Abstract:

Introduction:
We all take language-speaking abilities for granted as something innate to us. Phonetic, morphological, syntactic, or semantic rules are not observed or scrutinized when we use our mother tongue. But what are the rules that govern or trigger the use of a certain syntactic or pragmatic construction when speaking a foreign language? How pervasive can specific constructions of English be within the context of university students? These and other questions are the focus of this study, i.e. how Bulgarian students of English use different information packaging structures in their writings at college level. Forty-eight students participated in this investigation. A writing task served as the principal tool to collect the data. This preliminary research will serve as the basis for revamping the current general education curriculum to meet the higher education strategic goals and increase the efficiency of the learning process.

Presentation:
The aim of this presentation is to research the way Bulgarian students use English information packaging constructions (subject-dependent inversions, clefts, pseudo-clefts, passives, existentials, and extrapositions) in their writings. This group of structures is completely heterogeneous and exhibits a high degree of variability concerning the grammar, syntax, or pragmatics aspect. The study is intended to examine the structures the students use to build a coherent text and what errors they make. The study focuses on the following two questions:
*How do Bulgarian students use in their written works the English information constructions which are taught in grammar lessons?
*What are the common syntactic and pragmatic errors they make while using these constructions?

Conclusion:
The results show that the students use the aforementioned constructions almost adequately; however, they made a wide range of pragmatic errors, probably due to the limited instruction on the pragmatics aspects of the English language. These findings suggest that in order to help Bulgarian students use English grammatical constructions efficiently in different contexts, the inclusion of pragmatic instruction into the teaching and learning process of English grammar is essential. The results may be used in teaching praxis; for instance, lessons that emphasize on teaching essay writing skills and that aim to develop students’ text-coherence proficiency. Thus, this teaching technique can be accepted as a good practice that will help instructors of English obtain a better grasp of the concept of information packaging.

Keywords:

Information packaging, pragmatics, writing skills, text-coherence, error analysis, high-school students, educational reform.