
 namely Antconc, the occurrence of each metadiscourse marker
 found was calculated to find out the results. The finding of the study
 showed that interactive markers are more commonly used than
 interactional markers in Applied Linguistic research proposals. It is
 also seen that transition markers are the most common type of
 metadiscourse markers while evidential markers have the lowest
 frequency. This can be implied that Vietnamese students prioritize
 the interacitve metadiscourse markers over the interactional
 metadiscourse markers in Applied Linguistics research proposals
 due to the fact that it is the easiest way for the author to organise the
 text in order to make readers comprehend the whole text.

The rhetorical organization of discussions sections of qualitative research articles in Applied Linguistics and the use of meta-discourse markers

This study examined the rhetorical organization and the distribution of meta-discourse markers in a corpus of 20 qualitative research articles in the Applied Linguistics field. The findings of the study indicated that the seven-move structure proposed by prior research in quantitative datasets is also true in our qualitative dataset. Concerning steps, however, this study indicated that there are two new steps in the Comment on the Results move and also two new steps in the Deduction from the Research move, compared with the quantitative data of prior research. It was also found that both the distribution and frequency of meta-discourse markers indicate significant differences in comparison with quantitative research articles. Given these findings, we can say that although the schematic structure proposed for the Discussion sections of quantitative research articles is applicable to the qualitative corpus, it is also important not to ignore subtle nuances in the two research paradigms. Drawing academic writers' attention to these rhetorical and linguistic nuances arising from research paradigm differences can carry practical pedagogical implications. The findings of this study can raise novice writers’ awareness with respect to academic writing rhetoric and the functions of meta-discourse markers in qualitative research in Applied Linguistics.

Metadiscourse Markers in Abstracts of Linguistics and Literature Research Articles from Scopus-Indexed Journals

An abstract is generally a condensed version of a much lengthier research article (RA). It plays a crucial role in academic writing by initially grabbing the readers’ attention. A well-crafted abstract can greatly increase an RA’s chances of being published. Metadiscourse markers, which extend beyond the actual information being presented, provide significant assistance in textual organisation and interaction. However, less attention has been paid to the use of these markers in the abstracts of RAs within the field of linguistics and literature from Scopus-indexed journals. Therefore, this paper first investigated how authors presented their arguments in the abstracts by deploying interactive and interactional markers, and then it delved into the occurrence frequency of both types of markers in linguistics and literature corpora. A total of 100 English RA abstracts were selected for this study. The linguistics and literature corpus each contained 50 RA abstracts taken from three open-access Scopus-indexed journals. Based on Hyland’s (2005) interpersonal model of metadiscourse, an analysis of the identification and frequency of metadiscourse markers was conducted. A comparison was also drawn between the linguistics and literature RA abstracts. The findings showed that the abstracts from both corpora employed more interactive markers than interactional markers. Regarding the interactive markers, a similar tendency of using transitions was detected. However, the difference lay in the frequency of the other four types of markers between the two corpora. In the interactional category, boosters emerged as the most prominent markers while engagement markers were the least frequent in both corpora. The difference was mainly in the occurrence of self-mentions. The results of this study highlight the disciplinary awareness of metadiscourse markers in RA abstracts and offer a practical guide for scholars to utilise these cues and indicators in academic writing.

Meta-discourse markers in the book reviews published in ISI and non-ISI journals of applied linguistics

Meta-discourse markers constitute a significant part of a reader friendly text. This study focused on the types and frequency of meta-discourse markers in applied linguistics book reviews (BR) publ...

Metadiscourse in Academic Writing: An Investigation of Saudi EFL Students' Research Articles

This study investigated the type and frequency of metadiscourse markers used in fifty research articles written by Saudi EFL college students. In analyzing the data, Hyland's (2005) model of metadiscourse was adopted. The findings showed that there are significant differences in the frequency of interactive and interactional metadiscourse. The students employed more interactive metadiscourse markers than interactional ones. The analysis further revealed that transitions occurred most often in the research articles, followed by hedges. The least used metadiscourse markers were endophoric markers and attitude markers. To conclude, some pedagogical implications for teaching English writing to Saudi EFL college students were drawn from these findings. It can be noted that Saudi EFL college students need more training in using interactional metadiscourse to be able to convince the reader of their ideas and arguments in a text. In addition, they must be more aware of the importance of using metadiscourse in improving their writing skills in general.

Persuasion in Journalism: A Study of Metadiscourse in Texts by Native Speakers of English and Iranian EFL Writers

Metadiscourse is a set of linguistic devices used to communicate attitudes and mark the structural properties of a text. This study explored the frequency of occurrence of metadiscourse devices, and the role they play in the construction of persuasion in opinion articles written by English native speakers and Iranian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) writers. A corpus of 60 opinion articles, 30 by American writers and 30 by Iranian EFL authors, was collected and examined using Hyland’s (2005) model of metadiscours. The articles were taken from newspapers and news websites in October 2014 and were published in the period from May, 2013 to October, 2014. A quantitative analysis was conducted to determine the frequency of occurrence of metadiscourse devices. The non-parametrical Mann-Whitney U test was used to see if the frequency counts in the two corpora differ statistically. Findings suggested that metadiscourse devices were present in the both groups; however, there were variations as to the number of code glosses, hedges, self-mentions and engagement markers. Genre-driven conventions, culture-driven tendencies and Iranian columnists’ extend of English command were the factors affecting the choice and frequency of metadiscourse markers.

Investigating Metadiscourse Markers in Asian Englishes: A Corpus-Based Approach

AbstractThe present study investigated differences in rhetorical preferences in L2 writings among different L1 groups. This study compared the use of metadiscourse markers in L2 essays and identified discourse devices used to distinguish different L1 groups. The essays originated from the International Corpus Network of Asian Learners of English (ICNALE) compared six L1 groups (viz., Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese, and Thai) based on the frequency of metadiscourse markers. I utilized heat map with hierarchical clustering to investigate differences in metadiscourse among the six learner groups. The results suggested a substantial difference in the use of metadiscourse markers between East Asian groups (viz., Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese) and Southeast Asian groups (viz., Indonesian and Thai). Furthermore, each learner group displayed the specific characteristics of metadiscourse, which offer suggestions for improving L2 learners’ writings.

A Cross Cultural Analysis of Textual and Interpersonal Metadiscourse Markers: The Case of Economic Articles in English and Persian Newspapers

This study was an attempt to investigate the functional role of textual and interpersonal metadiscourse markers in English and Persian Economic news reports. To this end, 10 news articles, 5 in each language, were randomly selected from the Economic sections of the leading newspapers published in 2013-2014 in Iran and the United States. Based on Kopple’s (1985) taxonomy, the type and frequency of metadiscourse markers used in the texts were analyzed to find out their functions in the text. The findings revealed that the textual markers used by Persian authors were considerably more frequent than those employed by the American writers. Interestingly, unlike the Persian writers, the American authors enlisted a larger number of interpersonal markers, which made their angle of the subject treatment different. It is evident that the differential use of metadiscourse markers by nationally different authors could be attributed to culture-specific norms governing the development and organization of discourse.