Luận văn application of discourse analysis theory to the teaching of writing to students at international standard programme ulis vnu

coi 224 3.2.1, Problems related to cohesion and coherence competence ISP students have in PART C: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS REFERENCES APPENDICES:... Although these problems ha

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI!

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

VŨ THÙY LINH

APPLICATION OF DISCOURSE ANALYSIS THEORY TO THE EACHING OF WRITING TO STUDENTS AT INTERNATIONAL

STANDARD PROGRAMME - ULIS - VNU

(Áp dụng lý thuyết phân tích diễn ngôn vào việc giảng dạy môn viết

cho sinh viên Nhiệm vụ chiến lược - DHNN- DHQGHN)

MINOR M.A THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology

Code: 60.14.10

Hanoi, December, 2012

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI!

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

VŨ THÙY LINH

APPLICATION OF DISCOURSE ANALYSIS THEORY TO THE TEACHING OF WRITING TO STUDENTS AT INTERNATIONAL

STANDARD PROGRAMME - ULIS — VNU

(Ap dung ly thuyết phân tích diễn ngũn vào việc giảng dạy môn viết

cho sinh viên Nhiệm vụ chiến lược — DHNN- DHQGHN)

MINOR M.A THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology

Code: 60.14.10

Supervisor: Huynh Anh Tuan, PhD

Hanoi, December, 2012

1.2 The immportanee of EFL writing -222s:Scccssssrccrressserccerercee Ủ

1.3 What makes good writing 2222221212212

2 Discourse and điscourse analysis ee mướn „10

4 Cohesion

4.1 The concept of cohesion 13

2.3 Data collection instrunenfs 19

CHAPTER THREE: DATA ANALYSIS

3 Data analysis

3⁄2 Dala analysis coi 224

3.2.1, Problems related to cohesion and coherence competence ISP students have in

PART C: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

REFERENCES

APPENDICES:

LISTS OF TABLES, FIGURES AND ABBREVIATIONS

Lists of Tables

Table 1: The researcher’s analytical scoring criteria

Table 2: Descriptive Statistics for the group’s performance in the pre-test

Table 3: Students’ pre-lest and post-test results

Table 4: Results of the Paired-Sample T-tests

Lists of Figures

Figure 1: Participants’ satisfaction with the course

Figure 2: Participants’ overall evaluation of the course

Lists of Abbreviations

11: first language

L2: second language

ISP: International Standard Programme

ULIS: University of Languages and International Studies

VNU: Vietnam National University

vi

PART A: INTRODUCTION

L_ Rationale

Wriling is a fundamental component of English language learning, Tn the light

of this fact, it is imperative that learners be taught and tained on the conventions of English writing, especially academic writing Some of these

conventions arc cobeston and eoherenee Cohesion refers to “the grammatical

and/ or lexical relationslups between the different elements of a text” (Richard,

Platt & Webb, 1985:15), Coherence refers to the relationships of ideas and the

ability of those ideas 19 function logether for the purpose of conveying the

meaning (Mclinn, 1988:15)

It has been noted by Magableh (1992) that English as a Foreign Language

(FFT) learners focus almosi exclusively on the serdenve level rallrer than the

level of the whole discourse that is textual coherence Most LI'L learners feel

that correct grammar is the only tool they depend on in writing English essays

Therefore, they rely on whal [hey have loarned about grammar

However, according to Kies (1995) some KKL writings appear to be poor in

coherence and in cohesion Such writings may lack persuasiveness, salisÏacEory

and logical comnection of ideas This problem can be attributed to the fact that

leamers know the grammar and lexical items of the language, but they are

unaware of the mechanics of coherence and cohesion Maqablch (1992) claims

that Arab EFL leamers encounter serious problems when they write These problems involve producing a coherent text and making the produced text

cohesive The focus on writing has been on generating grammatically correct

sentences depending on the belief that gramunar is the only requirement for

leamers

Ter recent years with the appearance of Halliday and Hasan (1976)'s book

Cohesion in Lnglish, there has been a shift in focus among researchers from detecting EFL leamers’ problems at the sentential level toward diagnosing probioms al the imfer-scntontial level, Henee, wriling is now seen in terms of

cohesion and coherence Khalil (1989:359) savas “New concepts such as

cobesion and coherence have identified as two major standards of textuality”

Halliday and Hasan (1976) consider Ihe loxt as a until of language in use

It has been noticed that some of writing features may be ignored by EFL

leamers Such features involve coherence and cohesion Researchers point out

three factors hai could contribule lo the weakness in writing These faclors are:

1- Language transfer Different studies by Kapalan (1966), ‘Tadros (1976) and

Hole (1984) indicate that EL learners transfer the conventions of their first

langnage (1.1) to their second language (1.2); therefore, they show uegative

transfer Conner (1996:3) says “Students often mention that when they write in English, they translate, ar attempt to translate, first language words, phrases or

organization into English.”

2- Ignorance of the features of cohesion and coherence Zhu (1992) states that

EEL leamers are usually unaware of the terms cohesion and coherence in

writing Thus, they have inadequate knowledge of cohesive devices that are

necessary for making a text coliesive Even if they have knowledge of these

discourse markers, they do nol use them appropriately This problem can be

attributed to the fact that teachers at schools generally do not emphasize on such

devices

3- Tack of ating: According Lo Kharma (1985), stuslents are not woll-trained

in English writing Normally, the focus is laid on the sentence level and in some cases the paragraph level

To sum up, it can be conchided that EFL leamers encounter rhetorical problems

especially in coherence and cohesion ‘These problems can be attributed to many

factors such as negative transfer, or rather nonexistence of certain features in

the mother Longue Thal is lo say, many learmers still do nol have the adequate

Imowledge of using cohesive devices that are necessary for making a text

cohesive.

