Date: 17-Oct-2006 From: Paul Peranteau <paulbenjamins.com> Subject: Metadiscourse in L1 and L2 English: Ädel
Title: Metadiscourse in L1 and L2 English
Series Title: Studies in Corpus Linguistics 24
Published: 2006
Publisher: John Benjamins
http://www.benjamins.com/
Author: Annelie Ädel, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Hardback: ISBN: 9027222975 Pages: 243 Price: U.S. $ 132.00
Hardback: ISBN: 9027222975 Pages: 243 Price: Europe EURO 110.00
Abstract:
The pervasive phenomenon of metadiscourse - commentary on the ongoing discourse - is beginning to take its rightful place among the major topics of discourse studies. This book makes simultaneous contributions to the theory of metadiscourse, corpus-based methods of studying such phenomena, and our knowledge of metadiscourse use in written English. After comprehensively reviewing previous research, it introduces a more rigorous and empirical approach to metadiscourse studies. Ädel presents a new model of metadiscourse based on Jakobson's functions of language, and other conceptual tools, including explicit features for defining metadiscourse, a taxonomy of the functions it serves, and maps of the boundaries between it and related phenomena. A large-scale study of writing by L1 and L2 university students is presented, in which the L2 speakers' overuse of metadiscourse strongly marks them as lacking in communicative competence. This work is of interest both to linguists and to educators concerned with writing in English.
Table of contents
Acknowledgements ix-x Introduction 1-12 A model of metadiscourse 13-45 Personal metadiscourse 47-95 Impersonal metadiscourse 97-123 The textual distribution of metadiscourse 125-139 Possible causes of variation in metadiscourse use 141-155 Theories of metadiscourse 157-180 Conclusions 181-200 Appendices 201-219 Notes 221-229 References 231-237 Author index 239-240 Subject index 241-243
"This book is a significant contribution to the rapidly developing field of learner-corpus research. It yields new insight into an important aspect of learner language and at the same time contributes more generally to the corpus-based study of metadiscourse."" Stig Johansson, University of Oslo
"Annelie Ädel has written a scholarly theoretically rigorous account of metadiscourse use based on new perspective and insight. For these reasons and because she applies new computer-assisted methods, her book will surely be seen as a pioneering work with positive impacts on current and future metadiscourse researchers and users. Ädel's style is clear and accessible, and she offers readers something valuable and interesting. Those interested in L1 and L2 English learner research in reading, writing, speaking, and text structure will find this study of metadiscourse strategies compelling." Avon Crismore (author of Talking with Readers: Metadiscourse as Rhetorical Act)
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