Beyond words: Exploring the use of code glosses in academic discourse by novice L2 writers

Abstract

Code glosses (in other words, namely, for instance, such as) present metadiscourse markers used to restate the propositional material and specify the writer’s attitude towards the subject matter and the readers, projecting the writer’s relationship to both of them. Code glosses can be (mis)used to influence the audience and their opinion. Nevertheless, it is a skilled knowledge that has to be acquired. The paper examines whether students from Serbia and Croatia at their MA level of English studies can properly recognize and utilize code glosses in order to create comprehensible and reader-friendly theses. In a quantitative analysis, following Hyland’s (2005, 2007) criteria, code glosses were identified in a corpus of the students’ MA theses and analysed in relation to the corpus of master’s theses by students from American and British universities, whose writing was set as a standard. The results of statistical tests reveal that novice L2 writers demonstrate a propensity for reformulation, while underusing exemplification and mostly rely only on a small number of familiar markers. This may be a result of insufficient training in academic writing, differences across disciplines, variations in culture and language, and a lack of understanding regarding the roles and significance of code glosses in academic discourse.