Although these problems have been realized by a lot of researchers, very few solutions have been suggested to improve LI'L students’ writing quality, especially in terms of cohesion and coherence This gap gives the researcher the

desire to conduct this study

1H Aims of the study

The purpose of the study is to examine the real situation of the Vietram National University (VNU) Intemational Standard Programme (ISP) students’

writing skill, specifically in terms of their cohesion and coherence- related

issues Ti aims (1) to find out TSP students’ problems in terms of cohesion and

coberence in their writing and (2) to provide some recommendations that could improve their writing through the experimental teaching of cohesion and

evherence,

HI Significance of the rescarch

It is hoped that this study will be contribute to the field of applied linguistics

especially in EFL writing Tt could act as a groal help lo not only sludents,

teachers but also researchers working on relating issues ‘Chis study aims at

ivestigaling ISP students’ problems m cobwsion and coherence Therefore, it can be a contribution for cvaluating students’ writing competence in terms of

cobesion and coherence Besides, this study, to some extent, can help increase

students’ awareness of the benefits of cohesion and coherence in them wnting

quality

The significance of this study can be stated that it will provide teaching

implications for EFL teachers into the procedures and the teaching material to

be used in dealing with cohesive devices and coherent elements Witte and

Faigley (1981) indicated that cohesion and coherence research can help

discover the developmental stages undergo in the writing process In other

words, this is significant for educators in providing implications for developing their essay writing syllabus, methods of teaching and assessment

Lastly, this rescarch can be used as a reference source for those who have interest in this issue and a supplement to the previous studies on cohesion and coherence problems

TV.Scope of the research

the researcher has no desire to cover all aspects of it, Within the frame of this thesis, the researcher would like to work on the problems of coherence and cohesion in students’ writing and make some useful suggestions lo help students achieve greater competence in this skill

‘Targeted subjects: ‘The research is restricted to students at

Intemational Standard Program (ISP) — ULIS — VNU and it is confined to the analysis of cohesion and coherence writlen by 20 leamers of group 9 in TSP

V Research methodology

V1 Research questions This survey aims al addressing the two following questions

students have in writing?

coherence-cohesion and the improvement of their writing proficiency?

'V.2 Informants The target population of this rescarch was trom class 9 with 20 students at Intemational Standard Programme (ISP), University of Language and International Studies (ULIS), Vietnam National University (VNU)

V.3 Approach Action research was chosen as the primary research method as it meets the aim and objectives of the study This method is also justified to offer significant benefits for the researcher, who is also a teacher Johnson (1995) pointed out three mains advantages of action research namely to promote personal and

professional growth, to improve practice to enhance student learning, and to advance the teacher profession

V.4 Data collection instruments and procedure

Two data collection instruments were used in the study: tests and suvey questionnaires, To be specific, two writing tests were conducted before and after

the experimental leaching Suudents were required to wrile discussive essays willt

the following topics:

w Pre-test’ These days internet-based courses have become a

popular allermmafive 10 uriversily-based courses Some students prefer

this type of leaming because they do not need to attend lectures, Others argue that it is important to study at university Discuss both these

views

v Posttest: H is generally believed that some people are born

with certain talents, for instance for sport or music, and others are not

However, il is sometimes claimed (hal any child ean be laught to

become a good sports person or musician Discuss both these views and

give your own opinion

The questionnaire suryey consists of two main parts The first part is composed of

six questions which are to evaluate students’ satisfaction after the experimental

teaching The second part asks for students’ suggestion for improvement in the next

teaching

The data collection procedure underwent 3 phases A pretest was administered

among an ISP group to assess their writing competence and analyzed to find out

their writing problems in tenns of cohesion and coherence in the pre-teaching phase The participants then participated in a 6-week experimental while-teaching

phase in which parlicipanis were given thorough theory of cohesion and coherence

in academic writing as well as provided a lot of practicing exercise Vinally, they took a post-test to evaluate their improvement in writing ability in the post-teaching

phase Also in this phase, students completed one survey questionnaire concerning their opinions about the teaching and leaning process

Y.5 Data analysis methods

Learners’ writings are qualitatively analyzed using a rating scale set up by the researcher, The rating scale specifies criteria for marking Leamers’ proficiency in

poitis was quanlilatively analyzed using ihe SPSS sofiware to conclude to whal

extent LSP students” writing improves after the researcher's experimental teaching

V1 Limitations

Although (he research has achieved sorte ceriain resulis in investigating cohesion

and coherence problems in ISP students’ writmg as well as illustrating some

teaching methods to tackle such issues, it still contains some limitations due ta

limited lime and scope of the study

The first limitation lies in the participants in this study One special feature of ISP

students is that they are classified into different groups according ta their entry test

yesult The in-survey group gol (he medium score: so they can be ranked al the

average level That means a lot of low-level students are not really involved in the vesearch,

