The Use of Discourse Markers in Second Language Writing of Iraqi Undergraduate Students

Abstract

The current study describes the use of discourse markers (DMs) in essays written by Iraqi B.A. students at Al-Qalam University College (in Kirkuk province, Iraq). The main aim of the current study is to find the use of DMs in essay writing. 90 Iraqi B.A. students participated in this study. They were from three stages (freshmen, sophomores, and seniors). The participants wrote 90 essays; each participant wrote one essay on topics that were specified. The DMs used by the participants were classified into four categories; a) Contrastive Markers (CDMs); b) Elaborative Markers (EDMs); c) Implicative Markers (IDMs), and d) Temporal Markers (TDMs). The findings of the current study show that the participants used EDMs (66%), followed by TDMs (17%), CMDs (11%), and IDMs (6%). It was concluded that the students overused the EDMs, such as ‘and’, ‘as’, ‘or’, ‘but’, and ‘so’. In addition, they misused some DMs in their writing. The study also concluded that students’ ability in using discourse markers has to be developed to reach the academic level in their writing.

Keywords

• Discourse Markers
• Essay Writing
• Iraqi B.A. Students

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