scholarly journals Cohesion in Academic Writing: A Comparison of Essays in English Written by L1 and L2 University Students

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 761
Author(s):  
Zhongqing He
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Writing Pedagogy ◽  
Lexical Cohesion ◽  
Demonstrative Reference ◽  
Cohesive Devices ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
English Students ◽  
Temporal Conjunction ◽  
L1 English

Cohesion plays an important role in ensuring clarity, appropriateness, and comprehensibility in text. This study compares L1-Chinese and L1-English university students’ use of cohesion in English essays and examines the cohesive features in academic writing of L2 students from three perspectives: density of cohesion, distribution of cohesive devices, and distance of cohesive ties. Data consist of 126 student-produced essays in two corpora: 63 by L1-Chinese students from the TECCL corpus and 63 by L1-English students from the BAWE corpus. Findings indicate that L2 students have a lower density of cohesion in their academic writing. Their essays are marked by underuse of lexical cohesion and demonstrative reference, initial positioning of conjunctions, and heavy use of temporal conjunction. In addition, L2 students use significantly fewer immediate and remote cohesive ties, and the length of the material between ties is found to be inadequate compared to L1 students’ writing. The study has important implications for L2 writing pedagogy in China.

scholarly journals Effects of Cognate Status on Word Comprehension in Second Language Learners: An ERP Investigation

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (7) ◽  
pp. 1634-1647 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine J. Midgley ◽  
Phillip J. Holcomb ◽  
Jonathan Grainger
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Word Recognition ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Word Comprehension ◽  
N400 Component ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
English Students ◽  
L1 English

ERPs were used to explore the different patterns of processing of cognate and noncognate words in the first (L1) and second (L2) language of a population of second language learners. L1 English students of French were presented with blocked lists of L1 and L2 words, and ERPs to cognates and noncognates were compared within each language block. For both languages, cognates had smaller amplitudes in the N400 component when compared with noncognates. L1 items that were cognates showed early differences in amplitude in the N400 epoch when compared with noncognates. L2 items showed later differences between cognates and noncognates than L1 items. The results are discussed in terms of how cognate status affects word recognition in second language learners.

scholarly journals INVESTIGATING UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ ABILITY IN PARAPHRASING PARAGRAPHS

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 79
Author(s):  
Cindy Hannisya Relia ◽  
Afrianto Daud ◽  
Syofia Delfi
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
English Education ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Study Program ◽  
Online Test ◽  
The University ◽  
English Students

This research examined university students’ ability in paraphrasing paragraphs. This descriptive quantitative research took students of the English Education Department of Universitas Riau as samples using cluster random sampling technique. The selected sample was a Class of the English Study Program, Universitas Riau, which consists of 34 students. The data were collected by administering an online test of paraphrasing paragraphs through Google Form. The collected data were analyzed by three raters and the results were calculated and classified by using adaptation guide rubric from Brown (2004). Three aspects of paraphrasing were assessed and analyzed: contents of information, choice of words and writing convention. This study found that the ability of the Students of English Study Program in paraphrasing paragraphs was an unacceptable level, with total points; 11.21 for Content Information aspect, 9.52 for Choice of Words aspect, and 9.75 for Writing Conventions aspect. In order to answer the research question on how bad the ability is, the only clear answer is that all facts that are found within the research are only referring to the ‘crisis’ of paraphrasing ability shown by the university students themselves. This finding showed that the university students’ ability in paraphrasing paragraphs is low, due to the facts that; First, they get a low-level score in all aspects of paraphrasing. Second, they still make many fatal mistakes in every aspect of paraphrasing like; skipping important details in paraphrasing that may lead to misinformation, misusing the vocabulary and diction in creating the words in paraphrasing, and severe problems in the grammar, punctuation, and spelling (writing conventions). Moreover, choice of words seems to be the most difficult aspect for the students since it had the lowest score than other aspects in paraphrasing. This research suggests that English students should be exposed to more practices in their academic writing subject about paraphrasing skills

scholarly journals Analysis of Cohesivenes in Descriptive text Written by Undergraduate Students