Secondly, because the researcher was supposed to follow the fixed ISP tunetable,

the experimental teaching only lasted 6 weeks with one writing session per week

Therefore, students aclually were nol given thorough teaching aboul cohesion and

coherence, which more or less affected their writing quality

VL Organization of the study

The study totally consists of three main parts: Introduction, Development and

Conclusion

Part | states the rationale, aims, scope and significance of the study

Part 2 includes three chapters namely theoretical background aud Hterature review,

methodology, and data analysis

* Chapter I provides the background on the study, including the definitions

and the features of some determinant terms such as writing, discourse analysi:

coherence and cohesion

Also presented in this chapter is a brief review of some previous studies on ovhesion and coherence problems in EFT students’ writing

Chapter 2 demonstrates the rescarch methods applied m ihe study with

details on how and why these methods were implemented Besides, the data

collection procedure and data analysis methods are also illustrated in this chapter

© Chapter 3, data analysis presents the results and discussion in terms of how

much they answer the research questions

Part 3 sununarizes the man issues covered in the paper, presents the himilalions of

the study and some suggestions for further studies in the research area Following

this chapter are the References and Appendixes for the whole research

importance of wriling lo FFT sladenls and shed light on some FFT sludenis*

writing problems with special reference to cohesion and coherence

1 Writing

11 Definition of writing

Bryne (1988) considers writing “‘the act of forming graphic symbols” such as letters

or combination of letters According to this definition, an act that results in the

forming of Tolters with or willioul meaning can be delined as writing On the other

hand, Lannon (1989) views writing as “the process of transforming the material

discovered by research inspiration, accident, trial and error, or whatever into a

amessage with a delinite moaning- writing is a process ol deliberate decision” In this

way, writing must convey a message without meaning The definition of writing

experienced a big change in some laler years In 2000, Chakraverly and Gaulum

offered a quite different definition in which writing is “a reflective activity that

requires enough time to think about the specific topic and to analyze and classify

any background knowledge Ther, writers nocd a suilable langage lo structure these

ideas in the form of coherent discourse” Besides, writing is defined by several

contrasts by Sokolik (2003) In her opinion, writing, firstly, is both “a physical and

mental act” in the sense that requires writiers to commit words or ideas to some

anedrum and at the same tume to mvent ideas, think about how to express them, and

organize them into statements and paragraphs Secondly, writing aims at expressing

and impressing Wrilers typically try to express their ideas or fectings, meanwhile

they need to impress their readers in certain ways Thirdly writing is a process and a product Writers have to generate ideas, organize, draft edit, read, and reread to produce a product- a paregraph, an assay or a toporL Also writing is soon by

Shokrpour and Fallahzadch (2007) as “a complex activity, a social act which reflects the writer’s communicative skills which is difficult to develop and lear, especially in an FFT context” Tn line with the process writing approach adopled im the current study, 1 perceive HL writing as a multi-dimensional process composed

of a cognitive activity affected by a number of linguistic and contextual factors; FFI linguistic profivieney, instructional, paychologieal, socio-cultural, and socio- political issues If these factors are well addressed, this will make writing an unforgettable experience

1⁄2 The importance of EFL writing

LVL writing has always been considered an important skill in teaching and learning

As commented by Rao, EFL writing is useful in two respects: First, it motivates

students’ thinking, organizing ideas, developing Lieir ability te summarize, arial and criticize Second, it strengthens students’ learning, thinking and reflecting on

English language

Tw relation 1o the context of the current study, essay writing is significant to the

leaming of students of English because it facilitates students’ acquisition of the

dasic study skills needed for understanding what they study ard expressing it in

then own words, This will assist them to kecp away from memorization, rote

leaming and plagiarism that are much discouraged in the recent theories of teaching

and leaming Tn addition, competenee in wriling will help students pass all their

academic courses successfully and enable them to be successful teachers and researchers in the future

1.3 What makes good writing

Writing is an important means of communication: it is probably the skill that is most needed in academic communities According to Beaugrande and Dressler

(2002) a Lexi derives its cormmuricative value from ils conformily 1a the following

ten standards of communication: cohesion, coherence, intentionality, acceptability, informativity, situationality, intertextuality, efficiency, effectiveness, and appropriateness All these standards are behind the success of communication, but

cohesion and coherence have a special status Beaugrande and Dressler say “to some degree, cohesion and coherence could themselves be regarded as operational

goals wilhoul whose attainment olher discourse goals may be blocked” (1.3) The

empirical studies of Chiang (1999) confirm that raters’ and native speakers’ judgments of the quality of EFL students’ writing relies more on discourse features

like cohesion and coherence Grammatical weaknesses arc not considered unless

they hinder their understanding of their writer’s intended meaning

Therefore, coherence should be given an important weight in writing syllabuses of

instruction is to be effective, and in order to be able to teach if, approprialely, we

need thorough understanding of the concept and useful insights on how to introduce

it best in writing classes

2 Discourse and Discourse Analysis

Discourse analysis, as remarked by Brown and Yule (1983:8), “has come to be used

with a wide range of meanings which cover a range of activities at the intersection

of many diserplines [rom sociolinguisties, philosophical linguistics to compulational

linguistics” In other words, discourse analysis is a field of study which concems

different aspecis basically mehuding three basic strands, that is text grammar, conversation analysis, aud pragmatics, as pointed out by Hoa Nguyen (2000.11), He

also defines discourse analysis, in the eyes of a linguist, as” a stady of how and for

what, purposes language is used in a certain context of silualion and the linguistic aneans to carry out these purposes.”

