The development of discourse competence in learner academic writing

Abstract Discourse competence is crucial in constructing a unified text ( Canale 1983 ). However, while the importance of discourse competence in written discourse has been emphasized, studies of effects of specific features of discourse competence on the quality of a text have been neglected ( Purpura 2008 ). Moreover, little research has used a Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) approach to analyze cohesion and coherence features in writing discourse. Therefore, this study employed an SFL approach to examine how cohesion and coherence features were used in 45 non-native academic written responses across proficiency levels. The study aimed to provide an insight into learners’ second language discourse competence development. The analyses from four multinomial logistic regressions suggested that comparative conjunctions, accurate use of referential expressions, lexical cohesion, and theme-rheme patterns provided useful insights into learner discourse competence progression. The study has implications for teaching academic writing and for developing a rating scale for a writing assessment.