Attitude markers in the writing of EFL learners : a pragma-stylistic study

الملخص EN

Abstract Attitude markers refer to certain expressions that are used in a text that reflect writers' position toward both the content in the text and the reader.

This study aims to investigate the use of attitude markers in the writings of EFL learners.

For this purpose, third stage of the department of English, university of Basra was chosen.

The study analyzed 177 written texts of students in both a pretest and a posttest.

The pretest is designed to find out whether the students use attitude markers or not while the posttest is intended to know if the students are able to develop their performance in the use of attitude markers in their writings.

The study reveals that attitude markers are used in the pretest and the posttest respectively, but there were significant differences between the two tests.

The result suggests that the students can develop their performance in the use of attitude markers in their writings.

The study stresses the need for teaching attitude markers in the writing courses in the academic study.