JoLIE 12:2/2019

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A TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ BUSINESS WRITING TASKS IN A ROMANIAN UNIVERSITY SETTING

Diana Cojocnean

Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Abstract

This article presents the results of an analysis of Romanian students’ business writing tasks. The population of the study consisted of 120 first-year students studying Business English in a Romanian university. The study aimed to identify language features of students’ business writing tasks through the use of a textual analysis. The main purposes of the study were to identify specific linguistic properties (syntactic, lexical and grammatical complexity) found in students’ writing tasks, to identify the extent to which they use business vocabulary in their tasks and to investigate how inter-lingual transfer affects students’ writing. The research design involved a qualitative technique that was applied in text and discourse analyses. Pedagogical implications in the case of teaching business writing skills in a university setting are also addressed as are factors that explain students’ approach to writing skills. In addition, this paper details the specific features of Romanian students’ writing skills and the way their first language impacts their foreign language writing abilities.

Keywords: Textual analysis; Writing skills; Business vocabulary; Inter-lingual transfer; ESP; Business communication

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How to cite this article: Cojocnean, D. (2019). A textual analysis of students’ business writing tasks in a romanian university setting. Journal of Linguistic and Intercultural Education – JoLIE, 12(2), 29-42. DOI: https://doi.org/10.29302/jolie.2019.12.2.2

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