Professional Self-Representation in English Job Application Letters: Communication Challenges among EFL Students at the University of Kisangani
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47941/jcomm.3772Keywords:
Professional Self-Representation, Job Application Letters, EFL Learners, Employability, Professional Communication, MultilingualismAbstract
Purpose: This research investigates professional self-representation within English job application letters authored by EFL students at the University of Kisangani, Democratic Republic of Congo. It identifies critical communication hurdles that impede the construction of credible professional identities and effective formal correspondence in a multilingual academic setting.
Methodology: Utilizing a mixed-methods approach—combining qualitative discourse analysis with quantitative descriptive metrics—the study evaluates a corpus of letters produced by students in the Department of Letters and English Civilizations. The analysis focuses on discourse organization, persuasive strategies, professional tone, and the deployment of politeness conventions.
Findings: Findings indicate that students face persistent challenges in producing persuasive and coherent correspondence. Primary deficiencies include weak argumentative structures, ineffective self-presentation techniques, and a lack of mastery over professional etiquette and formality. Crucially, the data reveals that grammatical proficiency alone does not guarantee professional communicative effectiveness, as deficiencies remained observable even among advanced students.
Unique Contribution to Theory, Policy and Practice: The study highlights the necessity of shifting pedagogical focus from decontextualized grammar to genre-based professional writing. It advocates for curricula centered on authentic workplace discourse and strategic self-representation to better align student skills with the demands of the global labor market.
Downloads
References
[1] Alred, G. J., Brusaw, C. T., & Oliu, W. E. (2009). The Business Writer’s Handbook. Bedford/St. Martin’s.
[2] Bhatia, V. K. (1993). Analyzing genre: Language use in professional settings. Longman.
[3] Berelson, B. (1952). Content analysis in communication research. Free Press.
[4] Canagarajah, A. S. (2006). The place of World Englishes in composition: Pluralization continued. College Composition and Communication, 57(4), 586–619.
[5] Corder, S. P. (1967). The significance of learners’ errors. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 5(4), 161–170.
[6] Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage Publications.
[7] Dörnyei, Z. (2007). Research methods in applied linguistics. Oxford University Press.
[8] Fairclough, N. (1995). Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of language. Longman.
[9] Ferris, D. R. (2003). Response to student writing: Implications for second language students. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
[10] Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. Anchor Books.
[11] Hyland, K. (2003). Second language writing. Cambridge University Press.
[12] Hyland, K. (2005). Metadiscourse: Exploring interaction in writing. Continuum.
[13] James, C. (1998). Errors in Language Learning and Use: Exploring Error Analysis. Longman.
[14] Swales, J. M. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge University Press.
[15] Weigle, S. C. (2002). Assessing writing. Cambridge University Press.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 John Mbula Nyangonda, Dimanche Lingoso Lifengo, Arthur Cimwanga Bandibanga Shambuyi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
