The Use Of Connectors In English Argumentative Writing And Chinese Transfer

By applying Halliday and Hasan's theories on cohesion and conjunction in English discourse, this thesis analyzes the use of connectors in English argumentative writing by Chinese first-year college students. This thesis has studied five aspects of connector usage including the function of connectors, the frequency and variety of connectors, features of oral style English, and Chinese transfer. The study found that the frequency of connectors is significantly high but the variety of connectors is limited, and the use of connectors displays features of oral style English. These problems are mainly due to students' inadequate understanding of English discourse and the functions of connectors, and English teachers may play a part as well. With regard to L1 transfer, there is little evidence to show that Chinese language has dominant influence on the use of connectors.