{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.03045273558472202, 'fraction_numerical': 0.014083468514968294, 'mean_word_length': 5.443230403800475, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 1, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 3, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Reading Ability of EFL Learners A study of Metadiscoursal Features

ARTICLE INFORMATION Original Research Paper Received Jan. 2019 Accepted May. 2019


A. Features of Online Reading Comprehension
The Internet provides an abundance of potential benefits for learners with disabilities; however, certain characteristics of online reading comprehension present learners with greater challenges and further complexity than reading printed text. Unlimited amounts of information online are more complex for learners to locate relevant information (Abbott & Cribb (2001), Leu, Kinzer, Coiro & Cammack (2004), McKenzie (1995), and Pierce (1998). The main advantages of online reading activities are the following: The online learning environment has become more and more popular for educators and learners, due to its multiple visual and audio representations. Reading online is further complicated by the need to critically evaluate online sources to determine the reliability of the information (Abbott & Cribb (2001), Bulger (2006), Leu Designers update their websites and readers post new comments using social networking tools. This rapidly changing reading environment has implications for the reliability of assessments that measure online reading comprehension; however, online materials must be evaluated for reliability, which learners generally neglect, and make it as a controversial issue; therefore evaluation strategies must be taught (Pierce, 1998).
In addition to the complexities of this issue that is both relevant and reliable, multimedia components imbedded in online reading adds to the complex nature of Internet reading because unique skills for processing multiple modes of information is required because it includes embedded links, graphics, and video that sometimes distract learners, causing a decrease in comprehension rather than the intended enhancement of comprehension and retention (Coiro(2005), Kennedy & Bolitho(1984), Leu, Kinzer , Coiro & Cammack (2004). Although barriers are present preventing progress towards improved online literacy for learners with disabilities, when efforts for integration are made, learners obtain considerable benefit from learning online reading comprehension skills and strategies.

B. Advantages of Incorporating the Internet into Teaching
Although research is scarce, a body of literature identifies the advantageous nature of the Internet for improving the academic outcomes for learners with disabilities including: (a) unlimited access to various resources, (b) adaptability, (c) increased opportunities for communication, and (d) the motivational aspect. One such benefit of the Internet is the access at any time, in any place, for unlimited number of times, without any charge. Another noteworthy aspect of the Internet is the ease of adapting online materials for learners with disabilities, and availability of a large number of topics for students to choose, particularly for those learners with exceptionalities being educated in inclusive settings. Furthermore the website is fully interactive and can be used by students, thus improving positive social and interpersonal skills that learners with disabilities often lack (Burgstahler, (1997 Incentive can be lost when people believe they have no control or choice, no skills or resources to be successful, and no external resources to turn to for help. With reference to Halliday (1985b), metafunctional theory of language, on the interpersonal level, (Schiffrin (1980), Hyland (2000), Crismore & Farnsworth (1990), both point out that metadiscourse allows written texts to take on some features of spoken language (e.g., personal pronouns to establish an "I-you" relationship), and thus become more "reader-friendly". On the textual level, (Crismore & Farnsworth (1990), Crismore (1989) note that Metadiscourse is a term that is used in philosophy to denote a discussion about a discussion (and so on), as opposed to a simple discussion about a given topic. Metadiscourse occurs within the realm of writing, whose In the definition by Williams that metadiscourse is "writing about writing," we see a separation between the writing on one level and the other writing at a different level we call metadiscourse. Writing at the first level (Vande Kopple (1997) calls the propositional content and it may be affected by metadiscourse from any of his seven categories.
In a later study with ninth graders, (Crismore (1989) & Vande Kopple (1997) investigated the effects of hedging (e.g., metadiscursive devices that express the writer's commitment to the truth value of the proposition being made) on reading retention. Experimental groups read passages from both social studies and science textbooks containing Downloaded from mjltm.org at 13:04 +0430 on Tuesday May 12th 2020 various types of hedging, while a control group read corresponding passages in which all hedging had been removed. Even if other factors (e.g. gender, subject matter and type/position of hedging) were also found to have an influence on retention scores, the authors propose that, in general, learners learned more from reading science and social studies passages with hedging included.

