Investigating the use of conjuctions in essay writing by selected second-level non-native English students at a South African University

Abstract

In academic writing, writers must use appropriate language to articulate their ideas. This includes using appropriate conjunctions to present a comprehensive and logical piece of written work. Therefore, this study investigated the use of conjunctions in essay writing by selected second-level non-native English students at a South African University. The research adopted a mixed method approach because the researcher could combine the findings from qualitative and quantitative approaches. A quantitative approach was used because it uses numbers and percentages, while the qualitative approach identifies an in-depth understanding of a particular phenomenon. Quantitatively, 52 students constituting 20% of the 261 entire population of the University of Venda second-level non-native English students participated in this study. A random sampling technique was used because it gave an equal opportunity for the students to participate in the study. Data were collected using a questionnaire instrument. A Statistical Package for Social Sciences Software Version 22.0 was used due to analyse quantitative data due to its ability to identify trends and patterns of the findings. Qualitatively, further sampling of 10 students was purposively conducted based on the researcher’s judgment. A document analysis was used to collect and manually analyse themes emerging from the participants’ written essays. The study found that the majority of the participants were competent in the use of subordinate conjunctions, coordinate conjunctions, and conjunctive adverb conjunctions. However, they experienced difficulties in the use of correlative conjunctions because they could not produce coherent and cohesive written essays. The present study recommends writing and frequent practice of the use of conjunctions by selected second-level non-native English students at a South African University.