Lexical Cohesion in Non-fictional Narrative as Discourse: A Study of Ngugi Wa Thiong’O’s Decolonizing the Mind

The study was a linguistic examination of the use of lexical cohesive devices in Ngugi Wa Thiong ’O’s Decolonising the Mind- an autobiography. The study was aimed at revealing how Ngugi - an African L2 writer, deployed lexical cohesive devices to achieve cohesion and coherence and how this has contributed to the meaning of his non- fictional essay. The study was guided by the theoretical framework of Halliday’s tripartite metafunctions of language: the ideational, the interpersonal and the textual, with closer inclination to the textual metafunction that deals with text creation. Cohesion is understood in this study as a textual strategy deployed in language use to unify sentences into a text (a unified whole), that renders the speech or writing both readable and meaningful. A total of 29 excerpts, selected from relevant sections of the essay were descriptively analysed. Our analysis revealed that Ngugi made effective use of lexical cohesive devices to tie his text together, thereby succeeded in passing his message clearly to his readers. Our findings also showed a preponderant use of reiteration (near synonym) - 13 times, and repetition -8 times, by the writer, probably to achieve emphasis. Other lexical devices deployed by the writer to achieve various textual and communicative functions include: antonyms 4 times; superordinate/hyponym, 2 times; and complementaries and co-hyponym, 1 each, in crafting his essay, in which he tells a real- life story of his people, his culture and his heritage. Ngugi, by his effective use of cohesive devices along paradigmatic and syntagmatic axis, has demonstrated that an African writer can also, through the medium of biographical writing, project, not only his ideology, but also the exultation of his people, his culture and his inheritance by a skillful and near – native use of the English language. The study made a case for a systematic teaching of cohesive devices at all levels of education as that will improve reading and comprehension and the aver all communicative competence of L2 learners of English.

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A Contrastive Analysis of Explicit Cohesion in English Advertising Texts and Their Chinese Consecutive Interpretation Versions

Theory and Practice in Language Studies ◽

10.17507/tpls.0904.15 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 465

Author(s):

Lan Zhou ◽

Qiang Sun

Keyword(s):

English Language ◽

Language Use ◽

Chinese Language ◽

Contrastive Analysis ◽

Lexical Cohesion ◽

Cohesive Devices

Although much research has been conducted on language features of advertising, little has been reported on the contrast between language use in advertisements, particularly advertisements in English and those in Chinese. Drawing on Halliday and Hasan’s theory about cohesion in text, this paper reports on the explicit cohesion devices used in advertising texts in English and Chinese. The data were derived from Singapore, a multilingual country where English and Chinese are two important languages. A total of thirty advertisements in English and their Chinese versions were analyzed for the distribution of explicit cohesive devices, i.e., lexical cohesion and grammatical cohesion. The study reveals that advertisements in English used more reference and conjunction devices than those in Chinese, whereas Chinese language advertisements employed more ellipsis devices than English language advertisements. It also finds that there were no differences in the use of substitution and lexical devices in English or Chinese language advertisements. The conclusion of the study is finally drawn and the further study is suggested.

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A Comparison of the Use of Cohesive Devices in EFL Learners' Performance on Independent vs. Integrated Writing Tasks

Studies in English Language Teaching ◽

10.22158/selt.v1n1p121 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 121 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Gholamreza Hessamy ◽

Samira Hamedi

Keyword(s):

English Language ◽

Test Method ◽

Efl Learners ◽

Lexical Cohesion ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Independent Task ◽

Cohesive Devices ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Toefl Ibt ◽

Writing Task

This study was an attempt to compare and contrast the frequency of the use of cohesive devices in independent and integrated essays written by 95 upper-intermediate Iranian EFL learners to find out about any possible changes in the type and frequency of using cohesive devices due to the nature of the writing task. The participants were native speakers of Farsi between 18 to 30 years old, studying English as a foreign language in an English language center in Yazd, Iran. The sample included 58 female and 37 male students. They were asked to compose an integrated argumentative essay after reading a text and listening to a lecture on the same topic as it is designed in TOEFL iBT® writing test. The participants first completed an independent task which had a prompt to write about and then completed an integrated writing task with a two-week interval between the writing sessions. The tasks were taken from the TOEFL iBT® writing task. Results indicated that there was a significant difference in the use of almost all types of cohesive devices between the two conditions with the independent task producing essays with lower cohesive device counts. The results revealed that in terms of textual cohesion, the participants preferred using anaphoric references to cataphoric references while substitution and ellipsis in both independent and integrated sample writings were rarely used. The students were also found to be better at using references and lexical cohesion in their integrated writings than in their independent essays. Finally, it can be concluded that the integrated writing task has positive effects on the students’ use of cohesive devices. The results of this study provide evidence on the effect of test method on writing performance and may advocate the use of integrated writing tasks to provide a better picture of students' writing abilities.

