Assessing the effect of duration of exposure to academic writing on university students in the use of conjunctive cohesive devices in academic writing: A case study at Mkwawa University College of Education

Abstract

This study sought to assess the effect of duration of exposure on students’ use of conjunctive cohesive devices in their academic writing. This was attained by comparing first- and third-year students majoring in the English language at the Mkwawa University College of Education. There were 40 study participants in total (20 from each year of study) and were randomly selected, having consented to take part in the study. Each was given a written task requiring them to answer an argumentative essay within 60 minutes. The students were asked to use 30 conjunctive cohesive devices classified by Halliday and Mathiessen (2014) into additive, adversative, causal  and temporal types. The findings revealed that both first- and third-year students used additive and causal types correctly compared to temporal and adversative types. However, third-year students did better than first-year students in the types which were mostly used by both groups, suggesting that the longer they are exposed to academic writing, the more likely it is that written proficiency will improve. The conclusion drawn is that these university students have yet to master the mechanics of text connection through conjunctions, and we recommend extra effort be made in the teaching of conjunctions to achieve the proficiency level required of students.