Coherence and Cohesion in Academic Writing

Summary

This video from EAPFoundation.com explains the concepts of coherence and cohesion in academic writing. It explores how cohesion operates at a micro-level, focusing on linking words and sentences, while coherence works on a macro-level to ensure logical flow. Key methods to improve cohesion include using reference words, repeated ideas, transition signals, substitution, and ellipsis. For coherence, the video emphasizes organizing ideas clearly. It also reviews how IELTS and TOEFL tests assess writing for coherence and cohesion, offering practical tips to improve these skills.

Takeaways

• 📚 Coherence and cohesion are key aspects of academic writing, each contributing to how a text is understood and flows.
• 🧩 Cohesion deals with micro-level aspects like word and sentence connections, similar to how puzzle pieces fit together.
• 🔗 Reference words, repeated ideas, transition signals, substitution, and ellipsis are methods to improve cohesion.
• 🧠 Coherence relates to the macro-level of a text, ensuring logical order and clarity, like how a complete jigsaw puzzle presents a clear picture.
• 📋 Creating an outline before writing can help improve coherence by organizing ideas logically.
• 💡 Using reference words like 'this', 'that', and 'it' links different parts of the text, improving cohesion.
• 🔄 Repeating key ideas or using synonyms helps maintain cohesion by reinforcing important concepts.
• 🚦 Transition signals (like 'first', 'second', 'finally') help readers follow the flow of ideas and understand relationships between them.
• 🔁 Substitution replaces repeated words to avoid redundancy and improve cohesion.
• ✂️ Ellipsis omits unnecessary words when meaning is clear, contributing to cohesion.

Q & A

What is the difference between cohesion and coherence in writing?

Cohesion relates to the micro-level of a text, focusing on how words and sentences link together, while coherence relates to the macro-level, dealing with the logical organization and progression of ideas in a text.

What are the five main methods to achieve good cohesion?

The five main methods to achieve good cohesion are: using reference words, repeated words or ideas, transition signals, substitution, and ellipsis.

Can you give examples of reference words and how they are used?

Reference words include 'this,' 'these,' 'that,' 'it,' 'they,' and others. They refer to something else in the text and help link ideas. For example, 'this' can refer back to a concept introduced earlier.

How can repeated words or ideas contribute to cohesion?

Repeated words or ideas help reinforce key concepts throughout a text, maintaining a consistent focus. For example, repeating the word 'cohesion' or its synonym 'coheres' keeps the topic central.

What are transition signals and how do they enhance cohesion?

Transition signals are words or phrases that show the relationships between ideas, such as 'for this reason,' 'similarly,' or 'however.' They guide the reader through the logical flow of the text.

What is substitution in writing, and can you provide an example?

Substitution is replacing a word or phrase with another to avoid repetition. For example, in the sentence 'The graph on the left shows calories, while the one on the right shows exercise,' 'one' substitutes for 'graph.'

What is ellipsis, and how does it function in writing?

Ellipsis occurs when words are omitted because their meaning is clear from the context. For example, 'A fourth is substitution' omits 'important feature,' as it's implied.

What are some strategies to improve coherence in writing?

To improve coherence, organize ideas clearly using outlines, ensure paragraphs are connected with clear topic sentences, and maintain logical progression of ideas.

How do the IELTS and TOEFL exams assess coherence and cohesion in writing?

The IELTS assesses coherence and cohesion by evaluating logical organization, use of cohesive devices, and clear progression. TOEFL focuses on organization, unity, and clear connection of ideas.

What is peer editing, and how can it help improve writing coherence?

Peer editing involves having someone else review your writing to ensure it makes sense. This helps identify unclear areas and improves the overall coherence of the text.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to Coherence and Cohesion

This paragraph introduces the concepts of coherence and cohesion, explaining how these are essential in academic writing. Cohesion is likened to the micro-level aspects (e.g., words and sentences linking together), while coherence is related to the macro-level structure (e.g., how ideas are logically ordered). The tutorial also highlights the importance of cohesive devices like reference words, repeated ideas, transition signals, substitution, and ellipsis. The overall goal is to ensure clarity and flow in writing, making it easy for the reader to follow the writer's ideas.

