Linguistics and Literature Studies Vol. 7(5), pp. 220 - 225
DOI: 10.13189/lls.2019.070505
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Metadiscourse in Academic Writing: An Investigation of Saudi EFL Students' Research Articles

Majdah Alkhathlan ^*
Independent Scholar, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

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.

KEYWORDS
Metadiscourse, Research Articles, EFL Learners, Interactional Metadiscourse, Interactive Metadiscourse

Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Majdah Alkhathlan , "Metadiscourse in Academic Writing: An Investigation of Saudi EFL Students' Research Articles," Linguistics and Literature Studies, Vol. 7, No. 5, pp. 220 - 225, 2019. DOI: 10.13189/lls.2019.070505.

(b). APA Format:
Majdah Alkhathlan (2019). Metadiscourse in Academic Writing: An Investigation of Saudi EFL Students' Research Articles. Linguistics and Literature Studies, 7(5), 220 - 225. DOI: 10.13189/lls.2019.070505.