Writer-reader interaction in L2 learner academic discourse: Reader engagement in Czech students’ Master’s theses

This article investigates writer-reader interaction in L2 (Czech) learner academic discourse with a specific focus on reader engagement in English-medium Master’s theses in the humanities. The study draws on Hyland and Jiang’s (2016) model of engagement. It aims to reveal how Czech graduates use fea...

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Main Author: Olga Dontcheva-Navrátilová
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Univerzita Karlova, Filozofická fakulta 2023-12-01
Series:Linguistica Pragensia
Subjects:
Online Access:https://linguisticapragensia.ff.cuni.cz/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/10/Olga-Dontcheva-Navratilova_117-135.pdf
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author Olga Dontcheva-Navrátilová
author_facet Olga Dontcheva-Navrátilová
author_sort Olga Dontcheva-Navrátilová
collection DOAJ
description This article investigates writer-reader interaction in L2 (Czech) learner academic discourse with a specific focus on reader engagement in English-medium Master’s theses in the humanities. The study draws on Hyland and Jiang’s (2016) model of engagement. It aims to reveal how Czech graduates use features of engagement (such as reader reference, appeals to shared knowledge, directives and questions) to establish solidarity with readers by acknowledging their presence and negotiating potential alternative views. The contrastive corpus-based analysis compares a corpus of Czech English-medium Master’s theses with two reference L1 corpora representing learner and published academic discourse to explore the impact of linguacultural background, expertise and discipline on the frequency of use and functions of engagement markers. The findings suggest notable variations in the realization patterns and functions of engagement markers across the corpora. It is observed that Czech graduates tend to underuse reader reference and questions, while overusing directives. Moreover, they generally struggle to approximate disciplinary patterns of engagement markers. This trend might reflect students’ limited awareness of academic rhetorical conventions, their efforts to blend L1 and L2 academic norms, and the unique context of addressing an audience within the examination framework of the Master’s thesis.
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spelling doaj.art-634af724c4254212ad54af6be518853d2023-12-18T10:40:19ZdeuUniverzita Karlova, Filozofická fakultaLinguistica Pragensia0862-84321805-96352023-12-0133211713510.14712/18059635.2023.2.2Writer-reader interaction in L2 learner academic discourse: Reader engagement in Czech students’ Master’s thesesOlga Dontcheva-Navrátilová 0Masaryk University, BrnoThis article investigates writer-reader interaction in L2 (Czech) learner academic discourse with a specific focus on reader engagement in English-medium Master’s theses in the humanities. The study draws on Hyland and Jiang’s (2016) model of engagement. It aims to reveal how Czech graduates use features of engagement (such as reader reference, appeals to shared knowledge, directives and questions) to establish solidarity with readers by acknowledging their presence and negotiating potential alternative views. The contrastive corpus-based analysis compares a corpus of Czech English-medium Master’s theses with two reference L1 corpora representing learner and published academic discourse to explore the impact of linguacultural background, expertise and discipline on the frequency of use and functions of engagement markers. The findings suggest notable variations in the realization patterns and functions of engagement markers across the corpora. It is observed that Czech graduates tend to underuse reader reference and questions, while overusing directives. Moreover, they generally struggle to approximate disciplinary patterns of engagement markers. This trend might reflect students’ limited awareness of academic rhetorical conventions, their efforts to blend L1 and L2 academic norms, and the unique context of addressing an audience within the examination framework of the Master’s thesis.https://linguisticapragensia.ff.cuni.cz/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/10/Olga-Dontcheva-Navratilova_117-135.pdfacademic discourseintercultural rhetoricmaster’s thesismetadiscoursereader engagement
spellingShingle Olga Dontcheva-Navrátilová
Writer-reader interaction in L2 learner academic discourse: Reader engagement in Czech students’ Master’s theses
Linguistica Pragensia
academic discourse
intercultural rhetoric
master’s thesis
metadiscourse
reader engagement
title Writer-reader interaction in L2 learner academic discourse: Reader engagement in Czech students’ Master’s theses
title_full Writer-reader interaction in L2 learner academic discourse: Reader engagement in Czech students’ Master’s theses
title_fullStr Writer-reader interaction in L2 learner academic discourse: Reader engagement in Czech students’ Master’s theses
title_full_unstemmed Writer-reader interaction in L2 learner academic discourse: Reader engagement in Czech students’ Master’s theses
title_short Writer-reader interaction in L2 learner academic discourse: Reader engagement in Czech students’ Master’s theses
title_sort writer reader interaction in l2 learner academic discourse reader engagement in czech students master s theses
topic academic discourse
intercultural rhetoric
master’s thesis
metadiscourse
reader engagement
url https://linguisticapragensia.ff.cuni.cz/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/10/Olga-Dontcheva-Navratilova_117-135.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT olgadontchevanavratilova writerreaderinteractioninl2learneracademicdiscoursereaderengagementinczechstudentsmasterstheses