A Study On Metadiscourse In Foreign Language Textbooks(1912-1949)

The concept of metadiscourse was put forward in the 1960s,mainly refers to the discourses that are used to organize personal views and realize communication and interaction.However,it was not until the 1980s that the academic field started the systematic study of metadiscourse.Under the efforts of Williams,Crismore,Vande kopple,Hyland and other scholars,metadiscourse research has gradually become a school of thought.While in China,the studies of metadiscourse are still in infancy and most of them are concentrated in the scientific and academic professional articles.Metadiscourse is not only the link between textbook editor and the materials he construct,but also the important and even the only means for guiding learners to understand the contents of teaching materials and realize the communication between editors and writers,this makes textbook metadiscourse analysis a meaningful study area.This research consists of eight chapters.The first chapter is the introduction part,which brings forward the researching origins,research significance,key concepts and research content.The second chapter is the research review part,which aims to review and comment the research achievements of Textbook,Foreign Language Textbooks and Foreign Language Textbooks' Metadiscourse.The third chapter is regarding the theoretical basis of this study,including the explanation of the key concepts in Text Linguistics,the development of Text Linguistics and the main theoretical schools of Text Linguistics.The fourth chapter is the research design,which explains the research questions,research methods,research corpus and the steps of corpus analysis in detail.The fifth chapter analyzes the formal characteristics and functional characteristics of foreign language textbooks' metadiscourse in the Republic of China.Chapter six analyzes the context situations of the metadiscourse,and explains the features of the metadiscourse from the perspectives of context,intertextual context and cultural context.Chapter seven provides several strategies for improving the metadiscourse quality of Chinese contemporary foreign language textbooks.The last chapter is the concluding part of the dissertation.It summarizes the conclusions of the above chapters and points out the implications to the future research.The main findings of this study are as follows:(1)Through the quantitative statistics of the corpus,it is found that the difficulty of textbooks in different historical periods remains in a similar level,among which the difficulty of "Kaiming English Book" is as high as 0.38,which is equivalent to the difficulty of senior three to the first year of college.In terms of metadiscourse distribution,the difference between interactive metadiscourse and interactional metadiscourse is not significant,in which the most frequently used metadiscourse markers are the engagement markers(31.79),followed by the frequency of transitions(31.03),and the frame markers(11.55),endophoric markers(9.96).While the least commonly used metadiscourse are the evidentials(0.19)and the attitude markers(2.12).(2)By analyzing the formal characteristics and functional characteristics of metadiscourse,it is found that foreign language textbooks paid more attention on the grammar knowledge.A large number of metadiscourse markers,such as transitions and code glosses,are used for introducing grammar.Secondly,foreign language textbooks tend to hide the editors' subj ective states.Editors rarely use evidentials and emotional markers to show their personal preference,and seldom use the markers such as tentative metadiscourse to present the uncertainty.Even when it's necessary to express their personal opinions,the editors tend to use "we","the author" or "the writer" rather than "I".Finally,the foreign language textbooks of the Republic of China show a reader-centered communication attitude.In order to create a communicative atmosphere of negotiation,authors often use hedges and a large amount of engagement markers.For the purpose of engaging students in communication,they keep explaining the key knowledge so as to reduce the cognitive burden on learners.In general,the textbooks in the Republic of China provided a"reader-centered" and low-context atmosphere to the greatest extent in order to adapt to the English proficiency of primary foreign language learners.(3)Through the analysis of the context of the metadiscourse,it is found that the textual organization of foreign language textbooks is not presented in a linear way,the more complex the text structure is,the more appropriate to use frame markers,the more compact the text,it is more likely to use endophoric markers.Self mentions is a common metadiscourse strategy,which can reduce the stiffness of textual information connection.Secondly,there is a close and complex intertextual relationship between foreign language textbooks in the Republic of China.In the course of the development of textbooks,intertextual relations of different genres have emerged,and do not take historical periods as intervals.In addition,textbooks which published between 1921 and 1949 are not only have commonalities in topic types,guiding strategies and grammatical content design,but also present intertextual relations in the specific use of metadiscourse.Finally,the good-quality foreign language textbooks of the Republic of China have different textual forms,intertextual relations,culture content selections but hold similar essence,that is always considering the needs of audience,showing their language view,teaching view clearly,and using rich but stable rhetorical strategies.(4)By analyzing the metadiscourse of contemporary foreign language textbooks,it is found that the distribution of metadiscourse in contemporary foreign language textbooks is unbalanced,the use of metadiscourse is monotonous,and the authors'communicative role is unclear.It is suggested that the textbook editors should first enhance the awareness of metadiscourse,clarify the communicative role of the communicative subject,and pay attention to the balance and cohesion between different modules,so as to increase the diversity of metadiscourse within each unit.In addition,the editors should ensure the effectiveness of the advance organizer,and provide clear guidance and abundant cultural content for the students in developing their intercultural communication competence and multi-cultural awareness.Hyland has concluded that there are at least three advantages of metadiscourse awareness.First,it relieves the reader's processing load by highlighting important points,indicating direction,anticipating structure,linking sections and ideas,etc.Secondly,it shows readers that the writer recognizes their needs and is seeking to engage them in a dialogue.Thirdly,it reveals the writer's awareness of the interactional conventions of a community.This study provides us with multiple-dimensional analysis of metadiscourse in foreign language textbooks as well as theoretical and practical suggestions and implications in textbook evaluation,metadiscourse analysis,and editor-development program,which can offer insights into our understanding of metadiscourse and illuminate an important dimension of rhetorical variation among disciplinary communities.