Speakers
Description
This study investigates the use of cohesive devices in argumentative essays written by Indonesian undergraduate students of English Language Teaching (ELT). Drawing on Halliday and Hasan’s (1976) taxonomy, thirty essays across three topics written by ten Indonesian ELT students were analysed to examine the frequency, distribution, and appropriateness of reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjunction, and lexical cohesion. The results show an overreliance on repetition, personal reference, and additive conjunctions, which accounted for more than half of all cohesive ties, while substitution and ellipsis were rarely employed. Of 1,539 instances, 117 (7.6%) were misapplied, most notably the misuse of the article ‘the’ and the overuse of ‘and’ and ‘however’, reflecting L1 transfer and mechanical rather than rhetorical use of cohesion. These findings are consistent with trends across EFL contexts, though ESL learners employ more balanced strategies. The study is significant as it highlights the need for genre-based instruction that treats cohesion as a rhetorical resource, informing curriculum design, pedagogy, and assessment.
Summary
This research investigated common mistakes and challenges experienced by Indonesian EFL learners in applying cohesive devices when writing an argumentative essay. Utilizing Corpus AntConc, the students’ essays were analyzed by classifying the cohesive devices found in their essays into five categories: reference, substitutes, and ellipsis, conjunction, and lexical cohesion. The findings revealed the common mistakes and challenges in writing and provided pedagogical recommendations to improve students’ writing competence regarding the appropriate implementation of cohesive devices.
| Teaching Context | College and university education |
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