Enhancing Coherence through Discourse Awareness: A Mixed-Methods Investigation of Academic Essay Writing among ESL Learners in Multan

Abstract

Academic coherence is a challenge for English as a Second Language (ESL) learners. It is a challenge at the undergraduate level where students transition to structured academic writing. This study investigates the relationship between discourse awareness and coherence in academic essay writing among undergraduate students in Multan. The study adopts a mixed-methods explanatory design to examine how students ‘understanding of discourse features such as, cohesive devices, paragraph unity and sequence affected the coherence of their written material. The study was guided by Halliday and Hasan’s (1976) Cohesion Theory and Canale and Swain’s (1980) Discourse Competence Model. A purposive sampling technique was adopted for the study. The sample of the study were 40 ESL learners, who participated in this experimental study. The quantitative data was collected through structured essay writing task and estimated using a rubric based on discourse features. The qualitative data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 2 ESL teachers and thematic analysis of teacher’s interviews. The qualitative findings were gathered via semi-structured interviews with two teachers and thematic analysis of teacher’s interviews. Correlation analysis showed a statistically significant positive relationship between discourse awareness and writing coherence (r=.72, p<.01). Thematical findings showed perceptible improvements in topic sentence, clarity, logical flow, and the use of cohesive devices among students who received discourse-based instruction. The study concludes that developing discourse awareness plays a vital role in improving academic writing coherence.  It recommends integration of discourse-based pedagogies into writing curricula and training programs. These findings contribute to global understandings of writing instruction by underscoring the value of discourse-level competency in academic writing enhancement.   

Keywords: discourse awareness, coherence, academic writing, ESL learners, mixed-methods, discourse-based pedagogies.