The use of result-linking adverbials in argumentative essays by Indonesian EFL students
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(1) * Dina Agil Pangestuti
Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia
Indonesia
(2) Ni Gusti Ayu Roselani Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia
Indonesia
(*) Corresponding Author
Abstract
Understanding the use of result-linking adverbials in writing argumentative essays is crucial for both educators and EFL learners. However, EFL learners often struggle with the appropriate usage. Limited research has examined how Indonesian EFL learners employ these linking adverbials in argumentative writing. This study investigates the frequency, positional distribution, and functional usage of result - linking adverbials in argumentative essays written by Indonesian EFL Learners. It adopts a qualitative descriptive approach, analyzing 50 essays (each 200 -300 words) from the ICNALE corpus, authored by Indonesian EFL students at the B1_1, B1_2, and B2 proficiency levels. The essays address two standardized topics: part- time job for college students and smoking bans in restaurants. The data were analyzed with respect to result - linking adverbial types (so, therefore, hence, thus, consequently, and as a result), frequency, syntactic position (initial, medial, and final), and functional roles (e.g., concluding and cause - and - effect relationships). The findings revealed a predominance of “so” primarily in sentence - initial position, indicating overreliance on the informal register. Most result - linking adverbials were placed in the sentence - initial position, whereas “thus” was predominantly found in the sentence - medial position. Indonesian EFL students tended to use result - linking adverbial to draw conclusions rather than to indicate consequences or express cause - and - effect relationships. Habit formation, first language interference, and instructional practices are identified as potential factors affecting their usage of result-linking adverbials in argumentative writing. The results underscore the needfor targeted pedagogy that emphasizes register-appropriate use of linking adverbialand provides explicit instruction on their syntactic positioning.HIGHLIGTHS:
- The findings revealed a predominance of “So” primarily in sentence-initial position,
indicating overreliance on the informal register. - Most result-linking adverbials were placed in the sentence-initial position.
- Indonesian EFL students tended to use result-linking adverbial to draw conclusions
rather than to indicate consequences or express cause-and-effect relationships.
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References
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Liu, D. (2008). Linking adverbials: An across-register corpus study and its implications. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 13(4), 491–518. https://doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.13.4.05liu
Malichatun, A., & Hardjanto, T. D. (2020). Conjunctive adverbials used in popular scientific articles. Deskripsi Bahasa, 3(2), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.22146/db.v3i2.4088
Nakayama, S. (2021). A corpus-based analysis of Japanese EFL learners’ linking adverbial use. The Educational Review, USA, 5(6), 164–171. https://doi.org/10.26855/er.2021.06.002
Nan, C. (2020). A corpus-based study on Chinese college students’ application ability of conjunctive adverbs in English writing: Proceedings of the 2020 International Conference on Social Sciences and Big Data Application (ICSSBDA 2020). 2020 International Conference on Social Sciences and Big Data Application (ICSSBDA 2020), Xi’an, China. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.201030.011
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Pipatanusorn, L., & Wijitsopon, R. (2019). A corpus-based study of linking adverbials in written American English. 14(1).
Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Geoffery, L., & Svartvik, J. (Eds.). (1985). A Comprehensive grammar of the English language. Longman.
Ryoo, M.-L. (2007). English connective so in Korean EFL students’ writing. 새한씁어씁문학, 49(1), 285–305.
Sungran Koh. (2021). A corpus-based study on the use of the conjunctive adverbial in EFL learners’ academic writing. The Linguistic Association of Korea Journal, 29(2), 163–184. https://doi.org/10.24303/LAKDOI.2021.29.2.163
Wang, Y. (2022). Linking adverbials in argumentative essays of advanced EFL learners: A corpus-assisted analysis. https://doi.org/10.15738/kjell.22..202204.396
Yanti, D., & Basthomi, Y. (2019). Conjunctive adverbs in undergraduate students’ articles. 1(2).
