Reading and Writing- Coherence and Cohesion
- 1. READING AND WRITING SKILLS Q3-W4 MARISSA R. SADIA,MAED.
- 2. Introduction One of the most important elements in writing is the form or structure. Without a solid structure in place, the content you have gathered would fall apart. After sequencing the events in your paragraph – a group of related sentences that leads to a single topic or idea, it is time to get on to unifying your writing.
- 3. Task Set A. Number the sentences to form a well-structured paragraph. _____A. I knew that we will go to their house to celebrate her birthday but during that time, I was still in our school because of my training for campus journalism. _____B. I talked to her and said sorry for what I had done and I explained my reasons for not attending her birthday. At last, I was still thankful to her for understanding my situation. _____C. It was 2:00 o'clock in the afternoon when Angelita called me over the phone and said that she was waiting for me at 7/11 store together with our other friends. _____D. It's hard for me to choose what should I prioritize but I ended up staying in school. _____E. On the next day, I saw her inside our room and it seemed that she did not want to look at me.
- 4. Task Set B. Combine the sentences in each set into two clear sentences. Add a transitional word or phrase to the second to show how it relates to the first. Retirement should be the reward for a lifetime of work. It is widely viewed as a sort of punishment. It is a punishment for growing old.
- 5. Task There are differences in English performance between boys and girls. These differences cannot be attributed simply to differences in innate ability. If one were to ask the children themselves, they would probably disagree.
- 6. COHERENCE & COHESION Coherence and cohesion are two basic features that facilitate textual continuity. Basically, coherence refers to the rhetorical aspects of your writing, which include developing and supporting your argument (e.g. thesis statement development), synthesizing and integrating readings, organizing and clarifying ideas.
- 7. COHERENCE & COHESION Coherence means the connection and organization of ideas in a text to create unity.
- 8. COHERENCE & COHESION To achieve coherence, every good paragraph must have UNITY or oneness of idea. Sentences in a paragraph are unified and directed by a topic sentence. On the other hand, cohesion in writing means unifying ideas by binding words, phrases, sentences and paragraphs, thus, show relationships and smooth “text flow”.
- 9. COHERENCE & COHESION Coherence is very helpful when jumping ideas so that they will stick to each other. This can be achieved by applying techniques such as: using topic sentence at the beginning of the paragraph; placing major ideas in another paragraph and sequencing the ideas in logical order or by numbering. Also, do not forget the logical arrangement of ideas you learned in the previous lesson like defining, narrating, describing, classifying, etc.
- 10. COHERENCE & COHESION While coherence focuses on the overall (macro) structure of the essay, cohesion is more specific. It pays attention to links between words and sentences.
- 11. COHERENCE & COHESION To achieve good cohesion, you need to know how to use cohesive devices, certain words or phrases that serve the purpose of connecting two statements, usually by referring back to what you have previously written or said.
- 12. COHERENCE & COHESION Cohesion is a property of a well-written text that helps the ideas to become meaningful by sticking the ideas together at the sentence level. This can be achieved by using transitional devices, pronouns, subordinators and coordinators, and lexical patterning.
- 13. Transitional Devices Here are examples of transitional devices which were already introduced in your previous topic. Giving emphasis: indeed, importantly, in fact, furthermore, and moreover Stating contrast: in contrast, conversely, compared to, another point Summarizing: finally, overall, lastly, to sum up, and in conclusion Giving examples: for instance, for example, namely, such as Adding similar points: similarly, likewise, again, and also
- 14. Pronouns Examples of pronouns are: he, she, it, they, them, their, etc. Here is an example for you wherein the pronoun ‘they’ is referring to the word “people.” People are excited to receive financial assistance from the government. At least, they have something to eat in times of crisis.
- 15. Coordinators and Subordinators Examples of coordinators are: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so (FANBOYS) while some of the examples of subordinators are: when, since, although, so that, until, before, unless, when, whenever, etc.
- 16. Lexical Patterning On the other hand, lexical patterning means changing the function of the word into another part of speech. Here’s the example. Notice in the sentences below that the word “heroism” is a noun and related concept is used in another sentence “heroic” which functions not as a noun but as an adjective.
- 17. Lexical Patterning Example: Heroism does not need to be recognized by all people nor becoming superior to others. One can do heroic deeds by doing small act of kindness to the needy even if nobody noticed it.
- 18. Activity Arrange the sentences from 1 to 5 in appropriate order to form a sensible paragraph. a. However, when people do not wash their hands after using phones and cards, they are still prone to infections. b. These microorganisms can survive on the coins and paper bills that can be transmitted through hand contact.
- 19. Activity Arrange the sentences from 1 to 5 in appropriate order to form a sensible paragraph. c. Studies suggest that paper bills are covered with germs leading to the spread of virus. d. Paper currency and coins may be a cause of the spread of virus and bacteria. e. Thus, there is a suggestion to go for cashless payments and transactions.
- 20. Activity This time read the text again from 1 to 5 in appropriate order. 1. Can you say that the text is coherent? Does it have a topic sentence? What is it? 2. Can you also say that the text is cohesive? Does it contain the transitional devices, pronouns, subordinators and coordinators, and lexical patterning?
- 21. Assignment Rewrite the paragraph below by organizing the flow of ideas. Make sure that the links are made clear between each point. One of my favorite books is entitled “Me Before You”. It’s written by Jojo Moyes. It has a movie adaptation that was directed by Thea Sharrock. The movie adaptation and the written book show similarities and differences. The plot of the book and the movie are completely the same. The catch in some parts of the book are not in the movie.
- 22. Assignment The movie adaptation catches the gist of the book’s story. Regarding emotions, both the book and movie justify the tragic ending of the story. I was more moved to the movie adaptation. I can clearly see the scene with a good background, the emotion of the character portrayed by the actors, and I can clearly hear the dialogues.
- 23. Assignment Both are enjoying but I was more satisfied with the book. It’s very detailed. The movie can offer you the whole package without the sense of curiosity. If I were to choose between its published book and movie adaptation, I would choose the book. Books can be a wild curious journey of the reader or traveler.