This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by CRISMORE, A. Articles by STEFFENSEN, M. S. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Metadiscourse in Persuasive Writing

A Study of Texts Written by American and Finnish University Students

Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne

RAIJA MARKKANEN

University of Jyväskylä

MARGARET S. STEFFENSEN

Illinois State University

Metadiscourse refers to writers' discourse about their discourse—their directions for how readers should read, react to, and evaluate what they have written about the subject matter. In this study the authors divided metadiscourse into textual metadiscourse (text markers and interpretive markers) and interpersonal metadiscourse (hedges, certainty markers, attributors, attitude markers, and commentary). The purpose was to investigate cultural and gender variations in the use of metadiscourse in the United States and Finland by asking whether U.S. and Finnish writers use the same amounts and types and whether gender makes any difference. The analyses revealed that students in both countries used all categories and subcategories, but that there were some cultural and gender differences in the amounts and types used. Finnish students and male students used more metadiscourse than U.S. students and female students. Students in both countries used much more interpersonal than textual metadiscourse with Finnish males using the most and U.S. males the least. The study provides partial evidence for the universality of metadiscourse and suggests the need for more cross-cultural studies of its use and/or more attention to it in teaching composition.

Written Communication, Vol. 10, No. 1, 39-71 (1993)
DOI: 10.1177/0741088393010001002


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. Abdi Interpersonal metadiscourse: an indicator of interaction and identity Discourse Studies, April 1, 2002; 4(2): 139 - 145. [Abstract] [PDF]

				D. A. RIER The Versatile "Caveat" Section of an Epidemiology Paper: Managing Public and Private Risk Science Communication, September 1, 1999; 21(1): 3 - 37. [Abstract] [PDF]

				K. Hyland Exploring Corporate Rhetoric: Metadiscourse in the CEO's Letter Journal of Business Communication, April 1, 1998; 35(2): 224 - 244. [Abstract] [PDF]

				K. HYLAND Talking to the Academy: Forms of Hedging in Science Research Articles Written Communication, April 1, 1996; 13(2): 251 - 281. [Abstract]