In the study of discourse analysis, it is crucial to make a clear distinction between

twa terms: discourse and text According ta Brown and Yule (1983:6), text is “the

verbal record of a communicative act”; meanwhile, discourse “is language in

use” (p.1) De Beaugrande and Dressler (1981) presents an elaborate definition of

tex! as a “commuricalive occurrence which possesses seven conslilule conditions of

textual communication, cohesion, coherence, intentionality, acceptability, informability, situationality and intertextuality” In this approach, De Beaugrande

and Dressler sce text and discourse im the same hght

10

The most explicit and clearest distinction is by Widowsun (1984) He claborates

discourse as “a communicative process by means of interaction Its situational oulcome is a change ina state of affair: information is conveyed, inlenlion made clear, its linguistic product is Text” (as cited in Hoa Nguyen, 2000, p.14) In the

explanation, text is understood as simply a representation of a communicative

process In other words, text is the verbal realization of discourse

3 Coherence

Coherence refers to the functionimg of the text as a unified whole Moreover, coherence refers fa the relationships of ideas and the ability of those ideas to

function together for the purpose of conveying the meaning (Melinn 1988: 15)

In fact, any piece of writing has coherence if it represents its argument in a clear,

plausible, convineimg arc comprehensible order This piece of writing should have

no logical gaps in its line of reasoning and it avoids unnecessary digression

Any piece of writng is considered coherent if it is understandable, follow a clear

line in presenting facts, arguments and avoid stalemenis which are

incomprehensible for the reader ‘There is a strong comnection between the text and

the reader concemng coherence So, the writer should cut whal is irrelevant or

unintelligible for the reader, Kies (1995) stated “Any picee of writing can be

coherent if the authors:

% Know the subjecls well

4 Have an eye on their audience and tailor their writing to what their readers

probably know beforehand and are able to understand

Oshima and Hogue (2006) indicate that there are five ways to achieve coherence

1- Repeat key nouns: repeat key nouns or use synonyms ot expressions with the same meaning,

2- Use consistent pronouns: make sure thal you use lhe same person ard

number throughout the paragraph

whan le go forward, (urn around, slow down and stop

11

4 Arrange your ideas in logical order:

‘There are several common and logical ways to arrange the sentences in orderly

sequence in a paragraph Time order is (he simplost and the most common order,

which is usually suitable for narrative paragraphs and for paragraphs that explain how something is happened (Razzak and AL-Ilassan, 1981:57) It is important to

know when and in what order the (hings in any story we read happen This onubles

‘us to understand how the various steps are alranged in correct order

If the sentences have no time order we can arrange them ina space order, in which

the paragraph moves from east Lo west or from right to tefl or vice versa Space

order is sometimes suitable for giving direction ‘Ihe writer should know that he can use space order when he wants to tell the others what the things are looking

like

The order of climax which is the least important ideas i writing first, then the other

ideas are given in order of increasing important The movement within the

paragraph in this order may be (rom general to the parlicular or from the particular

to the general or from familiar to the unfamiliar describes the room to enable the

reader tohave a clear picture of the room which the writer saw

The discussion of the idea may move from cause te effect or from effect to cause

(Razzak and AL-Hassan, 1981:60-62), ‘he writer can order sentences in any order

to make the sequence of the thought clear and the reader ean understand whal he

reads

S- Consider the length of Paragraph

Razzak and AL-Hassan (1981:69) indicate that there is no role about the length of

paragraphs A paragraph is a unit and all the sentences in it are necessary to make the idea as a whole one and clear The length of the paragraph depends upon the

idea itself Tt is important for dhe writer to know that he must be able Lo pul down

his thoughts or ideas clearly enough and completely enough so that anyone who

reads his paper will be able to follow his directions and understand what he is

explaining

12

The length of paragraph should be tailored to aid the reader's understanding of the ideas A short paragraph can indicate poor organization of materials, that the writer gan make the larger idea as a topic sentence for a single paragraph A serivs of short paragraph can also sacrifice unity by breaking a single idea into several pieces A series of long paragraph can fail to provide the reader with manageable subdivisions

of thoughL A good rule for writing the paragraph should be just long cnough Lo deal adequately with the subject of its topic sentence (Brauasw et al; 1987:464)

4 Cohesion

4.1 The concept of cohesion

In relation to LL essay writing cohesion, many researchers agree that cohesion, on

the macro level is related to linking ideas whereas on the micro level, is concemed

wilh conncoling sentences and phrases “The concept of cohesion is a semantic onc,

it refers to relations of meaning that exist within the text, and that define it as a

text” Cohesion connects and hangs words together in order to create a text Many

yesearchers have highlighted the importance of text cohesion chiming thal a text

stands as a text by means of cohesion According to Halliday and Hasen (1976, as

cited in Hoa, 2000) “A Lext has texture and this is what distinguishes it from something that is nota text the texture is provided by echesive relation” It means

that cohesion creates texture in a text, in other words, creates the text Lloa (2000

23) shares the same idea by slating thal “cohesion refers lo [he formal relalionship that causes text to cohere or stick together.”