05:02

🔄 Substitution and Ellipsis in Writing

This section delves into substitution and ellipsis, explaining their roles in achieving cohesion. Substitution involves replacing words with others to avoid repetition, such as using 'one' instead of 'graph.' Ellipsis refers to omitting words when the meaning is clear. Examples are provided to demonstrate both techniques. For instance, 'A fourth is substitution' omits 'important feature,' relying on context for clarity. Both methods help streamline writing while maintaining meaning.

10:02

📝 Coherence and Organisation of Ideas

This paragraph explores the concept of coherence in more depth, emphasizing the need for logical progression and clear organisation of ideas. Strategies to improve coherence include creating outlines before writing, ensuring topic sentences relate to thesis statements, and checking for unity within paragraphs. Additionally, peer editing and considering the audience's knowledge can enhance clarity. Coherence is essential for making the text understandable, especially in structured forms like essays or reports.

15:02

✍️ Coherence and Cohesion in IELTS and TOEFL Exams

Here, the criteria for assessing coherence and cohesion in the IELTS and TOEFL exams are discussed. The IELTS writing test evaluates task achievement, coherence and cohesion, lexical resource, and grammatical accuracy. Higher band scores require logical organisation, appropriate use of cohesive devices, and clear progression. Similarly, the TOEFL writing test assesses coherence through organisation, unity, and progression. Both tests emphasize the importance of cohesion through the use of transition signals, reference words, substitution, and ellipsis.

🎥 Conclusion and Call to Action

This concluding paragraph wraps up the tutorial, summarizing the main points on improving coherence and cohesion in academic writing. The narrator encourages viewers to subscribe and explore other videos for further learning. The emphasis is on the practical applications of the techniques discussed, especially in preparation for academic exams like IELTS and TOEFL.

Keywords

💡Coherence

Coherence refers to the logical organization and flow of ideas in a text, ensuring that it is easy for the reader to understand the overall meaning. In the video, coherence is described as the 'macro-level' feature of writing, focusing on how ideas are connected throughout the text. It is compared to the overall picture of a jigsaw puzzle, which only makes sense when all the pieces fit together properly.

💡Cohesion

Cohesion refers to the way individual sentences and words are linked together within a text, creating a smooth flow at the 'micro-level.' The video emphasizes that cohesion is achieved through various methods such as reference words, repetition, and transition signals. Cohesion is compared to the smaller pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, which need to fit perfectly to create a united whole.

💡Reference words

Reference words are words like 'this,' 'that,' 'it,' 'he,' 'she,' and 'they,' which refer back to something previously mentioned in the text. These words help maintain cohesion by connecting different parts of a sentence or paragraph. The video uses the example of 'cohesion' to illustrate how reference words can make writing more cohesive by linking ideas.

💡Repeated words or ideas

Repeated words or ideas refer to the deliberate use of the same words or concepts throughout a text to reinforce the main topic and improve cohesion. In the video, examples include 'cohesion' and 'writing,' which are repeated to emphasize their importance in academic writing. Synonyms like 'key feature' and 'important aspect' are also used to avoid redundancy while maintaining cohesion.

💡Transition signals

Transition signals are words or phrases like 'first,' 'second,' 'however,' and 'similarly,' used to guide the reader through the text and show the relationships between ideas. These linking devices improve both coherence and cohesion by indicating cause-and-effect, comparison, or order. The video explains how these signals, such as 'first' and 'final,' help structure lists or sequences in writing.

💡Substitution

Substitution is the replacement of a word or phrase with another word to avoid repetition and maintain cohesion. For example, using 'one' to replace 'graph' or 'doing so' to replace 'drinking alcohol before driving.' Substitution is a more advanced method of achieving cohesion, allowing for variety while keeping ideas linked together smoothly.

💡Ellipsis

Ellipsis involves leaving out words that are understood from context, thus avoiding redundancy and maintaining cohesion. For instance, instead of saying 'a fourth important feature is substitution,' the phrase can be shortened to 'a fourth is substitution.' The omitted words are implied but still understood by the reader.

💡Thesis statement

A thesis statement is a sentence that presents the main argument or point of an essay, guiding the reader through the writer's ideas. It plays a key role in coherence by ensuring the text has a central focus. In the video, creating a clear thesis is mentioned as essential for organizing ideas effectively in both essays and reports.

💡Unity

Unity refers to the consistency of ideas within a paragraph or section of a text, ensuring that every sentence relates back to the main topic. In the video, unity is discussed as a critical aspect of coherence, where all sentences in a paragraph should support the topic sentence, and all paragraphs should connect to the thesis statement.

