DISCOURSE MARKERS IN FOCUS: STUDENTS' APPLICATION OF TRANSITIONAL DEVICES IN THEIR ACADEMIC WRITING TASKS

Abstract

Purpose: This paper assesses second-year students' use of transitional devices in their essays at St. Ambrose and Berekum Colleges of Education, Ghana. The objective of the study was to examine how college students use transitional devices to achieve coherence in their essays. Design/Methods/Approach: The study employed the descriptive survey method, using Halliday and Hasan’s Theory of Cohesion and Coherence as the theoretical framework and Oshima and Hogue’s categorisation of transitional devices as the analytical framework. A sample size of 214 essays was randomly selected from about 520 essays written by first-year students from Berekum College of Education and St. Ambrose College of Education, both in the Bono Region of Ghana. The data were analysed using content analysis. Findings: The study’s results showed that students used transitional devices at the inter-sentential and inter-paragraph levels to convey addition, contrast, comparison, time sequence, cause and effect, and conclusion, thereby achieving cohesion and coherence in their essays. Research Limitation: The paper is limited to only two colleges of education in Ghana: Berekum and St. Ambrose Colleges of Education. Hence, the results cannot be generalised as the true reflection of the performance of all students of colleges of education in Ghana. Practical Implication: The study will aid students, particularly those in the colleges of education, in overcoming their difficulties with using transitional devices and, ultimately, improving their writing skills. Social Implications: The study will help inform policy-making in colleges of education regarding how teachers can address students’ writing flaws in cohesion and coherence. Originality/Value: The study is based on the authors’ efforts to identify how students used transitional devices in context in their essays to achieve coherence and cohesion.