Home Digesting Psychology: Metadiscourse as a Recontextualising Tool in the Digital Communication of Disciplinary Research
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Digesting Psychology: Metadiscourse as a Recontextualising Tool in the Digital Communication of Disciplinary Research

  • Rosa Lorés

    Dr. Rosa Lorés is Professor of English (Applied Linguistics) at the University of Zaragoza, Spain. Her research interests revolve around the study of digital scientific communication practices and genres in English.
Published/Copyright: July 3, 2024
Become an author with De Gruyter Brill
Author Information
Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics
From the journal Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics Volume 47 Issue 2

Abstract

Metadiscourse was initially conceived as a tool to explore mainly academic, monologic, written texts. When applied to the study of digital discourse, metadiscourse may reveal itself as a rather frustrating exploratory framework, firstly because of the problematised interaction between writer and reader in an online context where audiences are not easily identifiable and, secondly, because of the multimodal character of digital texts. In the present study, the role played by interactive metadiscoursal resources in online communication has been explored. For such purposes, the focus has been placed on a corpus of digital research digests published on the website of the British Psychological Society, the most important representative body of the profession in the United Kingdom. The study revolves around the function of interactive metadiscourse as a recontextualising tool to facilitate the understanding of complex disciplinary knowledge for potentially less expert readers. Several interactive resources (code glosses, evidentials, transition markers, and frame markers) are identified, which strategically contribute to the mediation of specialised information and which also take advantage of the affordances offered by digital platforms.

Keywords: interactive metadiscourse; online research digests; expert disciplinary knowledge; recontextualisation

About the author

Dr. Rosa Lorés

Dr. Rosa Lorés is Professor of English (Applied Linguistics) at the University of Zaragoza, Spain. Her research interests revolve around the study of digital scientific communication practices and genres in English.

Acknowledgments

This research has been supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación [PID2021-122303NB- 100] and the Government of Aragón [CIRES H16_23].

References

Ädel, A. (2006). Metadiscourse in L1 and L2 English. Studies in Corpus Linguistics. https://doi.org/10.1075/scl.2410.1075/scl.24Search in Google Scholar

Al-Subhi, A. S. (2022). Metadiscourse in online advertising: Exploring linguistic and visual metadiscourse in social media advertisements. Journal of Pragmatics, 187, 24-40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2021.10.02710.1016/j.pragma.2021.10.027Search in Google Scholar

Bateman, J. A. (2008). Multimodal documents and genre. Multimodality and Genre, 177-248. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230582323_510.1057/9780230582323_5Search in Google Scholar

Bauman, R., & Briggs, C. L. (1990). Poetics and performances as critical perspectives on language and social life. Annual Review of Anthropology, 19(1), 59-88. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.an.19.100190.00042310.1146/annurev.an.19.100190.000423Search in Google Scholar

Bernstein, B. (1997). Pedagogy, symbolic control and Identity—Theory, research and critique. The British Journal of Sociology, 48(2), 321. https://doi.org/10.2307/59175510.2307/591755Search in Google Scholar

Bondi, M. (2018). Try to prove me wrong: Dialogicity and audience involvement in economics blogs. Discourse, Context & Media, 24, 33-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2018.04.01110.1016/j.dcm.2018.04.011Search in Google Scholar

Bondi, M., & Cacchiani, S. (2021). Knowledge communication and knowledge dissemination in a digital world. Journal of Pragmatics, 186, 117-123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2021.10.00310.1016/j.pragma.2021.10.003Search in Google Scholar

Bucchi, M., & Trench, B. (Eds.). (2021). Routledge handbook of public communication of science and technology (3rd ed.). Routledge.10.4324/9781003039242Search in Google Scholar

Carter-Thomas, S., & Rowley-Jolivet, E. (2020). Three minute thesis presentations: Recontextualisation strategies in doctoral research. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 48, 100897. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2020.10089710.1016/j.jeap.2020.100897Search in Google Scholar

Consonni, S., D’Angelo, L., & Anesa, P. (Eds.). (2020). Digital communication and metadiscourse: Changing perspectives in academic genres. Cerlis.Search in Google Scholar