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Novel Therapeutic Approaches and Targets for Treatment of Chronic Urticaria: New Insights and Promising Targets for a Challenging Disease

Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology ◽

10.2174/1389201021666200630140137 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 22 (1) ◽

pp. 32-45

Author(s):

Emanuela Martina ◽

Federico Diotallevi ◽

Tommaso Bianchelli ◽

Matteo Paolinelli ◽

Annamaria Offidani

Keyword(s):

English Language ◽

Life Experience ◽

Case Reports ◽

Immunosuppressive Agents ◽

Real Life ◽

Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria ◽

New Targets ◽

Current State ◽

Pubmed Database ◽

Novel Drugs

Background: Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria (CSU) is a disease characterized by the onset of wheals and/or angioedema over 6 weeks. The pathophysiology for CSU is very complex, involving mast cells and basophils with a multitude of inflammatory mediators. For many years the treatment of CSU has been based on the use of antihistamines, steroids and immunosuppressive agents with inconstant and frustrating results. The introduction of omalizumab, the only licensed biologic for antihistamine- refractory CSU, has changed the management of the disease. Objective: The aim of this article is to review the current state of the art of CSU, the real-life experience with omalizumab and the promising drugs that are under development. Methods:: An electronic search was performed to identify studies, case reports, guidelines and reviews focused on the new targets for the treatment of chronic spontaneous urticaria, both approved or under investigation. The search was limited to articles published in peer-reviewed journals in the English Language in the PubMed database and trials registered in Clinicaltrials.gov. Results:: Since the advent of omalizumab, the search for new therapies for chronic spontaneous urticaria has had a new impulse. Anti-IgE drugs will probably still be the cornerstone of therapy, but new targets may prove effective in syndromic urticaria or refractory cases. Conclusion:: Although omalizumab has been a breakthrough in the treatment of CSU, many patients do not completely get benefit and even require more effective treatments. Novel drugs are under investigation with promising results.

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Text Cohesion in English Scientific Texts Written by Saudi Undergraduate Dentistry Students: A Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Textual and Logical Relations in Oral Biology Texts

SAGE Open ◽

10.1177/21582440211032194 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 215824402110321

Author(s):

Hesham Suleiman Alyousef

Keyword(s):

Discourse Analysis ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Meaning Making ◽

Linguistic Knowledge ◽

Bachelor Of Science ◽

Lexical Cohesion ◽

Multimodal Discourse Analysis ◽

Multimodal Discourse ◽

Cohesive Devices ◽

Analysis Scheme

This qualitative study examined multimodal cohesive devices in English oral biology texts by eight high-achieving Saudi English-as-a-foreign-language students enrolled in a Bachelor of Science Dentistry program. A Systemic Functional Multimodal Discourse Analysis (SF-MDA) of the textual and logical cohesive devices in oral biology texts was conducted, employing Halliday and Hasan’s cohesion analysis scheme. The findings showed that students used varied cohesive devices: lexical cohesion, followed by reference and conjunctions. Although ellipsis was minimally employed in the oral biology texts, its discipline-specific uses emerged: the use of bullet points and numbered lists that facilitate recall. The SF-MDA of cohesion in multimodal semiotic resources highlighted the processes underlying construction of conceptual and linguistic knowledge of cohesive devices in oral biology texts. The results indicate that oral biology discourse is interdisciplinary, including a number of subfields in biology. The SF-MDA of pictorial oral biology representations indicates that they include instances of cohesive devices that illustrate and complement verbal texts. The results indicate that undergraduate students need to be provided with a variety of multimodal high-cohesion texts so that they can successfully extend underlying conceptual and logical meaning-making relations.

