In academic discourse across diverse fields, the cultivation of authorial competence in crafting compelling and persuasive texts is of paramount importance. Scholars in the field of linguistics, particularly those involved in discourse analysis, have been attentive to this necessity. Within the realm of academic writing, the strategic utilization of engagement markers plays a pivotal role in achieving persuasive communication and fostering reader engagement. The cultural positioning of academic writers is often reflected in the incorporation of these linguistic elements within written discourse. This study undertook an examination of 60 research articles spanning the domains of hard and soft sciences, with a focus on discerning potential disparities in the employment of engagement markers between two distinct cohorts of authors: native English speakers and non-native Iranian writers. Employing Hyland's (2005b) model of engagement markers as an analytical framework, the study sought to ascertain the frequency of these linguistic devices within academic research articles produced by the aforementioned groups. The findings of the analysis revealed significant differences in the overall and categorical distribution of engagement markers in the scholarly works of native English and non-native Iranian authors across hard and soft science disciplines. These differences may be ascribed to the cultural positioning of academic writers or the potential lack of familiarity with the established conventions of English rhetoric, pragmatics, and sociolinguistics among non-native Iranian authors. The implications of these findings are significant, as they can inform the development of pedagogical materials aimed at enhancing the academic writing proficiency of authors.
Ajideh et al. (Mon,) studied this question.