Reflexive Personal Metadiscourse in Research Articles on Language Learning: A Discourse Analysis

This research attempts to identify the functions of reflexive personal metadiscourse in research articles on language learning. Data for this research were taken from 17 research articles, totaling 177,309 words, published in Language Learning and Technology, an online refereed journal of language learning and technology. In total, 66 instances of reflexive personal metadiscourse were found serving 16 different functions. 93.94% of the instances commented on the on-going text, while 6.06% established interaction between the writer and the audience. The small number of occurrences of personal metadiscourse, though having various functionalities, has yet to gain considerable favor in academic writing

Reflexive Personal Metadiscourse in Research Articles on Language Learning

This research is an attempt to identify the functions of reflexive personal metadiscourse in research articles on language learning. Data for this research were taken from 17 research articles, totaling 177,309 words, published in Language Learning and Technology, an online refereed journal of language learning and technology. In total, 66 instances of reflexive personal metadiscourse were found serving 15 different functions. Most of them (63.64%) were used to express the Discourse Organization function. 13.64% were used to express another important function, which is Discourse Act Labels, by which authors could manifest their identity and voice over claims, propositions, and statements. Through Discourse Act Labels, especially the function of Arguing, social interaction and negotiation of meaning in academic writing ensue. Audience Interaction was found insignificant in number (6.06%). These results seem to suggest that reflexive personal metadiscourse, though having various functionalities, has yet to gain considerable favor in academic writing