Exploring Self-Mention in The Yemeni EFL Argumentative Writing Across Three Proficiency Levels

Abstract

Self-mention used by university-level Yemeni writers is regarded as a challenging task. The overuse use of this feature is often considered as less formal and objective in academic writing. Despite the significance of this feature in academic writing, previous studies were mostly conducted in the Western cultural context. Research on self-mention produced by EFL learners of Arabic cultural background seems to be overlooked. Therefore, this study aimed to explore and compare the use of the first-person pronouns across three proficiency levels in an argumentative paragraph written by 80 third-year undergraduate students. Data were collected, assessed by ELT specialists, and then quantitatively analyzed. The results revealed that Yemeni EFL learners make extensive use of the first-person pronouns in their argumentative paragraphs. Differences were found in the occurrences of the first-person pronouns across three proficiency levels. The results also indicated that learners with a high proficiency level tend to use the first-person pronouns less than learners at low and intermediate proficiency levels. Since low-proficient learners rely more on the use of the first-person pronouns than those at higher levels, learners need to be exposed to a variety of strategies of how they can project their voice appropriately in their written texts.

Cinsiyet ve İngilizceyi ikinci ve yabancı dil olarak öğrenen öğrenciler tarafından İngilizce kişi zamirlerinin kullanımı arasındaki ilişkinin bir analizi

“…This may have had an effect on the frequent use of 'we' in the essays. This result received support from a recent study conducted by Alward (2019) who attributed the frequent use of 'we' in the essays of Yemeni EFL learners to the collectivist culture in Yemen. As for the frequencies with which each gender group used the pronouns, the female EFL learners used 'you' at the highest rate, followed by 'we' and 'I', whereas males also used 'you' but followed by 'I' and 'we'.…”

“…The perception of authority in different cultures may have also contributed to the avoidance of 'I' by the students. After all, cultural factors also played an important role in a recent quantitative study conducted by Alward (2019). Alward examined the use of the first person pronouns, 'I' and 'we' in the argumentative paragraphs of 80 Yemeni EFL learners who were in their third year of undergraduate studies at a college in Yemen.…”

Self-mention in argumentative essays written by pre-service teachers of English

“…As outlined in section 2 of the article, self-mention is a construal that is amply elucidated in the literature associated with academic writing in English (Fløttum 2012, Hyland 2001, Ivanič 1998, McGrath 2016, Szczygłowska 2020, Walková 2019) and applied linguistics (Abdelrahim and Abdelrahim 2020, Alward 2019, Çandarlı, Bayyurt and Martı 2015, Helms-Park and Stapleton 2003, Ho and Li 2018, Monsen and Rørvik 2017, Veličković and Jeremić 2020, Yoon 2017, Zareva 2013, Zhao 2013. The meta-analysis of the literature seems to suggest two contrastive approaches to self-mention in academic writing in EFL settings.…”

“…The construal of self-mention in academic discourse has been thoroughly researched in numerous studies associated with academic writing, academic discourse, and EFL teaching and learning (Abdelrahim and Abdelrahim 2020, Alward 2019, Çandarlı, Bayyurt and Martı 2015, Fløttum 2005, Hyland 2001, Helms-Park and Stapleton 2003, Ivanič 1998, Monsen and Rørvik 2017, Szczygłowska 2020, Walková 2019, Yoon 2017, Zareva 2013). Self-mention in academic writing is defined as "the use of first person pronouns and possessive adjectives to present propositional, affective and interpersonal information" (Hyland 2005b: 181).…”

“…The meta-analysis of the literature seems to suggest two contrastive approaches to self-mention in academic writing in EFL settings. The first approach is indicative of self-mention as a genre-dependent element of authorial identity that should be taught to an EFL student writer (Abdelrahim and Abdelrahim 2020, Alward 2019, Çandarlı, Bayyurt and Martı 2015, Ho and Li 2018, Monsen and Rørvik 2017, Veličković and Jeremić 2020, Zareva 2013). Another approach is suggestive of the epiphenomenal role of self-mention as a discursive feature, since it does not seem to correlate with the quality of academic writing in EFL settings and, subsequently, does not need to be taught (Helms-Park and Stapleton 2003, Yoon 2017, Zhao 2013.…”