Abstract Name : Novi Yanti Student No. : 1609200080019 Study Program : Master Degree in English Education Department : English Education Title : An Analysis of Discourse Markers Used by the Students in Essay Writing (A Descriptive Study at English Language Education Department of UIN Ar-Raniry) ____________________________________________________________________ Keywords: Discourse Markers, Essay Writing This research was intended to identify the discourse markers commonly used by the students and to find out the misuse of discourse markers occuring in essay writing by UIN Ar-Raniry English Language Education Department students. The subjects of this research were the fourth semester students who were taking course on Writing III while the object of this research was the students’ essay writing. The instrument used in this research was document collection of the students’ essay writing including descriptive and argumentative essays. The data were analyzed by using Fraser’s (2009) taxonomy. The results of the document analysis showed that the discourse markers commonly used by the students in both essays include contrastive discourse markers (CDMs) consisting of but, although, however, nevertheless, on the other hand, whereas, even so, and on the contrary, elaborative discourse markers (EDMs) consisting of and, in addition, also, moreover, besides, otherwise, for example, likewise, or, furthermore, and in other words, and inferential discourse markers (IDMs) consisting of so, in conclusion, after all, therefore, hence, thus, then, because, and as a result. In addition, the elaborative markers were the most frequently used where 42% equally occured in both essay types. Furthermore, it was found that some discourse markers were used incorrectly by the students including overuse, misinterpretation, and mistranslation (L1-L2).