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-152
Author(s):  
Muhammad Zaki Pahrul Hadi
Keyword(s):  
Research Design ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Critical Aspect ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Lexical Cohesion ◽  
Cohesive Devices ◽  
Writing Skill ◽  
Influential Theory

Cohesiveness or the use of cohesive devices is a critical aspect of writing skill. It is one of the primary characteristics that should be mastered when writing well. The purpose of this article was to examine the use of cohesive devices in descriptive text written by undergraduate students in the Banking Department of STIE KERJASAMA Yogyakarta's third semester. This study examined the use of cohesive devices in each of the students' descriptive texts. The study's data set consisted of ten texts. The study identified four significant findings by employing a mixed research design and drawing on Halliday and Hasan's (1976) influential theory of cohesion. To begin, students' English texts contain a variety of cohesive devices (reference, conjunction, substitution, ellipses, and lexical cohesion). Whereas there are three types of cohesive devices that are frequently used in texts: reference, lexical cohesion, and conjunction. The study's findings have repercussions for pedagogy, theory, academic writing, and future research. 

scholarly journals Referential Cohesion in Donald Trump`s Speech Transcript

HUMANIS ◽  
2018 ◽  
pp. 111
Author(s):  
I Wayan Gede Agus Wirawan ◽  
I Nyoman Udayana ◽  
Ni Ketut Sri Rahayuni
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Washington Post ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Lexical Cohesion ◽  
Personal Reference ◽  
Demonstrative Reference ◽  
Cohesive Devices ◽  
Comprehensive Information ◽  
Speech Transcripts ◽  
Observation Method

Cohesion establishes the text or sentences and gives their meaning by the grammatical and lexical linking.   Halliday and Hasan (1976) In Cohesion in English, identify five general categories of cohesive devices that are possibly implemented in texts: reference, ellipsis, substitution, lexical cohesion and conjunction. One of the cohesion meanings is reference. Reference is one of cohesive devices, and it contains the specific nature of the information needed to be retrieved for the comprehensive information. The problems discussed in this study are the type of reference applied in the speech transcripts and referential meaning presented in the speech transcripts of Donald Trump`s Speech. The aims of the study were to find out the reference applied in the speech transcripts and referential meaning of the reference  presented in the speech transcripts. The main theory used was Theory of Cohesion proposed by Halliday and Hasan (1976). The data in this study were taken from the website of Washington Post in form of transcripts. The data were collected using observation method and analyzed using qualitative method. There were two kinds of reference found in the speech; which were personal reference and demonstrative reference. The personal reference that occurred in the speech transcript included  I, you, we, he, she, they, and it. Meanwhile, the demonstrative references that appeared in the speech transcript were this, these, there, here, now and the. These references were presented as endophoric, whether anaphoric or cataphoric. The comparative reference was absent. From this study, it can be concluded that referential cohesion takes an important role in a text or in this case speech transcripts, since the function of reference is to hold a text together and give its meaning.

scholarly journals Cohesive Devices in Narrative Songs of Jaran Manopetch

MANUSYA ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Kritsana Athapanyawanit
Keyword(s):  
Narrative Discourse ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Lexical Cohesion ◽  
Demonstrative Reference ◽  
Cohesive Devices ◽  
Discourse Type ◽  
Temporal Succession ◽  
Structural Cohesion ◽  
Agent Orientation

