A Comparative Study of the Use of Metadicourse Markers in Persian and English Academic Papers

Abstract

Metadiscourse (MD) markers help writers present their arguments and research findings and represent themselves more effective in their academic writings. This study intended to examine the MD features in both the discussion and the conclusion sections of Iranian and native English writers in the hard science of geology. For this purpose we randomly selected two groups of Research Articles written by Persian and English native writers. The MD markers including interactive and international devices were manually counted and recorded. The quantitative analysis of the result showed that the native English (NE) writers used more interactional MD devices than the interactive MD features in the argumentative sections of their research articles (RAs). However, native Persian (NP) authors applied more interactive MD resources than the interactional ones in the discussion and conclusion sections of their RAs. The findings implied that although the NP writers well organized their discourse flow, they could not make an effective interpersonal relationship with their own readers.