Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Volume 12. Number2 June 2021 Pp. 222-237
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol12no2.15
Iraqi Kurd EFL Learners’ Uses of Conjunctive Adverbials in Essays
Awder Raza Aziz
Translation Techniques Department, Sulaimani Technical Institute
Sulaimani Polytechnic University
Sulaymaniyah, Iraq
&
English Department, Komar University of Science and Technology, Sulaimani, Iraq
Rebaz Bahadeen Mohammed Nuri
Translation Techniques Department, Sulaimani Technical Institute,
Sulaimani Polytechnic University
Sulaymaniyah, Iraq
Received: 3/29/2021 Accepted: 5/6/2021 Published:6/24/2021
Abstract:
The quality of any academic essay highly depends on cohesion and coherence since they affect the overall quality and the tone of the writing to a great extent. Conjunctive adverbials are among the types of devices which logically help linking sentences into paragraphs and paragraphs into essays. Conjunctive Adverbials ultimately affect the cohesion and coherence of any piece of writing. This paper investigates conjunctive adverbials in essays written by Iraqi Kurd EFL learners at the undergraduate level. It explicitly attempts to discover what specific conjunctive adverbials types are overused, underused, or misused and in what positions in sentences. A learner corpus of 50 complete essays was compiled for this study. The findings showed that the participants tended to use more sequential and additive conjunctive adverbials than adversative and causals. Additionally, the results demonstrated that the learners relied heavily on a limited number of conjunctive adverbials, mainly in the initial position. However, the conjunctive adverbial category affects its place in the sentence.
Keywords: Academic writing, adverbial conjuncts, corpus study, discourse markers, Kurd EFL learners
Cite as: Aziz, A.R., & Nuri, R. B. M. (2021). Iraqi Kurd EFL Learners’ Uses of Conjunctive Adverbials in Essays.
Arab World English Journal, 12 (2) 222-237.
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol12no2.15
References
Alsharif, M. (2017). The Frequently Used Discourse Markers by Saudi EFL Learners. Arab World English Journal, 8(2), 384–397. https://doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol8no2.28
Altenberg, B., & Tapper, M. (1998). The use of adverbial connectors in advanced Swedish learners’ written English. In S. Granger (Ed.), Learner English on computer (1st ed., pp. 80–93). New York: Longman.
An, X., & Xu, M. (2018). Conjunctive Adverbials in Chinese ESL Postgraduates’ Expository Writing. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 9(6), 1243. https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.0906.13
Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., & Finegan, E. (1999). Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. London: Longman.
Blackemore, D. (1987). Semantic Constraints on Relevance. Oxford: Blackwell.
Celce-Murcia, M., & Larsen-Freeman, D. (1999). The Grammar Book: An ESL/EFL Teacher’s Course (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle.
Chen, C. W. (2006). The use of connective adverbials in the academic papers of advanced Taiwanese EFL learners. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 11(1), 113–130. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.11.1.05che
Conrad, S. M. (1999). The importance of corpus-based research for language teachers. System, 27(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/S0346-251X(98)00046-3.
Crew, W. (1990). The illogic of logical connectives. ELT Journal, 44(4), 316–325.
Crismore, A. (1980). Student Use of Selected Formal Logical Connectors across School Level and Class Type. Retrieved March 10, 2021, from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED203306
Gao, X. (2016). A cross-disciplinary corpus-based study on English and Chinese native speakers’ use of linking adverbials in academic writing. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 24(C), 14–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2016.08.002
Granger, S., & Tyson, S. (1996). Connector usage in the English essay writing of native and non‐native EFL speakers of English. World Englishes, 15(1), 17–27. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-971X.1996.tb00089.x
Güneş, H. (2017). A corpus-based study of linking adverbials through contrastive analysis of L1/L2 PhD dissertations. International Journal of Curriculum and Instruction, 9(2), 21–38. Retrieved from http://ijci.wcci-international.org/index.php/IJCI/article/viewFile/102/46
Halliday, M. A. K., & Hasan, R. (1976). Cohesion in English. London: Longman.
