Use of Cohesive Devices among Second Language Learners of English in Secondary Schools in West Pokot County
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Date
2025-09
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Kenyatta University
Abstract
Cohesive devices are essential for creating unity in writing, which is crucial for effective communication and academic success. Despite the significant emphasis on teaching this skill to learners many of them are unable to utilize these devices effectively in their written texts. The issue is reflected in national examination results, where students require additional support to clearly express ideas as they are poor users of cohesive devices and it is the area where interventions in education are required. This study investigates written texts from secondary school students in West Pokot County with a view to establishing the nature of cohesive devices they use. The study was guided by the theoretical framework proposed by Halliday and Hasan (1976). The research design of this study was descriptive and a combination of both quantitative and qualitative approaches.The study used stratified random sampling whereby 40 students in Form Four within four school clusters namely national, extra-county, county, and sub-county schools were sampled. The way data were collected was through essay writing and questionnaires to determine what students know and how they apply cohesive devices. Fourty essays and fourty questionnaires obtained from the 40 sampled students were analyzed. The first objective of this study was to determine the types of cohesive devices that students in Form Four in the secondary schools in West Pokot County use. The results indicate that students employed different types of cohesive devices namely: reference, substitution, ellipsis and conjunctions. The second objective was to find out how various cohesive devices were employed by students from different cluster schools in West Pokot County. It was also noted that a wider and more precise range of cohesive devices was shown by students in national and extra-county schools than by those in county and sub-county and there were more frequent and often inconsistent uses of simpler devices in the latter group. The third objective was to establish the most commonly used cohesive devices of all schools. Our data shows that the simplest additive conjunctions, in particular and and or, were the most frequent cohesive devices among secondary school learners in the four cluster schools in West Pokot County. The improper use of students and inappropriate use by students signify the requirement of specific measures of training. It is suggested that, learners be taught guided lessons on cohesive devices in English language with the aim that they use these devices differently in their English language essays. Such measures would help enhance the writing abilities of learners, which, in turn, would boost their competence as well as the level of communication in the English language in general.
Description
A Research Project Submitted to the School of Law, Arts and Social Sciences in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Arts in English and Linguistics of Kenyatta University, September 2025.
Supervisor
1. Hilda Kebeya