Paratactic conjunctions in creole speakers' and ESL learners' academic writing

Second‐language‐writing research which examines ESL learners' transfer of speech‐typical registers into their academic written discourse is predicated on a “native speaker of English/nonnative speaker or ESL learner” dichotomy which appears to exclude speakers for whom standard English is a second dialect, namely, speakers of Caribbean Creole English. This study addresses the shortcomings of this strict native speaker/nonnative speaker (ESL) dichotomy by examining the extent to which creole‐English students grapple with the unfamiliar registers of academic written discourse as is reflected in their transfer of speech‐typical conjunctions (what will be referred to as paratactic conjunctions) into their writing. By comparing creole‐English students with ESL students, the study reveals that the writing challenges of learners of standard English as a second dialect are quite distinct from those of ESL learners. The study submits that the creole‐English‐speaking learners may be drawing more on paratactic conjunction function than their ESL counterparts because of the constant bidirectional shifting between the creole and standard English along the creole continuum and because of the similarity of creole and standard English vocabulary and the dissimilarity of their grammar systems – a phenomenon likely to mask the distinction between the conjunction system of the creole (which occurs only in the oral mode) and the conjunction system of standard English (which occurs in writing). Therefore, the “generic” notion of “ESL learner” to include all but native speakers of standard English seems to disguise the complex differences between learners of standard English as a second dialect and ESL learners regarding literacy challenges.