Exploring The Usage Of Metadiscourse In Popular Science Based On A Self-built Corpus

Whenever we use language, we convey an attitude to what we say and to our readers. We might as well convey an attitude to what has been said on the same topic. Metadiscourse plays an important role in realizing these functions. Recently most of the studies on metadiscourse have focused on the usage and distribution of metadiscourse devices in a wide range of genres, especially in research articles, academic articles and some reports. However, little attention has been paid to the usage of metadiscourse in the genre of popular science articles.In order to explore the usage of metadiscourse in popular science articles, researcher builds a small corpus by collecting 50 popular science articles randomly in the column of Tech from the International authoritative journal New Scientist within five-year range from 2010 to 2014. Based on Hyland’s Interpersonal Model of Metadiscourse(2012), the present study annotates metadiscourse devices with AnnoTool 1.0,examines the distribution of metadiscourse resources and analyzes their usage in the corpus, aiming to find out their distribution features and language features in each category. At the same time, this study also analyzes some highly frequent interactive and interactional metadiscourse items from multi-functional approach and summarizes their functions in this genre.The result data shows that metadiscourse resources are widely present in the corpus, which proves the importance of metadiscourse in popular science articles. Among all metadiscourse resources used in popular science articles, transitions are ranked top with regard to frequency of occurrence. Hedges and boosters usually appear in the same context, trying to reach the effect of the objectivity. The frequency of code glosses are higher compared to other genres, which are usually used to interpret certain concepts or terms. Evidentials are mostly presented in the form of direct quotations, which are usually stated by some authorities or experts in related field, thus confirming the credibility of the information sources. Besides engagement markers and self-mentions appear to refer to writers and readers, creating a close relationship between them. Based on the results, researcher proposes a writing model for popular science articles: stimulate readers’ interest, establish a relationship between writers and readers, and create the credibility of the information sources. The thesis concludes with a discussion on the potential factors as for the usage of metadiscourse rescources and their distribution.