Meta-Discourse markers across time
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2024
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oum El Bouaghi
Abstract
The shift in academic writing towards a more social and communicative model, highlights the importance of engaging the reader and effectively conveying the author's stance (Efron & Ruth, 2019). Interactional meta-discourse markers, which build a connection between reader and writer, play a crucial role in this process, especially as researchers develop academically across degree levels. This corpus-based study examines the use of interactional metadiscourse markers in the discussion sections of 42 works in applied linguistics—21 PhD theses and 21 master's dissertations—from various Algerian universities. Using Hyland's framework for stance and engagement markers, AntConc software was used to generate frequency lists and concordances for each marker. Normalized frequencies were calculated and statistically analyzed to identify significant differences and to compare how MA and PhD applied linguistics dissertations/theses differ in their use of these markers. The findings revealed that, compared to their MA dissertations, PhD researchers showed notable progress in stance making in their PhD theses. They used more hedges and self-mentions, and fewer boosters and attitude markers, indicating a shift towards a more reflective stance. Additionally, PhD researchers showed a more interactive and engaging approach by increasing the use of reader pronouns, personal asides, and questions. Based on these findings, the study discusses pedagogical implications, acknowledges limitations, and proposes recommendations to guide future research in this area.