4.2 Type of cohesion

4.2.1, Grammatical Cohesion

4.2.1.1 Reference

According to Ialliday and IJasan (1976:32), reference is a semantic relation and

“since the relatioustip is ou semanlic level, the reference item is im no way

constrain to match the grammatical class of the item it refers to” ‘he two scholars

also classify discourse reference into two types, namely exophoric and endophoric

13

If the reference item is cndophoric, it can be cither anaphoric or cataphoric Anaphoric reference occurs when the writer refers back to someone or something

that, has been previously identified, lo avoid repolition Tt points the listeners and

readers backward to previous entity to understand the text, In constrast, eataphoric

reference lead listeners and readers forward to the text

Fxophoric reference is dillerent from these lwo lypes by describing generics or

abstracts without ever being identified In this case, the interpretation is assisted by

the context of the situation

Reference items in Bnglish comes into three main forms, includmg persoral

reference expressed by pronouns (he, she, it, me, mine ) and determiners (his, her, your ); demonstrative reference (this, that, there, then, etc.) and comparative

reference which is expressed by adjectives and adverbs such aa same, identical,

equal, different, other, etc

4.2.1.2 Substitution

Halliday and Hasan (1976-89) define substitution as “a relation between inguistic

items such as words or phrases and in terms of linguistic level, it is a relation on the

lexico-grammar level, the level of grammar and vocabulary” Hoa Nguyen (2000:

24) also sees substitution as “a device which shows the relation between sentences,

where it is derivable to avoid repetition”

Tn this light, Halhday and Hasan (1976) calegonzed substitulion into nominal,

verbal and clausal substitution Nominal substitution is realized by one, ones, and same Verbal substitute in English is “do” and clausal substitutes are “so” and not

Clausal substitution is commonly used after verbs: think hope, suppose, ete

difference between ellipsis and substitution With ellipsis, the omitted parts can be

recovered based on the context but such possibility does not exist

14

Quirk ct all (1972) discuss three conditions under which ellipsis may occur namely,

repetition, expansion and replacement

a Repetition: the speaker repeat what has been said by the first

Eg/ Did you go there?

Yes, I did (go there)

& Expansion: the speakers adds to what has been said

E.g/ Willhe come?

Probably (he will come)

c — Replacemeni: the second speaker replaces what has heen said by the

(first with new information

E.g/ Where did he go?

(He went (o) Canada

4.2.1.4 Conjunction

According to Cook (1989:21), “conjunction is words or phrases which explicitly

draw allention to the type of relationship between one senlence and clause and

another” Briefly speaking, conjunctions are used to connect sentences and clauses

together inlo one context

Halliday and Hasan (1976; 242-243) divide conjunction into four types including,

additive, adversative, causal and temporal

2 additive: the relation of adding meaning among sentences

.e/ and, also, moreover, in addition, ete

b adversative: information appears in the contradict way

Eg/ but, yet, though, however, on the contrary, ete

¢ causal: the relation of cause and effect

Lg/so, hence, before, consequently, as a result, ete

dễ temporal: this relation creates unified and tied discourse

lg : then, next, last, etc

4.2.2 Lexical cohesion

15

According to Van {2006:80-81), the concept of lexical cohesion was first defined in

terms of collocation by irth (1975), then developed by LJalliday and Ilasan (1976)

Fggins (1994) and Halhday (1985) share the same idea that lexical relalion analysis

is a way of systematically describing how words in a text related to each other, how they cluster to build up lexical sets or lexical strings Lexical relation appears in two

iain lypes, reileration and collocation

4.2.2.1 Reileralinn

According to Me Carthy (1991-65) presents thar “reiteration means either restating

an ilem im a later part of discourse by direcl repetition or else reasserling ils

meaning by exploiting lexical relations” Reiteration is divided into five types, namely repetition, synonyms, super-ordinate and general words

4.2.2.2 Collocation

Collocation occupies an important role in lexical items to create cohesion in a text

In fact, words seldom stand alone, but tend to combine together and relate to each other Aceording to Halliday and Hasan (1976), “Word combination” or “word co-

occurrence” is known as collocation which brings a particular sense or meaning

IL LITERATURE REVIEW

In recent years, rescarchers have given considerable attention to how EFL and ESL

learner actually write and what problems they usually encounter in their writing

One of the widely explored subfields of second language writing is (he construst of”

coherence and cohesion As one of essential criteria for assessing writing, coherence and cohesion have been regarded as subjective and hazy concepts which are hard to learn and teach (Crewe, 1990; Lee 2002) Findings of some previous studies sevealed that KFL stadents generally experience some coherence and cohesion problems in their English writing Tor examples, Crewe (1990) identified two

problems with regard to incoherent, writing thal most, Hong Kong college students

bad One was using mumerous connectives without discerning the semantic differences among them, such as using “on the contrary” for “however” The other problem concerned overusing connectives Inoxperienced wrilers tended lo usc

16

more connecitves to maintain surface logicality, but actually there was no logicality

in their writing Some other examples can be illustrated here such as the research

by Abel (2000) on studenis’ problems with cohesion and coherence in FFT essay writing, the investigation into the use of cohesive devices by students in National Tsing Hua University (2002) and the study by Bessaem (2010) on cohesion and coherence in the essay writing of Palestinian college Tn relation to coherence problems in their writmg, some problems were revealed such as difficulty in writing the introduction, the thesis statement, the topic sentence, writing conclusion, transition of ideas and sequence of ideas A number of reasons are assoviated with students” coherence problems in Linglish writing In reference to student teachers’ problems in cohesion, some were reported such as difficulty in using cataphoric and

anaphoric reference, ellipsis, substitulion, and gore relaicd cohesive ties, Tn

addition, overusing certain cohesive ties was also reported by university lecturers

