Libyan Students’ Use of English Coordinating Conjunctions in Their Writing

Abstract

This study aimed at studying the use of English coordinating conjunctions (for, and, nor, but, or, yet and so) by Libyan university students, as learners of English as a foreign language. The data was collected from (34) students who studied at the Department of English in the Faculty of Arts at Misurata University. They were tested by two questions; filling gaps in seven separate sentences and writing two paragraphs. The students' answers and compositions were analyzed by identifying students' recognition of the semantic functions of the seven coordinating conjunctions, the frequency of occurrence of these conjunctions in their writing, and finally appropriate and inappropriate use of these conjunctions in writing paragraphs. The findings revealed that the majority of participants were unable to recognize the semantic functions of some unfamiliar conjunctions in the given sentences, tended to use some common coordinators than other ones, and employed conjunctions inappropriately in their writing.