Developmental changes in the use of interactional resources: Persuading the reader in FL book reviews

Negotiating stance and carrying on social interaction in writing in educational contexts has been characterized by the choice of linguistic means away from explicit expressions of opinion representative of the informal relationship with the addressee towards the language that strives to conceal a subjective viewpoint and construes a formal relationship with the audience typical between non-intimate participants in the sphere of public discourses (Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004, Hyland, 2000, Hyland, 2002a and Hyland, 2002b). This cross-sectional study of the book reviews produced by the American learners of German from the three advanced curricular levels investigates the changes in the use of interactional resources these learners employ to achieve the two central communicative goals of the genre: evaluating the book and persuading to read it. The construct of theme (Halliday, 1994 and Halliday and Matthiessen, 2004) as a structure crucial for rhetorical unfolding of texts is used to examine these changes. Given the methodological focus, the study demonstrates how more advanced FL writers move away from direct expression of authorial opinion manifested in thematization of the writer of the review and employ a more intersubjective and thus more persuasive reader-orientation in their texts.

► The study identifies major manifestations of interactional meanings in FL texts.
► It suggests developmental paths that capture their change across proficiency levels.
► Development involves movement away from direct towards indirect expression of stance.
► Decrease in thematization of the writer; increase in thematization of the reader.
► Thematizaiton of other interpersonal elements that obscure the evaluating subject.