Discourse Analysis as a Tool for Teaching Academic Writing: Improving Coherence and Cohesion in EFL Students' Essays in Iraqi Universities

Abstract

Academic writing emerges as a nagging problem facing EFL learners in Iraqi tertiary level learning establishments. Such a problem is attributed to challenges in terms of logical thinking and connectivity. Therefore, understand how and why Discourse Analysis proved productive in improving EFL learners’ writing abilities by placing more attention on cohesive and non-cognitive skills. A quasi-experimental study was conducted over a period of sixteen weeks, with participants from Universities in Baghdad, Basra, and Erbil. Students from a second-level undergraduate program were randomly chosen. The results indicated a significant improvement in coherence, cohesion, and quality in terms of experimental over control participants. Additionally, there was metalinguistic awareness. However, challenges associated with training EFL trainers in terms of method and curriculum demands were established. This study suggests how and why integrating a theory of discourse analysis would immensely facilitate in bridging the literacy divide in academic literacy skills by implying a need to instigate training initiatives, initiating reforms in terms of curriculum changes, and carrying out longitudinal study in terms of long-term developing trends in terms of writing abilities.