GUIDING READERS
Metatext can appear in different location and forms within a text. In a longer piece of text, the author begins by informing the reader what the text is going to be about. At relevant places during the text, the writer reminds the reader of what will follow, or what the content of a particular section of the text will be. Sub-headings are another metatextual device used for this purpose. After a length of text, the writer may recap on what s/he has just written. Metatext can also be used for linking ideas or building up an argument. It can even be used for emphasis, when the writer draws the readers’ attention to something important. All these devices are designed to guide readers to grasp the writer’s message.
Here are some examples of metatext in action:
1. DEFINING SCOPE
In a longer piece of text, the author introduces either the aims or subject matter which is (not) covered in a text.
This paper presents a new method to improve the reliability of roll bearings in paper machines. This thesis aims to produce a complete design specification for a remotely operated vehicle
This thesis focuses on the development of the high-bandwidth torque sensor.
This study does not consider other measures, such as monitoring and early-warning systems.
An examination of the waste disposal and decommissioning issues associated with nuclear power lies outside the scope of this study.
2. HEADINGS
Headings and sub-headings are used to highlight the division of the text into its constituent parts.
2.3 Models for optimisation 2.3.1 PROTOTYPE PACKAGE DESIGN
3. PREVIEW
Metatext that describes what is about to follow often occurs at transitions between sections of the text.
In this section, we compare the performance of the SGA algorithm with that of the optimal APP decoder, This section reviews some recent advances in techniques for amplifying light transmitted through optical fibres.
This section discusses background information and related work in these areas of software engineering.
We now return to consideration of the hydrogen reduction process for the recovery of pure nickel powder.
In addition to statements given at the beginning of individual sections, theses, journal articles and reports often contain a paparagraph which previews the entire structure of the document. This convention is typical for research articles in fields such as engineering, physics, and biochemistry.
The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. In Section II, we introduce the decentralized decision-making problem and demonstrate how it can be modelled as a learning problem. In Section III, we present a kernel-based algorithm for solving the problem, and we also derive boundary conditions for the performance of this algorithm. Section IV is devoted to the results of tests using our algorithm, performed on both simulated and real data. Finally, we conclude the study with a discussion of future directions in Section V.
4. CONNECTORS
Metatext can most often be found in the form of connectors, which link ideas and help the writer to build up arguments.
In contrast, the sustainability of the practices would appear to be good. Furthermore, much of the available data is incompatible, as there are no commonly agreed definitions for contamination of water courses.
For more information about connectors, see Signposts or Punctuating sentence connectors.
5. POINTING TO DATA
Academic conventions require that writers clearly state their information sources. This can be seen in statements that direct the reader where to look either within or outside the text.
See [24], [25], and [33] for more details. One of the most common conventionalized uses of metatext in academic writing is to point out to your readers which table, figure, or diagram they should turn to when reading a data commentary.
ACTIVE:
Table 3 presents the incompatibility problem.PASSIVE:
The incompatibility problem is presented in Table 3.AS + participle:
The results, as shown in Table 1, agree with the predictions of the model.The adaptive technique is also applicable to other devices, as shown in Figure 7.
6. EMPHASIZING
Metatext can also be used to draw readers’ attention to what the writer sees as important.
It should be emphasized that the data presented in table 2 represent the findings from only three of the five tests. It must be stressed that the values listed are only estimates.
7. SUMMARIZING
In theses and other academic dissertations, writers can provide a brief summary at the end of the main section of their text, though this is less common than metatexual previews. Notice how the verbs tend to be in the present perfect tense.
The previous section has broadly described the issues and various algorithmic techniques for finding local and global minima. The previous section has shown shown how diagrammatic techniques can be used to support the presentation of accident reports.
Writers may often choose to combine a brief summary together with a metatexual preview at the end of the main section of their text. This technique, known as summary-forecast, provides writers with an smooth transition to the next section.
The previous section has argued that a number of problems prevent designers from accurately assessing the causes of human 'error' and systems failure. The next section goes on to demonstrate that a number of graphical techniques can be used to avoid these limitations. Similarly, many research journals require writers to provide a summary of their article's purpose, often in separate section called "Conclusions" or "Summary".
This paper reviewed the current capabilities of software suites for integrating individual security tools. In this paper, we have discussed the problems of designing interfaces between parallel programming languages.
In this report, a novel correction technique for a robot environment has been presented.
BUILDING CREDIBILITY
Writers need to be convincing and credible to their readers. How can you build this credibility? Generally, readers have more confidence in writers who are cautious and critical towards their data, and explicitly mention the limitations of their work. In some fields, such as biomedicine, the humanities and business, writers can win their readers’ confidence by quoting sources to lend authority to their claims. Such “name dropping” is, however, less common in technology and other hard-sciences, in which writers strive to assert the effectiveness of proposed solutions to problems. Nevertheless, both critical caution and assertions of effectiveness can inspire the readers’ confidence through the use of metatextual devices that either “soften” (hedge) or “strengthen” (boost) research claims.
8. HEDGES
Hedges allow writers to distance themselves from the claims of other writers and to signal caution when presenting their own claims. However, this is more common in fields that rely on theory and statistics to argue for claims, e.g. medicine, biology, physics. In fields such as engineering, however, hedges are the exception rather than the rule.
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, these conditions do not modify the analytical expressions for SEPs in orthogonal signaling. Although SD-type algorithms tend to perform very well, they their complexity is derived from a random variable which depends on the channel realization.
Hedging is often expressed through the use of "weaker" verbs:
demonstrate vs. suggest rely vs. employ
cause vs. contribute to
9. BOOSTERS
In contrast to hedges, which signal caution, boosters strengthen the writer's degree of commitment to a particular viewpoint.
It is clear that the results of the experiemnts match the predictions of the model.
10. ATTITUDE SIGNALS
Writer can also express their attitude to their own data and claims, as well as those of others, through the use of various adverbs
Not surprisingly, the Java community has traditionally sided with the programming language approach. Unfortunately, cross-layer interactions between MAC-based ad-hoc networks and the flow-control mechanisms typically lead to problems between competing flows.
Finnish Virtual University / © 2005 Pennington, Miraftabi, Pitkänen & McAnsh