DISCOURSE MARKERS IN ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY BY THE ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM’S STUDENTS OF UNIVERSITAS BENGKULU: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

This research is aimed to find the most frequent type of discourse markers used in the
argumentative essay and the differences in its use written by the first, third, and fifth
semester students of English Education study program of Universitas Bengkulu. The
documentation technique and checklist are used in this research. Thirty two
argumentative essays written by English Education Study Program’s students were
analyzed by using mix method quantitative and qualitative, along with descriptive
approach. The results showed that the most frequent type of discourse markers used by
English Education students is additive markers. And the students have different amount
of discourse markers in their writing where the third semester students used more
discourse markers than the other two group of students. It is highly encouraged for
English Education instructors to take teaching discourse markers specifically into
account. It is also suggested for future researchers to further analyze the correct use of
discourse markers in the argumentative essay written by English Education Study
Program students of Universitas Bengkulu. This will lead to a new contributive finding in
regards of discourse markers.
Key Words: Argumentative essay, discourse markers, English students