A Cross-disciplinary Study of Metadiscourse Markers in Research Articles (Research Paper)

Metadiscourse Markers (MDMs) serve as rhetorical tools that authors employ to facilitate audience understanding (interactive MDMs) and to foster engagement between authors and readers within a text (interactional MDMs) (Hyland, ۲۰۰۵). This study examines the variation in MDM usage across different disciplines, specifically in the post-method sections of ۱۲۰ Research Articles (RAs) categorized as soft-pure (English literature), soft-applied (applied linguistics), hard-applied (pharmacology), and hard-pure (mathematics). The corpus, comprising ۷۹۳,۸۷۳ words, was analyzed using the AntConc concordancer, and the Kruskal Wallis Test was applied for statistical evaluation. The findings revealed significant cross-disciplinary differences and highlighted distinct patterns in the utilization of MDMs across various RAs. Specifically, soft-applied texts contained the highest number of both interactive and interactional MDMs. The analysis of these results provided important insights for English for Academic Purposes (EAP) programs as well as academic reading and writing courses. It emphasizes the need for students to adapt to the contemporary trend of using more accessible language to engage a wider audience. This approach is especially relevant in today's competitive academic landscape, where clear communication is essential for effectively disseminating research findings and maximizing their impact. Additionally, the paper proposes directions for future research to address identified limitations and delimitations.

کلیدواژه ها:

academic writing ، Cross-Disciplinary Variation ، Metadiscourse ، Research Article