دانشگاه تربیت مدرس جستارهای زبانی 2322-3081 مقالات آماده انتشار 2026 04 11 An Analysis of Interactive and Interactional Metadiscourse Markers in Applied Linguistics Webinars: The Case of Top-Tier Native vs. Non-Native Speaking Scholars An Analysis of Interactive and Interactional Metadiscourse Markers in Applied Linguistics Webinars: The Case of Top-Tier Native vs. Non-Native Speaking Scholars 28368 10.48311/lrr.2026.117137.82935 FA Kaveh Jalilzadeh School of Foreign Languages, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Istanbul, Turkey 0000-0003-3113-512X Farahman Farrokhi Department of English, Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran 0000-0002-5701-0037 Alireza Asltaleb Maghferat Department of English, Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran 0009-0001-7559-6481 Amirreza Akhlaghi Ilkhchi Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Humanities, Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University, Tabriz, Iran 0009-0007-1283-3041 Christine Coombe Higher Colleges of Technology, Dubai Men’s College, Dubai, UAE Journal Article 2025 10 19 Within the ecosystem of genres, audiences, and modalities, knowledge dissemination relies on metadiscourse markers that guide and engage academic audiences. Despite digital technologies reshaping communication after the pandemic, their use in academic webinars, especially regarding speakers’ linguistic backgrounds, remains an underresearched area of inquiry. Accordingly, this study aimed to comprehensively analyze interactive and interactional metadiscourse markers utilized by both top-tier native and non-native scholars in Applied Linguistics webinars. To this end, a corpus of 24 webinars (24 hours and 35 minutes) conducted by top-tier Applied Linguists over five years was purposively selected and analyzed using Hyland’s (2005) metadiscourse model, focusing on the frequency and distribution of interactive and interactional markers. The results showed that native scholars employed metadiscourse markers (both interactive and interactional) somewhat more frequently than non-natives, though both groups used them extensively to organize and engage audiences. While natives favored interactional markers over interactive ones, non-natives demonstrated the opposite trend, relying more on interactive than interactional markers. These findings highlight the need for EAP/ESP pedagogy to extend beyond accuracy, fostering non-native scholars’ interactional competence through training in hedges, boosters, attitude markers, and self-mentions, empowering them to communicate confidently, engage audiences, and sustain presence in global academia. Within the ecosystem of genres, audiences, and modalities, knowledge dissemination relies on metadiscourse markers that guide and engage academic audiences. Despite digital technologies reshaping communication after the pandemic, their use in academic webinars, especially regarding speakers’ linguistic backgrounds, remains an underresearched area of inquiry. Accordingly, this study aimed to comprehensively analyze interactive and interactional metadiscourse markers utilized by both top-tier native and non-native scholars in Applied Linguistics webinars. To this end, a corpus of 24 webinars (24 hours and 35 minutes) conducted by top-tier Applied Linguists over five years was purposively selected and analyzed using Hyland’s (2005) metadiscourse model, focusing on the frequency and distribution of interactive and interactional markers. The results showed that native scholars employed metadiscourse markers (both interactive and interactional) somewhat more frequently than non-natives, though both groups used them extensively to organize and engage audiences. While natives favored interactional markers over interactive ones, non-natives demonstrated the opposite trend, relying more on interactive than interactional markers. These findings highlight the need for EAP/ESP pedagogy to extend beyond accuracy, fostering non-native scholars’ interactional competence through training in hedges, boosters, attitude markers, and self-mentions, empowering them to communicate confidently, engage audiences, and sustain presence in global academia.