Comparative Analysis of Metadiscourse Markers Used by Non-native and Native

Metadiscourse markers have always been regarded as crucial elements applied in different spoken and written texts with different genres and different discourse communities. In written communication, by applying metadiscourse markers, writers intend to express their attitudes and views toward particular audience in line with their readers’ expectations, perspectives, and needs persuasively. This study aimed at a comparative analysis of metadiscourse markers as interactive and interactional sub-categories between a non-native author (Iranian) and a native author (American) in order to identify the similarities and differences in commercial correspondence based on Hyland’s (2005) model. SPSS program was run to analyze the data in order to test the research hypotheses and to exhibit non-native and native author’s behaviors in utilizing metadiscourse markers in commercial correspondence. The results showed that there was a statistically significant difference in only two types of interactive and interactional sub-categories as transition and hedge used by non-native (Iranian) and native (American) authors respectively. However, both non-native and native authors applied the rest of interactive and interactional sub-categories approximately in a similar manner. The conclusions emphasize the role of cross-cultural and background knowledge as influential factors in influencing writer’s attitude in applying rhetorical metadiscourse markers in commercial genre persuasively.

کلیدواژه ها:

Metadiscourse ، Metadscourse markers ، Interactive markers ، Interactional markers