Investigating the Discourse Competence in Essay Writing with Reference to the Third Level EFL Students

Table of Contents

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study

1.2 Statement of the Problem

1.3 Aims of the Study

1.4 Research Questions

1.5 Significance of the Study

1.6 Research Methodology

1.6.1 Methods of the Study

1.6.1.1 Population of the Study

1.6.1.2 Sample of the Study

1.6.2 Methods of Data Collection and Analysis

1.7 Limitation of the Study

1.8 Structure of the Study

2.0 Introduction

2.1 Studies in Discourse Competence

2.2 Definitions of Discourse

2.2.1 Discourse Competence

2.3 What is Discourse Analysis

2.4 Text Linguistics and Discourse

2.5 Cohesion and Linguistic Structure

2.5.1 Texture and Structure

2.6 The General Meaning of Cohesion

2.7 Discourse Analysis and Grammar

2.8 Cohesion

2.9 Grammatical Cohesion and Textuality

2.10 Types of Grammatical cohesion

2.10.1 Reference

2.10.1.1 Types of Reference

2.10.1.1.1 Personal Reference

2.10.1.1.2 Demonstrative Reference

2.10.1.1.3 Comparative Reference

2.10.2 Substitution

2.10.2.1 Nominal Substitution

2.10.2.2 Verbal Substitution

2.10.2.3 Clausal Substitution

2.10.3 Ellipsis

2.10.3.1 Nominal Ellipsis

2.10.3.2 Verbal Ellipsis

2.10.3.3 Clausal Ellipsis

2.10.4 Conjunction

2.10.4.1 Additive Conjunctions

2.10.4.2 Adversative Conjunctions

2.10.4.3 Causal Conjunctions

2.10.4.4 Temporal Conjunction

2.11 Types of Lexical Cohesion

2.11.1 Reiteration

2.11.1.1 Repetition

2.11.1.2 General Noun

2.11.1.3 Superordinate

2.11.1.4 Synonym

2.11.2 Collocation

2.12 Summary

2.0 Introduction

3.1 Data Collection Instruments

3.1.1 The Teachers' Questionnaire

3.1.1.1 The Aim of the Questionnaire

3.1.1.2 The Design

3.1.1.3 The Administration

3.1.2 The Students' Writing Task

3.1.2.1 The Aim of the Writing Task

3.1.2.2 The Administration

3.2 Piloting the Instruments

3.3 The Subjects

3.4 Validity and Reliability of the Data Collection Instruments

3.4.1 Data Validity

3.4.2 Data Reliability

3.5 Summary

4.0 Introduction

4.1 The Teachers' Questionnaire Analysis

4.1.1 An Overall Discussion of the Questionnaire

4.2 The Students' Writing Task

4.2.0 Introduction

4.2.1 Analysis of the Result

4.2.2 Students' Use of Grammatical and Lexical Cohesive Devices

4.2.2.1 Students' Use of Grammatical Cohesive Devices

4.2.2.1.1 Students' Use of Reference

4.2.2.1.1.1 Students' Use of Personal Reference

4.2.2.1.1.2 Students' Use of Demonstrative Reference

4.2.2.1.1.3 Students' Use of Comparative Reference

4.2.2.1.2 Students' Use of Conjunction

4.2.2.1.2.1 Students' Use of Additive Conjunctions

4.2.2.1.2.2 Students' Use of Adversative Conjunctions

4.2.2.1.2.3 Students' Use of Causal Conjunctions

4.2.2.1.2.4 Students' Use of Temporal Conjunctions

4.2.2.1.3 Students' Use of Substitution

4.2.2.1.3.1 Students' Use of Nominal Substitution

4.2.2.1.3.2 Students' Use of Verbal Substitution

4.2.2.1.4 Students' Use of Ellipsis

4.2.2.1.4.1 Students' Use of Nominal Ellipsis

4.2.2.1.4.2 Students' Use of Verbal Ellipsis

4.2.2.1.4.3 Students' Use of Clausal Ellipsis

4.2.2.2 Students' Use of Lexical Cohesive Devices

4.2.2.2.1 Students' Use of Reiteration

4.2.2.2.1.1 Students' Use of Repetition

4.2.2.2.1.2 Students' Use of General Noun

4.2.2.2.1.3 Students' Use of Superordinate

4.2.2.2.1.4 Students' Use of Synonym

4.2.2.2.2 Students' Use of Collocation

4.2.3 General Comments

4.2.4 Appropriate Versus Inappropriate Use of Grammatical and Lexical Cohesive Devices

4.2.4.1 Appropriate versus Inappropriate Use of Grammatical Cohesive Devices

4.2.4.1.1 Appropriate Versus Inappropriate Use of References

4.2.4.1.1.1 Appropriate Versus Inappropriate Use of Personal Reference

4.2.4.1.1.2 Appropriate Versus Inappropriate Use of Demonstrative Reference

4.2.4.1.1.3 Appropriate Versus Inappropriate Use of Comparative Reference

4.2.4.1.2 Appropriate Versus Inappropriate Use of Conjunction

4.2.4.1.2.1 Appropriate Versus Inappropriate Use of Additive Conjunction

4.2.4.1.2.2 Appropriate Versus Inappropriate Use of Adversative Conjunction

4.2.4.1.2.3 Appropriate Versus Inappropriate Use of Causal Conjunction

4.2.4.1.2.4 Appropriate Versus Inappropriate Use of Temporal Conjunctions

4.2.4.1.3 Appropriate Versus Inappropriate Use of Substitution

4.2.4.1.3.1 Appropriate Versus Inappropriate Use of Nominal Substitution

4.2.4.1.3.2 Appropriate Versus Inappropriate Use of Verbal Substitution

4.2.4.1.4 Appropriate Versus Inappropriate Use Ellipsis

4.2.4.1.4.1 Appropriate Versus Inappropriate Use of Nominal Ellipsis

4.2.4.1.4.2 Appropriate Versus Inappropriate Use of Verbal Ellipsis

4.2.4.1.4.3 Appropriate Versus Inappropriate Use of Clausal Ellipsis

4.2.4.2 Appropriate Versus Inappropriate Use of Lexical Cohesive Devices

4.2.4.2.1 Appropriate Versus Inappropriate Use of Reiteration

4.2.4.2.1.1 Appropriate Versus Inappropriate Use of Repetition

4.2.4.2.1.2 Appropriate Versus Inappropriate Use of General Noun

4.2.4.2.1.3 Appropriate Versus Inappropriate Use of Superordinate

4.2.4.2.1.4 Appropriate Versus Inappropriate Use of Synonym

