Metadiscourse, known as discourse about ongoing discourse, has been the subject of discourse research from a wide range of perspectives. In academic contexts, knowledge of metadiscourse as a prominent feature of all types of academic discourse provides second language readers with information about writer’s attitudes towards the text and the readers. Over the past decade there has been a growing interest in conducting studies investigating different aspects of metadiscourse in relation to language learning. The present study hopes to contribute to the study of metadiscourse by investigating its effect on EFL learners’ reading comprehension (with three levels of reading proficiency: low, medium, and high) when faced two text types –academic and general. To this end, data were collected through two instruments, namely a TOEFL reading comprehension sample test and a reading comprehension test which consisted of two text types was developed for the purpose of this study. Two versions of this reading comprehension test were developed: one with metadiscourse enriched texts and the other with  metadiscourse removed ones. The results of data analysis showed that students in all three levels of reading proficiency performed better on metadiscourse enriched test booklet than their counterpart groups who took the metadiscourse removed text booklet. In comparing students’ performance on metadiscourse removed text types, it was revealed that  they did more poorly on academic metadiscourse removed test booklet than on general one. The findings of this study suggest that making students aware of metadiscoursal features of different text types enhances students’ reading comprehension.

Keywords: metadiscourse; reading comprehension; academic text; general texts; EFL learners

Bunton, D. (1999). The use of higher level metatext in Ph.D theses. English for Specific Purpose. Vol 18, 41-56.

Crismore, A. (1989). Talking with readers: Metadiscourse as rhetorical Act. New York, NY: Peter Lang.

Crismore, A. (1985). The rhetoric of textbooks: metadiscourse. Journal of Curriculum Studies. Vol 16(3), 279-296.

Crismore, A. & Abdollahzadeh, E. (2011). A review of recent metadiscourse studies: The Iranian context. Nordian Journal of English Studies. Vol 9(2), 195-218.

Gilbert, J. (2010). Constructivism within the second language classroom. Boison State University. Retrieved March 2014 from http://edtech2.boisestate.edu/gilbertj/504/synthesis.pdf

Grabe, W. (2009). Reading in a second language moving from theory to practice. Cambridge University Press.

Halliday, M.A.K. (1973). Exploration in the functions of language. London, Edward Arnold

Hashemi, M.R., Khodabakhshzadeh, H., Shirvan, M.E. (2011). The effect of metadiscourse on EFL learners’ reading comprehension. Modern Journal of Language Teaching Methods. Vol 2(1), 112-126.

Hashemian, M., Rahimi Domakani, M., & Rahmati, Z. (2012). Metadiscourse and L2 reading comprehension: the effect of genre and L2 proficiency. International Journal of English and Literature.Vol 2(1), 62-73.

Hyland, K. (2010). Metadiscourse: Mapping interaction in academic writing. Nordic Journal of English Studies, Special Issue, Metadiscourse, Vol 9(2), 125-143.

Hyland, K. (2005). Exploring interaction in writing. London, New York:Continum.

Hyland, K. (1999). Talking to students: Metadiscourse in introductory course books. English for Specific Purpose, Vol 18(1), 3-26.

Hyland, K. (1998). Persuasion and context: The pragmatics of academic metadiscourse. Journal of Pragmatics, Vol 30, 437-455.

Intaraprawat, P. & Steffensen, M. (1995). The use of metadiscourse in good and poor ESL essay. Journal of second language writing, Vol 4(3), 253-272.

Jenaabadi, H. (2011). Studying the efficiency of teaching and learning processes and evaluation of English curriculum from teachers’ point of view in Zahedan high schools. International Journal of Science and Advanced Technology, Vol 1(6), 157-161.

Marandi, S.S. (2003). Metadiscourse in English/Persian master’s thesis: A contrastive study. IJAL, Vol 6(2), 23-42.

Mauranen, A. (1993). Contrastive ESP rhetoric: Metatext in Finnish-English economic texts. English for Specific Purposes, Vol 12, 3-22.

Moiinvaziri, M. (2014). Students’ voice: A need analysis of university general English course in Iran. GEMA, Online Journal of Language Studies, vol.14 (1), 57-75.

Nambiar, R. (2007). Enhancing academic literacy among tertiary learners: A Malaysian experience. 3L Journal of Language Teaching, Linguistics and Literature, Vol 13, 77-94.

Parvaresh, V. & Nemati, M. (2008). Metadiscourse and reading comprehension: The effects of language and proficiency. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, Vol 5(2), 220-239.

Rahemi, J. (2010). Reciprocal teaching as a tool to foster autonomy: Practical considerations in Iranian high school. Foreign Language Teaching Journal, Vol 89(23), 29-36

Rahimi, M. 2007. L2 reading comprehension test in the Persian context: Language of presentation as a test method facet. The Reading Matrix, Vol 7(1), 151-165.

Razmjoo, S.A. & Riazi, A.M. (2006). Do high school or private institutes practice communicative language teaching? A case study of Shiraz teachers in high school and institutes. The Reading Matrix, Vol 6(3), 340-363.

Shekarchi, S. (2013). Problems in teaching English in Iranian high schools. Online from http://www.studymode.com/essays/Problems-In-Teaching-English-In-Iranian-39074884.html

Toumi, N. (2009). A model for investigation of reflexive metadiscourse in research articles. University of Reading, Language Studies Working Papers, Vol 1, 64-73.

Vande, K., & W.J. (1997). Refining and applying views about metadiscourse. Paper presented at the 48'h Annual Meeting of the Conference of College Composition and Communication, Phoenix, AZ. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED411529.

Yang, Y.C. (2008). The use of metadiscourse to teach high school students reading comprehension. Online from http://w3.yfms.tyc.edu.tw/yihchin/metadiscourse.htm.

Zarei, G.R. & Mansoori, S. (2007). Metadiscourse in academic prose: A contrastive analysis of English and Persian research articles. The Asian ESP Journal, Vol 3(2), 24-40.