LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 15:6 June 2015
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
         N. Nadaraja Pillai, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Use of Discourse Markers: A Case Study of English Writing
by Yemeni Students

Thekra Mohammed Abdullah Yehia
Ph. D scholar in linguistics

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the quality of English writing of level four students in Taiz University and to find out whether there is correlation between writing quality and the variable of gender. It also aims at investigating the use of discourse markers that Yemeni English Foreign language learners use in their composition writings. The research questions addressed in this paper are (1) what are the discourse markers that are frequently used by Yemeni EFL learners? , and (2) is there a direct relationship between the use of such markers and the writing quality of the learners? The 10 essays written by the study sample were analyzed following Fraser's (1999) taxonomy. The findings of the study reveal that the most frequently used discourse markers are the collateral ones, followed by the inferential, discourse activity, contrastive, discourse structure, causative and topic change markers. It is also shown that there is a positive correlation between learners' writing quality and gender of the participants. The paper concludes with some recommendations and suggestions that could participate in improving this critical area of language studies.

Key words: Discourse, Discourse Markers, Coherence, Coherent Devices, Cohesion, Cohesion Types, Contrastive analysis, First Language Interference

1. Introduction

In Yemen, English language is taught as a foreign language. It is being taught in public schools from grade seven onwards, though the quality of public school instruction is low. Although private schools, following either a British or an American system, teach English and produce proficient speakers, Arabic is still the language used for the communicative purposes. The number of English speakers in Yemen is small compared to other Arab countries such as Egypt, Lebanon, UAE, and Saudi Arabia.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.


Thekra Mohammed Abdullah Yehia
Kuvempu Institute of Studies in Kannada
University of Mysore
Mysore 570006
Karnataka
India
nicefuture1979@yahoo.com
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