A Comparative Study Of Interactive Metadiscourse In Teacher Talk In English MOOC Between Chinese And Foreign Universities

Metadiscourse is an important discourse phenomenon that has recently been hot research in the field of discourse study.Nevertheless,most previous studies focus more on written language than oral speech.The teacher talks in MOOCs was even less mentioned.The metadiscourse can be separated into interactional and interactive metadiscourse,following the interpersonal model.Interactive metadiscourse involves organizing discourses,which can help speakers create connections to guide audience understanding.Moreover,interactive metadiscourse is also cohesive and pragmatic,representing the inner interaction of the speaker with the listener,and speakers possess audience consciousness,choosing the suitable way to provide information for the audience.Nevertheless,interactional metadiscourse reflects the interaction between speakers and audiences,which receives more attention than the interactive dimension in academic metadiscourse discourse studies.Nevertheless,former research on the metadiscourse of academic spoken English is mainly about the interactional metadiscourse and less about interactive metadiscourse.Based on the situation above,this study takes the interpersonal model of metadiscourse proposed by Hyland(2005)as the theoretical foundation and combines qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis to explore the similarities and differences between how college English MOOC teachers abroad and at home and contributing factors.This study adopted two English MOOCs with related themes and constructed two corpora,each with about 20,000 characters,based on the authorization of the MOOCs platform and the professionalism of the institutions providing the courses.Ant Conc 3.5.8 and Chi-square Calculator were used for entry retrieval and data processing,comparing and analyzing the similarities and differences in adopting interactive metadiscourse abroad and at home.The three questions listed below are the primary goals of this study:(1)What are the overall distribution features of interactive metadiscourse in teacher talk in English MOOCs in Chinese and foreign universities?(2)What are the similarities and differences in the distribution of interactive metadiscourse in teacher talk in English MOOCs?(3)What are the factors for the similarities and differences in the distribution of interactive metadiscourse in teacher talk in English MOOCs?The results are as follows: In English MOOCs,the distribution of interactive metadiscourse exhibits both parallels and contrasts.Many interactive metadiscourse terms are employed in Chinese and foreign English MOOCs,making up a sizable component.Specifically,the distribution of endophoric markers and evidential markers is similar in the two MOOCs.The main difference is that frame markers exist more in foreign English MOOCs,while the frequency of code glosses is higher in domestic English MOOCs.Two key factors account for the similar distribution of interactive metadiscourse: The extensive use of transition markers,frame markers,and code glosses is related to the fact that both Chinese and foreign teachers are trying to make MOOCs coherent;Endophoric markers and evidential markers have a similar distribution in MOOCs abroad and at home due to the cultural content of courses.The factors contributing to the differences are as follows: there are more frame markers in foreign MOOCs because English is in a low-context culture,and teachers focus on logical and clear expression;The higher frequency of code glosses in Chinese English MOOCs is due to the circular thinking of native Chinese teachers and the limited English ability of the audience.The results of this study would provide a significant reference for English MOOC teachers in curriculum design and discourse expression and enhance their awareness of the use of interactive metadiscourse to achieve a higher instructional effect.Learners of English MOOCs can also better understand the teacher’s discourse and course content.To some extent,this study would also enrich the relevant research on the metadiscourse theory of the interpersonal model proposed by Hyland(2005).