Metadiscursive Features in Interdisciplinary Lectures: Implications for EAP Notetaking

Academic lectures are among the primary resources of knowledge for higher education students, which makes notetaking a requirement during lectures. The ability to take good notes and the quality of notes taken during lectures are associated with academic achievement; therefore, notetaking instruction is an important aspect of EAP courses. To this end, the present study aims at offering a genre-based instruction framework for notetaking instruction. In accordance with this purpose, eight interdisciplinary lectures were analysed. First, rhetorical functions were identified using the framework developed by Bouziri (2020). Then, metadiscursive elements signalling the organisational structure were identified using the metadiscourse frameworks developed by Adel (2010) and Hyland (2005). Major findings indicate a relationship between rhetorical functions and metadiscursive elements. Namely, certain metadiscourse items can signal the use of certain rhetorical functions. Thus, the GBI framework for notetaking was structured focusing on the associations that can be established between the rhetorical functions and metadiscursive elements.