II. What Is Metadiscourse?
Metadiscourse is talk about talk. The common term discourse refers to the pragmatic use of language (including nonverbal signs such as paralanguage and gestures in discourse) in extended texts or episodes of communication.
Metadiscourse refers to the pragmatic use of language to comment reflexively on discourse itself. The prefix -meta‖ (from a Greek word meaning with, across, or after) here denotes a shift to a higher-order frame of reference. Williams (1990), gives a different definition of metadiscourse from the one developed by (Hyland, (2000), & Hyland, Ken (2005). It is -the language we use when, in writing about some subject matter, we incidentally refer to the act and to the context of writing about it.
He goes on give examples: verbs to announce what the writer will be doing; cohesion markers to indicate steps in presentation; words to express logical connections; and words to hedge how certain the writer is about a claim. Williams (1990) then states: -Though metadiscourse does not refer to what we are primarily saying about our subject, we need some metadiscourse in everything we write.‖ His wording (-incidentally, ‖ -not to what we are primarily saying, ‖ -we need some metadiscourse‖) reflects a fundamental distinction that a number of theorists have made between propositional content (considered more important) and metadiscourse (considered less important).
In his critique of metadiscourse theory, Hyland (2005) reacts against the above dichotomy: -(…) language is not simply used to convey information about the world. It also acts to present this information through the organization of the text itself (…) and engage readers as to how they should understand it (…) ‖ (Hyland (2005), & Burgstahler (1997) sees these two communicative actspresenting through organization of the text and engaging readersas the core purpose of metadiscourse. Taking a largely functional, pragmatic and sociocognitive perspective, he opines that -all discourse, no matter how explicitly ‗informational, ‗is created between participants who bring to the encounter certain affiliations, experiences, expectations and background understandings. These interpersonal dimensions influence how they will interpret and respond to the message and how they will engage in the interaction. This means, says (Hyland (2000) the speaker or writer has a communicative and an informative intention. For the reader to interpret the writer‗s communicative and informative intentions correctly (i.e. in the way the writer wants them to), the writer must ensure, to the extent possible, that they share the same cognitive and contextual environment by using a variety of linguistic cues, including connectors. In a sense, it is through metadiscourse, as defined by Hyland, that the writer activates his/her communicative intention, which is more often than not to convince the reader of the information being conveyed and/or to persuade the reader to act on that information. In (Hyland (2005)‗s opinion, the writer uses metadiscourse precisely to bring the implicit, internalized dialogue to a satisfactory conclusion through the reader‗s acceptance of the argument.

A. Metadiscourse Typology
Hyland divides metadiscourse into two broad categories: ► Interactivefeatures used to organize propositional information in ways that the target reader should find coherent and convincing (Halliday, 1985a).
► Interactionalfeatures that draw the reader into the discourse and give them an opportunity to contribute to it and respond to it by alerting them to the writer's perspective on propositional information and orientation and intention with respect to that reader (Halliday (1985a) & Halliday (1985b).

B. Interactive Metadiscourse
There are five interactive features, which are briefly defined and exemplified below. (a) Additivemoreover, for example (also an endophoric marker), similarly

A. Participants and Administration Procedures
The test and questionnaire were administered to two large sections (ranging from 100-120 learners) of the EFL

B. Instruments
An online reading comprehension test was used in the current study. This test should be downloaded from the website of the Lancaster University and after installing the software, all the learners can use it provided that they are connected to the internet. This test is named as DIALANG Diagnostic Language Testing Online. The second instrument was the questionnaire of metadiscourse that measured the EFL learners' degree of awareness of metadiscourse. Unlike the online reading comprehension test, the questionnaire was formulated in Persian (the native language of the learners) in an attempt to avoid any failure to understand or correctly interpret the questions.

Iv. Data Analysis And Discussion
As mentioned earlier, the necessary data for the present study was collected through one Questionnaires of Metadiscourse filled by the EFL Learners and an online reading comprehension test.
The descriptive statistics of metadiscourse questionnaire as the independent (predictor) variable and online reading comprehension test as the dependent (predicted) variables are illustrated in the following Tables (see Table   1): As the results in Table 2 indicate, there is a positive correlation between the two instruments (r = .79, p < .05), showing a significant relationship between the level of metadiscourse awareness and Online reading ability.

Regression Analysis for Metadiscourse Questionnaire and Online reading test
To analyze the data further, regression analysis was conducted. The results indicated that Metadiscourse Questionnaire is a positive predictor of the dependent variable (Online reading test). The results of regression analysis for Metadiscourse Questionnaire and Online reading test are reported in Table 3.
As the results of   Table 3 shows the contribution of the independent variable (Metadiscourse Questionnaire) on the dependent variable (Online reading) equals .651. The square value is .78 showing that about 75% of the variation in online reading ability can be explained by taking their level of metadiscourse awareness into account. Therefore; metadiscourse awareness is making a significant contribution to the prediction of online reading ability.

Vi. Conclusion
Today the reading situation of an adolescent has changed. While on the one hand the book exists as a conventional medium for the distribution and conception of knowledge, on the other hand, the web represents a new kind of reading room. Knowledge construction on the web needs the capability to lithely incorporate traditional reading comprehension skills with new strategic knowledge applications drawn out by the new reading field for processing, comprehending and sharing information. More accurately the web has become an essential source that extends the traditional reading comprehension picture into an open hypermedia and multimedia knowledge space where a set of online comprehension strategies are engaged to efficiently find, comprehend, and utilize the informational contents.
When learners are involved in Internet learning and communication activities, reading comprehension is influenced by the appearance of the contents to read: mail, blogs, social networks, multimedia and hypermedia contents introduce a primary alteration in the construction of acts of reading. In reality, reading comprehension becomes a more complex, ongoing, self regulated, decision process which involves selecting from different Downloaded from mjltm.org at 13:04 +0430 on Tuesday May 12th 2020 feasible links, possible texts, possible purposes and among different ways of interacting with information (Afflerbach & Cho (2009).
The present study aims at investigating the role and importance of metadiscourses in online reading comprehension of EFL learners. To meet this purpose, a questionnaire of Metadiscourses was developed and given to all subjects. Also, all participants were required to take part in an online reading comprehension test named as DIALANG Diagnostic Language Testing Online. The findings of the study illustrated that about 75% of the variation in online reading ability can be explained by taking their level of metadiscourse awareness into account.
Therefore; metadiscourse awareness is making a significant contribution to the prediction of online reading ability.