promoting authorial voice expression in academic writing of efl learners through implicit and explicit instruction

With the significant increase in academic publications and the growing emphasis on academic writing in recent years, the exploration of writers’ authorial voice has become essential in the academic community. therefore, the present study examined language learners’ preferences for the use of metadiscoursal elements of voice and the effectiveness of instruction in promoting the expression of authorial voice in academic writing among iranian efl learners. the participants were 143 intermediate english major university learners at najaf abad university of isfahan who were randomly divided into a control group and two treatment groups. one group received explicit instruction and the other group received implicit instruction on the use of voice elements based on hyland’s (2005) interactional framework in the academic context. the control group did not receive any instruction on discourse markers. after an eight-session treatment, participants’ writings in the three groups were analyzed. the findings revealed that the treatment groups demonstrated a more significant improvement in their ability to express authorial voice compared to the control group. the group receiving explicit instruction utilized more stance markers compared to the group receiving implicit instruction. the findings highlight the importance of consciousness-raising in improving the use of discourse markers in academic writing.