Crismore, A., & Abdollehzadeh, E. (2010). A review of recent metadiscourse studies: The Iranian context. Nordic Journal of English Studies, 9(2), 195-218.10.35360/njes.223Search in Google Scholar

Crismore, A., Markkanen, R., & Steffensen, M. S. (1993). Metadiscourse in persuasive writing: A study of texts written by American and Finnish university students. Written Communication, 10(1), 39-71.10.1177/0741088393010001002Search in Google Scholar

Dahl, T. (2004). Textual metadiscourse in research articles: A marker of national culture or of academic discipline?. Journal of Pragmatics, 36(10), 1807-1825. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2004.05.00410.1016/j.pragma.2004.05.004Search in Google Scholar

D’Angelo, L. (2016). Academic posters: A textual and visual metadiscourse analysis. Peter Lang.Search in Google Scholar

D’Angelo, L., & Consonni, S. (2020). A tale of three waves: Or, concerning the history and theory of metadiscourse. Ibérica, (40), 13-34. https://doi.org/10.17398/2340-2784.40.1310.17398/2340-2784.40.13Search in Google Scholar

D’Angelo, L., Mauranen, A., & Maci, S. (Eds.). (2021). Metadiscourse in Digital Communication. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85814-810.1007/978-3-030-85814-8Search in Google Scholar

Engberg, J. (2021). Prologue. In G. Pontrandolfo & S. Piccioni (Eds.), Comunicación especializada y divulgación en la red: Aproximaciones basadas en corpus (pp. vii-x). Routledge.Search in Google Scholar

Freddi, M. (2020). Blurring the lines between genres and audiences: Interaction in science blogs. Discourse and Interaction, 13(2), 9-35. https://doi.org/10.5817/di2020-2-910.5817/DI2020-2-9Search in Google Scholar

Georgakopoulou, A., & Spilioti, T. (Eds.). (2016). The Routledge handbook of language and digital communication. Routledge.10.4324/9781315694344Search in Google Scholar

Gotti, M. (2010). Identity traits in written academic discourse across languages. In R. Lorés-Sanz, P. Mur-Dueñas & E. Lafuente-Millán (Eds.), Constructing interpersonality: Multiple perspectives on written academic genres (pp. 49-60). Cambridge Scholars Publishing.Search in Google Scholar

Gotti, M. (2014). Reformulation and recontextualization in popularization discourse. Ibérica, 27, 15-34.Search in Google Scholar

Herrando-Rodrigo, I. (2020). Collaborating with disciplinary experts in corpus compilation processes. In M. L. Carrió-Pastor (Ed.), Corpus analysis in different genres (pp. 117-145). https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367815905-910.4324/9780367815905-9Search in Google Scholar

Hyland, K. (2005). Metadiscourse: Exploring interaction in writing. Continuum.Search in Google Scholar

Hyland, K. (2008). Genre and academic writing in the disciplines. Language Teaching, 41(4), 543-562. https://doi.org/10.1017/S026144480800523510.1017/S0261444808005235Search in Google Scholar

Hyland, K. (2010). Constructing proximity: Relating to readers in popular and professional science. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 9(2), 116-127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2010.02.00310.1016/j.jeap.2010.02.003Search in Google Scholar

Hyland, K. (2017). Metadiscourse: What is it and where is it going?. Journal of Pragmatics, 113, 16-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2017.03.00710.1016/j.pragma.2017.03.007Search in Google Scholar

Hyland, K., & Jiang, F. K. (2020). Text-organizing metadiscourse: Tracking changes in rhetorical persuasion. Journal of Historical Pragmatics, 21(1), 137-164. https://doi.org/10.1075/jhp.00039.hyl10.1075/jhp.00039.hylSearch in Google Scholar

Hyland, K., & Tse, P. (2004). Metadiscourse in academic writing: A reappraisal. Applied Linguistics, 25(2), 156-177. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/25.2.15610.1093/applin/25.2.156Search in Google Scholar

Hyland, K., & Zou, H. J. (2020). In the frame: Signalling structure in academic articles and blogs. Journal of Pragmatics, 165, 31-44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2020.05.00210.1016/j.pragma.2020.05.002Search in Google Scholar

