The Use of Connectives in English Academic Papers Written by Japanese Students.

The use of connectives in 41 academic papers written for an English writing course by Japanese students ranging from university sophomores to graduate students was examined. Connectives were categorized as additive, adversative, causal, and temporal. Each connective type was subject to certain types of error. Additive connectives tended to be overused, possibly because of the influence of oral discourse. In contrast, adversative connectives were omitted; this may be explained by the Japanese students' lack of awareness that the adversative connection is usually marked and requires a connective. Causal connectives are the most difficult for Japanese writers of English. Due to first language transfer, causal connection may be left "bare," while connections that are unrelated to cause and effect may be marked with a causal connective. Results showed no conspicuous error in temporal connection(JP) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** MITAWPP 2 (1989), 41-54 The Use of Connectives in English Academic Papers Written by Japanese Students