Pragmatic considerations of linguistic and discoursal elements encompassing the ESP students' communicative competence within a framework appropriate to college students' acquisition of competency in writing

The negotiability of native written texts across readers is often determined by the degree of fit between textual features and communicativeness of texts. Communicativeness, the readers' actual comprehension of the meaning intended by the writer, was believed to be affected to a great extent by how much linguistic and rhetorical knowledge sources are built into those texts. To determine the efficacy of the above hypothesis, it was necessary to explore the way literacy characteristics accommodated in foreign ESP students' compositions affect the accessibility of the messages encompassed from the vantage point of the receiver, with a further objective of examining the extent to which the students' transparency level contributed to their educational background and type of discourse.; A population of 110 Kuwait University undergraduates from two different colleges, with two different languages of instruction, comprised the study. Two writing tests were collected and assessed for coherence, appropriateness, cohesion, and accuracy factors, including mechanics. Scores obtained on those independent variables were weighed against the criterion variable "communicativeness," and analyzed using descriptive statistics.; The data support of the following conclusions: (1) Dependency relationships exist between literacy characteristics required in a text and transparency of the text across readers. (2) "Structure," exemplified by cohesion and accuracy factors, and "Rhetorical Organization," defined by coherence and appropriateness functors, emerged as primary and inseparable factors in effective writing communication. (3) Students with more exposure to English achieved a higher level of performance in the field-specific area notably. The very few students who showed consistency in ability to write in both types of discourse were those who were able to make use of their language training in the specific areas, as well as background knowledge and experience in the native and target languages (underlying capacity).; Dependency of writing on literacy features appropriate for different types of writing, and the inseparability of form and function question the existing models of ESP students' inseparability competence. These findings call instead for a shift to a flexible capacity and process-approach oriented in literacy instruction. Suggestion for changes were explained through teachers' methodology and classroom procedure, combined with teacher-education and materials development.