4.2.4.2.2 Appropriate Versus Inappropriate Use of Collocation

4.2.5 General Comments on Students' Errors of Grammatical and Lexical Cohesive Devices

4.2.5.1 Students' Inappropriate Use of Grammatical Cohesive Devices

4.2.5.1.1 Reference

4.2.5.1.2 Conjunction

4.2.5.1.3 Substitution

4.2.5.1.4 Ellipsis

4.2.5.2 Students' Inappropriate Use of Lexical Cohesive Devices

4.2.5.2.1 Reiteration

4.2.5.2.1.1 Repetition

4.2.5.2.1.2 General Noun

4.2.5.2.1.3 Superordinate

4.2.5.2.1.4 Synonym

4.2.5.2.2 Collocation

4.2.6 Summary

5.0 Introduction

5.1 A Summary of the Study

5.2 Conclusions and Implications

5.3 Recommendations

5.4 Suggestions for Further Research

5.6 Summary

Research Objectives and Themes

This study aims to investigate the discourse competence of third-level EFL students at the Faculty of Education/Radfan, University of Aden, specifically focusing on their ability to use cohesive devices in essay writing. The research seeks to identify the types and causes of discourse errors made by students, explore the negative impact of such incompetency on their writing quality, and provide recommendations to enhance teaching strategies for essay writing.

• Analysis of students' discourse competence in English essay writing.
• Identification of common grammatical and lexical cohesion errors.
• Examination of the influence of first language (L1) interference on foreign language (FL) writing.
• Evaluation of current teaching methods and their effectiveness in fostering cohesive writing skills.
• Development of pedagogical strategies to overcome discourse-level errors.

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Summary of Chapters

CHAPTER ONE: GENERAL INTRODUCTION: This chapter introduces the topic of discourse competence in essay writing for EFL students and outlines the problem, aims, and methodology of the research.

Chapter Two: Literature Review: This section reviews existing literature on discourse competence, text linguistics, and the theory of cohesion as proposed by Halliday and Hasan.

Chapter Three: Methodology of the Study: This chapter details the research design, including the use of a teachers' questionnaire and student writing tasks as instruments for data collection.

Chapter Four: Data Analysis and Interpretation: This chapter provides a comprehensive quantitative analysis of the collected data, examining both the teachers' perceptions and the students' actual use of cohesive devices.

Chapter Five: Conclusion: This final chapter summarizes the research findings, draws conclusions, and offers pedagogical recommendations for teachers and curriculum planners.

Keywords

Discourse Competence, EFL students, Essay Writing, Grammatical Cohesion, Lexical Cohesion, Cohesive Devices, Error Analysis, Textual Analysis, Language Interference, Applied Linguistics, Teaching Strategies, Writing Proficiency, Argumentative Essay, Coherence, Textuality.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the primary focus of this research?

The research focuses on investigating the discourse competence of third-level EFL students in the Department of English at the University of Aden, specifically their use of grammatical and lexical cohesive devices in essay writing.

What are the central thematic areas?

The core themes include the definition and role of discourse competence, the theory of cohesion (grammatical and lexical), the identification of students' discourse errors, and pedagogical approaches to teaching writing.

What is the core research objective?

The primary aim is to analyze the causes of discourse-level errors in students' essays and determine how these errors negatively affect the coherence and overall proficiency of their writing.

Which scientific methods were employed?

The study utilizes a quantitative research method, employing two primary instruments: a teachers' questionnaire to gather pedagogical insights and a student writing task (argumentative essay) to collect empirical data for analysis.

What topics are covered in the main body of the work?

The work covers theoretical frameworks of discourse and cohesion, methodology of data collection (questionnaire and writing task), detailed analysis of the students' use of cohesive devices, and a concluding discussion on the implications of the findings.

Which keywords characterize the work?

Key terms include discourse competence, cohesive devices, grammatical and lexical cohesion, EFL, error analysis, and essay writing.

How does mother tongue (L1) influence students' writing in this study?

The study notes that many students face challenges due to L1 interference, particularly in their tendency to repeat lexical items or use conjunctions (like "and") in ways that are common in Arabic but redundant or incorrect in English.

What specific suggestion is made for improving the teaching of cohesive devices?

The author recommends that teachers avoid teaching cohesive devices in isolation; instead, they should present them within complete, meaningful contexts to help students understand how they function to create texture and coherence in extended texts.