The Use of Interactional Metadiscourse Markers in the Discussion Section of Master’s Theses Written in English by Algerian Students: An Investigation of Gender Variation

Abstract

Metadiscourse analysis plays an important role in exploring the rhetorical structure of different academic genres including master’s theses. Gender differences in writing the discussion section within this genre has been unexplored in the Algerian setting. Therefore, this study employs Hyland’s framework of metadiscourse (2005) to investigate gender variation in Algerian master’s theses discussion sections written in English within the field of applied linguistics. It seeks to examine possible similarities and differences in the use of interactional resources across the two gender groups. A mixed-methods approach was opted for to study the frequency and functions of these resources. The findings revealed a higher frequency of occurrence of interactional markers among female writers. Attitude markers were the most preferred interactional resources for both groups of writers with more diversity of lexical choices noticed within the female sub-corpus. Hedges were also significantly frequent among females while males exhibited more preference for using boosters. Self-mentions and engagement markers were found to be the least used interactional categories among both genders. This study also revealed that interactional metadiscourse markers perform different rhetorical functions in the discussion of master’s theses. Keywords: Applied linguistics, Discussion sections, Gender differences, Interactional resources, Metadiscourse