The Instruction of Metadiscourse in an English-in-the Discipline Course

Abstract

<p>Undergraduates in Hong Kong have reported difficulties in English academic writing, which can possibly be attributed to their limited repertoire of linguistic resources for conveying stance, presenting authorial selves, and structuring a text. To expand <em>English-as-a-second-language</em> (ESL) students’ linguistic repertoire, earlier studies have advocated the instruction of (simplified) linguistic frameworks in language courses. Despite a call for more action research, there has been a lack of empirical investigation into the effectiveness of teaching linguistic frameworks in <em>English for Academic Purposes</em> (EAP) or <em>English-in-the-Discipline</em> (ED) courses. Addressing this research gap, the current reflective presentation aims to evaluate the impacts of teaching <em>Metadiscourse</em> in an ED course targeting the Social Sciences. Students’ drafts for a non-assessed writing practice were collected before and after the introduction of Metadiscourse. A comparison of the two datasets contributed by 34 students has revealed how Metadiscourse can potentially guide students to signify attitudes, build elaboration, and enhance coherence. Although students in general were able to construct cautious and coherent arguments, they tended to conceal their authorial presence by avoiding self-mentions. These findings and our reflection on our teaching may generate implications for designing scholarly-informed EAP and ED courses.<br></p>