The Use of Cohesion Elements in the Written Expressions of Learners of Turkish as a Foreign Language

This study aimed to determine the use of cohesion elements by intermediate (B1) and advanced (C1) learners of Turkish as a foreign language and to examine differences between proficiency levels. The study was designed according to the comparative survey model. The study group consisted of 32 B1- and 32 C1-level students studying at X University TÖMER, selected through purposive sampling. Participants’ written narrative texts were examined in terms of cohesion, focusing on reference and conjunction elements. Qualitative data were analyzed using MAXQDA 24.9, whereas quantitative analyses were conducted using SPSS 20. Descriptive statistics and Mann–Whitney U tests were used to examine differences between groups. To reduce the risk of Type I error, a Bonferroni correction was applied. The findings revealed that C1-level learners used conjunction and reference elements more frequently and more diversely than B1-level learners. After the Bonferroni correction, statistically significant differences were found only in the use of time indicators and cause–effect indicators among conjunction elements, and reflexive pronouns and demonstrative adjectives among reference elements, with the C1 group outperforming the B1 group. Although ranking indicators, condition indicators, explanation indicators, effect–cause indicators, and demonstrative pronouns showed significant differences under the conventional significance criterion, these differences did not remain significant after the Bonferroni correction. Overall, the findings suggest that higher language proficiency is associated with a broader and more varied use of cohesion elements; however, the development of cohesion does not occur uniformly across all cohesion categories.