Do Good Writers Use More Ellipses in Writing?
pp.85-105
Ellipsis has been analyzed, if at all, as a type of cohesion markers by earlier studies. The underestimation of its importance and the lack of attention it has received has resulted in only few empirical studies analyzing the ellipsis as a primary object of inquiry. At the same time, there are conflicting findings on whether the relationship between ellipsis use and discourse quality is substantially positive or insignificant. Aware of these gaps, this study focuses on ellipsis and its subtypes to examine whether ellipses enhance the quality of writing. The study participants were 315 Korean high school students who wrote stories in English. Their writing samples were analyzed for ellipsis use and writing quality. The findings revealed that ellipsis occurrences in writing had a substantial relationship with the overall writing quality. This result was substantiated by a separate examination of the good vs. poor writer groups: Good writers used a significantly greater number of ellipses than did poor writers. Structural and nominal ellipses were the most prominent types of ellipses while clausal and verbal ellipsis occurred rarely. This pattern was held true for both good and poor writer groups. The current study promotes the status of ellipsis as a definitely contributing factor to good writing.
1. Need for the Study
2. Purpose of the Study
II. Theoretical Background
1. The Definitions of Ellipsis
2. The Classification of Ellipses
3. The Relationship Between Ellipsis Use and Writing Quality
III. Methods
1. Source Data
2. Participants
3. Writing Test and Testing Procedures
4. Scoring and Analysis
IV. Results
1. Research Question 1: Prominent Types of Ellipsis
2. Research Question 2: Ellipsis Occurrence and Overall Writing Quality
3. Research Question 3: Ellipsis Use by Proficiency Groups
V. Discussion and Conclusion
1. Ellipsis Use and Writing Quality
2. Limitations and Future Prospects
References