Sentence linkers in essays and papers by native vs. non-native writers

Vol.1,No.2(2008)

Abstract
Sentence linkers rank among the principal cohesive devices in formal written texts. The paper analyses the distribution of the main categories of sentence linkers in essays written by advanced non-native users of English and compares the results with the variety and frequency of sentence linkers used in academic papers produced by native users. It tests the hypothesis that non-native writers are more inclined to overuse sentence linkers as an easy and ready-made tool to achieve cohesion of a text. Infl uence of teaching formulaic writing patterns is also discussed in the paper.
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