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Studies on Metadiscourse in TV Lectures

Author: FengYongWei
Tutor: TangHongFang
School: Hunan University
Course: Foreign Linguistics and Applied Linguistics
Keywords: metadiscourse TV lectures Lecture Room intra-discourse motivations extra-discourse motivations
CLC: H030
Type: Master's thesis
Year: 2011
Downloads: 59
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Abstract

The term metadiscourse was introduced by Zellig Harris in 1959, and it refers to a way of understanding language in use, representing a writer’s or speaker’s attempts to guide a receiver’s perception of a text. With the development of metadiscourse studies over the past 50 years, metadiscourse has become a hot topic in studies of writing, reading, rhetoric and text structure. Most studies demonstrate that metadiscourse plays a significant role in communication and is an important means to facilitate communication, make the discourse readable and build a relationship with readers/listeners.Although the previous research on metadiscourse has made great achievements, it leaves something to be desired. The limitations of the past studies mainly lie in two aspects. Firstly, previous metadiscourse studies have largely laid much emphasis on written languages such as academic writings (Hyland, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2008; Gillaerts, 2010), postgraduate dissertation (Bunton, 1999; Hyland, 2004), textbooks (Crismore, 1984; Hyland, 1994, 1999), and science popularizations (Crismore and Farnsworth, 1990). However, little attention in the past studies has been paid to metadiscourse in such forms of mass communication as TV talk shows or TV lectures, public speeches and so on, which carry characteristics of both spoken and written language. Secondly, the motivations for the use of metadiscourse in various genres have not been explained clearly despite that many theoretical studies have been made from several perspectives such as psychological ones, cognitive ones, pragmatic ones and so on. Therefore, based on the above two points, the thesis mainly have two objectives:1) To investigate the general distribution of metadiscourse in TV lectures based on Hyland’s interpersonal model of metadiscourse by taking‘Lecture Room’as a case.2) To discover motivations for the use of metadiscourse markers in TV lectures by analyzing the data from‘Lecture Room’.The two objectives are achieved respectively through two methods adopted by the present research, namely the quantitative method and the qualitative method. As far as the quantitative analysis is concerned, we collect 24 episodes of lectures from‘Lecture Room’as the data, and these lectures nearly cover all subjects the program deals with, such as culture, economy, biology, medicine and so on. The results of quantitative analysis suggest that metadiscourse markers are pervasive in the program. There are 8123 items in a 179000 word data of 24 episodes of‘Lecture Room’, 45.4 metadiscourse markers per 1000 words on average. Specifically, interactive metadiscourse markers (55.7% of the total) are more than interactional ones (44.3% of the total). Among the interactive metadiscourse markers, transitions (20.8%), followed by frame markers (16.8%), code glosses (10%), evidentials (4.9%) and endophoric markers (3.2%), is the most frequent one. Among the interactional metadiscourse markers, engagement markers (18.8%), followed by hedges (11.9%), attitude markers (5.3%), self mentions (4.8%) and boosters (3.5%), have the highest percentage. Different percentages for different metadiscourse markers not only depend on discourse characteristics of TV lectures and functions of each category of metadiscourse, but also depend on the diverse motivations for the use of metadiscourse. On the ground of quantitative analysis, the results of qualitative analysis show that the use of metadiscourse markers is based on two motivations, namely intra-discourse motivations and extra-discourse motivations. Intra-discourse motivations are concerned with the way we organize the discourse itself, consisting of providing the right amount of information, providing genuine information and constructing the rational discourse. Extra-discourse motivations are related to the way we use metadiscourse markers to interact with the audience, consisting of building solidarity with audience, making a dialogue with audience and saving face of audience. According to our analysis, endophoric markers are used to provide the right amount of information; evidentials and boosters can be employed to provide genuine information; transitions, frame markers, and code glosses can be deployed to construct a rational discourse; engagement markers and hedges can be used to help speakers to interact with the audience.The research has both theoretical and practical significance. It will not only extend the field of studies on metadiscourse, but also enhance our understanding of motivations for the use of metadiscourse markers. Moreover, the findings of the research will provide implications for language teaching and learning.

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CLC: > Language, writing > Linguistics > Semantics,pragmatics,lexicology, meaning school > Semantics, pragmatics
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