Tesis

Investigating efl undergraduates’ cohesive device uses and the quality of writing: a study of gender differences / Nila Aisatul Khusna

Abstrak
Writing is considered as an essential predictor in academic achievement. At tertiary level writing is considered as the most crucial academic practices which emphasize in crafting an extended text using formal language. To produce effective writing the writer needs to understand how to organize the ideas choose the appropriate vocabulary and use language effectively in order to organize the text into a coherent sequence. Additionally the use of linguistics device within text is crucial to show the relationship between sentences or paragraph resulted in producing cohesion within text. So Halliday and Hasan (1976) proposed particular devices referred to as cohesive devices to produce coherent writing. Numerous studies worldwide have attempted in investigating cohesive devices used by undergraduate students in written works. These studies found that the majority of undergraduates encountered challenges as having a heavy reliance on particular cohesive devices items due to their lack of knowledge. Moreover male and female learners have different cohesive devices items used in their writing as it influences students rsquo writing quality. Hence gender has been attributed in this study since it gives different impact in students rsquo language learning particularly in writing skill. This study aims to explore the use of cohesive devices among EFL undergraduate students with a subsequent exploration in different gender and writing quality. This study employed descriptive qualitative research design. The participants were EFL undergraduate students majoring in English Language Education Study program who enrolled Essay Writing course during their third semester. A total of 33 undergraduate students participated including 20 female students and 13 male students. The data were collected from students rsquo final assignment paper which they were assigned to write essays spontaneously in the classroom. The topics of essay were also varied focusing on ldquo cause-effect rdquo type of text with the students were allowed to choose their own topic. To analyze the use of cohesive devices Haliday and Hasan (1976) grammatical cohesion framework was employed which consists of reference conjunction substitution and ellipsis. Initially the handwritten essays were transcribed into Ms. Word for further analysis. This study utilized AntConc software to identify the variety of cohesive devices used by male and female students. The data were then calculated to determine the frequency of cohesive devices use. Besides to examine students rsquo writing quality this study used a holistic writing rubric proposed by Hogue amp Oshima (2007). To maintain the consistency and prevent bias three inter-raters were employed in this study. The inter-rater reliability was examined using Interclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC). The result of inter-rater reliability testing comparing the assessment between three raters on learners rsquo writing scores revealed an ICC value of 0.790. It indicated that the assessments among three raters are consistent and not significantly different from each other. Through comprehensive analysis it was found that female learners made greater use of cohesive devices compared to male learners. Overall the most frequently use of cohesive devices were reference devices with the total (61.35%) in female essays and (24.19%) in male essays followed by conjunction devices at (38.28%) in female essay and (21.53%) in male essays. Meanwhile the substitution devices rarely used within text appearing in only (0.37%) in female essays and (0.12%) in male essays while ellipsis devices were absent in overall essays. Both male and female learners had similar frequencies in their use of cohesive devices which is reference devices. This indicated that male and female learners were more willing to provide additional information or example in writing their essays. Although the prominent use of cohesive devices between male and female learners were similar the range of cohesive device items they used varies. Moreover regarding the students rsquo writing quality three raters evaluated all essays and moderated among themselves to determine the final score of essay writing. The highest score of male essays was 82 while the highest score of female essays was 93. Notably the findings of male essays revealed that a higher frequency of cohesive devices used by male learners was associated with the higher writing score. Conversely in female essays a higher frequency of cohesive devices didn rsquo t necessarily equate the higher writing score. These findings highlighted the use of cohesive devices and the writing quality among EFL undergraduate across different genders providing new evidence that gender differences become the issue that need to be addressed in teaching English. The frequency and variety of cohesive devices used by male and female learners influences the writing quality it offers a valuable insight for teachers or practitioners. This underscores the importance of teaching cohesive devices in classroom in order to improve students rsquo writing skill and their ability in producing coherent text.

Informasi Detail

DDC

Rt 421 KHU i

Prodi

Universitas Negeri Malang. Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris, 2024.

Deskripsi Fisik

xv, 62 lembar : ilus. ; 30 cm.

Bahasa

No Reg

00024/RT/25

Edisi

Tesis (Pascasarjana)--Universitas Negeri Malang. 2024

Subjek

1. BAHASA INGGRIS - MENULIS - STUDI DAN PENGAJARAN
2. BAHASA INGGRIS - MENULIS - GENDER
3. ENGLISH - WRITING - STUDY AND TEACHING

Pembimbing

1. Prof. Dr. Yazid Basthomi, S.pd, M.a.;2. Sari Karmina, S.pd, M.pd, Ph.d

Lampiran Berkas