What is Metadiscourse?
Telling the Reader about Your Text—and about Your Attitudes
English is considered to be a “writer-responsible” language (Hinds, 1986). This means
that you are responsible for leading the reader through the text you have written and for
telling the reader about your responses to what you are discussing. If you can use
appropriate metadiscourse, you will be able to read well and write good expository prose.
How do writers employ metadiscourse? There are many ways. Using related vocabulary,
paragraphing, and including text headings are a few. Other general examples are listed
below:
1. Framing metadiscourse: Language referring to major sections of a paper,
including:
 Phrases or sentences that tell you what is going to happen in the text.
They might be something like the following at the beginning of a paper:
o This essay is organized in the following way:
o The purposes of this research report are to discuss the methodology
employed, present the results, and discuss the results in light of
current theories.
o And, in the middle of a text: Why do we think this? Does this
mean that we don’t go into space? (Rhetorical questions answered
in the paragraphs that follow.)
 Phrases or sentences that refer to what has already happened in the text
and what will come next. Here are possibilities:
o So far, I have discussed Chua’s major claim. Now, I will turn to…
o The first part of this paper was devoted to Farmer’s early life. The
second part will focus on his accomplishments.
o A third argument relates to…
o The most obvious objection to this is….
o One result of this is…
 Words, phrases, or sentences that mark the conclusion of a paper or
section:
o In conclusion (or in summary), it is important to note that…
o To sum up this section, I will….
o Finally, it should be argued that…
o Therefore, it can be concluded that…
2. Focusing metadiscourse: Language that shows the writer’s main ideas or
principal claim(s):
 My point here is that…
 What I am claiming is…
 So this helps me to conclude that…
 This is, in fact, my principal argument:
 The most important idea here is that…
3. Connecting metadiscourse; Words that connect information or arguments that
have been presented to what will appear later. Often these occur within sentences,
within paragraphs, or as paragraphs begin:
 Words or phrases that tell the reader that something related will be added
to what has been written: in addition, and, also…
 Words or phrases that tell the reader that there will be a change or contrast
presented: but, yet, however, nevertheless, on the other hand, another way
of looking at this, instead, alternatively…
 Words or phrases that show a cause/effect relationship: as a result, so,
consequently, thus…
 Words or phrases that tell the reader that an example of what has been
discussed will follow: for example, for instance; to understand this, you
need to look at…
 Words or phrases that indicate time discussed: today, in the past,
meanwhile, at the same time, there was a time when…
4. Explaining metadiscourse: Words or phrases that further explain an idea or
concept: This means that…, in other words, namely, in fact…
5. Attitudinal metadiscourse: Language that helps the reader to understand how the
writer feels about the topic being discussed:
 Hedges: Words or phrases that show the writer may be uncertain about
what is being presented:
o Perhaps this means that we should be more careful…
o This finding might indicate…
o It is possible that this argument is…
 Emphatics: Words or phrases that show that the writer is certain about
something:
o It is clear that the experts were wrong.
o I am certain that this is not the case.
o I agree that this is important.
o Of course, we all know that…
 Directionals: Words or phrases that ask the reader to do something:
o Imagine having AIDS in a Third World country.
o Consider how much has been spent on foreign assistance.
Note: Attitudinal metadiscourse will help you to understand a writer’s ethos.
These are a few of the more general ways that writers lead readers through texts and help
them to understand the writer’s stance on an issue. However, much metadiscourse is
unique to a writer or a specific text. If you look closely, you will see that good writers of
expository prose are always leading readers through their texts using their own
techniques and language, approaches that help you to chart, summarize, and find the
central claims.
Can you identify writers’ techniques in your readings?
Metadiscourse - Examples
Signaling a topic - the metadiscourse, or language about language, that
announces what the paper will be about and what it will do. Metadiscourse
can be used both to announce the overall project or purpose of the paper and
to announce its argument.
Metadiscourse also provides signposts along the way, guiding the reader to
what will come next and showing how that is connected to what has come
before.
Examples from professional articles:
"In this essay, I examine in some detail what we mean by . . . My primary
purpose, however, is to create a new, shared discourse for understanding X."
"I want to explore a connection between X & Y . . ., but as I will suggest. . ."
"My essay moves from an analysis of this problem to case studies of
[people] wrestling with it. My argument is this: . . . . Such inquiry must
start, as I will here, by confronting the conflicts within . . ."
"In what follows, I hope to complicate X by demonstrating the social
potential of both Y and Z. I contend that. . . . I show how these attitudes
emerge not only in response to A but to B."
"The following discussion sets out an analysis and an illustration. The
analysis identifies how several claims cohere. . . . The illustration offers a
formulation of what X could be today."
Student work on Chua: students can also use metadiscourse to describe
their writing projects. For example:
This paper further investigates Chua’s argument by using additional sources
about globalization in order to clarify both the problem and implications that
she describes.
I begin with a brief description Amy Chua’s project and what it asks readers
to consider. I then move to a discussion of additional resources that make
her work more understandable.
To bring Chua’s argument about the “explosive collision” of these forces
into sharper focus, I explore two additional sources. The first extends
Chua’s argument, and the second complicates it by showing another way to
look at problems that emerge with globalization.
Additional examples of metadiscourse in our course texts:
Chua, 113
The argument I am making is frequently misunderstood. I do not propose a
universal theory. . . . The point, rather, is this:
Kaldor, 270
In this essay, I shall distinguish between the different types of armed forces
that are emerging in the post-Col War world. . .
Scott, 522
I shall use the term public transcript as a shorthand way of describing the
open interaction between subordinates and those who dominate.
Scott, 531
Now that the basic idea of public and hidden transcripts has been introduced,
I will venture a few observations by way of orienting the subsequent
discussion.
Ehrenreich, 196
But the real question is not how well I did at work but how well I did at life
in general, which includes eating and having a place to stay. The fact that
these are two separate questions needs to be underscored right away.
Ehrenreich, 204
But the resistance of employers only raises a second and ultimately more
intractable question: Why isn’t this resistance met by more effective
counterpressure from the workers themselves?
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