漢語與英語網路語篇的後設論述機制研究

Abstract

後設論述係指用以增進文本結構組織與立論內容之語言標記，可表述作者立場，並具有聯繫讀者關係的功能。而網路論壇包含立論語篇的協商訊息，有利於剖析後設論述標記之特性。前人研究雖已闡明英語後設論述對描述溝通準則的重要性，但對影響後設論述生成與理解的語言與文化因素卻未予以解析。因此，本研究對比漢語與英語網路立論語篇的後設論述標記，進而探討跨語言之形式與文化差異，語料樣本取自台灣Mobile01與美國Yahoo Shopping網站平台的立論訊息。研究結果顯示互動與交互兩類標記皆為立論語篇必備的後設論述機制。漢語與英語用以連貫立論的互動標記在類型與頻率上近似，然而交互標記的運用則反映跨語言差異，形成作者與讀者建立互動的不同方式，如漢語較常規避、強調、表態與介入，而英語僅較常使用自稱標記。結論透露後設論述體現不同語言在邏輯辯證時採用不同的人際協商模式，而漢語於網路社會的語言表現異於傳統社會強調的集體與互依文化觀念，取而代之的是重視強化個體影響力的Ｅ世代新風貌。

Metadiscourse refers to linguistic markers that function to facilitate organization and argumentation in texts. It conveys writers’ stance while bridging relation with potential readers. Discussion forums on the Internet involve negotiation messages in argumentative discourse that are valuable for the analysis of metadiscourse markers. Early work has argued for the significance of metadiscourse in the characterization of communicative norms. However, linguistic and cultural factors that influence writers’ production and readers’ interpretation of metadiscourse are still poorly understood. This study thus compares Chinese and English metadiscourse markers in online argumentative discourse to explore their differences in formal and cultural features. Observation is based on argumentative messages collected from Taiwan Mobile01 and America Yahoo Shopping websites. Results show that interactive and interactional markers are essential metadiscourse devices in argumentative discourse. Both languages display similar categorization and occurring frequencies of interactive markers used to assist coherence. However, the use of interactional markers reflects cross-linguistic variation, leading to the distinct ways writers interact with readers. For instance, hedges, boosters, attitude markers, and engagement markers occur more frequently in Chinese, while only self-mention markers appear more often in English. Conclusions suggest that metadiscourse reveals different interpersonal negotiation principles adopted by different languages. The linguistic behaviors of Chinese people in the Internet society do not seem to follow the collectivism and interdependency culture highly valued in the traditional society. What is displayed is the new style of E-generation that puts more emphasis on building up individual influence.