This paper discusses aspects of signaling structure by means of textual organizers in Finnish and French academic discourse. The assumption that there exist culture-bound conventions for marking textual organization by either explicit or implicit linguistic means was explored. Observations are offered of French and Finnish articles and summaries of Finnish master's degree theses dealing with language and translation. Discussion focuses on (1) markers of linear integration in discourse, and (2) the paragraph as a textual organizer. (JB)