Results of some related studies revealed that there are a number of factors and

contexts lying behind these different coherence and cohesion problems At the

psychological level, stadents faced a number of challenges including lack of

motivation, lack of self-confidence, and wriling aredely Most EFL sludents are not

given opportunities to practice their writing at high school and are not motivated to

write Linglish essays for a number of possible zeasons

Allhough a number of sladies have bean carried oul as regards problems relaled to

cohesion and coherence in writing as well as illustrated some causes of such issues, the question of tackling this issue has still remained unanswered Furthermore, as far as the researcher knows, no studies on coherence and cohesion problems have

been carried out among Vietnamese students That’s the reason why the researcher

decided to do this research as a contribution to finding a solution to this problem in

Vietnamese universities conlexL

17

CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY

21 Research question

The aims of this study are to find out the relationship between the participants?

enhancement in their cohesion-coherence competence and the improvement in their writing skill after receiving explicit instruction enhancing their knowledge of

cohesion and coheretiec In order to achieve this aim, answers lo the following two

questions must be sought:

> What problems related to cohesion and coherence competence do ISP

students have im writing?

> 1s there any relationship between giving L2 learners explicit instruction in coherence-cohesion and the improvement of their writing proficiency?

22 Research approach Action research, as defined in Cohen and Manion (1994, p.186) is “small-scale

intervention in the functioning of the real world and a close examination of the

ef{eels of such an mervention” In other words, Hopkins (1985, p.32) and Ebbutt

(1985, p.156) defined it as the combination of action and research in which a person

allernpied to understan|, improve and reform practice Carr and Kemanis (1986, p.162) presented a different point when regarding action research as a form of “self-

reflective inquiry”

From those definitions, rescarchars suggested some main (eatures of an avtion

sesearch as follows:

- Combination of action and research

- Intervention to solve real problems in the real world

- Close and careful examination of the effect of the intervention

the tesearcher is also a participant

Some other characteristics of an action rescarch were alse stated by Hult and

Lennung (1980) and Mckernan (1991) as:

18

- Being in an on-going cycle process, ic the feedback from data collected can be used to improve the next steps in the research

- Being formative, ie the researcher may witness the alteration in definition, aims and methodology

- Cơntributing to a science of education

- Being collaborative, ie the research involves all contribution to

improve the understanding and action

These features were reflected in this study Tirst, the aim of the study was to

improve the current, silualion of leaching writing for TSP studeris (specifically in

temms of coherence and cohesion) Sccond, the study would contribute to the science

of language education ‘Third, the study included the researcher's intervention on other parlicipania’ writing compelence Forth, the study was formed with severat suncertainties and suspicions, thus, it needed the alteration and improvement from within the research process Finally, the answer to the research question needed answering as purlicipants rellecled on (heir own improvement, interesl and emotion during the research

In conclusion, action research is a good choice for this study on account of the

suilabilily in target, design and characteristics of the study

243 Data collection instruments

* 1 Test: to seek answers to both research questions Best and Kakn

(2003) regarded documerts among the most significant sources for dala collection (cited in Ghonaim, 2005, p.91) 20 writing samples of ISP students

were collected and analyzed The samples were collected twice, one before,

one afler the teaching phase The analysis [rom these samples helps bring more insightful information; thus increase the reliability of the study

Findings

+ 2 Questionnaire: to seck answer to the second to the sccand research

question A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect students’ opinions towards the above action research According to Gillham (2000)

18

questionnaire is a very uscful tool to administer a group of people and it provides permanent, systematic records of feedback from all students

24, Data collection procedure

1 Participant

The target population of this research was students at ISF (Intemational Standard Program), ULIS, VNU Those siuderts were not majored at English al high school and they are supposed to spend their first year improving their English proficiency They passed the entrance exam to be eligible for the Talent program of VNU with

vaiher bigh resulis Therefore, i can be said that most ISP students show good

cognitive ability, which helps greatly their process of acquiring Unglish knowledge

at university

All the particrpanis of the research were choser from class TSP 9 with 20 members:

‘because the researcher was the main teacher to be in charge of writing skill in this

group Also the researcher acted as the group's head teacher and all these students

were aolive and enthusiastic ones who had strong motivation in improving, their writing skill Hence, the study was carried out with willingness and great

contribution from all participants

Soptomber 10™ Pre-test In class

The topic “These days intemet-based courses have become a popular alternative Lo university-based courses Some students prefer this type of learning because they do

not need to attend lectures Others argue that it is

important, lo sludy al university Discuss both these

Ouicher 30

November 1* Tosl-test

‘The topic “Nowadays many students have the opportunity

to study for part or all of their courses in foreign countries While studying abroad brings many beuelils to individual students, it also has a number of disadvantages Discuss both the advantages and disadvantages”

25 Data analysis methods:

Learners’ writings are qualitatively analyzed using a rating scale set up by the

in points was quantitatively analyzed using the SPSS software to cvaluate their improvement

Next, the questionnaire survey is also qualitatively analyzed lo get their opinions toward the six-week experimental teaching,