Hussein, R. F., & Mudhi, S. (2014). A Corpus–based Study of Conjunctive Adjuncts in the Writings of Native and Non-native Speakers of English. English Linguistics Research, 3(2), 17–32. https://doi.org/10.5430/elr.v3n2p18
Lee, K. (2013). Korean ESL Learners’ Use of Connectors in English Academic Writing. English Language Teaching, 25(2), 81–103. https://doi.org/10.17936/pkelt.2013.25.2.005
Lei, L. (2012). Linking adverbials in academic writing on applied linguistics by Chinese doctoral students. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 11(3), 267–275. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2012.05.003
Liu, D. (2008). Linking adverbials: An across-register corpus study and its implications. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 13(4), 491–518. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.13.4.05liu
Milton, J. C. P., & Tsang, E. S.-C. (1993). A corpus-based study of logical connectors in EFL students’ writing : directions for future research. Studies in Lexis, 215–246. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1783.1/1083
Park, Y.-Y. (2013). How Korean EFL Students Use Conjunctive Adverbials in Argumentative Writing. English Teaching, 68(4), 263–284. https://doi.org/10.15858/engtea.68.4.201312.263
Peacock, M. (2010). Linking adverbials in research articles across eight disciplines. Iberica, 20, 9–34.
Qaddumi, Muhammad K.H. (1995) Textual deviation and coherence problems in the writings of Arab students at the University of Bahrain: sources and solutions. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham.
Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Leech, G., & Svartvik, J. (1985). A Comprehensive Grammar Of The English Language (2nd ed.). New York: Longman.
Rustipa, K. (2014). The Pedagogical Implications of Coherence in English Argumentative Discourse by Indonesian Professionals. Excellence in Higher Education, 4(1), 40–52. https://doi.org/10.5195/ehe.2013.80
Sabzevari, A., Haghverdi, H., & Biria, R. (2016). Sentence-Initial Conjunctive Adverbials in Academic Articles Written by Native English Speakers and Iranian Efl Writers. Modern Journal of Language Teaching Methods, 6(5), 282.
Salih, R. R. (2014). A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ENGLISH AND KURDISH CONNECTIVES IN NEWSPAPER OPINION ARTICLES. Riga: LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing.
Suleiman, H. H., & Seyyedi, K. (2020). Additive Discourse Markers in English Journal Articles Written by Kurdish and English Native Speakers: A Corpus-Based Study. International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Translation (IJLLT), 3(1), 56–68. https://doi.org/10.32996/ijllt.2020.3.1.7
Tankó, G. (2004). Composition: The use of adverbial connectors in Hungarian university students’ argumentative essays. In J. M. Sinclair (Ed.), How to use corpora in language teaching (12th ed., pp. 157–181). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1075/scl.12.13tan
Tufte, V. (2006). Artful Sentences: Syntax as Style. Cheshire: Graphics Press LLC.
Wu, H. (2019). A Corpus-based Analysis of TESOL EFL Students’ Use of Logical Connectors in Spoken English. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 9(6), 625. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.0906.04
Xu, Y., & Liu, Y. (2012). The use of adverbial conjuncts of Chinese EFL learners and native speakers-corpus-based study. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2(11), 2316–2321. https://doi.org/10.4304/tpls.2.11.2316-2321
Yang, A. W. (1989). Cohesive chains and writing quality. Word, 40(1–2), 235–254. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/00437956.1989.11435806
Yilmaz, E., & Dikilitas, K. (2017). EFL Learners’ Uses of Adverbs in Argumentative Essays. Novitas-ROYAL (Research on Youth and Language), 11(1), 69–87.
Zhang, M. (2000). Cohesive features in the expository writing of undergraduates in two Chinese universities. RELC Journal, 31, 61–95.