Examining the use of reflexive metadiscourse in the construction of affiliative communication in group email
requests
This qualitative study examines how male-identified and female-identified individuals use reflexive metadiscourse
in the construction of affiliative communication, i.e., a mode of communication traditionally coded as feminine. Specifically, it
examines requests made in the public context of group email. Both reflexive metadiscourse and affiliative communication are
analysed with the concept of indexicality, and two novel sub-categories (i.e., directing and committing) are added to an existing
taxonomy. The findings show that whether communicating to institutional subordinates, equals, or superiors, female-identified and
male-identified senders displayed great similarity in their use of reflexive metadiscourse in the construction of affiliative
communication. Amongst other things, reflexive metadiscourse indirectly indexed the following communicative behaviours associated
with affiliative communication: sharing contextual information, expressing supportive feedback, constructing diminutive personas,
and suppressing personal agency. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the findings and directions for
future research.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Reflexive metadiscourse
- 3.Gendered communication
- 4.Indexical dimensions of reflexive metadiscourse and affiliative communication
- 5.Data and approach
- 5.1Taxonomy of reflexive metadiscourse
- 6.Findings and analysis
- Downwards communication
- Horizontal communication
- Upwards communication
- 7.Conclusion
- Notes
-
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Cited by (1)
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McKeown, Jamie
2024.
A contrastive investigation of the performative and descriptive use of surprise frames in judicial opinions of the HKSAR.
Journal of Pragmatics 232
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