A Corpus-based Approach to Evaluative Function of English Interactional Metadiscourse

Under the theoretical framework of Hyland's interpersonal model of metadiscourse,a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the distribution and characteristics of interactional metadiscourse in English cover letters is carried out.The findings show that international metadiscourse is frequently used in English cover letters and these resources have different occurrence frequencies.The writer uses more self-mentions than other subcategories of the international metadiscourse.Among all,engagement markers and hedges are frequently used.The analysis demonstrates that metadiscourse can be regarded as an implicit evaluative resource and be construed the framing and assigning of evaluations beyond the propositional meaning of discourse.It is also shown that interactional metadiscourse use is closely related to the genre.