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A Systemic-Functional Analysis of English Language Learners' Writing

DELTA Documentação de Estudos em Lingüística Teórica e Aplicada ◽

10.1590/0102-4450364601799092306 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 31 (1) ◽

pp. 207-237 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Luciana C. DE OLIVEIRA

Keyword(s):

English Language Learners ◽

Language Learners ◽

English Language ◽

Educational Practice ◽

Linguistic Features ◽

Lexical Cohesion ◽

Systemic Functional Linguistic ◽

Clause Combining ◽

The University ◽

Passing Score

This article presents a systemic-functional linguistic analysis of two writing samples of the University of California Analytical Writing Placement (AWP) Examination written by English language learners (ELLs). The analysis shows the linguistic features utilized in the two writing samples, one that received a passing score and one that received a failing score. The article describes some of the grammatical resources which are functional for expository writing, which are divided under three main categories: textual, interpersonal, and ideational resources. Following this brief description is the analysis of both essays in terms of these resources.. The configuration of grammatical features used in the essays make up the detached style of essay 1 and the more personal style of essay 2. These grammatical features include the textual resources of thematic choices and development, clause-combining strategies (connectors), and lexical cohesion; interpersonal resources of interpersonal metaphors of modality; and ideational resources of nominalization and abstractions as ideational metaphors. Implications for educational practice and recommendations for educators based on the analysis are provided.

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The Trial of the Chicago 7: More Radical than Fiction

Film Matters ◽

10.1386/fm_00136_7 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 111-116

Author(s):

Nathan Foster

Keyword(s):

Life Story ◽

Real Life ◽

Historical Narrative

Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) may feature entertaining performances and his trademark wit, but it differs so much from its real-life story that it becomes more liberal fantasy than historical narrative.

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COLLABORATORS AND HECKLERS: Performative Pedagogy and Interruptive Processes

Scenario: A Journal for Performative Teaching, Learning, Research ◽

10.33178/scenario.11.1.5 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol XI (1) ◽

pp. 33-71

Author(s):

Lee Campbell

Keyword(s):

Life Experiences ◽

Real Life ◽

Learning Activity ◽

First Year ◽

Art Practice ◽

Teaching Session ◽

Performative Pedagogy ◽

Effective Use ◽

Collective Survival ◽

Activity Design

Arguing for the positive disruptive nature of interruption, this paper concentrates on my current performative and pedagogic usage of interruption within my teaching as the means to achieve three aims: 1) develop aspects of practice discussed in my doctoral thesis ‘Tactics of Interruption: Provoking Participation in Performance Art’ (Campbell 2016) related to the focused usage of interruptive processes in contemporary art practice (Arlander 2009: 2) provide students with direct experience of how interruption may command immediate reaction and force collaborative means of working, i.e. collective survival tactics to deal with interruption; and 3) theorise, articulate and demonstrate how interruption relates to critical reflection (on the part of both student and teacher), extending the ideas of Maggi Savin-Baden (2007) to propose interruption as reflection. To achieve these aims, the paper discusses how I have implemented interruption into learning activity design and evidences how I have created activities that aim to help students understand collaborative learning in cross-disciplinary projects through an effective use of realia (interruption is part of real life). I discuss one first year teaching seminar at Loughborough University in March 2015 (and subsequent related iterations) combining performance, fine art and collaboration methodologies where students directly engaged in a range of activities not displaced from their own life experiences; there was heavy student engagement in digital technologies, and interruption. The main outcomes of the teaching session support and go beyond the aims by relating to: a) experiential learning related to the interplay between ‘collaboration’ and ‘interruption’; b) performative pedagogy and inclusion; c) the interplay between teaching, liveness and interruption; and d) performative pedagogy and the exchange of power relation.

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What Makes an Effective English Language Teacher? The Life Histories of 13 Mexican University Students

English Language Teaching ◽

10.5539/elt.v13n1p163 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 163

Author(s):

Nicholas Bremner

Keyword(s):