Ivorra Pérez, F. M. (2016). Interpersonality and culture: An approach to the movie review genre. Odisea: Revista de estudios ingleses, (17). https://doi.org/10.25115/odisea.v0i17.35810.25115/odisea.v0i17.358Search in Google Scholar

Jewitt, C. (2009). An introduction to multimodality. In C. Jewitt (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of multimodal analysis (pp. 14-27). Routledge.Search in Google Scholar

Johansson, M. (2019). Digital and written quotations in a news text: The hybrid genre of political opinion review. In P. Bou-Franch & P. G. C. Blitvich (Eds.), Analyzing digital discourse: New insights and future directions. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92663-6_510.1007/978-3-319-92663-6_5Search in Google Scholar

Kopple, W. J. V. (1985). Some exploratory discourse on metadiscourse. College Composition and Communication, 36(1), 82. https://doi.org/10.2307/35760910.2307/357609Search in Google Scholar

Kumpf, E. P. (2000). Visual metadiscourse: Designing the considerate text. Technical Communication Quarterly, 9(4), 401-424. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057225000936470710.1080/10572250009364707Search in Google Scholar

Kuteeva, M., & Mauranen, A. (2018). Digital academic discourse: Texts and contexts. Discourse, Context & Media, 24, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2018.06.00110.1016/j.dcm.2018.06.001Search in Google Scholar

Linell, P. (1998). Discourse across boundaries: On recontextualizations and the blending of voices in professional discourse. Text—Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Discourse, 18(2). https://doi.org/10.1515/text.1.1998.18.2.14310.1515/text.1.1998.18.2.143Search in Google Scholar

Lorés-Sanz, R. (2011a). The construction of the author’s voice in academic writing: The interplay of cultural and disciplinary factors. Text & Talk—An Interdisciplinary Journal of Language, Discourse & Communication Studies, 31(2), 173-193. https://doi.org/10.1515/text.2011.00810.1515/text.2011.008Search in Google Scholar

Lorés-Sanz, R. (2011b). The study of authorial voice: Using a Spanish-English corpus to explore linguistic transference. Corpora, 6(1), 1-24.10.3366/cor.2011.0002Search in Google Scholar

Luzón, M. J. (2013a). “This is an erroneous argument”: Conflict in academic blog discussions. Discourse, Context & Media, 2(2), 111-119. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2013.04.00510.1016/j.dcm.2013.04.005Search in Google Scholar

Luzón, M. J. (2013b). Public communication of science in blogs: Recontextualizing scientific discourse for a diversified audience. Written Communication, 30(4), 428-457. https://doi.org/10.1177/074108831349361010.1177/0741088313493610Search in Google Scholar

Luzón, M. J., & Pérez-Llantada, C. (Eds.). (2019). Science communication on the internet: Old genres meet new genres. John Benjamins.10.1075/pbns.308Search in Google Scholar

Mauranen, A. (1993). Contrastive ESP rhetoric: Metatext in Finnish-English economics texts. English for Specific Purposes, 12(1), 3-22. https://doi.org/10.1016/0889-4906(93)90024-i10.1016/0889-4906(93)90024-ISearch in Google Scholar

Mauranen, A. (2013). Hybridism, edutainment, and doubt: Science blogging finding its feet. Nordic Journal of English Studies, 12(1), 7-36.10.35360/njes.274Search in Google Scholar

Moirand, S., Reboul-Touré, S., & Pordeus Ribeiro, M. (2016). Popular science at the crossroads of new linguistic spheres. Bakhtiniana, 11(2), 145-170.10.1590/2176-45732387Search in Google Scholar

Mur-Dueñas, P. (2011). An intercultural analysis of metadiscourse features in research articles written in English and in Spanish. Journal of Pragmatics, 43(12), 3068-3079. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2011.05.00210.1016/j.pragma.2011.05.002Search in Google Scholar

Myers, G. (1991). Lexical cohesion and specialized knowledge in science and popular science texts. Discourse Processes, 14(1), 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1080/0163853910954477210.1080/01638539109544772Search in Google Scholar

