Cohesive Devices Used in Argumentative Essays by Undergraduate EFL Learners

Abstract

Cohesive devices are crucial points recognized as essential features of a good essay, yet employing them in an essay appropriately becomes problematic for learners. This study analyzes qualitatively cohesive devices to investigate EFL learners. It aims at examining how EFL learners apply cohesive devices in argumentative essays, the frequencies of cohesive devices errors in their writings, and the possible causes of EFL learners to produce cohesive devices. Twenty-five learners of the Department of International Relations, at a university in Ponorogo, were requested to produce argumentative essays that consisted of five paragraphs. Twenty-five essays had been identified with the number of errors of grammatical cohesion. Those errors were then analyzed to determine the possible causes affecting the learners’ errors. The find revealed that the number of grammatical cohesion utilized by EFL learners reached 2172, while 168 obtained errors. There was a heavy reliance on cohesive item use. The intralingual transfer mostly influenced the errors produced than the interlingual transfer. The intralingual errors percentage represented 96,9%; interlingual transfer errors reached 3.03%. It occurred due to the learners’ inability to employ the grammar rule. Hence, lecturer should employ the strategies for learners’ writing ability development, such as implementing collaborative learning, delivering the feedback, exposing learners to exercise, and applying a learning management system to result higher level of cohesion.

Lexical Cohesion in Undergraduate Theses: AQuantitative Study in an Indonesian University

“…The findings of this current study are consistent with prior research, such as that conducted by Fatimah and Yunus (2014), Rokhaniyah et al (2022) and Warna et al (2019), which also identified repetition as the most commonly used lexical cohesive device among students. This observation reveals a significant trend in student writing practices, suggesting a reliance on repetition as a primary strategy for achieving cohesion.…”

“…Halliday and Hasan (1976), in their foundational work on cohesion, noted that these devices often contribute to a deeper level of cohesion and coherence, and that proficient writers tend to use these devices more frequently. Therefore, while this research aligns with Fatimah and Yunus (2014), Rokhaniyah et al (2022) and Warna et al (2019) in identifying repetition as the primary lexical cohesive device used by students, it also underscores the need, highlighted by other researchers, for students to diversify their use of cohesive devices. It suggests that instruction in academic writing should include a focus on teaching a broader range of lexical cohesion strategies, to help students produce more engaging, coherent, and sophisticated texts.…”

Students’ Performance in Cultural Text Writing Based on Situational Context and Cohesive Devices: A case study of Discourse Analysis

“…Cohesion refers to the resources within the language that provide continuity in a text, above and over that is provided by clause structures and clause complexes (Ary Indrawan, 2014;Rokhaniyah et al, 2022;Sidabutar, 2021). Therefore, cohesive relations are non-structural relations which help the hang together.…”

Analysis of Second Language Writing Based on Discourse Coherence Theory- A Case Study of High School Students in A Chinese International School

“…In comparing the writing of native English learners and non-native English learners, research has shown that non-native speakers use fewer cohesive patterns, while Asian second language learners share similar cohesion patterns [2,3].…”