💡IELTS and TOEFL criteria

The IELTS and TOEFL criteria are standards used to evaluate students' writing, including coherence and cohesion as key components. In the video, these criteria are explained to show how examiners assess the logical flow of ideas (coherence) and the use of cohesive devices like transitions and reference words (cohesion). Scoring well requires clear organization and appropriate use of cohesive tools.

Highlights

Introduction to coherence and cohesion, focusing on the micro and macro levels of writing.

Cohesion involves linking words and sentences together, much like fitting pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

Coherence ensures the overall structure of the writing makes sense and is logically ordered.

Five key methods for achieving cohesion: reference words, repeated words or ideas, transition signals, substitution, and ellipsis.

Reference words, such as 'this', 'that', and 'it', help link ideas by referring back to previous points in the text.

Repeated words or synonyms help to reinforce ideas and maintain a consistent flow in writing.

Transition signals, such as 'first', 'second', 'however', and 'as a result', guide readers through the structure and relationships between ideas.

Substitution allows you to replace earlier words or phrases with shorter alternatives to avoid repetition.

Ellipsis helps to avoid redundancy by omitting words that are implied and unnecessary.

Coherence is improved by organizing ideas clearly, using thesis statements, topic sentences, and outlines.

Outlines can help writers organize their thoughts before writing, and reverse outlines can check for coherence after writing.

The IELTS and TOEFL exams assess coherence and cohesion as part of their writing criteria, emphasizing logical organization and appropriate use of cohesive devices.

The IELTS Band 9 emphasizes using cohesion naturally, without attracting attention, and managing paragraphing effectively.

TOEFL criteria focus on unity, progression, and coherence, requiring clear connections between ideas.

Effective writing includes appropriate use of cohesive devices, such as transition signals, without overusing them.

Transcripts

This tutorial is brought to you by EAPFoundation.com

THE website for all your academic English needs.

So in this video we'll be looking at coherence and cohesion.

And I'll be focusing on four different things.

I'll begin with a brief definition of those terms

so that we can understand what they are,

then look in detail at ways to achieve good cohesion,

ways to improve your coherence,

and finally look at how the IELTS and TOEFL exams

grade students' writing for coherence and cohesion.

So let's begin with some definitions.

Cohesion relates to the micro-level of the text

that is the words and sentences

and how they join or link together.

The related adjective is cohesive,

which means united and working together

or fitting well together.

You can think of cohesion as like pieces of a jigsaw

which need to fit together perfectly.

Coherence, in contrast, relates to the macro level features of a text

which help it to may sense as a whole.

The related adjective is coherent

which means logically ordered and connected,

clear and consistent, and understandable.

And you can think of coherence as like the whole jigsaw puzzle

which will have a clear overall picture

when all of the pieces are put together

Now let's look at cohesion in more detail.

Good cohesion is achieved through the following five main methods:

reference words,

repeated words or ideas,

transition signals,

substitution

and ellipsis.

Let's now look at each of these in turn,

beginning with reference words.

What are reference words?

Well these are words which don't make sense on their own

because they refer to something else in the text.

Examples of reference words are

this, these, that, those, it, they, them,

he, she and which.

Let's look at a short example text

to help us understand reference words.

I'll use the same text later on to help us understand

the other ways to achieve good cohesion.

Cohesion is an important feature of academic writing.

It can help ensure that

your writing coheres or sticks together,

which will make it easier for the reader

to follow the main ideas in your essay or report.

You can achieve good cohesion

by paying attention to five important features.

The first of these is repeated words.

A second key feature is reference words.

A third one is transition signals.

A fourth is substitution.

The final important aspect is ellipsis.

So those are three examples of reference words.

Let's now consider repeated words or ideas.

So this is the same text as before,

but tidied it up a little bit.

And there are several examples of repeated words or ideas

which I'll highlight now.

So we have the noun 'cohesion', which is used twice,

along with the verb form 'coheres'.

The word 'writing' is used twice, as well as

the phrase 'essay or report', which represents the idea of writing

it's a synonym.

And we have the phrase 'important features',

and 'key feature' - key is a synonym of important

so it's the same idea -

and 'important aspect' - aspect again is a synonym of feature

so it's the same idea:

important features, key feature, important aspect.