Nwogu, K. N. (1991). Structure of science popularizations: A genre-analysis approach to the schema of popularized medical texts. English for Specific Purposes, 10(2), 111-123. https://doi.org/10.1016/0889-4906(91)90004-g10.1016/0889-4906(91)90004-GSearch in Google Scholar

Puschmann, C. (2015). A digital mob in the ivory tower? Context collapse in scholarly communication online. In M. Bondi, S. Cacchiani & D. Mazzi (Eds.), Discourse in and through the Media: Recontextualising and reconceptualising expert discourse (pp. 22-45). Cambridge Scholars Publishing.Search in Google Scholar

Spinuzzi, C. (2004). Describing assemblages: Genre sets, systems, repertoires, and ecologies. Computer Writing and Research Lab. White Papers Series. https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1026533.1026560Search in Google Scholar

Suau-Jiménez, F. (2016). What can the discursive construction of stance and engagement voices in traveler forums and tourism promotional websites bring to a cultural, cross-generic and disciplinary view of interpersonality? Ibérica, 31, 199-220.Search in Google Scholar

Suau-Jiménez, F., Lorés-Sanz, R., Mapelli, G., & Herrando Rodrigo, I. (2021). Discursive interpersonality as an alternative proposal to interpersonal metadiscourse. Onomázein, 54.10.7764/onomazein.54.07Search in Google Scholar

Swales, J. M. (1990). Discourse analysis in professional contexts. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 11, 103-114.10.1017/S0267190500001987Search in Google Scholar

Swales, J. M., & Feak, C. (2012). Academic writing for graduate students (3rd ed.). University of Michigan Press. https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.217393610.3998/mpub.2173936Search in Google Scholar

Trench, B. (2008). Internet: Turning science communication inside-out? In M. Bucchi & B. Trench, Handbook of Public Communication of Science and Technology (1st ed.) (pp. 199-212). Routledge.10.4324/9780203928240-19Search in Google Scholar

Yakhontova, T. (2006). Cultural and disciplinary variation in academic discourse: The issue of influencing factors. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 5(2), 153-167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2006.03.00210.1016/j.jeap.2006.03.002Search in Google Scholar

Zou, H., & Hyland, K. (2019). Reworking research: Interactions in academic articles and blogs. Discourse Studies, 21(6), 713-733. https://doi.org/10.1177/146144561986698310.1177/1461445619866983Search in Google Scholar

Appendix

  1. The “Learning Styles” Myth Is Still Prevalent Among Educators—And It Shows No Sign of Going Away https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/learning-styles-myth-still-prevalent-among-educators-and-it-shows-no-sign-going

  2. Study Suggests There Is Not a “Sensitive Period” for Developing Musical Skills https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/study-suggests-there-not-sensitive-period-developing-musical-skills

  3. Here’s How Personality Changes in Young Adulthood Can Lead to Greater Career Satisfaction https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/heres-how-personality-changes-young-adulthood-can-lead-greater-career-satisfaction

  4. What Makes for a “Meaningful” Death in Fiction? https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/what-makes-meaningful-death-fiction

  5. Having Hope for the Future Could Protect Against Risky Behaviours https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/having-hope-future-could-protect-against-risky-behaviours

  6. School Kids’ Memory Is Better for Material Delivered With Enthusiasm, Because It Grabs Their Attention https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/school-kids-memory-better-material-delivered-enthusiasm-because-it-grabs-their

  7. Liberal Americans’ Distress at 2016 Election Result Shouldn’t Be Labelled “Depression”, Study Argues https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/liberal-americans-distress-2016-election-result-shouldnt-be-labelled-depression

  8. Left-Wing Authoritarianism Is Real and Needs to Be Taken Seriously in Political Psychology, Study Argues https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/left-wing-authoritarianism-real-and-needs-be-taken-seriously-political-psychology

  9. Blind and Sighted People Understand Colour Similarly https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/blind-and-sighted-people-understand-colour-similarly

  10. Threat to Identity Stops Harmful Drinkers Recognising Their Alcohol Issues https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/threat-identity-stops-harmful-drinkers-recognising-their-alcohol-issues

  11. Immature Jokes: What Kids’ Humour Can Tell Us About Their Ability to Empathise https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/immature-jokes-what-kids-humour-can-tell-us-about-their-ability-empathise