The main purpose of this study is to explore the cohesive strategies in the narrative lyrics of songs by Jaran Manopetch. The song data used in this research include the lyrics of twenty-eight narrative songs composed and arranged by Jaran Manopetch. The songs are classified as narrative discourse on the basis of two major traits of discourse type identified by Longacre (1983): Contingent Temporal Succession and Agent Orientation. Moreover, the song data are divided into two groups according to terminology and pronunciation of Jaran Manopetch: five standard Thai songs and twenty-three Kham Muang/northern Thai songs were studied. The lyrics’ cohesive devices were analyzed semantically and syntactically according to theoretical frameworks of Robert E. Longacre on the grammar of discourse and of M.A.K. Halliday and Ruqaiya Hasan on cohesion in English. The cohesive devices in the narrative lyrics of Jaran Manopetch include the thematic elements identified by serial thematic verb construction, punctual and sequential indicators of events, structural cohesion: cycles, participant cohesion composed of two sections: introduction and maintenance of participants, demonstrative reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjunctive elements, and lexical cohesion.

scholarly journals COHESION IN ANNE HATHAWAY’S SPEECH TEXT ON “PAID PARENTAL LEAVE IS ABOUT CREATING FREEDOM TO DEFINE ROLES”

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 325-337
Author(s):  
Slamet Utomo ◽  
Dita Indah Sekti
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Lexical Cohesion ◽  
Personal Reference ◽  
Cohesive Devices ◽  
Paid Parental Leave ◽  
Temporal Conjunction ◽  
Descriptive Qualitative

This research aims to identify the grammatical and lexical cohesion used in Anne Hathaway’s speech text on “Paid Parental Leave is about Creating Freedom to Define Roles”, and interpret how grammatical and lexical cohesion are used in Anne Hathaway’s speech text on “Paid Parental Leave is about Creating Freedom to Define Roles”.The type of this research is descriptive qualitative research. The result of this research shows that all types of grammatical and lexical cohesion are used in the speech text. For the grammatical cohesions are: reference (personal, demonstrative and comparative reference), substitution (nominal substitution), ellipsis (verbal and clausal ellipsis) and conjunction (additive, adversative, causal and temporal conjunction). Meanwhile, the lexical cohesions are: reiteration (repetition, synonym, superordinate and general word) and collocation. The most dominant of cohesive devices used in the speech text is reference especially for personal reference. All those cohesive devices are used clearly, it means that the speech text of Anne Hathaway entitled “Paid Parental Leave is about Creating Freedom to Define Roles” used grammatical and lexical cohesion well. Finally, the writer suggests that cohesion is important to be studied in language learning because cohesion can be used as a strategy to construct and comprehend any text especially for speech.

scholarly journals Lexical Bundles of L1 and L2 English Professional Scholars: A Contrastive Corpus-Driven Study on Applied Linguistics Research Articles

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 76-89
Author(s):  
Muchamad Sholakhuddin Al Fajri ◽  
Angkita Wasito Kirana ◽  
Celya Intan Kharisma Putri
Keyword(s):  
Academic Writing ◽  
Academic Discipline ◽  
Applied Linguistics ◽  
Lexical Bundles ◽  
English Writing ◽  
Functional Types ◽  
Frequent Use ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
Professional Writers ◽  
L1 English

The current study examined the structural and functional types of four-word lexical bundles in two different corpora of applied linguistics scientific articles written by L1 English and L1 Indonesian professional writers. The findings show that L2 writers employed a higher number of bundles than L1 writers, but L2 writers underused some of the most typical lexical bundles in L1 English writing. Structurally, unlike previous studies, this study reports the frequent use of prepositional phrase (PP) - based bundles in the articles of L2 writers. However, besides the high frequency of PP-based bundles, L2 authors also used a high number of verbal phrase-based bundles, suggesting that these L2 writers were still acquiring more native-like bundles. In terms of functional types, L2 writers employed fewer quantification bundles than their counterparts. This study has potential implications for teaching English for academic writing. Teachers need to raise their students’ awareness of the most frequently used lexical bundles in a specific academic discipline and pay attention to the discourse conventions of academic writing, helping L2 students transition from clausal to phrasal styles.

scholarly journals Cohesion and Coherence of Students’ Recount Texts in Indonesia

