Efl Learners’ Deployment of Discourse Markers in Ielts Essays: From Beliefs to Practices

Abstract

This paper aims at presenting the findings of a study examining the deployment of discourse markers (DMs) in IELTS essays by EFL learners in terms of beliefs and practices. The study involved a group of 60 EFL learners who were taking IELTS preparation courses at an English language center in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The research data were gained from questionnaires and 120 IELTS essays (Task 2) written by EFL learners. The questionnaire data were processed using the SPSS software, while the essay data were scrutinized by AntConc software. The findings showed that EFL learners strongly believed in the importance of DMs in writing, and they deployed DMs in their writing at a moderate frequency. Additionally, among six categories of DMs, EFL learners utilized elaborative markers more than other categories of DMs. This paper also presents some pedagogical implications in an attempt to improve the quality of English language teaching and learning in general and English writing teaching and learning in specific at the research context and other similar EFL ones.