Metadiscourse, or an author's presence in a text, and its benefits for improving textbooks and children's learning and attitudes are explored in this paper. Through a historical review, the paper reveals that using the interpersonal voice and the author's commentary are legitimate rhetorical devices. Interviews with prominent contemporary…

Metadiscourse can be classified into two types: informational and attitudinal. Informational metadiscourse directs readers to an understanding of the primary message by referring to its content and structure or to the author's purposes or goals. Attitudinal metadiscourse directs readers to an understanding of the author's perspective toward the…

Speech communication theorists have defined certain rhetorical characteristics that may improve the use and production of written texts. In order to determine whether social studies textbooks have rhetorical characteristics--containing both content information and the author's attitudes toward it--and whether these characteristics have the desired…

The purpose of this paper is to make educators, authors, and publishers aware that they must be concerned with rhetorical form as well as content if they wish to present students with accessible, useful textbooks. Using a case study of textbook perception and use in a school district's sixth grade social studies classrooms, the paper illustrates…

All language use, including written school language, is rhetorical and communicative, and both composing and reading textbooks are rhetorical situations that include interactions and transactions. One issue concerning text characteristics is whether the diverse parts that authors play influence how students learn from their books and respond to…