The Use of Cohesive Devices in Descriptive Writing by Omani Student-Teachers

Zuhair Abdul Amir Abdul Rahman

doi:10.1177/2158244013506715

Abstract

This study examines college-level Arabic L1 users’ command of cohesive devices by exploring the extent to which Omani student-teachers of English and native English speakers differ in their use of cohesive devices in descriptive English writing. Halliday and Hasan’s framework of cohesion was used to analyze the essays written by the two groups. A qualitative research methodology was utilized to analyze the writing of the two groups to reveal the points of strengths and weaknesses in their writing. The results of the study indicated that there was a notable difference between the natives’ and the students’ use of cohesive devices in terms of frequency, variety, and control. While L1 English users’ writing displayed a balance between the use and frequency of various types of cohesive devices, the students overused certain types (repetition and reference) while neglecting to use the others, thereby often, rendering their written texts noncohesive.

Highlights

There is a consensus among those dealing with the English writing of L1 Arabic users that the use of cohesive devices in writing is one of the most difficult skills for those learners of English to develop. Enkvist (1990) considered the achievement of cohesion in writing as an indefinable, obstruct, and controversial concept which is difficult to teach and difficult to learn.Discourse unity, according to Tanskanen (2006), can only be established via the use of cohesive devices that contribute to text cohesion
The utilization of cohesive devices in academic writing has attracted the attention of many researchers who are endeavoring to address the issue of lack of cohesion in students’ writing, especially in those countries, such as Oman, where English is taught as a foreign language
The data of the study was qualitatively analyzed through identifying the numbers and types of cohesive devices used by the two groups and by evaluating the overall quality of essays written by those two groups

Summary

Introduction

There is a consensus among those dealing with the English writing of L1 Arabic users that the use of cohesive devices in writing is one of the most difficult skills for those learners of English to develop. Enkvist (1990) considered the achievement of cohesion in writing as an indefinable, obstruct, and controversial concept which is difficult to teach and difficult to learn.Discourse unity, according to Tanskanen (2006), can only be established via the use of cohesive devices that contribute to text cohesion. Halliday and Hasan (1976) perceived cohesion as the only factor that distinguishes texts from nontexts. This position was supported by Alarcon and Morales (2011), who stated that cohesion refers to the linguistic features which help make a sequence of sentences a text. The utilization of cohesive devices in academic writing has attracted the attention of many researchers who are endeavoring to address the issue of lack of cohesion in students’ writing, especially in those countries, such as Oman, where English is taught as a foreign language

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion