Cohesion and Coherence
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Atthu MohamedCohesion and Coherence
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Atthu MohamedDisourse and Pragmatics
LIN 207
Coherence & cohesion
Week 2 of 14
Which text is COHERENT? Which is
COHESIVE?
TASK 1:
Text A:
A: My cars broken down
B: Theres a garage down the road
Text B:
Yesterday I got up early. I had breakfast, brushed my
teeth and washed my face. Then I went to the university
and did morning exercises.
Text C:
My mom is 58 years old. 58 is an even
number. Number four is unlucky in Chinese
Cohesion vs. Coherecne
o Cohesion: formal links between sentences and
clauses
o Coherence: the quality of meaning, unity, and
purpose perceived in discourse.
o Cohesion is seen as one of the ways of indicating
coherence.
o Both cohesion and coherence have the
function of binding the discourse/text together by
creating sequences of meanings
o Language can be approached in two ways:
o Contextual Referring to facts outside
language
o Formal- Referring to facts inside
language.
TASK 2:
o Study Text C. Text C:
o This text is
cohesive.
o But a lot of
mental work
has to go on
for the reader
to make it
coherent.
What
knowledge
has to be
activated to
understand
the text?
Five Cohesive Devices
Reference
Ellipsis
Substitution
Conjunction
Lexical Cohesion
Grammatical
Cohesion
Five Cohesive Devices
1. Reference (Also called referring expressions
Cook, 1989)
o Words whose meanings can only be discovered
by referring to other words or to elements of the
context which are clear to both sender and
reader.
o Reference items in English:
o Pronouns (he, she, it, him, they..)
o Demonstratives (this, that, these, those)
o Articles (The, a )
Reference can be sub-categorize as
follow
Reference
reference within the text
Exophora
References to assumed,
shared worlds outside
of the text
Endophora
Anaphora
Reference that can be
established by looking
back in the text
Cataphora
Reference that can be
established by looking
forward in the text
Formal and Contextual Links
1. Reference (Also called referring
expressions Cook, 1989)
o There was an apple on the
plate. I ate it.
o What type of reference is
this?
o What does it refer to?
o How do we know it refers to
the apple and not the plate?
TASK 3:
o Study Text D. Identify the referring expressions
circled in red, and the word(s) they refer back to.
Text D:
TASK 4:
o Study Texts E. Identify the referring expressions
circled in red. What do they refer to? What kind of
reference are these?
Text E:
They pressed round him in ragged fashion to take their
money. Andy, Dave, Phil, Stephen, Bob.
Graham Swift, The sweet shop owner (Penguin Books Limited, 1983:13)
Five Cohesive Devices
2. Substitution
o A cohesive device in which one of a closed set
of words (for example; do, so) stands for a
word, phrase, clause, or element of the context
Ones: I offered him a seat. He said he didnt
want one.
Do: Did Mary take that letter? She might have
done.
So/Not: Do you need a lift? If so, wait for me; if
not, Ill see you there.
Same: She chose the roast duck. I chose the
same.
Five Cohesive Devices
3. Ellipsis
How will you answer these questions?
o Would you like a bottle of juice?
o What are you doing?
o Omitting part of sentences on the assumption
that an earlier sentence or the context will
make the meaning clear is called ellipsis.
o E.g.
o The children will carry the small boxes, the
adults the large ones.
TASK 5:
o Identify examples of ellipsis in these extracts:
Most students start each term with an award cheque. But by the time
accommodation and food are paid for, books are brought, trips taken home,
and a bit of social life lived, it usually looks pretty emaciated.
Advertisement for Barclays Bank, University of Birmingham Bulletin, 5 December 1988; 5)
You like watching children? her tone seemed to say: Youre like a child
yourself.
Yes. Dont you? His cheek was full of cheese sandwich. She didnt answer,
only looked at the swings with anxiety.
I sometimes wish, he said, trying hard to empty his mouth, I could join in
myself.
But you wouldnt?
Why not?
He saw the sudden change in her eyes. And was that a smile somewhere in
that held-aloft face?
Well, if you feel that way?
-Why dont I?
Graham Swift, The sweet Shop Owner, Penguin Books Limited, 1986;27)
Five Cohesive Devices
4. Conjunction
a word or group of words used to connect
words, phrases, or clauses.
mark certain relationsips between clauses
and sentences
Four categories:
Additive
Adversative
Causal
Temporal
Examples of Conjunctions
Additive conjunctions: and, also, nor, or else,
moreover, in addition, besides, by the way, that is,
likewise, similarly,
Adversative Conjunctions: yet, but, however,
despite this, on the other hand, instead, nevertheless,
rather etc.
Causal conjunctions: so, thus, hence, therefore,
arising out of this, in that case, otherwise, because,
as a result (of this), on this basis, accordingly.
Temporal Conjunctions: then, next, afterward,
previously, finally, at last, meanwhile, next day, first,
from now on, to sum up, in short, henceforward,
hitherto, up to now, this time etc
TASK 6:
o Complete the following sentence using the given
conjunction
For the whole day he climbed up the steep mountainnside,
almost without stopping
And Additive
Yet Adversative
So
Causal
Then, Temporal
Five Cohesive Devices
5. Lexical Cohesion :
achieved by the selection of
vocabulary.
Types of Lexical Cohesion :
o Reiteration
o Collocation
Types of Lexical CohesionReiteration
o a form of lexical cohesion which involves
repetition, synonym or near
synonym,superordinate and a general noun.
e.g. Pollution of our environment has occurred for
centuries, but it has become a significant health problem
only within the last century. Atmospheric pollution
contributes to respiratory disease, and to lung cancer in
particular. Other health problems directly related to air
pollutants include heart disease, eye irritation and so on.
Repetition
Reiteration Examples
e.g. Henrys has bought a new jaguar. He practically
lives in the car. Superordinate
e.g. I turned to the ascent of the peak.The climb is
perfectly is easy. Synonym
e.g. I turned to the ascent of the peak. The thing is
perfectly is easy. General noun
e.g. There is a boy climbing that tree. The lad is
going to fall if he doesnt take care. Near
-Synonym
