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Examining the Characteristics of Tunisian Advanced EFL Learners’ Essays

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Teaching EFL Writing in the 21st Century Arab World

Abstract

This study investigated the linguistic and discourse characteristics of essays written in English by 45 advanced Tunisian EFL learners and the effects of the writing task (argumentative vs expository) on their essay features. The essays (N = 87) were analyzed in terms of fluency, grammatical and lexical accuracy, syntactic complexity, lexical richness, and use of metadiscourse markers. The results indicated that (a) the texts manifested global-level grammatical problems; (b) there were trade-offs between fluency, accuracy, and complexity; (c) the participants produced assertive, non-threatening texts; (d) the texts manifested features of the spoken register; and (e) the two tasks did not affect the textual features of the participants’ essays significantly. The chapter discusses the implications of the findings for teaching and researching EFL writing in the local context.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Ibtissem Knouzi

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  1. Ibtissem Knouzi
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Core Curriculum Program, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar

    Abdelhamid Ahmed

  2. Rte Agourai, Hay Al Mansour 903, Moulay Ismail University, Meknès, Morocco

    Hassan Abouabdelkader

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Knouzi, I. (2016). Examining the Characteristics of Tunisian Advanced EFL Learners’ Essays. In: Ahmed, A., Abouabdelkader, H. (eds) Teaching EFL Writing in the 21st Century Arab World. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-46726-3_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-46726-3_6

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-46725-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-46726-3

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