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 361-374
Author(s):  
Arif Suryo Priyatmojo
Keyword(s):  
First Grade ◽  
Teaching Writing ◽  
Definite Article ◽  
Personal Reference ◽  
Demonstrative Reference ◽  
Central Java ◽  
Thematic Progression ◽  
Cohesive Devices ◽  
Cohesion Theory ◽  
Temporal Conjunction

This study aimed at analyzing the cohesion and coherence of recount texts and their implication to teaching writing. The data was fifteen recount texts which were non-randomly chosen from the first-grade students of high school in Central Java, Indonesia. This was qualitative research employing cohesion theory by Halliday and Hasan (1976) and thematic progression proposed by Butt et al. (1995). The result of this research showed that most of the cohesive devices employed by the students were personal reference with 58.11%; demonstrative reference and definite article with 7.18%; comparative reference with 0.93%), lexical (repetition 22.21%; synonym 0.66%; superordinate 0.13%), conjunction (temporal conjunction 7.45%; adversative conjunction: 1.33%; additive conjunction 1.06%; causal conjunction 0.66%), and ellipsis with 2%. The presuppositions of the presupposed items and presupposing items were achieved anaphorically and cataphorically; most of them were anaphoric. The distances of the presuppositions were in the forms of immediate ties, mediated ties, and non-mediated ties. Furthermore, immediate ties occurred extensively. Based on the analysis, most of the texts were cohesive due to the achievement of presupposing and presupposed items in every sentence of the texts. Then, coherence of the students’ recount texts was achieved by employing three kinds of patterns: reiteration/ constant, zig-zag, and multiple thematic progression patterns. Most of the texts were developed by using a reiteration/ constant pattern. Based on the analysis, most texts were not coherent because of the unrelated clauses. As the result, they broke the signposted progression of the texts. The finding was expected to possibly contribute to the process of teaching writing by encouraging the students to create a good text in a cohesive and coherent way.

A Need Analysis in Academic Writing by Using Integrative-Based Approach: The Perspective of University Students

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helaluddin Helaluddin
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
University Students ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Integrative Approach ◽  
First Semester ◽  
Need Analysis ◽  
Initial Stage ◽  
Academic Genres ◽  
The University ◽  
Academic Year

This article discusses the needs and interests of the university students in Banten Indonesia for learning to write with an integrative approach as an initial stage in the development of academic writing textbooks. The participants in this study were 60 students in the first semester of the 2018/2019 academic year who took an Indonesian language course. It was found that students were familiar with writing activities. But the majority were limited to non-academic genres such as writing poetry, short stories, and writing personal blogs. Also, students have almost the same problems in academic writing, both from linguistic aspects, technical aspects, to issues of developing writing ideas. Another thing that was found in this study was the participation of lecturers who they expected in guiding and providing input during academic writing learning.

Singular they in English as a foreign language

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Stormbom
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
University Students ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Third Person ◽  
And Gender ◽  
L1 English

AbstractA much-debated issue in English is the use of “epicene pronouns”, i.e. third-person singular pronouns of indeterminate gender. Previous studies have shown that singular they is the most common epicene in L1 English, but this pronoun has not received much attention in studies of L2 use. The present study extends previous research by examining variation between L2 groups in the distribution of epicene pronouns, focussing particularly on the use of singular they and how it is affected by three features of the antecedent: definiteness, notional number, and gender expectancy. The data originate in an elicitation experiment, which was completed by 338 university students of English from eight L1 backgrounds. The results show that singular they was most frequently used with notionally plural antecedents, whereas it was least common with gender-stereotyped antecedents. The study also disclosed variation between learners: In some L1 groups, they was used frequently with all types of antecedents, suggesting that these learners perceive singular they as a singular pronoun in its own right. In other groups, singular they appeared to function mostly as a modification of the plural they, as the pronoun was only frequent with notionally plural antecedents. The findings have important implications for language teaching.

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