A Study of Interactional Metadiscourse Markers and Gender in the Defense Seminars of Persian Speakers

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze the relation between a linguistic behavior, namely interactional metasdicourse, and a non-linguistic variable, namely, gender in thesis defenses of Persian speakers. Based on the model of community of practice, a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the metadiscourse markers employed by male and female candidates in thesis defenses have been carried out. The data include eighteen thesis defenses of nine males and nine females in humanities and social sciences. The quantitative analysis represents a statistically significant difference in the use of interactional metadiscourse markers by male and female candidates. The qualitative analysis, however, indicates the existence of some similarities among these two social groups in using the types of metadiscourse markers in the defense seminars of Persian speakers.