The use of metadiscourse markers in applied linguistics research proposals written by Vietnamese MA students

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate how the metadiscourse markers are used in Applied Linguistic research proposals written by Vietnamese MA students. Besides, it also examines what the most and least common types of metadiscourse markers are used in this kind of proposal. The study used a corpus consisting of Applied Linguistic research proposals written by a total of 20 students. The analysis of the type and frequency of metadiscourse markers used in the selected research proposals was based on Hyland’s (2005) model. With the support of the concordance computer program, namely Antconc, the occurrence of each metadiscourse marker found was calculated to find out the results. The finding of the study showed that interactive markers are more commonly used than interactional markers in Applied Linguistic research proposals. It is also seen that transition markers are the most common type of metadiscourse markers, while evidential markers have the lowest frequency. This can imply that Vietnamese students prioritize the interactive metadiscourse markers over the interactional metadiscourse markers in Applied Linguistics research proposals due to the fact that it is the easiest way for the author to organize the text in order to make readers comprehend the whole text.