Metadiscursive devices in university lectures

Drawing on Systemic Functional Linguistics, and especially, on the notions of genre (Martin, 1985; Eggins, 1994) and phase (Young 1990, 1994), the present paper pursues a two-fold objective: (i) to identify the type, function and linguistic realisation of the metadiscursive devices (MDs) used in the organisation of lectures; and (ii) to account for similarities and differences between the L1 and L2 and assess their implications for teacher training. The contrastive analysis of six lectures given by the same speakers in Spanish (L1) and English (L2) reveals differences regarding the types and realisations of MDs. Specifically, the Spanish data show more explicit signalling, a wider variety of stylistic choices, and a higher use of interaction devices and conclusion markers. These findings point to the need for precise language objectives (e.g. explicit focus on the role of MDs) in CLIL teacher education in university contexts.

Published online: 15 December 2010
https://doi.org/10.1075/aals.7.11daf