Persuasion through Metadiscourse: Examining the Textual Metadiscourse Used in the Malaysian Universities' Digital Promotional Materials.
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| Title: | Persuasion through Metadiscourse: Examining the Textual Metadiscourse Used in the Malaysian Universities' Digital Promotional Materials. |
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| Authors: | MOHAMAD, NOR ATIFAH1 atifah740@uitm.edu.my, AB AZIZ, AMEIRUEL AZWAN1, MOHD ADNAN, AIRIL HAIMI2, RAZALI, NAZARUL AZALI1 |
| Source: | 3L: Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies. Dec2025, Vol. 31 Issue 4, p330-344. 15p. |
| Subject Terms: | *Universities & colleges, *Content analysis, Persuasion (Psychology), Promotional literature, Persuasive technology, Discourse markers |
| Abstract: | Promotional booklets are central to how universities persuade prospective students. This study examines how textual metadiscourse realises persuasion in Malaysian universities' digital promotional materials. We compiled two subcorpora from official university websites: 10 booklets from Malaysian public universities and eight from Malaysian private universities. Textual content bearing persuasive intent (e.g., welcomes, institutional overview, "why choose us," facilities, testimonials) was extracted and analysed in AntConc software. A functional, manual coding determined whether candidate items performed metadiscoursal work, and categories followed Hyland's (2005) interpersonal model (interactive vs. interactional). Frequencies were normalised per 1,000 words. Across the combined corpus, interactive resources slightly outnumbered interactional resources. For the interactive resources, transitions were the most frequent interactive device, followed by code glosses and frame markers, reflecting the need to connect dense promotional information coherently. Within interactional resources, attitude markers and self-mentions were most common, signalling institutional stance and persona, with engagement markers also prominent. Private-university materials displayed a higher overall density of metadiscourse and a smaller gap between interactive and interactional resources than public-university materials, suggesting a more balanced "guide + engage" approach. These patterns indicate a persuasive blend of logos (via text-organising resources) with pathos/ethos (via stance and reader alignment). The study contributes corpus-assisted evidence on promotional discourse and offers practical implications for crafting persuasive, reader-friendly university marketing texts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of 3L: Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies is the property of 3L: Language, Linguistics, Literature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
| FullText | Links: – Type: pdflink Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 190781659 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Persuasion through Metadiscourse: Examining the Textual Metadiscourse Used in the Malaysian Universities' Digital Promotional Materials. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22MOHAMAD%2C+NOR+ATIFAH%22">MOHAMAD, NOR ATIFAH</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><i> atifah740@uitm.edu.my</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22AB+AZIZ%2C+AMEIRUEL+AZWAN%22">AB AZIZ, AMEIRUEL AZWAN</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22MOHD+ADNAN%2C+AIRIL+HAIMI%22">MOHD ADNAN, AIRIL HAIMI</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22RAZALI%2C+NAZARUL+AZALI%22">RAZALI, NAZARUL AZALI</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%223L%3A+Southeast+Asian+Journal+of+English+Language+Studies%22">3L: Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies</searchLink>. Dec2025, Vol. 31 Issue 4, p330-344. 15p. – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Universities+%26+colleges%22">Universities & colleges</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Content+analysis%22">Content analysis</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Persuasion+%28Psychology%29%22">Persuasion (Psychology)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Promotional+literature%22">Promotional literature</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Persuasive+technology%22">Persuasive technology</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Discourse+markers%22">Discourse markers</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: Promotional booklets are central to how universities persuade prospective students. This study examines how textual metadiscourse realises persuasion in Malaysian universities' digital promotional materials. We compiled two subcorpora from official university websites: 10 booklets from Malaysian public universities and eight from Malaysian private universities. Textual content bearing persuasive intent (e.g., welcomes, institutional overview, "why choose us," facilities, testimonials) was extracted and analysed in AntConc software. A functional, manual coding determined whether candidate items performed metadiscoursal work, and categories followed Hyland's (2005) interpersonal model (interactive vs. interactional). Frequencies were normalised per 1,000 words. Across the combined corpus, interactive resources slightly outnumbered interactional resources. For the interactive resources, transitions were the most frequent interactive device, followed by code glosses and frame markers, reflecting the need to connect dense promotional information coherently. Within interactional resources, attitude markers and self-mentions were most common, signalling institutional stance and persona, with engagement markers also prominent. Private-university materials displayed a higher overall density of metadiscourse and a smaller gap between interactive and interactional resources than public-university materials, suggesting a more balanced "guide + engage" approach. These patterns indicate a persuasive blend of logos (via text-organising resources) with pathos/ethos (via stance and reader alignment). The study contributes corpus-assisted evidence on promotional discourse and offers practical implications for crafting persuasive, reader-friendly university marketing texts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of 3L: Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies is the property of 3L: Language, Linguistics, Literature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.17576/3L-2025-3104-21 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 15 StartPage: 330 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Universities & colleges Type: general – SubjectFull: Content analysis Type: general – SubjectFull: Persuasion (Psychology) Type: general – SubjectFull: Promotional literature Type: general – SubjectFull: Persuasive technology Type: general – SubjectFull: Discourse markers Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Persuasion through Metadiscourse: Examining the Textual Metadiscourse Used in the Malaysian Universities' Digital Promotional Materials. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: MOHAMAD, NOR ATIFAH – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: AB AZIZ, AMEIRUEL AZWAN – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: MOHD ADNAN, AIRIL HAIMI – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: RAZALI, NAZARUL AZALI IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 12 Text: Dec2025 Type: published Y: 2025 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 01285157 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 31 – Type: issue Value: 4 Titles: – TitleFull: 3L: Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies Type: main |
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