A multicompetence perspective on the use of conjunctions in writing in English as a second language for academic purposes
Keywords:
conjunctions, academic writing, multicompetence, second language, crosslinguistic influenceAbstract
Following the multicompetence framework (Cook and Li, 2016; Ortega, 2016), this paper aims at (a) analysing differences in the use of conjunctions across the L1 Spanish and the L1/L2 Spanish groups and the L1 English and the L1/L2 English groups and (b) determining the possible occurrence of crosslinguistic influence across groups. Findings revealed that no significant differences were found across the L1 Spanish and the L1/L2 Spanish groups, while the L1/L2 English group produced more conjunctions than the L1 English group. No evidence of crosslinguistic influence was found. It seems that proficiency and training in academic writing may be more relevant than being a native or non-native academic writer.
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