The Correlation between Discourse Markers and Communicative Competence on EFL University Students

Discourse markers are generally defined as words or linguistic expressions of different functions in discourse Discourse markers are words and phrases that are used to manage and organize the structure of discourse. They connect sentences without changing the general meaning of what is being said Communicative competence can be defined as the ability to use language, or to communicate, in a culturally-appropriate manner in order to make meaning and accomplish social tasks with efficacy and fluency through extended interactions The students use of discourse markers at Iraqi Universities and its correlation to their communicative competence. This study is a correlation study. The sample of the study is 300 students from Tikrit and Kirkuk Universities. It consists of (150) students of third stage is derived from Department of English Language, Collage of Education for Humanities at University of Tikrit and (150) students from Department of English Language, College of Education for Humanities at Kirkuk University during academic year (2022-2023). The test has been constructed, validated and applied to the two involved Universities. The required data has been collected and analyzed statistically. The data is gathered by using diagnostic tests. The results show that there is a statistically significant low relationship between students' DMs at Kirkuk University. The results show that there is statistically significant low relationship between students' DMs at Tikrit University. The results of question 4 aim to show that there is statistically significant moderate relationship between students' CC at Kirkuk University. The results also show that there is statistically significant relationship between students' CC at Tikrit University. This research also contains previous studies of DMs and CC and the discussion of the them.