DISCOURSE PROBLEMS OF SINGAPOREAN STUDENT WRITERS

Abstract

This paper was conceived with the aim of discovering structural problems in student writing, specifically undergraduate writing. The paper proceeds from the hypothesis that undergraduates are unaware of the structural conventions of the academic community and utilise, instead, the alternative strategy of listing. An analysis of one hundred essays was carried out using van Dijk's superstructural schema. The degree of cohesion and coherence present in the texts was also examined. The results show that undergraduates are generally aware of the form that their discourse should take, but largely failed in relating the parts of their discourse together due to their concentration on the content of their discourse. Subsequently, the formal aspects of their texts are neglected. In addition, the discourse also showed coherence predominantly through reiterative means. This form of cohesive device is inadequate in linking the parts of a text together. The possible reasons underlying such incomplete accommodation of the structural conventions of the academic community were postulated. Students may be under the impression that what is required of them in their essays is only the content and hence, subordinate structural demands. Students may also not be equipped with the necessary skills to correct structural deficiencies. The chief contributing factor seems to be the influence of the teacher. The writing formulae that teachers impart and the format their questions take exert immense influence on the structure of their students' texts. The implications of such incomplete assimilation of the structural conventions of the academic community is that students may find difficulty in being accepted into the academic community. The need for corrective measures to be implemented is evident. Suggestions are made for the improvement of teaching methods and for future research.