Examining the usage of coordinating conjunction in Algerian middle school books: a genre and level analysis
No Thumbnail Available
Files
Date
2023
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oum El Bouaghi
Abstract
The primary aim of the study is to examine and analyze the usage of coordinating conjunctions in3rd and 4th year Algerian middle school books. The study specifically focuses on the influence of genre and level on the frequency and distribution of coordinating conjunctions. The study adopts a corpus analysis approach, analyzing a sample of 20 reading passages from third and fourth year Algerian textbooksusing TagConc and AntConc software tools . The findings reveal that coordinating conjunctions play a crucial role in connecting ideas and emphasizing similarities across different genres and academic years. The frequency of coordinating conjunctions increases in fourth year materials, indicating that the middle school curriculum places a greater emphasis on teaching advanced writing skills and logical connections as students progress through their education.Variations in coordinating conjunction usage across genres are also observed. The study provides pedagogical implications for educators, suggesting explicit instruction on coordinating conjunctions, genre-specific approaches, practice opportunities, peer collaboration, and interdisciplinary integration to enhance students' language proficiency and critical thinking abilities. The study acknowledges limitations regarding sample size, generalizability, and direct student data, and suggests further research in larger and more diverse samples, longitudinal studies, direct assessments of students' writing abilities, cross-cultural comparisons, exploration of teachers' perspectives, and intervention studies to assess the effectiveness of instructional interventions.
Description
Keywords
Corpus analysis; Coordinating conjunctions; Algerian middle school books; Language proficiency