Foreign Entanglements and Logical Connectors in L2 Writing

Dr. Carrie Ankerstein, University of Saarbrücken

Hudson (2004) noted the disconnect between what English linguists do and what some English teachers teach and argued the case for linguists to be more involved in curriculum development. His comments were focused on prescriptive rules in grammar school teaching, which is far removed from how linguists approach language. I would like to propose a similar call for more involvement of linguists in English as a second language (ESL) classrooms, particularly with respect to logical connectors. Crewe (1990:317)

stated “The misuse of logical connectives is an almost universal feature of ESL students’ writing”. A number of studies have cited teaching methods as a potential contributor to the overuse and misuse of connectors in ESL writing (Crewe, 1990; Granger & Tyson, 1996; Leedham & Cai,2013; and Milton & Tsang, 1993). Crewe (1990) and Milton & Tsang (1993) explicitly discourage

the practice of giving learners lists of connectors without stylistic or semantic differentiation and using fill-in-the-blank exercises. They also caution against teaching learners to use these markers for purely stylistic purposes. With respect to the function of connectors, Crewe (1990: 319) argued “It is debatable to what extent either ‘however’ or ‘furthermore’ develop the argument

successfully” and later stated: “Although cohesive devices are visible signs of the relationships that they signal, they are at best only indicators of them” (pp. 320-321). Milton and Tsang (1993: 233) also commented that “Students are often given the impression that the greater the number of logical connectors used, the more coherent the writing is”.

In the current study, four commonly used textbooks in the German states of the Saarland and Rheinland-Pfalz were examined for their methods of teaching connectors. The current Research questions, based on research advice, were as follows:

1. Do textbooks state why connectors are used?

2. Do textbooks give students lists of undifferentiated connectors?

3. Do textbooks give students fill-in-the-blank exercises to practice connector usage?

The survey revealed that connectors are often presented as necessary components of an argument, for example: “…phrases like therefore, due to this, thus or with this in mind establish a cause-and-effect connection, logically linking your thoughts, which is indispensable for an expository essay” (Butzko et al., 2009:35) and stylistic devices: “When you write the body of your essay use linking expressions to improve your style” (ibid. p. 38). All textbooks provided lists of categorized connectors and all included fill-in-the-blank exercises and/or exercises in which a paragraph was presented for rewriting with the inclusion of connectors. Thus, each textbook went against research-based advice for teaching L2 connectors.

Secondary school curriculum guidelines for the Saarland were also consulted and it was found that these too promote overuse of connectors, stating use of a “wide range of cohesive devices/connectors” as a feature of upper levels of written English proficiency. This is in contrast to the Common European Framework guidelines which state “controlled use of organizational patterns, connectors and cohesive devices” for upper proficiency levels. I would like to make a call for more research-driven methods in the second language classroom. In the proposed workshop, we will discuss individual connector teaching experiences and ideas; talk about other research findings with respect to connectors, including whether they aide in Foreign Entanglements and Logical Connectors in L2 Writing: why language teaching needs linguists. reading comprehension; and we will talk about an evidence-based approach to teaching the use of connectors in L2 English writing.

References

Butzko, E., Horner, M., Huuck, P., Nürnburger, U., Pongratz, S., Rabe, M.J. & Tepe, T. 2009. Green Line Oberstufe. Ernst Klett Verlag.

Crewe, W. J. 1990. The illogic of logical connectives. ELT Journal 44(4), 316-325.

Granger, S. and S. Tyson. 1996. Connector usage in the English essay writing of native and nonnative EFL speakers of English. World Englishes 15(1), 17-27.

Hudson, R. 2004. Why education needs linguistics (and vice versa). Journal of Linguistics, 40, 105-130.

Leedham, M. and Cai, G. 2013. Besides…On the other hand: using a corpus approach to explore the influence of teaching materials on Chinese students’ use of linking adverbials. Journal of Second Language Writing, 22, 374-389.

Milton, J. and Tsang, E.S.C. 1993. A Corpus-based study of logical connectors in EFL students’ writing: directions for future research. In Studies in Lexis. Edited by R. Pemberton and E.S.C. Tsang. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. pp. 215-246.