This book provides an accessible introduction to metadiscourse, discussing its role and importance in written communication. It explores examples from a wide range of texts from business, journalism, academia and student writing to present a new theory of metadiscourse. The final section of the book explores the importance of metadiscourse for teachers and students, and details its practical advantages and applications in the writing class. Accessibly written and packed with examples, Metadiscourse is an essential introduction for students of applied linguistics, language teachers and academics.
Ken Hyland is Professor of Applied Linguistics in Education at the University of East Anglia. He is a Foundation Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of the Humanities and an Honorary Professor at Warwick University, Jilin University and Hong Kong University.
A compelling analysis of the social and rhetorical function of metadiscourse in all kinds of writing and speech. Hyland reviews other models of metadiscourse and traces through them a common concern with the way that we use metadiscourse (i.e., discourse about discourse) to engage with readers and to achieve contextually-important rhetorical ends. Offers a concrete model of his own that is easily adaptable to a variety of study contexts.