2026-09-22T16:40:23Z https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/125612 2025-02-06 col_2142_5131 col_2142_13736 com_2142_5130 com_2142_8975 com_2142_8903

application/pdf en text Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2025-02-04 without embargo terms The student, Yu-Wen Lien, accepted the attached license on 2024-07-10 at 20:38. The student, Yu-Wen Lien, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2024-07-10 at 21:00. This Thesis was approved for publication on 2024-07-16 at 15:05. DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #21058 on 2025-02-04 at 21:04:57 Analyzing discourse competence in argumentative essays Lien, Yu-Wen 2024-07-16 Yan, Xun Tywoniw, Rurik Discourse Competence Academic Writing Second Language Writing Writing Assessment eng This study investigates discourse competence in second language (L2) argumentative essays. Discourse competence has long been treated holistically in most rating rubrics in large-scale, high-stakes, writing tests. To investigate the detailed sub-constructs of discourse competence in second language (L2) writings, this study analyzed 120 argumentative essays of different proficiency levels on an English-as-a-second-language (ESL) placement test at a Midwest university in the United States with an adapted fine-grained discourse competence rating scale from Wang and Xie’s study (2022). The study found that among the nine discourse features, F1 Topic/Focus, F4 Body paragraphs, and F6 Theme-rheme development had strong and significant correlations with the EPT placement levels, and the F7 Connective complexity, F8 Connective accuracy, and F9 Complexity of hedges and boosters had very weak and insignificant correlations with the placement levels. The findings of the study presented the nature of discourse competence across proficiency levels and provided practical implications for ESL academic writing curriculum development. 2024-08 Thesis https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125612 Copyright 2024 Yu-Wen Lien Linguistics Teaching of English Sec Lang University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign M.A. Thesis