Cohesion and Coherence

Introduction

Every writer wishes to make their points clearly to theirreaders, with pieces of writing that are easy to read andhave logical links between the various points made. Thiscoherence, this clarity of expression, is created by grammar andvocabulary (lexis) through cohesion. This is the "glue" thatjoins your ideas together to form a cohesive whole.

In this Lesson we are going to focus on how this is done, inorder to assist you when you come to write your academicassignments and in your reading. In reading, if youunderstand how the author makes connections within the text,you gain a better understanding of his or her message. Asregards your writing, after analyzing the texts in thisLesson, you should analyze your own writing in the same way.This will help you to realize which techniques you could usemore to benefit your reader.

How cohesion is created in text

According to the writers Halliday and Hasan (1976), there aresix main ways that cohesion is created in a text. These theycalled: Reference, Substitution, Ellipsis, Lexical Chains,Cohesive Nouns and Conjunction.

Six Ways to Create Cohesion

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Examples of Reference, Substitution, Ellipsis, LexicalChains, Cohesive Nouns and Conjunction:

1. Lexis (lexical chains)Example 1The art gallery was exhibiting all his paintings, but notthe sculpture or his early etchings.

Example 2The players gathered on the pitch and kicked the ballaround, before playing in earnest.

Example 3The students attending the lecture all took notes andasked a lot of questions.

2. Cohesive NounsExample 1Over a million dollars was spent last year. Thisinvestment was needed and was wisely spent.

Example 2The two cars collided on the flyover. However, nobody washurt in the accident.

Example 3The children were always fighting, but no one seemedconcerned about the problem.

3. ReferenceExample 1Tom went alone to the party, which was fancy dress, and hemade his costume himself.

Example 2

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The disabled climber knew how difficult the climb at 2880m. would be. This ascent, at such an altitude, haddefeated many others.

Example 3My room is very dark and hers is similar.

4. Substitution

Example 1I need to buy some new shoes and those blue ones looklovely!

Example 2The customer demonstrated outside the store, but he didnot want to do so.

Example 3The winters can be wet and cold in London. The same isunhappily, also true for the summers.

5. Conjunction

Example 1Firstly, we need to water all the plants because theweather has been very dry.

Example 2The dog bit him, therefore he needed medical attentionimmediately.Example 3In addition, government expenditure needs to be cut inthis fiscal year.

6. Ellipsis (leaving words out)

Example 1

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Ann was quite happy to handle the snake, although theothers did not want to. (handle the snake)

Example 2Here is the deck of cards, now take any four. (cards)

Example 3I wanted to take another chocolate covered cherry, but Iknew I must not. (take another chocolate covered cherry)

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Activity 1:

Colour code this short piece of creative writing to show how the cohesion iscreated. Use the colour code below; the first three have been done for you asexamples:

Reference (blue) e.g. “this”, “his”, “which”,“whose”,Substitution (pink) e.g. “the ones”, “the same”,Conjunction (green) e.g. “because”, “so”, “and”,“finally”, Lexical Chain (red) means words on the same topic Cohesive Nouns (purple) nouns that summarise whatcame before or what is to follow e.g. “attitude”,“success”, “issue”, “problem”,Ellipsis (yellow) means missing words out (do notworry about colour coding these words as they arenot present in the text!)

The student (red) sighed as (green) she(blue) handed in the assignment, at last itwas finished. This was the most difficultpiece of writing which she had been set, butshe had completed it. The ‘magnum opus’ was10,000 words long. This project, though notquite a dissertation, was still the longestpiece of academic writing she had everwritten. She had thought she would nevercomplete it and it had taken all her strengthto do so.

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Her achievement made her elated, but had lefther exhausted. When she had read the title ofthe task, she knew it was not going to be justanother essay, not an easy one at all.Finally, the completed work lay on the counterof the reception [and was] beautifully bound.She would sleep easy at night, [and she wouldbe] no longer troubled by thoughts of itsaccusing blank pages - the nightmare was over!

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Activity 2:

In this exercise you are going to see how the 6 ways of creating cohesion areused in a short text arguing in favor of working in groups as a way to learnbetter in class. Before you read the text, you might like to predict what thearguments might be in favor of and against classes being organized to worktogether in this way.

Fill in all the gaps with the words in the lexical area ofeducation

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Activity 3:

Color code this short piece of discursive writing to show how the cohesion is created. Use the color code at the bottom, the first three have been done for you as examples:

Note : One example of Ellipsis is shown in the first paragraph, but do not worry about colour coding it in this activity. It is not there!

"Working in groups is a bad idea because it encourages weakstudents to let the others do the work." Discuss

The idea that (green) working in groups (red) is a bad thing isfundamentally mistaken because (green), overall, the advantages ofthis way of configuring the class outweigh the potentialdisadvantages [of this way of configuring the class] (ellipsis).In groups there is the opportunity for peer teaching, which canoften be invaluable. In addition, lessons organised in this waybecome less teacher-centred. Moreover, in life today, team-workingis a feature of every workplace and one of the roles of universityeducation is to provide a preparation for students' futurecareers.

Firstly, peer teaching can contribute to effective learning inmost classroom situations. Many students (especially in largeclasses) can benefit from this approach. Weaker students are oftenless afraid of making mistakes and taking risks in front of theirpeers, than in close contact with their teacher or in front of thewhole class. Also, with regard to the stronger students, a perfectway to consolidate their learning is to transmit that knowledge toothers. Furthermore, most pedagogic approaches today concur that alesson that is focused on the teacher at all times, is one fromwhich the students are unlikely to benefit. Certainly, someclassroom activities, like project work for example, are bestconducted in small groups. The teacher as the source of all wisdomstanding at the front of the class, the 'jug and mug' model ofeducation, is not only antiquated, but also ineffective.

A further benefit of group-teaching is the preparation it providesfor working in teams. In a great variety of careers today, theemployees are asked to, and are judged on their ability to work in

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teams. Group working in class represents basically the sameconcept. The same skills are being tested and developed -interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence, to mention justtwo. In business today, the ability to lead effectively and tosupport one's peers is prized almost above all other skills.

In conclusion then, while it may sometimes be true that the weakstudents may 'take it easy' sometimes in groups, allowing othersto work hard to compensate for their laziness, if the lessonmaterials are interesting and the teacher motivating, this is arare occurrence. As outlined above, there are so many 'pros' tothis method of classroom configuration that these easily outweighthis somewhat questionable 'con'.

Cohesive Nouns (purple) Conjunction (green)Reference (blue) Substitution (pink)Lexical Chain: Education (orange) Lexical Chain: Work (red)

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Activity 4:

Fill in all the gaps with the referencewords and those used for substitution inthe sentences:

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Name: ______________________________________________ Code:________________Date: ___________________________

Match the element with its respective definition:

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Exercise:

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