Visual metadiscourse in mediated communication: a systematic scoping review

Abstract

Metadiscourse research has largely been confined to verbal language, leaving unclear how visual and design features function as metadiscursive resources in mediated communication. This article presents a systematic scoping review mapping that body of work. Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, twenty-four studies published between 2011 and 2025 were analysed across digital, academic, and professional genres. Three dominant analytical traditions were identified: (1) rhetorical approaches grounded in early principles of visual metadiscourse in technical and professional communication; (2) integrated frameworks combining interpersonal models of textual interaction with social-semiotic visual grammar; and (3) adaptations of verbal metadiscourse taxonomies to multimodal data in online and print media. Across these traditions, media affordances such as layout, hyperlinking, and multimodal design shape discourse organisation and reader engagement. The field is growing but remains fragmented, particularly in the operationalisation of categories, treatment of media affordances, and reporting of coding procedures. Five recurring analytical dimensions—mode, medium, interactivity, metadiscursive function, and framework integration—offer a basis for extending metadiscourse research beyond verbal language to multimodal communicative environments.