The Effect of Explicit Instruction of Metadiscourse Awareness on Developing Iranian EFL Learners' Reading Comprehension and its Relationship to the Learners' Memory

Abstract

The term metadiscourse refers to the material which helps to organize the text, signal the writer’s attitude, intended message and assumptions thus shaping the overall organization of the text and providing a better understanding for the interlocutors. It is a rhetorical device writer's use for conveying their ideas, determining the social distance of reader-writer relationship. Writers can create an involved style of writer persona or a more remote stance by using the appropriate metadiscourse devices.So, this useful concept, namely metadiscourse is used to better understanding of the texts and the purpose of this study is to show the effect of explicit instruction of metadiscourse markers on developing Iranian EFL learners' reading comprehension by using metadiscoursal taxonomies proposed by Hyland (2005). The metadiscourse elements in this research will be examined in two categories as interactive and interactional metadiscourse markers. Based on proficiency test 60 institute participants were selected and randomly, based on even and odd, divided in two equal homogeneous groups first, as an experimental group and second as a control group in Pishgaman institute in Kermanshah province that results showed the positive effect of metadiscourse awareness on developing Iranian EFL learners' reading comprehension in two stages of pre and posttest. Also, by conducting the delayed post-test after two weeks only for experimental group, this research indicated that this effect was on short-term, rather than on long-term memory.