Cohesion, Theme and Coherence

COHESION and COHERENCE
INTRODUCTION
Every good writing, Academic Writing inclusive,
needs to be reader friendly. It needs to be as
clear as possible so that the reader can easily
follow sentences, ideas and details in the writing.
One key aspect of this feature of good writing is
the connections and relationships that exist
between ideas. These relationships are achieved
by linguistic resources known as cohesive devices.
Cohension and coherence are terms used to

describe the properties of written texts.
Coherence
The ways a text makes sense to both readers &
writer through the relevance and accessibility
of its configuration of concepts, ideas and
theories.
a property that a reader will discern in the text.
allows the reader to make sense of the text.
refers to the semantic unity created between
the ideas, sentences, paragraphs and sections
of a piece of writing.
Coherence
The grammatical and lexical relationship
between different elements of a text which
hold it together.
Text
According to Halliday and Hasan, a text is a semantic
unit whose parts are linked together by explicit
cohesive ties.
Cohesive tie: a semantic and /or lexico-grammatic
relation between an element in text and some other
element that is crucial to interpretetion of it.
Eventhough within-sentence ties occur the cohesive
ties across sentence boundariesare those which
allow sequences of sentences to be understood as
text.
It means therefore that Cohesion defines a text (a piece
of writing) as text.
TYPES OF COHESION (Halliday &
Hasan, 1976)
Lexical cohesion
Reference
Substitution
Ellipsis
Conjunction
Hasan, 1976)
Lexical cohesion
Reference
Substitution
Ellipsis
Conjunction
Lexical cohesion
Lexical cohesion is achieved by the
selection of vocabulary that ensures
connections and relations between ,
sentences and ideas in writing.
Reiteration
Parallelism
Paraphrase
Collocation
Reiteration
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
Parallelism
It is the state of having similarities. When
two things/ structures or ideas are
parallel, they have similarities between
them. Parallel grammatical structures
indicate the ideas are closely related.
And so my fellow Americans, ask not what what
your country can do for you- ask what you can do
for your country.
So little is gain
So little is our lost
Hasan, 1976)
Lexical cohesion Personal reference

Reference Demonstrative reference
Comparative reference
Substitution
Ellipsis
Conjunction
Hasan, 1976)

Substitution
Ellipsis
Conjunction Personal Possesive Possesive
pronouns determiners pronouns
Hasan, 1976)

Substitution
Ellipsis
Conjunction
participant circumstance
this that here there

these those now then
Hasan, 1976)

Substitution
Ellipsis Comparison that is simply
in terms of likeness and
Conjunction unlikeness: two things
may be the same, similar
or different
e.g. same, likewise, other,

more, better
Hasan, 1976)

Substitution
Ellipsis
Is the referent Is the referent
Conjunction inside the
text?
outside the
text?
Hasan, 1976)

Substitution
Ellipsis
text?
outside the
text?
Exophoric ref
Hasan, 1976)

Substitution
Ellipsis
text?
outside the
text?
Exophoric ref
Eg. That must have cost a lot of

money
Hasan, 1976)

Substitution
Ellipsis
text?
outside the
text?
Endophoric ref Exophoric ref
Anaphoric ref Cataphoric ref

Hasan, 1976)

Substitution
Ellipsis
text?
outside the
text?
Endophoric ref Exophoric ref

The data show is repared. That
must have cost a lot of money
Hasan, 1976)

Substitution
Ellipsis
text?
outside the
text?
Textual/Endophoric Exophoric ref

ref
The data show is repared. That He who hesitates is lost
must have cost a lot of money
Hasan, 1976)
Lexical cohesion
Reference Nominal substitution
Substitution Verbal substitution

Clausal substitution
Ellipsis
Conjunction
Hasan, 1976)
Lexical cohesion

Ellipsis
Conjunction
Ive heard some strange stories in my
time. But this one was perhaps the
strangest one of all
Hasan, 1976)
Lexical cohesion

Ellipsis
Conjunction
John is smoking more now than he
used to do
Hasan, 1976)
Lexical cohesion

Ellipsis
Conjunction
Is there going to be an earthquake? It says so
Hasan, 1976)
Lexical cohesion
Reference
Substitution Nominal ellipsis
Ellipsis Verbal ellipsis

Clausal ellipsis
Conjunction
Four other oysters followed them, and yet

another four
Hasan, 1976)
Lexical cohesion
Reference

Clausal ellipsis
Conjunction
Have you been swimming? Yes, I have

Hasan, 1976)
Lexical cohesion
Reference

Clausal ellipsis
Conjunction
What were they doing? Holding hands

Hasan, 1976)
Lexical cohesion
Reference
Substitution
Additive
Ellipsis
Adversative
Conjunction
Causal
Temporal
Hasan, 1976)
Lexical cohesion
Reference
Substitution
Additive
Ellipsis
Adversative
Conjunction
Causal
Temporal
to be able to see nobody! And at that distance, too!

Hasan, 1976)
Lexical cohesion
Reference
Substitution
Ellipsis Additive
Adversative
Conjunction
Causal
Temporal
All the figures were correct; theyd been checked. Yet the
total came out wrong
Hasan, 1976)
Lexical cohesion
Reference
Substitution
Additive
Ellipsis
Adversative
Conjunction
Causal
Temporal
you arent leaving, are you? Because Ive got something to

say to you
Hasan, 1976)
Lexical cohesion
Reference
Substitution
Additive
Ellipsis
Adversative
Conjunction
Causal
Temporal
The weather cleared just as the party approached the

summit. Until then they had seen nothing of the panorama
around them

Cohesion, Theme and Coherence

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Cohesion, Theme and Coherence

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COHESION and COHERENCE

Cohension and coherence are terms used to

Lexical cohesion Personal reference

Lexical cohesion Personal reference

Lexical cohesion Personal reference

this that here there

Lexical cohesion Personal reference

e.g. same, likewise, other,

Lexical cohesion Personal reference

Lexical cohesion Personal reference

Lexical cohesion Personal reference

Eg. That must have cost a lot of

Lexical cohesion Personal reference

Endophoric ref Exophoric ref

Anaphoric ref Cataphoric ref

Lexical cohesion Personal reference

Endophoric ref Exophoric ref

Anaphoric ref Cataphoric ref

Lexical cohesion Personal reference

Textual/Endophoric Exophoric ref

Substitution Verbal substitution

Substitution Verbal substitution

Substitution Verbal substitution

Substitution Verbal substitution

Ellipsis Verbal ellipsis

Four other oysters followed them, and yet

Ellipsis Verbal ellipsis

Have you been swimming? Yes, I have

Ellipsis Verbal ellipsis

What were they doing? Holding hands

to be able to see nobody! And at that distance, too!

you arent leaving, are you? Because Ive got something to

The weather cleared just as the party approached the

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