This study explores the use and functions of engagement strategies in English and Arabic newspaper editorials. To this end, the study analyses 80 editorials collected from two popular newspapers (40 from each): The Guardian which publishes in English and appears in the UK and Addustour which publishes in Arabic and appears in Jordan. Following Paltridge’s (2020) taxonomy, the study utilises a mixed-method approach to assess whether differences in the use of engagement strategies between the two corpora are statistically significant and to identify the functions of the strategies used in the two sets of data. The findings show that there are statistically significant differences between the two languages in the use of some engagement strategies. In particular, Arabic editorials included more reader pronouns and less personal asides than did English ones. In addition, although questioning as an engagement strategy was absent in the Arabic corpus, it was used in the English one to transmit information and circulate knowledge. The findings enrich our understanding of how the editorial genre is constructed, and how editorialists engage with their readers in the two languages.

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This study investigates the use of interactive metadiscourse markers in first language (L1) and second language (L2) English editorials. It also identifies how L1 and L2 editorials differ in the use of these markers. To this end, the study utilizes Hyland’s (2019) model of interactive metadiscourse to analyse – based on a descriptive approach – 80 editorials collected from two highly reputed newspapers: The Guardian and The Jordan Times, distributed evenly. The data were analysed both quantitatively, using SPSS tests to identify significant differences (if any) between the two sets of editorials, and qualitatively to enrich our understanding of the functions of interactive metadiscourse markers in editorials. The analysis revealed that there is no significant difference in the use of interactive metadiscourse markers between the two corpora. However, there is a slight variation in the use of individual interactive markers such as frame markers and evidentials. The findings are discussed in the light of theories of metadiscourse and previous literature. The study provides implications for L2 learning and teaching in terms of how interaction in written discourse is achieved in the L2.