So thirdly let's consider transition signals.

What are transition signals?

These are words or phrases

which signal the relationships between ideas.

They are also called linking phrases,

or signpost phrases, or cohesive devices.

Let's look at some examples.

So Cause transitions: 'for this reason', 'because of'.

Effect transitions: 'as a result', 'consequently'.

Comparison transitions: 'similarly', 'just like'.

Contrast transitions: 'however', 'whereas'.

And there are many more examples for each of these four types,

and there are also many other transition types:

there are transitions to show examples,

transitions to show order of importance,

to show chronological order,

to give a list,

to show addition or to give alternatives.

Let's again look at this text

to highlight the transition signals.

So here the transition signals are all related

to giving a list of the five important features

that help give good cohesion.

So we have first, second, third, fourth and final.

Next let's consider substitution.

What is substitution?

This is when we substitute - in other words replace -

an earlier word or words with

another word or words and in some ways

it's similar to reference words.

So here's a couple of examples.

The graph on the left shows average calorie intake by age,

while the one on the right shows daily exercise levels.

Here the word 'one' is an example of substitution

because it substitutes for the word 'graph'.

Here’s another example.

Drinking alcohol before driving is banned in many countries

since doing so can seriously impair

one's ability to drive safely.

So here 'doing so' is an example of

substitution because it substitutes

for the phrase 'drinking alcohol before driving'.

And there was one example of substitution

in the text we just saw: 'A third one',

which means a third important feature.

So finally let's look at ellipsis.

What is ellipsis? Well this is when we

leave out words because the meaning is clear.

So here's an example sentence

which has far too many words because we can

leave many of these out and the

meaning will still be clear.

The first graph shows a high calorie intake for 20 to 25-year olds,

a lower intake for 25 to 30 year-olds,

and a very low intake for those over 30.

And the example passage we

just saw also has an example of ellipsis: 'A fourth is substitution'.

So this means a

fourth important feature is substitution

and the words 'important feature' have been left out.

So let's now consider coherence.

So we saw a definition earlier.

First of all let's remind ourselves

of what coherence is.

So coherence relates to the organisation and

the progression of ideas in a text.

It also relates to how clear and easy the ideas are

to understand.

In many ways it's much more difficult to learn how to

achieve good coherence than to achieve good cohesion.

The problem with coherence is

there are so many ways that we can

organise ideas, so many ideas that we can

use in the first place.

And ideas that might seem perfectly clear to you,

the writer, can be very confusing to the reader.

How then can we improve coherence?

Well since it relates to the

organisation and progression of ideas,

we need to make sure our ideas are well organised.

And as it also relates to

how easy the ideas are to understand,

we need to make sure ideas can be understood

by the reader.

One way to help with the organisation of ideas is to create an

outline before writing.

So an outline will normally include the thesis statement,

topic sentences, supporting ideas,

supporting details - reasons,

examples, facts, statistics and so on.

Many students don't like to use an outline,

especially for short timed writing,

but even if you just spend one or two

minutes organising your ideas,

the end product can be much more coherent.

So an outline is used before writing.

Some writers like to create a reverse outline after writing.

So this is the same as an outline,

but it's written when the writing has finished.

And doing this allows you to see

whether your ideas are well organised or not.

Make sure that you have a clear

thesis statement, topic sentences and summary,

if it's an essay.

Remember I said before that coherence is about the

macro level features.

So a topic sentence will help a paragraph to make sense,

and a thesis statement and the summary

in the conclusion will make the whole essay make sense.

And if it's a report

or something more structured rather than an essay,

then the aims and headings will

serve the same purpose.

You should also check that all ideas in a paragraph

relate to the topic sentence, and you can

do this when the writing is finished or

using the outline.

Another word for this is 'unity'.

And you can also check that all of

the topic sentences relate to the thesis statement.

So how can we make sure the

ideas can be understood by the reader?

Well one way is to consider the audience.

Who will be reading what you're writing?

What do they already know? What do they not know?

You should also consider the purpose.

For example if your purpose is

to explain how something is done but

your writing really describes instead of explains,

then the person reading it is

going to be confused.

The final way to make sure your ideas can be understood

by the reader is to ask somebody else,

for example another student, to read through it

and see if it makes sense.

This is called 'peer editing'.

Of course, it's not always possible, for example in an exam essay.

