Found in 2-4% of dissertation sentences. "This section will discuss" doesn't add information—it just delays the information your committee actually wants.
Remove the filler phrase and present the content directly.
Meta-discourse is writing about your writing instead of writing about your topic. "In this section, the researcher will discuss the theoretical framework" is a sentence about the chapter's structure. It tells the reader what's coming without delivering any content. Your committee reads it, learns nothing, and waits for the actual substance to begin.
Some meta-discourse is necessary. A roadmap paragraph at the end of Chapter 1 that previews the dissertation's structure is standard and expected. But when every section and subsection begins with "This section discusses..." or "The following paragraphs will examine...," you're burning word count on scaffolding instead of scholarship.
The worst offender is the meta-discourse sandwich: a sentence announcing what you'll discuss, the actual content, then a sentence summarizing what you just discussed. "This section examined the literature on teacher burnout. As discussed above, teacher burnout is a significant issue." Your committee doesn't need the announcement or the recap—the heading already told them what the section covers. Just deliver the content.
Self-referential commentary like "In this section, I will discuss..." adds words without substance. Let your content speak for itself.
Students narrate their writing process instead of presenting their argument. "This section will discuss" feels like a helpful roadmap but actually delays the content the reader came for.
Delete every "this section will discuss" and jump straight to the discussion. Your reader wants the content, not a preview of the content. Let your structure speak for itself.
In this section, I will discuss the findings of the study.
The findings reveal three key themes.
Meta-discourse announcement removed; content delivered directly.
This section will discuss the theoretical framework that guides this study. The theoretical framework used in this study is social cognitive theory.
Social cognitive theory provides the theoretical framework for this study, emphasizing the reciprocal relationship between personal agency, behavior, and environment (Bandura, 1986).
"It is important to note" adds nothing; the sentence works better without it.
It is important to note that the participants were selected using purposeful sampling.
The participants were selected using purposeful sampling to ensure experience with the phenomenon of interest.
Vague backward reference replaced with a specific cross-reference and added substance.
As previously mentioned in the earlier section, transformational leadership has been extensively studied.
Transformational leadership has been extensively studied (see Section 2.3), with particular attention to its effects on organizational culture.
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