Rhetoric-specific features of interactive metadiscourse in introduction moves: A case of discipline awareness

Abstract

To gain credibility and get acceptance from academic discourse communities, writers rely heavily on communicating with their audiences through publishing research articles (RAs). Analysing the generic structure of RAs can deal with issues relating to their language style and the type of linguistic features used. To Hyland, one of the valuable ways to study the pragmatic meaning of RAs and their generic pattern is through metadiscourse. Metadiscourse focuses on facilitating communication between writers and readers through meeting the expectations of potential readers. A crucial part of metadiscourse is its interactive dimension, which helps writers establish a sense of social engagement by guiding their readers though the text. Based on Hyland’s interpersonal model of metadiscourse, the present study explored the use of interactive metadiscourse features in the rhetorical moves of 40 RA introductions from two disciplines, namely applied linguistics, and chemistry. In sum, marked similarities and discipline-specific variations were found with regard to the frequency and function of the types of interactive markers in the main moves of both introductions. The findings can provide insights into the understanding of discipline- and rhetoric-specific conventions in writing the RA as a widely practised academic genre of communication.