DBPIA - Mi-Lim Ryoo(류미림) 저, Metadiscourse in Computer-mediated Communication in a Culturally Diverse Group

DBPIA - Mi-Lim Ryoo(류미림) 저, Metadiscourse in Computer-mediated Communication in a Culturally Diverse Group

The present study attempts to shed light on meta discourse (textual context) in computer-mediated communication (CMC). The purpose of the study is to explore how one constructs metadiscourse in CMC, what roles metadiscourse plays in a text, and whether people of different ethnic and linguistic backgrounds construct metadiscourse in CMC differently. In tackling these matters, the study analyzes the data from a Usenet discussion group in which the members of the group were ethnically diverse. The descriptive framework adopted for this study is Halliday's metafunction analysis of language in relation to metadiscourse. In order to observe participants' ethnic differences in formulating texts in CMC, a comparative analysis of each participant's messages is implemented with type/token ratios and the use of pronouns, modalities, frame markers, sentence length, and paralinguistic devices, namely metadiscourse markers. The findings include: NSs use more function words in a sentence than NNSs do; NSs employ modals more diversely and frequently than do NNSs; NSs construct the text to be more "reader-friendly" and informal using alternatives like emotions, than do NNSs; finally, NSs' CMC discourse style is similar to spoken discourse rather than written, whereas NNSs' shows a typical written discourse.