The Use Of Lexical Repetition And Patterning In Written Compositions Of Jordanian Students Majoring In English Language And Literature At Mu’tah University: A Case Study
| dc.contributor.author | Al Khotaba, Eissa Hamid | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2018-05-30T01:35:23Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2018-05-30T01:35:23Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2010-02 | |
| dc.description.abstract | In an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) context, writing is a skill that EFL learners must acquire as that would certainly help them in their future career (Mirhosseini, 2009). Many researchers such as Hoey (1991), Wong (2004), Klebanov and Shamir (2006), Morris (2007) and Kai (2008) found out that EFL (English as a Foreign Language) and ESL (English as a Second Language) learners’ written essays are difficult to understand as they lack coherent structure and organisation. These researchers, in particular Hoey (1991), argue that lexical repetition and patterning in written texts are necessary to produce coherent and well-organised written essays. However, claims in Jordan are rife that students who have successfully completed EFL courses are incompetent and are unable to produce coherent English compositions. As a result, Jordanian students face difficulty in securing jobs or advancing in their existing careers. There is much expectation in Jordan that universities are able to produce graduates who are proficient in both speaking and writing skills to increase employability. In light of this problem, the study aimed to investigate the use of lexical repetition and patterning in 60 written texts written by English Language and Literature students at Mu’tah University. The conceptual framework that underpins the study includes theoretical and empirical studies on students’ use of lexical cohesion in higher education and approaches to teaching writing to EFL learners. The sample of the study comprised 60 EFL students in the Bachelor of Arts, English Language and Literature degree at the department of English Language and Literature at Mu’tah University in Jordan. The study employed both qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques such as a written task and semi-structured interviews. The qualitative and quantitative data from the written essays were analysed using Hoey’s (1991) repetition matrix. The qualitative data from the semi-structured interviews were analysed by looking at emergent themes. The findings indicated that the students only used two types of lexical repetition. These types included simple and complex lexical repetitions. The most frequently used type of lexical repetitions was simple lexical repetition (SR). Also, the findings show that there was no occurrence of the other types of lexical repetitions such as simple paraphrase (SP), hyponymy (HY), co-reference (CO-REF) and superordinate (SUP) in the 60 written compositions. In addition, the findings revealed that Jordanian English Language and Literature students at Mu’tah University used four different types of lexical patterns (Central, Marginal, Topic-opening and Topic-closing) which resulted from their use of the different kinds of lexical repetition and bondage. Together these contribute to the overall cohesion of the written text. This research recommends that Hoey’s (1991) model of lexical repetition and patterning be used widely in Jordan as an alternative method of teaching writing to EFL learners. In addition, it recommends that EFL teachers in Jordan are provided with the awareness of how lexical repetition and patterning are able to lexically connect and bond sentences and clauses together across written texts. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/5592 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.publisher | Universiti Sains Malaysia | en_US |
| dc.subject | The use of lexical repetition and patterning | en_US |
| dc.subject | in written Compositions of jordanian students | en_US |
| dc.title | The Use Of Lexical Repetition And Patterning In Written Compositions Of Jordanian Students Majoring In English Language And Literature At Mu’tah University: A Case Study | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_US |
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