Life Histories ◽

English Language ◽

Language Teaching ◽

Methodological Approach ◽

Real Life ◽

Target Language ◽

Future Research ◽

Student Teacher Relationship ◽

Inductive Methods ◽

Being There

This study examined the educational life histories of 13 students at a Mexican university in order to gather their perspectives of effective language teaching. Most previous studies on students’ perspectives of language teaching have used quantitative and deductive methods, whereas this study employed qualitative and inductive methods. The main methodological approach was the ‘life history’ approach, and the specific methods were two extended interviews and an innovative ‘timeline’ activity. In total, 77 examples of effective (and ineffective) teachers emerged from the 13 students’ life histories. The study revealed three major findings. Firstly, teachers’ language knowledge and proficiency were not mentioned as important characteristics of effective language teaching, although several students did make reference to teachers’ command of language when it was perceived to be missing. Secondly, students generally favoured more ‘modern’ approaches (engaging, active, real-life skills, immersion in the target language), as opposed to more ‘conservative’ approaches (unappealing, passive, overly theoretical, lack of immersion in the target language). Thirdly, students emphasised the importance of a positive student-teacher relationship, and greatly appreciated the teacher being there to provide them with personalised attention. Notably, the students tended not to value autonomous learning, preferring teachers to be close to them to help them with their problems in class. Two main implications for practice were suggested. Firstly, a general consensus has been reached regarding several key characteristics of effective language teaching, strengthening the argument that these characteristics should be listened to, and acted upon, by teachers and educational decision-makers. Secondly, the study makes a strong case for future research to utilise more qualitative, inductive methods when investigating students’ perspectives.

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TWO OBSTACLES TO ENABLING CHANGE IN ELF-AWARE TEACHER EDUCATION AND HOW TO OVERCOME THEM

Estudos Linguísticos e Literários ◽

10.9771/ell.v1i65.36471 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 1 (65) ◽

pp. 104

Author(s):

Nicos C. Sifakis

Keyword(s):

Teacher Education ◽

Personal Experience ◽

English Language ◽

Teacher Educator ◽

Real Life ◽

Teacher Reflection ◽

Traditional Teaching ◽

Efl Teacher ◽

Teachers Attitudes

In this paper I discuss the possibilities, opportunities, challenges and (even) perils in applying the ELF-aware perspective in teacher education. I focus on presenting two obstacles in enabling this application, the first related to teachers’ attitudes, which tend to be fundamentally negative, and the second referring to an uncertainty about establishing, applying and evaluating appropriate ELF pedagogy. The obstacles are discussed with reference to examples from my personal experience as teacher educator, and argue (a) that these obstacles are also present in more “traditional” teaching and teacher education practices and (b) that they can be overcome if they are perceived as opportunities for integrating real-life interactions involving non-native English language users in the EFL classroom and prompting EFL teacher reflection and growth.

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AN ANALYSIS OF COHESION OF EXPOSITION TEXTS: AN INDONESIAN CONTEXT

Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics ◽

10.17509/ijal.v7i3.9791 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 7 (3) ◽

pp. 515

Author(s):

Emi Emilia ◽

Nurfitri Habibi ◽

Lungguh Ariang Bangga

Keyword(s):

Systemic Functional Linguistics ◽

Case Study Research ◽

Written Language ◽

High Achievers ◽

Linguistic Features ◽

Lexical Cohesion ◽

Functional Linguistics ◽

Cohesive Devices ◽

Eleventh Graders ◽

Flow Of Information

The paper reports on the results of a study aiming to investigate the cohesion of exposition texts written by eleventh graders of a school in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. The study used a qualitative case study research design, especially text analysis, involving 32 students. In the interest of space, the paper will present the data obtained from six texts written by 6 students, representing low, mid, and high achievers. The texts were analyzed using systemic functional linguistics (SFL), especially in terms of schematic structure and linguistic features, especially those contributing to the cohesion of the texts, such as Theme progression and cohesive devices. The results show that all texts show students’ grasp and understanding of the schematic structure of an exposition, including thesis, argument, and restatement of the thesis. All texts also successfully use the zig-zag and the Theme reiteration patterns, which indicate the students’ emerging capacity to create a text with cohesion at the clause level. However, only texts written by high achievers employ the multiple Theme pattern, indicating the students’ emerging capacity to create a text with better sense of connectedness, unity, and flow of information at the global level. High achiever texts also employ discourse features which allow the reader to predict how the text will unfold and guide them to a line of understanding of a text as a whole. Moreover, in terms of cohesive devices, all texts use some simple cohesive devices—reference, lexical cohesion, and conjunction. It should be mentioned that all texts are rudimentary with some inappropriate word choices and grammatical problems. This suggests that the students still needed more guidance and time to do research on the topic in focus, to go through the process of writing as professional do, to allow them to create a better text with more elaboration and characteristics of written language with consistency and accuracy. It is recommended that further research on different perspectives and foci of analysis of different text types using systemic functional linguistics, with more representative samples, and studies on the teaching of writing be conducted.

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