This study investigates the written performance of the Sudanese EFL students at tertiary level. The study aims to assess the written texts produced by the students in order to find out how successful they are in their use of writing as a mechanism through which meaning is communicated. To achieve this aim, the researchers employed the analytic descriptive method. The subjects of the study consist of 65 Sudanese EFL teachers working at some Sudanese universities and 240 fourth level students who are taking English as a major course in five universities. Three tools were used for data collection: writing test, two questionnaires (one for the teachers and the other for the students) and an interview with the students. Analysis shows that Sudanese EFL students did cope with the different modes of writing. They were unable to make use of writing strategies such as pre-activities and organization. Furthermore, the study suggests that the students made no use of teachers and peers feedback while writing. Findings also revealed a total lack of awareness of cohesive devices on the part of the students. That is, they produced disconnected sentences and incoherent paragraphs. The study concludes that the students' language problems, lack of organizational skills, and inability to meet the audience expectations were among the factors that would make them produce less informative written texts.
This paper investigates the discourse competence of the Sudanese EFL university learners. The main objective is to evaluate and assess the students' ability to produce unified and meaningful texts. 98 Sudanese EFL students from Faculty of different Sudanese Universities served as subjects for the study. Two instruments were employed for data collection: a questionnaire and audio-recorded conversations. Results revealed that the students had some difficulties in producing coherent and meaningful texts. The linguistic forms they used were very limited, which did not show any sophisticated use of language. Results also revealed that the students were not well-acquainted with turn-taking rules during conversation. In their responses to the questionnaires, they reported a very good command of cohesive devices in the process of producing coherent discourse events, which appeared to be incorrect. However, they were able to use simple language to expand certain points into meaningful stretches of language. In addition, some students were able to demonstrate an ability to engage into the production and interpretation of unified and meaningful discourse. Nevertheless, the analysis suggests that the students under study are still far from being competent as far as discourse competence is concerned.
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