But for other types of writing,

this is something that you can do

to help make sure your ideas can be understood.

Finally let's look at the

criteria for the IELTS and TOEFL tests.

So there are four areas that the IELTS

writing test assesses: task achievement,

coherence and cohesion, lexical resource,

and grammatical range and accuracy.

So coherence and cohesion is one of these four.

What we're going to do now is to

look at the criteria in more detail and

pull out features of coherence and cohesion.

And these are the publicly

available versions of the criteria which

you can find online.

The maximum score in the IELTS test, as you probably know, is 9.

And this is near native speaker level.

Uses cohesion in such a way that

it attracts no attention.

Skilfully manages paragraphing.

This doesn't really give us much information.

But if we look at the criteria for band 8, we begin to

understand a bit more what's being assessed.

Sequences information and ideas logically.

Manages all aspects of cohesion well.

Uses paragraphing

sufficiently and appropriately.

So while there's not much detail for cohesion here,

we can understand that for coherence,

what's needed is logical organisation of ideas,

and appropriate paragraphing.

These are the criteria for band 7.

Logically organises information and ideas.

There is clear progression throughout.

Uses a range of cohesive devices appropriately

although there may be some under- or over-use.

So in terms of coherence we have clear progression.

And these are all things

I talked about earlier:

logical organisation, having clear paragraphs

with clear topic sentences, and clear progression.

And here we begin to understand

the details of cohesion.

It's important to have a range of

cohesive devices, which remember is just

a synonym for transition signals.

It's also important to make sure that

cohesive devices - the transition signals -

are used appropriately, which means using

the right ones in the right places,

and also important not to use too many or

too few. A common mistake for students

learning English is to use too many

transition signals. You don't need them

for every sentence.

These are the criteria for band 6.

I won't read all of these out, but I'll highlight the third one:

may not always use referencing

clearly or appropriately.

So this here is talking about reference words: he, she, it, them

and so on, which I mentioned earlier.

And then looking at band 5,

again I won't read all of these out because many

of these are repeating the same ideas,

but again if you look at the third point:

may be repetitive because of lack of

referencing and substitution.

So in other words substitution is used as needed.

So you can see all of the points here about

cohesion are the ones I've mentioned before:

using transition signals, using reference words,

using substitution.

Let's look now at the rubric, in other words

the criteria, for the TOEFL test.

Again, these are publicly available criteria,

so you can find them yourself online.

And the maximum score on the TOEFL writing is 5.

So these here are the criteria for

the TOEFL at level 5. And unlike with the

IELTS test these are not separated into

different areas, even though if you look

at them closely, which we'll do now, you'll see

that they do in fact address different areas.

So these are the parts

which relate to coherence and cohesion:

is well organised, displays unity,

progression and coherence.

And then looking at level 4:

is generally well organised,

displays unity, progression and coherence

though it may contain occasional

redundancy digression or unclear connections.

And there's similar ideas at level 3:

displays unity, progression and coherence,

though connection of ideas may

occasionally be obscured.

And also level 2:

inadequate organisation or connection of ideas.

So again let's use these to

understand what's being assessed in

terms of coherence and cohesion.

So in order to get a good score we need

writing which is well-organised with no

redundancy, in other words we don't have

more ideas than we need. And we also need

unity, which we talked about earlier,

which means having all of the sentences

related to the topic sentence - and the

opposite of this is digression, when you

move away from the topic to something

which is unrelated.

And we also need clear progression.

So again all of these ideas are ones which we mentioned

earlier when looking at coherence.

In terms of cohesion the rubric is much simpler:

it just talks about connection of ideas.

This doesn't mean the things

we've talked about are not important

because in order to connect ideas you

need reference words, repeated words or ideas,

transition signals, substitution and ellipsis.

So it's not that those things

aren't important, it's just that they're

not mentioned explicitly in the rubric.

So summing up what we've learned in

this video, first of all we had a short

definition of coherence and cohesion,

then we saw ways to improve cohesion in

your writing using reference words,

repeated words or ideas,

transition signals, substitution and ellipsis.

We saw how to improve coherence by organising

your ideas and making your ideas clear

to the reader, and how the IELTS and

TOEFL exams grade your work for

coherence and cohesion.

If you liked the video please subscribe to the channel

or check out some of the other videos

I've made for learning academic English.