Profiling the Use of Attitude Markers, Boosters and Hedges in Academic Written Production of International Student Mobility Participants

Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Titel: Profiling the Use of Attitude Markers, Boosters and Hedges in Academic Written Production of International Student Mobility Participants
Autoren: Sanja Marinov Vranješ, Mirna Varga
Quelle: Journal of Language and Education, Vol 11, Iss 1 (2025)
Verlagsinformationen: National Research University, Higher School of Economics (HSE), 2025.
Publikationsjahr: 2025
Schlagwörter: boosters, study abroad, international student mobility, interactional metadiscourse, L2 writing development, attitude markers, P1-1091, hedges, Philology. Linguistics, Education
Beschreibung: Background: Motivated by the growing interest in the impact of study abroad programs on language development, the present research addresses a gap in the literature by examining the often-overlooked role of metadiscourse markers in writing. Purpose: The study explores the impact of study abroad on the use of attitude markers, boosters, and hedges in the L2 English academic writing of international students. Method: Using a pre-test post-test within-subject design, we analysed essays written by students before and after a semester abroad to map the characteristics of their interactional metadiscourse style and assess changes in their use of these markers. Results: The findings show a significant increase in hedges post-study abroad, indicating a shift towards a more cautious and nuanced writing style. However, no statistically significant changes were observed for attitude markers and boosters. The overall range of interactional metadiscourse markers remained limited, occasionally making lexical choices more typical of informal language rather than academic written discourse. Conclusion: While study abroad may enhance certain aspects of language use, targeted pedagogical interventions are needed to improve academic writing. Emphasizing interactional metadiscourse markers could help students develop a more sophisticated written style, better suited to academic contexts. This research contributes to both pragmatics and study abroad literature. In pragmatics, it expands existing knowledge on the writing styles of novice academic writers, particularly by identifying potential areas for improvement related to the use of metadiscourse markers. Simultaneously, it advances study abroad literature by introducing metadiscourse as a critical, yet previously underexplored indicator of writing quality. By highlighting the importance of these linguistic features, this study opens new avenues for both theoretical inquiry and practical applications in enhancing the academic writing skills of international students.
Publikationsart: Article
ISSN: 2411-7390
DOI: 10.17323/jle.2025.22372
Zugangs-URL: https://doaj.org/article/b1bb74a29c154f0d890ebc3c6aab1773
https://jle.hse.ru/article/download/22372/22373
https://doi.org/10.17323/jle.2025.22372
Rights: CC BY
Dokumentencode: edsair.doi.dedup.....90fd39c91fb71ea604969ff7e9c0e7fa
Datenbank: OpenAIRE
Beschreibung
Abstract:Background: Motivated by the growing interest in the impact of study abroad programs on language development, the present research addresses a gap in the literature by examining the often-overlooked role of metadiscourse markers in writing. Purpose: The study explores the impact of study abroad on the use of attitude markers, boosters, and hedges in the L2 English academic writing of international students. Method: Using a pre-test post-test within-subject design, we analysed essays written by students before and after a semester abroad to map the characteristics of their interactional metadiscourse style and assess changes in their use of these markers. Results: The findings show a significant increase in hedges post-study abroad, indicating a shift towards a more cautious and nuanced writing style. However, no statistically significant changes were observed for attitude markers and boosters. The overall range of interactional metadiscourse markers remained limited, occasionally making lexical choices more typical of informal language rather than academic written discourse. Conclusion: While study abroad may enhance certain aspects of language use, targeted pedagogical interventions are needed to improve academic writing. Emphasizing interactional metadiscourse markers could help students develop a more sophisticated written style, better suited to academic contexts. This research contributes to both pragmatics and study abroad literature. In pragmatics, it expands existing knowledge on the writing styles of novice academic writers, particularly by identifying potential areas for improvement related to the use of metadiscourse markers. Simultaneously, it advances study abroad literature by introducing metadiscourse as a critical, yet previously underexplored indicator of writing quality. By highlighting the importance of these linguistic features, this study opens new avenues for both theoretical inquiry and practical applications in enhancing the academic writing skills of international students.
ISSN:24117390
DOI:10.17323/jle.2025.22372