Exploring Conjunctions as Textual Themes in Indonesian EFL Students’ Analytical Exposition Texts
Abstract
Maintaining textual coherence and logical flow remains a persistent challenge for Indonesian EFL students when writing academic arguments. This study examines the types of conjunctions used in students' analytical exposition texts and analyzes how they function as textual themes within the Theme-Rheme framework. Using a qualitative descriptive design grounded in Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), we analyzed a corpus of five collaborative essays comprising 83 clauses, written by fourth-semester academic writing students. The analysis identified 57 conjunctions, with additive relations being the most frequent category. Specifically, 20 of these markers operated as textual themes, directing the information flow and maintaining discourse continuity. These results demonstrate that conjunctions are not merely mechanical grammatical tools, but essential semantic resources for organizing a text globally. Consequently, writing instruction needs to shift toward functional linguistic principles to help students manage themes more effectively.
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