Developmental Patterns in the Use of Discourse Markers in EFL Academic Writing: A Comparative Study of Pre-Service Teachers

This study explores the development of discourse marker (DM) usage in the academic writing of Iranian pre-service EFL teachers. A comparative analysis was conducted between second-term and eighth-term undergraduate students at Farhangian University to examine how DM use evolves through academic coursework. Using Fraser’s (۲۰۰۵) framework—categorizing DMs into elaborative, contrastive, inferential, and temporal types—we analyzed ۴۰ essays. The findings indicated that senior students used DMs more appropriately and diversely than their junior peers, with greater reliance on elaborative and contrastive markers for argumentation, while inferential markers were used less explicitly yet integrated more coherently. The study suggests that academic experience enhances not only the frequency but also the functional appropriateness of DM usage. It argues that DM competence reflects deeper cognitive and rhetorical development, emphasizing the need for teacher education programs to present DMs as rhetorical resources rather than isolated grammar points. These findings have implications for EFL writing instruction and curriculum design. These findings demonstrate that academic coursework significantly enhances future teachers’ ability to wield DMs strategically, fostering writing that is not only cohesive but rhetorically effective. Our results challenge pedagogical approaches prioritizing DM quantity over functional appropriateness, proposing instead that DM evolution reflects deeper cognitive and disciplinary acculturation. We recommend teacher training programs frame DMs as tools for disciplinary thinking rather than isolated grammar points. While focused on one Iranian university, this study offers valuable insights into writing development in EFL teacher education contexts.

کلیدواژه ها:

discourse markers ، academic writing ، cohesion ، coherence ، teacher education ، EFL learners