On Metadiscourse

The issue of metadiscourse is an important one to be aware of when composing texts for unfamiliar readers. Because your readers quite possibly are not well acquainted with the material you present, what we call the "communicative burden" rests on you: it is your part, in other words, to be absolutely clear. As Confucius wrote in his Analects, "In language, clarity is everything" (Book 15, emphasis mine). One practical way to enhance the clarity of your compositions is to use metadiscourse in judicious ways.

The following material is taken from William J. Vande Kopple's "Some Exploratory Discourse on Metadiscourse," from College Composition and Communication (36.1, Feb. 1985).

In his paper, Vande Kopple follows the premise of previous scholars writing on this issue that "as we write, we usually have to write on two levels. One one level we supply information about the subject of our text. On this level we expand propositional content. On the other level, the level of metadiscourse, we do not add propositional material but help our readers organize, classify, interpret, evaluate, and react to such material. Metadiscourse, therefore, is discourse about discourse or communication about communication" (83, emphasis added). So saying, Vande Kopple makes it clear that metadiscourse is a secondary kind of writing which serves to make it easier for the meaning of other, primary writing to get across. In other words, there's the information we present (on one level), and there's the guiding the audience through that information (on a second level).

In his "exploratory" paper, Vande Kopple identifies seven major types of metadiscourse. The following is an outline created from the information in his text; I have made use of his examples and his wording exactly.

· Text connectives

o Reminders about material presented earlier

§ Sequential: first, next, in the third place

§ Logical or temporal relationship: however, nevertheless, as a consequence

o Statements of what material one is on the verge of presenting

§ what I wish to do now is the develop the idea that

o Topicalizers

§ for example, there are, as for, in regard to

· Code glosses: definitions of unfamiliar terms

· Illocution markers: explicit indications of what we are doing discursively

o I hypothesize that, to sum up, we claim that, I promise to

· Validity markers

o hedges: perhaps, may, might, seem, to a certain extent

o emphatics: clearly, undoubtedly, it’s obvious that

o attributors: according to Einstein (for purposes of establishing a contention)

· Narrators

o according to James, Mrs. Wilson announced that, the principal reported that

· Attitude markers: to reveal our attitudes toward the propositional content

o I find it interesting that, it is alarming to note that

· Commentary: directly addressing readers, often appearing to draw them into an implicit dialogue with us

o comment on probable moods, views, or reactions: most of you will oppose the idea that

o recommend a mode of procedure: you might wish to read the last chapter first

o let them know what to expect: you will probably find the following material difficult at first

Except for the final kind of metadiscourse, commentary—because it directly addresses the audience, something we're not doing in this course—you will find all of these helpful in creating a more "reader-friendly" specimen of written academic discourse. Learning to implement metadiscourse in your texts will help to create a more fluid piece of prose, thus enhancing readability and aiding, through metadiscursive "cues," in removing some intimidation your reader may have in approaching a new and mysterious subject.

Self-conscious use of metadiscourse benefits you as the rhetor as well. Being aware of how and why you use these features of metadiscourse to guide your reader through your “propositional content” (the subject matter, the arguments you are advancing, the real "stuff" of the paper) will help you to become more explicitly aware of the rhetorical strategies you employ to control your written discourse. Remember, all discourse is of a rhetorical (that is, persuasive [code gloss!]) nature, so being more fully alerted to the approaches you take in seeking to win others to your viewpoint can only help you as you learn this art of rhetoric. Be sure to review this material often and recognize when you write metadiscursively and when you might be aided in clarity by doing so.