Using interactional metadiscourse for rapport management: A study of Chinese university enrolment posts on WeChat

Jialu Wang and Geqi Wu
Hangzhou Normal University

Facing the increasing enrolment pressure, most Chinese universities launch enrolment posts on WeChat. Yet the way posts are written is under-researched. This study analyses metadiscourse resources in thirty Chinese university enrolment posts with the purpose of examining how Chinese universities promote themselves. The findings suggest that Chinese universities attempt to construct positive rapport with prospective students by means of metadiscourse resources. The posts extol universities with attitude markers, hedges and boosters, create intimacy with prospective students with self-mentions and reader-pronouns, and invite readers with reader pronouns, directives and attitude markers. The study suggests that Chinese universities present a paradoxical image, being approachable and superior to readers. The discourse affordance of WeChat, promotional culture in higher education, the traditional identity of the university and its affiliation to the government work together to contribute to the discourse strategies used in the enrolment posts.

Publication history

Date received: 4 April 2024

Date accepted: 27 August 2024

Published online: 24 April 2025

Table of contents

With the ongoing marketing of higher education, universities feel impelled to promote themselves to enrol prospective candidates. Of the various channels, social media, which has been identified as an important vehicle for establishing and maintaining social relations between organizations and customers (Eger et al. 2021), is now regarded as a popular one. It is a common practice for universities to post on social media, where they seek to present their favourable images and maintain their interactive presence with readers.

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