A Corpus-based Study of Interactional Metadiscourse in Dissertation Abstracts

Although much previous research has examined the expression of interactional metadiscourse in different registers,little is known about the ways writers express interactional metadiscourse in part-genres such as dissertation abstracts.This study explores interactional metadiscourse in doctoral students’English dissertation abstracts in material science and applied linguistics.The analysis is based on two self-built corpora of student writing:60 dissertation abstracts in material science and 60 dissertation abstracts in applied linguistics.Using Hyland’s(2005)model of interactional metadiscourse,this study compared the employment of metadiscourse resources in the two corpora.Findings of the analysis show that the students in applied linguistics use significantly more interactional devices than their material science counterparts.For each type of interpersonal resource,namely,hedges,boosters,attitude markers,self-mentions and engagement markers,significant differences were found.The results reveal students’increasing awareness of the authorial identity in academic writing.The study has practical implications for the teaching of academic writing.