  12. The Pandemic Has Left Us Wanting More Personal Space—Even in Virtual Reality https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/pandemic-has-left-us-wanting-more-personal-space

  13. We Think We’ve Changed More in The Past Than We Will Change in the Future—And Americans Seem Particularly Susceptible to This Illusion https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/we-think-weve-changed-more-past-we-will-change-future

  14. Domestic Violence Increased During Lockdown in the United States https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/domestic-violence-increased-during-lockdown-united-states

  15. We’ve Neglected the Role of “Psychological Richness” When Considering What Makes a Good Life, Study Argues https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/weve-neglected-role-psychological-richness-when-considering-what-makes-good-life

  16. Young Australians Who Couchsurf Experience High Levels of Psychological Distress https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/young-australians-who-couch-surf-experience-high-levels-psychological-distress

  17. The Medusa Effect: We Ascribe Less “Mind” to People We See in Pictures https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/medusa-eff

  18. First-Hand Reports of “Brain Fog” Highlight Struggles of Those Living With Long COVID https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/first-hand-reports-brain-fog-highlight-struggles-those-living-long-covid

  19. Negative Media Coverage of Immigration Leads to Hostility Towards Immigrants and In-Group Favouritism https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/negative-media-coverage-immigration-leads-hostility-towards-immigrants

  20. Hand Gestures Help Students Mentally Organise New Information https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/hand-gestures-help-students-mentally-organise-new-information
Published Online: 2024-07-03
Published in Print: 2024-06-25

© 2024 BFSU, FLTRP, Walter de Gruyter, Cultural and Education Section British Embassy

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Metadiscourse in a Disciplinary Context Guest Editors: Erdem Akbaş & Feng (Kevin) Jiang
  3. Metadiscourse in a Disciplinary Context: An Overview
  4. Digesting Psychology: Metadiscourse as a Recontextualising Tool in the Digital Communication of Disciplinary Research
  5. “Here, We Investigate If There Is …”: A Functional Investigation of Self-Mentions in Research Article Abstracts
  6. One Journal, Different Practices: A Corpus-Based Study of Interactive Metadiscourse in Applied Linguistics
  7. Framing the Research and Engaging the Reader in Graduate Engineering Students’ Abstracts
  8. Building Successful Communication in EMI Contexts: A Multimodal Approach to Organizational Metadiscourse in Intercultural Lectures
  9. The Use of Metadiscourse Markers in the Spoken Discourse of Different EMI Disciplines
  10. Metadiscourse in MOOC Video Lectures: Comparison with University Lectures and Disciplinary Variation
  11. Metadiscursive Features in Interdisciplinary Lectures: Implications for EAP Notetaking
  12. Abstracts
  13. Chinese Abstracts
https://doi.org/10.1515/CJAL-2024-0202
Keywords for this article
interactive metadiscourse; online research digests; expert disciplinary knowledge; recontextualisation

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Metadiscourse in a Disciplinary Context Guest Editors: Erdem Akbaş & Feng (Kevin) Jiang
  3. Metadiscourse in a Disciplinary Context: An Overview
  4. Digesting Psychology: Metadiscourse as a Recontextualising Tool in the Digital Communication of Disciplinary Research
  5. “Here, We Investigate If There Is …”: A Functional Investigation of Self-Mentions in Research Article Abstracts
  6. One Journal, Different Practices: A Corpus-Based Study of Interactive Metadiscourse in Applied Linguistics
  7. Framing the Research and Engaging the Reader in Graduate Engineering Students’ Abstracts
  8. Building Successful Communication in EMI Contexts: A Multimodal Approach to Organizational Metadiscourse in Intercultural Lectures
  9. The Use of Metadiscourse Markers in the Spoken Discourse of Different EMI Disciplines
  10. Metadiscourse in MOOC Video Lectures: Comparison with University Lectures and Disciplinary Variation
  11. Metadiscursive Features in Interdisciplinary Lectures: Implications for EAP Notetaking
  12. Abstracts
  13. Chinese Abstracts
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 3.10.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/CJAL-2024-0202/html
Scroll to top button