Yeung, L. (2009). Use and misuse of ‘besides’: A corpus study comparing native speakers’ and learners’ English. System, 37(2), 330–342. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2008.11.007
Yin, Z. (2016). Register-specific meaning categorization of linking adverbials in English. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 22, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2016.01.004
Yong-Yae Park. (2013). How Korean EFL students use conjunctive adverbials in argumentative writing. English Teaching, 68(4), 263–284. https://doi.org/10.15858/engtea.68.4.201312.263
Anthony, L. (2024). AntConc (Version 4.3.1) [Computer System]. https://www.laurenceanthony.net/software
Aziz, A. R., & Nuri, R. B. M. (2021). Iraqi Kurd EFL learners’ uses of conjunctive adverbials in essays. Arab World English Journal, 12(2), 222–237. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1311137
Biber, D., Johansson, S., leech, G., Conrad, S., & Fincgan, E. (1999). Grammar Of Spoken And Written English. Longman. http://archive.org/details/LongmanGrammarOfSpokenAndWrittenEnglishBySamySalah
Celce-Murcia, M., & Larsen-Freeman, D. (1999). The grammar book. Heinle & Heinle Publisher. https://flaviamcunha.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/the-grammar-book-an-eslefl-teachers-course-second-editiona4.pdf
Chen, C. W. (2006). The use of conjunctive adverbials in the academic papers of advanced Taiwanese EFL learners. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 11(1), 113–130. https://doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.11.1.05che
Council of Europe (Ed.). (2020). Common European framework of reference for languages: Learning, teaching, assessment ; companion volume. Council of Europe Publishing. www.coe.int/lang-cefr.
Dutra, D. P., Orfanó, B. M., & Almeida, V. C. (2019). Result linking adverbials in learner corpora. Domínios de Lingu@gem, 13(1), 400. https://doi.org/10.14393/DL37-v13n1a2019-17
Feng, X., & Choe, M.-H. (2016). A corpus-based analysis of Chinese EFL learners’ use of linking adverbials. The Linguistic Association of Korea Journal, 24(1), 49–70. https://doi.org/10.24303/LAKDOI.2016.24.1.49
Gao, X. (2016). A cross-disciplinary corpus-based study on English and Chinese native speakers’ use of linking adverbials in academic writing. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 24, 14–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2016.08.002
Ha, M.-J. (2016). Linking adverbials in first-year Korean university EFL learners’ writing: A corpus-informed analysis. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 29(6), 1090–1101. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2015.1068814
Halliday, M. A. K., & Hasan, R. (1976). Cohesion in English. Longman.
Hoey, M. (2005). Lexical priming: A new theory of words and language (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203327630
Hua, W. (2021). On adverbial conjuncts in Chinese English majors dissertations and theses: A corpus-based investigation. Curriculum and Teaching Methodology, 4(6), 139–150. https://doi.org/10.23977/curtm.2021.040626
Hůlková, I. (2005). Linking devices in English academic prose. Brno Seminar on Linguistic Studies in English: Proceedings.
