Authority and interaction in academic discourse: a study of self-mentions and engagement markers in the translations produced by KSU Saudi Academics

Abstract

An assessment of the literature related to metadiscourse reveals that the translation of metadiscourse in the context of English–Arabic translation has not received serious attention and emphasizes the need for more contributions in this research area. The aim of this study is to explore how Saudi academics translate self-mentions and engagement markers as two metadiscourse features in an attempt to uncover how the authority of academic discourse and interaction between the writer and the readers are realized in English and Arabic academic writing. The data of the study consist of 19 academic books translated from English into Arabic by Saudi academic staff. Tang and John’s (1999) taxonomy is used to analyze the translations of self-mentions. The study demonstrates an accommodation in the translated books to the standards of Arabic academic writing, which generally discourage the use of first-person pronouns.

The analysis of engagement markers involves examining the translations of their five types which are proposed in Hyland’s (2005b) taxonomy. Analysis of these features shows that while personal asides, appeals to shared knowledge, and questions are translated almost literally, the study uncovers notable changes in the translations of reader pronouns and directives. For reader pronouns, three patterns are identified after analyzing their translations: omitted, pluralized, and emphasized reader pronouns. The analysis of directives reveals that their face-threatening nature likely motivates Saudi academic translators to use a number of strategies to alleviate their impositional force. The study findings suggest that the differences in the use of directives between the source and target languages might be due to variations between the Arabic and the Anglophone cultures. Thus, the study highlights the importance of cultural and epistemological awareness in translating self-mentions and engagement markers from English into Arabic, as such differences can significantly affect how these features are rendered.

Thesis is embargoed until 31 December 2030.

Date of Award	Dec 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Queen's University Belfast
Sponsors	King Saud University
Supervisor	Piotr Blumczynski (Supervisor) & Kathleen Kaess (Supervisor)