Author(s)

Aohang Yuan ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ School of Foreign Languages, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, 610031, China

Corresponding Author

Aohang Yuan

ABSTRACT

Writing, as an important component of English teaching, plays an important role in cultivating language output and communication skills and is also a key link in cultivating critical thinking. The cohesive devices in the composition not only reflect the author's thinking ability but also their ability to comprehensively use language. Based on the cohesion theory proposed by Halliday in systemic functional linguistics, this study establishes a small corpus and uses Coh-Metrix, the discourse cohesion analysis tool, to research the use of discourse cohesion devices in Chinese students' (L2) English compositions and native English students' (L1) English compositions. It has been found that there is a significant difference in the use of discourse cohesion between L1 and L2. At the same time, this study explored the reasons for the differences in the distribution of discourse cohesion types through semi-structured interviews and concluded that the influence of mother tongue, textbooks, teachers' attention to grammar cohesion teaching, and students' subjective motivation can explain this difference. This study aims to draw the attention of teachers to the teaching of discourse cohesive devices, as well as the attention of English learners to the application of cohesion.

KEYWORDS

English composition; discourse cohesive devices; corpus linguistics; Coh-Metrix; Chinese English Learner

CITE THIS PAPER

Aohang Yuan, Study on Discourse Cohesion in Chinese English Learners' English Argumentative Compositions Based on Coh-Metrix. Lecture Notes on Language and Literature (2024) Vol. 7: 1-13. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/langl.2024.070301.

REFERENCES

[1] Huang, Jian. 2016. On the Application of Textual Cohesion in Teaching and Learning English Writing. Journal of Jiangxi Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), 49(05):135-139.
[2] Xu Jiajin. 2021. Corpora and Discourse Studies. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.
[3] Halliday, M. A. K. & Hasan. 1976. Cohesion in English. London: Longman, 1976.
[4] Hessamy, G., & Hamedi, S. 2013. A comparison of the use of cohesive devices in EFL Learners' performance on independent vs. integrated writing tasks. Study in English Language Teaching, 1(1), p 121.
[5] Firdaus, A. F., Hamzah, Y., & Nurhalimah, F. 2022. Cohesion Analysis on Texts for Reading Comprehension. BELTIC2018-1st Bandung English Language Teaching International Conference, 78-84.
[6] Samadian S, Mohseny. 2019. Analysis of cohesion and coherence in writing performance of Iranian intermediate EFL learners [J]. Issues in Language Teaching, 8(2): 213-242.
[7] Masadeh T S. 2019. Cohesion and coherence in the writings of Saudi undergraduates majoring in English[J]. Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 5(3): 200-208.
[8] Sutopo D, Faridi A. 2020. The Use of Cohesive Devices in English Education Journal Articles Written by Graduate Students of UNNES [J]. English Education Journal, 10(2): 208-213.
[9] Hong, Ming, Xu, Yanxia. 2016. A Study on Local Coherence Characteristics of Non-English Majors' English Essays. Technology Enhanced Foreign Language Education, (02):59-64.
[10] Wang, Meng, Lin, Zhengjun. 2016. A Research on Ellipsis in English Majors' Spoken English from a Cognitive and Pragmatic Perspective. Foreign Languages and Their Teaching, (06):76-84+149-150.
[11] Zhang, Chao, Liang, Wenhua. 2022. Multi-dimensional interactive patterns of the L2 writing textual fluency and discourse cohesion [J]. Foreign Language Teaching and Research, 54(04):557-568+639-640.
[12] Crossley, S. A., Weston, J. L., McLain Sullivan, S. T., & McNamara, D. S. 2011. The Development of Writing Proficiency as a Function of Grade Level: A Linguistic Analysis. Written Communication, 28(3), 282–311.
[13] Li Jiaqi, Ma Jianju, Zhumu Langma. 2022. A Coh-Metrix Study on Cohesive Devices in Chinese English Learners' Research Article Introductions. Modern Linguistics, 10(12): 2989-3000.
[14] McNamara, D. S., Louwerse, M. M., McCarthy, P. M. & Graesser, A. C. 2010. Coh-Metrix: Capturing linguistic features of cohesion [J]. Discourse Processes, (4): 292-330.
[15] Chen, Annie, Guo, Aiping. 2019. A Study on the Difficulty of College English Textbooks Based on Coh Metrix: Taking the Third Edition of New Horizon College English as an Example. Educational Theory and Practice, 39 (06): 46-48.
[16] Latifi S, Gierl M. 2021. Automated scoring of junior and senior high essays using Coh-Metrix features: Implications for large-scale language testing [J]. Language Testing, 38(1): 62-85.
[17] Wang J, Engelhard Jr G, Combs T. Exploring difficult-to-score essays with a hyperbolic cosine accuracy model and Coh-Metrix indices [J]. The Journal of Experimental Education, 2023, 91(1): 125-144.
[18] Liang Maocheng 2006. A Study on the Coherence of Learner Written Discourse. Modern Foreign Languages, (3): 284-292.
[19] Alotaibi, H. 2015. The role of lexical cohesion in writing quality. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 4(1), 261-269.
[20] Sidabutar, U. 2021. An analysis of lexical cohesion on the students' composition. JETAL: Journal of English Teaching & Applied Linguistics, 2(2), 62-67.
[21] Liu, Guobing. 2012. A Study on the Evaluation of Coherence in English Learners' Written Discourse from the Perspective of Lexical Cohesion Theory. Foreign Language Education in China, 9(02):33-43+88.
[22] Lin, Zhengjun, Liu, Yongbing. 2012. English grammar teaching: A perspective of Construction Grammar. Foreign Language Learning Theory and Practice, (06):76-84+149-150.
[23] Alifia Junita Cendraa Sari, Januarius Mujiyanto, Dwi Rukmini. 2022. Assessing the use of cohesive devices in reading texts of English textbooks [J]. English Education Journal 12(2): 264-273.
[24] Tahmasbi S, Rabani Ebrahimi Pour K. 2023. The Effect of Mobile-Assisted Flipped Learning on Iranian EFL Learners' Cohesive Devices Improvement in Writing [J]. International Journal of Research in English Education, 8(2): 82-95.

Sponsors, Associates, and Links

---

• Journal of Language Testing & Assessment
  
  
• Information and Knowledge Management
  
  
• Military and Armament Science
  
  
• Media and Communication Research
  
  
• Journal of Human Movement Science
  
  
• Art and Performance Letters
  
  
• Lecture Notes on History
  
  
• Philosophy Journal
  
  
• Science of Law Journal
  
  
• Journal of Political Science Research
  
  
• Journal of Sociology and Ethnology
  
  
• Advances in Broadcasting