Interpersonal Model of Metadiscourse: What is it and Should it be Taught in EFL Writing Classrooms?

Abstract

Interpersonal metadiscourse (IM) is referred to linguistic resources that are used to refer to the act and the context of writing about some subject matter. It is the technique of organizing discourse, expressing the writer’s attitudes towards the text and reader. This literature review presented an IM as the representation of the writer’s consciousness of the unfolding text as communication and how writer situates audience in the text to create convincing and coherent prose in the particular social context. An IM revealed the writer’s awareness of the reader and his or her need for elaboration, clarification, guidance, and interaction. The significant function achieved by IM resources was facilitating the comprehensibility of the text. This review article discovered the classroom instrument with appropriate metadiscourse resources has a positive impact on the development of EFL learners’ writing. Moreover, the inclusion of IM markers in EFL writer’s text not only developed its coherence but also became comprehensible to the reader. Therefore, IM was found to be applicable in EFL writing classrooms. In this review paper, metadiscourse is not identified as a teaching methodology but seen that it has important implications for EFL writing classroom practices.