Metadiscourse plays an important role in some genres, such as persuasive writing and extended essays, but it may be less important in other genres, such as personal letters. Students can be asked to mark some typical examples of metadiscourse devices that are used to make an emotional appeal in persuasive writing. On the next page is a list of six ways to add coherence at the metadiscourse level. All the examples cited can be used to sensitise students to the coherence conventions of different genres.