International Journal of Education and Development using ICT

International Journal of Education and Development using ICT > Vol. 6, No. 3 (2010)

Extracting and comparing the intricacies of metadiscourse of two written persuasive corpora

Swee Heng Chan, Universiti Putra Malaysia
Helen Tan, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia

Abstract
Previous studies (Wu 2007, Hyland and Tse 2004, Intaraprawat and Steffensen 1995, Crismore, Markkanen, and Steffensen 1993, and Vande Kopple 1985) have established the use of metadiscourse as an essential element in writing as it allows for the writer to create a dialogic space with his readers. In recent years, attempts have been made to analyze metadiscourse through the use of text corpus with the help of computer technology especially when the corpus is large. In this investigation, data has been obtained through an electronic means to illustrate the use of metadiscourse in writing samples of a group of Malaysian undergraduates. In order to compare their writing against an established standard, the BAWE corpus, available on line, was used. The metadiscourse features were analysed through the concordancing software, monoConc Pro 2.2, for this research. The paper demonstrates how the software manages the data to reveal patterns for comparative use. The paper concludes on initial insights obtained from the comparison to show the nature and manner of metadiscourse between standard writing (extract from BAWE corpus) and evolving student writing at the tertiary level that would have implications for writing improvement for educational institutions.

Full Text: PDF

Research
Support Tool