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Metadiscourse within a discipline: A study of introduction and literature review chapters of sociology masters’ theses Akoto, Osei Yaw
Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics Vol 10, No 2 (2020): Vol. 10, No. 2, September 2020
Publisher : Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.17509/ijal.v10i2.28588

Abstract

It has been established that there are inter-chapter variations regarding metadiscourse use in masters’ thesis. This paper, therefore, investigates the differences and similarities in metadiscourse use between the Introduction and Literature Review (LR) chapters in Sociology masters’ thesis from an English-medium university. The Introduction and LR Chapters of ten theses constituted the corpus for this study. The metadiscursive devices were manually coded, drawing on the modified version of the Hyland’s (2005a) interpersonal model of metadiscourse. It was realized that there are both differences and similarities between the two chapters in terms of metadiscourse use. In the ranking, the interactive and interactional devices, transitions, and hedges respectively recorded the highest frequencies in the two chapters. Besides, there were significant variations across the two chapters in terms of both interactive and interactional subcategories. The findings have implications for the teaching of English for Research Purposes, and the theory of metadiscourse.
“Anti-Texture” Agents in the Written English Essays of Students in a Ghanaian University Amoakohene, Benjamin; Akoto, Osei Yaw; Siame, Pethias; Kapau, Humphrey
ELT Worldwide: Journal of English Language Teaching Vol 11, No 1 (2024)
Publisher : Pascasarjana Universitas Negeri Makassar

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.26858/eltww.v11i1.61014

Abstract

Texture proves to be a key indicator for measuring the quality of a text but establishing this text quality is a challenge for most English as a Second Language (ESL) students. This challenge has led to an array of studies to find the root cause(s) of this/these writing challenge(s) of ESL students. Despite these numerous studies, there is still paucity of research on “anti-texture” agents in the written English essays of students from the Ghanaian context, especially those at the tertiary level. In filling this gap, this study uses Halliday and Hasan’s (1976) cohesive theory as a framework to explore the types of cohesive errors that serve as “anti-texture” agents in 150 written English essays of students from a Ghanaian university. Because of the highly descriptive nature of this current investigation, it uses the qualitative content analysis as its design. The findings show that challenges like unclear pronoun references, wrong selection of cohesive devices, over usages of one cohesive device within the same textual environments, wider textual distances between references and their referents, the omission of cohesive devices, wrong insertions of cohesive devices and references lacking referents served as barriers to ESL students quest to use cohesive devices as means of creating texture in their texts. The findings further confirmed that the inappropriate use of cohesive devices in the students’ essays disrupted the free flow of information and as such, rendered the essays incoherent. The study has pedagogical implication for ESL academic writing instructors and curriculum developers.