Metadiscourse in multi-party conflict talk

Metadiscourse has been recognized as a pervasive feature of discourse which allows us to reflect and comment on discourse, explicitise intended meanings, yet also redefine and reformulate or structure it. Many studies have pointed out that it can be used to guide our interpretations and that it plays an important role in achieving understanding. Very few studies, however, have focused on the role of metadiscourse in conflict talk. This study aims to contribute to filling this gap by investigating the uses and functions of metadiscourse in small group discussion in the context of higher education. The results show that metadiscourse plays an important role in all phases of conflict, i.e. its initiation, development and resolution. In the speech activity of small group discussions communicative activities of all types (verbal, non-verbal, written) are labelled and thus explicitised. In addition, metadiscourse plays an important role in commenting on the discourse structure.