21

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS

impression of the piece of writing

+ Analytic scoring: this way is based on making use of a set of

criteria pre-selected by the researcher

Content Idea quality Relevance, originality, depth to | 2

the topic

Organization | Cohesion Smooth transitions and or|2

connections between sentences

and paragraphs Coherence The organization of discourse | 2

with all elements present and fitting together logically

Grammar Grammatical structures | The range of grammatical | |

structures

‘Accuracy The grammatical accuracies that | 1

hinder/ disrupt communication Language Accuracy The ratio of error-free words of | 1

the length of the essay Lexical complexity The total number of academic | 1

words

Table 1: The researcher’s analytical scoring criteria

All the writing samples were marked on the basis of holistic and analytic scoring sale and then get the average score for the final result ‘The results were then

divided inlo Uhre groups: high level (group A), ilermediate (group B) and low

the analysis of cohesion which follows in this chapler, the researcher will be

concemed with only the five major classes: reference, ellipses, substitution, lexical cohesion, conjunction

3.1.2 Evaluation of coherence

Concerning this study, all essays were evaluated on the basis of Grice’s maxims

and Oshima and Hogu’s criteria of achieving coherence

s Grice’s maxims (1975) consists of

Relation: make sure what you say relevant to the topic or purpose of the

communication

Quality: be trathful and do not say things you know to be false

Manner: be clear, avoid ambiguity and obscurity

Quantity, do not provide more or less information than is necessary

However, the researcher excluded the “quality” maxim from the study since it does not apply to the topic written by the participants in the present study The

other three maxims are considered to be necessary characteristics to measure

coherence in {he ess

ys wrillen by TSP students

Repeat key pronouns

Use consistent pronouns

Use transition signals to link ideas

Arrange your ideas in logical order

3.2 Data Analysis 3.2.4 Research question 1: Whal problems related to cohesion and

coherence competence do ISP students have in writing?

3.2.1.1 Cahcsion problems

The resulls reveal that the problem of cohesion falls imo three categories:

reiteration, conjunctions and reference ‘The researcher analyzed the following

problems

¥ Relleralion (lexical)

v/ The excessive use of “and”

¥ The underuse of connectives

¥ — Mallunctionng of cormactives

¥ Wrong reforenoe

3.2.1.1.1 Reiteralion

The analysis of participants’ writing samples show that ISP students tended to use

reiteration more than synonvms and antonyms to create cohesion in their writing In

other words, they relied on the repetition of the same word Have a look at the

following examples

Tx 1:

There are many bad aspects of using technology The development of technology

cause serious problems, so technology must be used selectively

Tix 2:

The more society develops, the mure mlernet become popular We cannot deny that

internet plays an important part in many aspects, particularly in Jeamning with the

appearance of internet-based courses

24

Repetition in English discourse is evaluated negatively Haiman (1997) argues that Linglish favors economically motivated non-repetition, ie the use of pronoms

instead of repealing Ihe same word and the use of ph

It is clear that this kind of repetition could be attributed to language transfer In fact, repetition is widely used in Vietnamese language as a main text-building device

Thorefore, students allerpt to make use of the system of his/her native language

which is repetition and transfer it to the Hnglish language

3.21.12 Conjunctions (connectives)

a The excessive use of “and”

‘The leamers in low level group have serious problems with connectives ‘The students in high-level group perform better in using the connective “and” and were

able lo use fewer additives than the low-level onc They used more other lypes of

conjunctions, such as adversative, temporal and casual

- The learners in group C lack the ability to establish logical relationship of

addition, contrast casual and Lanporal The fallowing are typical examples

ix 3: The intemet network makes the world a small village and connects people

together and can make a call from your computer Lo any place in the workt

b Underuss of connectives

As reported by Atari (1984) and Chafe (1980), the absence of commectives is called

“Fragmentation of ideas” This fragmentation of ideas results in a sequence of choppy sentences which contained disconnected ideas, Khalil (2000) says that choppy sentences strip the text of its connectivity The following exemplify the

absence of connectives

Lix 4: Ut is not surprising that other students prefer to atiend lectures Learning

online involves an important responsibility and huge skills of organization The

courses al the university help students to develop their soft skills through studying

in small groups, presentation and physical education classes, Students have many opportunities to take part in clubs, events, workshops or social activities when they choose university-based course

As it can be scen in this example, the writer shifts from one sentence to another

without providing any transitional words or adverbial conjunctions ‘he sentence could be bettered if appropriate conjunctions are usad, for example

It is not surprising that other students prefer to attend lectures because learning

at university involves an important responsibility and huge skills of organization

Tn deed the courses al the university help students to develop their soft skills through studying in small groups, presentation and physical education classes Moreaver, students have many opportunities to take part in clubs, events,

workshops or social activities when they choose university-based course

3.2.1.1.3 Overuse of connectives

In contrast with the above problems, some students may have formed the

impression “ihe more, the better” Here , they abuse cohesive devices lo make their

writing cohesive and coherence However, overusing cohesive device, actually, can

cause the writing to be redundant or difficult to decipher

Fxample 5:

internet-based courses allow a considerable flexibility because the students can

learn whenever (hey want; and if some students cannot go to the university because

of a disability and hospitalization, they can follow the courses from home or from

the hospital Vhus, internet-based plays a very important part

Fxample 6:

