Discoursal Elements in the Written English of Seniors at An-Najah National University

The present study attempted to investigate some discoursal elements in the seniors’ writing at An-Najah National University. It aimed at answering the following questions: 1. Do the English seniors’ at An-Najah National University apply the discoursal elements (Coherence, Thesis Statement, Organization and Order, and Wording) when writing essays in English? 2. Are there statistically significant differences due to gender at An-Najah University in the application of the discoursal elements, particularly: Coherence, Thesis Statement, Organization and Order, and Wording? 3. Are these elements equally problematic to students at An-Najah University, or do some elements pose more difficulties than others? The population of the study consisted of all English seniors at An-Najah National University (43 students) in the academic year 2001-2002.The students were attending an advanced English course. The researcher used means, percentages and standard deviations in order to answer the above -mentioned questions at (ά=0, 05) level of significance. The findings of the study were: 1. English majors at An-Najah National University were able to apply the thesis statement and wording in a good way. However, they failed to apply organization and order and coherence. 2. There were no statistically significant differences between males and females with respect to the aforementioned scales of written discourse. 3. The element of coherence was the most problematic to the students; the element of thesis statement was the least problematic. On the basis of the results of the study, the researcher recommended that further writing courses as well as special courses on contrastive linguistics help to improve students’ performance and achievement in writing English.