A Profile of the 11 Functions of ‘That’ Used in Story Writing by English Proficiency Groups

The single word ‘that’ has amazing utility because it offers 11 different functions. This study investigated the 11 functions of that which students used implicitly when writing stories. The participants were 4 proficiency groups: 2 Korean elementary-school immersion groups, Korean students in a gifted program (6th-9th grades), and American junior-high-school students. Occurrences of that in the stories were classified into 11 functions, ranked in accordance with mean occurrences, and grouped into 2 larger categories: high-frequency (easier) vs. low-frequency (more difficult) functions. That functioned most often as an object clause or demonstrative pronoun, and least as a subject clause or complement clause. The high-frequency functions were used most often in the stories of the gifted Korean youths, indicating their enthusiasm and fluency. Low-frequency functions occurred most often in the writings of the American junior-high-school students. Low-frequency functions showed a small and gradual increase in the use as students’ proficiency rose. This study enhances educators’ understanding of the use of that functions in relation to implicit knowledge as manifest in spontaneous discourse and proficiency levels.