Do ESL Learners Use Conjunctions As ?Cohesive Devices? In Writing? ? A Study

Abstract

Abstract

The study is an attempt to explore how extent the ESL students of class VIII recognize and use conjunctions as cohesive devices in writing. This study is intended to know the quality of the second language writing. The project shows that the ESL students of class VIII are able to recognize conjunctions as cohesive devices irrespective of the task and age. It is found from the Task-III that if the students know the number of categories of conjunctions, they are able to use them randomly. i.e. There is no relationship between the categories of conjunctions and the usage of the particular conjunction. It is found that conjunctions such as And, But, So, That, Because, Or After, Who, When & If. were used in descriptive writing. And, the most common conjunction, is used highest & the conjunctions Who & Or are used lowest. It was found that there is no significance difference between the age groups in using conjunctions as cohesive devices as far as the Task-I, Task-II and III are concerned apart from at the overall level and as far as the Task-I, II and III are concerned. But, in Task-II, the boys performed higher than girls. And at the overall level, the boys performed higher than the girls. Hence, it is found that the ability to recognize/identify conjunctions as cohesive devices is higher than the ability to use them in an essay.