Although internet-courses bring a lot of benefits, but if the students are not strict

enough to themselves, they cannot prevent the temptation of online entertainments

such as chatting with friends or playing games, so internet-based courses demands

to concentrate more than for a university course

3.21.14 Reference

The learners in group C misused some reference items which lead to ambiguity of

ameaning for the reader, They fail to realize that any inadequately abrupt shift in

perspective can affect cohesion and coherence in discourse Gula (1980-9) asserts

“Such a shift can impede the flow if writing and often distract and confuse the reader” The following examples illustrate this problem

In this example, the occurrence of possessive pronoun “your” is confusing, because

it has no ardecedent fo refer to

Example 8:

As a result, I really believe that we should take university-based courses rather than

internet-based omes since you can have an unforgeltable experience in your life

In the above example, the problem of pronoun shift not only causes the readers to

‘be confused bul also mixes up the reference use

3

‘Through analysis of the essays written by the participants, two problems in

15 Misuse of lexical items

amploying lexical devices were found: limiled choice of lexical items and misuse of lexicons or collocation I'he following examples display the participants’ misuse of

Example 11

Lurthermore, siudenis can choose subjects that ave suitable for their interest and

necessary to their promising careers.(potantial)

3.2.1.2 Coherence problems

As stated above, the results obtained through the analysis of Grice’s maxims:

Relevance, Manner and Quantity The problematic features of coherence found in

the participants’ writing are: disunity of thought, disorganization of ideas and excessive reliance on repetition of ideas

3.21.21 Thsunity of hought

Oshima and [logue (2006) indicate that unity means that a paragraph discusses one and only one main idea from beginning to end

A disunificd paragraph 1s one thal digresses or deviates from ils targel topic Tf a

writer departs from the topic, the resultant paragraph will be choppy, that is abrupt

shifts generate what seem to be gaps in the writer's though flow

Tho analysis shows thai TSP students, especially m group B and C insert irrelevant

ideas into their writing Therefore, this insertion influences the unity of thought, and

thus weakening coherence as il diverls the reader’s attention and causes discontinuity in meaning The followmg examples reveal some out-of-context ideas

found in the analyzed samples:

Fxample 11

The convenience of internet-based courses accounts for their popularity They are best choice for students who want to stay at home together with learning without

moving What's more, students can receive more knowledge on the internet; thus

they are more interested in their learning Besides, learning on internet means that vou have to use computer They can access to different website and discover many

things around the world

‘The above example lacks coherence because the underlined sentence does not

support the topic sentence The writer is discussing the reason for the popularity of

internet-based courses but then the issue of “having to use computer” is of no

relevance

Fxample 12

It is not surprising that other students prefer to attend lectures because learning online involves an important responsibility and huge skills of organization Indeed the courses at university help students to develop their soft skills through studying

in small groups, presentation and physical education classes .A lot of students often

play truant from physical education classes these days Moreover, students have

many apporiunilies io take part in clubs, events or social activilies

‘The inclusion of irrelevant ideas could be accounted for as a misconception on the

part of students who mistakenly think that the more they write, the higher grade they expacled lo get, regardless of any intrusive ideas they include Pilus (2006) maintains that the students try to demonstrate the depth of their knowledge to the

examiner When this occurs it creates the web of confusion that the reader is unable

to discritangle

Oslime and Hogue (2006) point out thal the imporlanl poinl lo remember is Lo altange your ideas in some kind of the order that is logical to a reader accustomed

to the Linglish way of writing

The findings show thal many TSP students, especially in group B and C are ignorant

of this pattem of development Ihey sometimes rationalize a far-fetched introduction that has no direct relevance to the target topic, then move to talk about

the assigned topic without a thesis that bridges the introduction with the body

paragraphs, Carpenter (1981; 426) maintains “Ihe discourse processes in creating a coherent overall organization for a composition or paper generally prove to be the

most elusive skills lo master [or siudenls in advanced writing classes” This ts

compounded by their ability to elaborate on the main topic by backing up their topics by subtopics or supporting ideas This ability to provide insufficient

information represents a violation of the infonuative aspect of Grice’s maxims (Quantity) The following is one specimen that exemplifies disorganized writing:

There are several internet-based courses’ benefits that make students prefer them

Attending online course is very convenient; people can learn whenever and wherever they can manage Students will concentrate on lectures more when they

study on internet Besides, they can choose subjects that are suitable for their

interests and necessary to their promising careers Students don’t neglect due to

noise, friends stories and sa on Therefore, studying is not a compelled action any

longer, and then il is more effective

3.2.1.2.3 Lixcessive reliance on repetition of ideas

The samples under analysis show that ISP students tend to repeat the same idea

wilhin the same paragraph as in the following example:

Unuversity-based courses are important as well At university, students study with

classmates, teachers, this expand their social relationships They can join many

achivities at school and meet different people; therefore, make many new friends

They can also improve their practical knowledge and behavior For example, that

they must altend lectures, do homework, work in a team provides them with skills to

live in a society, They learn how to behave weil with other people and how to get on

well with members in a team

3.2.2 Research question 2: Is there any rolationship between giving 12 learners

explicit instruction in coherence-cohesion and the improvement of their writing proficiency?

To answer this question, the researcher made a comparison between the

participants’ pre-test and post-test results with the help of SPSS software to see if

the test preparation course improved participants” score on the test

1 Holistic Analytic Final Holistic | Analytic Final