Ishikawa, S. (2013a). Learner corpus studies in Asia and the world. 1, 91–118. https://language.sakura.ne.jp/icnale/download.html
Ishikawa, S. (2013b). The ICNALE Edited Essays: A Dataset for Analysis of L2 English Learner Essays Based on a New Integrative Viewpoint. 117–130. https://jaecs.com/jnl/ECS25/ECS25_117-130.pdf
Janulienė, A., & Dziedravičius, J. (2015). On the use of conjunctive adverbs in learners’ academic essays. Verbum, 6, 69–83. https://etalpykla.lituanistikadb.lt/object/LT-LDB-0001:J.04~2015~1511871836672/
Kao, T.-Y., & Chen, L.-M. (2021). Textual relations with conjunctive adverbials in English writing by Chinese speakers: A corpus-based approach. Computational Linguistics and Chinese Language Processing, 26(1), 43–78. https://www.airitilibrary.com/Article/Detail?DocID=1027376x-202106-202109150006-202109150006-43-78
Leedham, M., & Cai, G. (2013). Besides … on the other hand: Using a corpus approach to explore the influence of teaching materials on Chinese students’ use of linking adverbials. Journal of Second Language Writing, 22(4), 374–389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jslw.2013.07.002
Leláková, E., & Šavelová, N. (2020). Conjunctive adverbials used by Charlotte Brontë in the Novel “Jane Eyre.” International Journal of English Linguistics, 10(3), 48. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v10n3p48
Liu, D. (2008). Linking adverbials: An across-register corpus study and its implications. International Journal of Corpus Linguistics, 13(4), 491–518. https://doi.org/10.1075/ijcl.13.4.05liu
Malichatun, A., & Hardjanto, T. D. (2020). Conjunctive adverbials used in popular scientific articles. Deskripsi Bahasa, 3(2), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.22146/db.v3i2.4088
Nakayama, S. (2021). A corpus-based analysis of Japanese EFL learners’ linking adverbial use. The Educational Review, USA, 5(6), 164–171. https://doi.org/10.26855/er.2021.06.002
Nan, C. (2020). A corpus-based study on Chinese college students’ application ability of conjunctive adverbs in English writing: Proceedings of the 2020 International Conference on Social Sciences and Big Data Application (ICSSBDA 2020). 2020 International Conference on Social Sciences and Big Data Application (ICSSBDA 2020), Xi’an, China. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.201030.011
Oktavianti, I. N., & Sarage, J. (2022). Linking adverbials in Indonesian EFL students’ essays: A corpus-driven study. IDEAS: Journal on English Language Teaching and Learning, Linguistics and Literature, 10(2), Article 2. https://doi.org/10.24256/ideas.v10i2.3061
Phoocharoensil, S. (2017). Corpus-based exploration of linking adverbials of result: Discovering What ELT Writing Coursebooks Lack. 3L The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 23(1), 150–167. https://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2017-2301-11
Pipatanusorn, L., & Wijitsopon, R. (2019). A corpus-based study of linking adverbials in written American English. 14(1).
Quirk, R., Greenbaum, S., Geoffery, L., & Svartvik, J. (Eds.). (1985). A Comprehensive grammar of the English language. Longman.
Ryoo, M.-L. (2007). English connective so in Korean EFL students’ writing. 새한씁어씁문학, 49(1), 285–305.
Sungran Koh. (2021). A corpus-based study on the use of the conjunctive adverbial in EFL learners’ academic writing. The Linguistic Association of Korea Journal, 29(2), 163–184. https://doi.org/10.24303/LAKDOI.2021.29.2.163
Wang, Y. (2022). Linking adverbials in argumentative essays of advanced EFL learners: A corpus-assisted analysis. https://doi.org/10.15738/kjell.22..202204.396
Yanti, D., & Basthomi, Y. (2019). Conjunctive adverbs in undergraduate students’ articles. 1(2).
Yeung, L. (2009). Use and misuse of ‘besides’: A corpus study comparing native speakers’ and learners’ English. System, 37(2), 330–342. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2008.11.007
Yin, Z. (2016). Register-specific meaning categorization of linking adverbials in English. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 22, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2016.01.004
Yong-Yae Park. (2013). How Korean EFL students use conjunctive adverbials in argumentative writing. English Teaching, 68(4), 263–284. https://doi.org/10.15858/engtea.68.4.201312.263
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Published
2025-04-30
How to Cite
Pangestuti, D. A., & Ni Gusti Ayu Roselani. (2025). The use of result-linking adverbials in argumentative essays by Indonesian EFL students. JEES (Journal of English Educators Society), 10(1), 38-48. https://doi.org/10.21070/jees.v10i1.1907
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Copyright (c) 2025 Dina Agil Pangestuti, Ni Gusti Ayu Roselani
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