Coherence and cohesion refer to the way a text is organized so that it can hold

together.

Coherence
In a coherent text, ideas flow meaningfully and logically by using grammatical and
lexical (vocabulary) cohesive devices.
Coherence is what makes a text meaningful.
In a coherent text, ideas are logically connected to produce meaning.

Cohesion refers to the grammatical and lexical linking that holds a text together
and contributes to its meaning.
Sometimes a text may be cohesively connected, yet may still be incoherent.
For example:
The quarterback threw the ball toward the tight end. Balls are used in many
sports. Most balls are spheres. The tight end left to catch the ball.
The sentences and phrases in this text are decidedly cohesive but not coherent they
do not result in a meaningful and unified whole.
A coherent text has to be cohesively connected and logically meaningful.
But how can we achieve cohesion?
There are two types of cohesion: lexical and grammatical.
We can achieve cohesion through lexical cohesion by repetition, synonymy,
antonymy, and hypotony.
- Repetition: repeating words may contribute to cohesion. For example, birds
are beautiful, I like birds.
- Synonymy: You can use a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the
same as another word to achieve cohesion. For example, Paul saw a snake
under the mattress. The serpent was probably hiding there for a long time.
 - Antonymy refers to the use of a word of opposite meaning. For example,
Old movies are boring, the new ones are much better.
- Hypotony refers to the use of a word that denotes a subcategory of a more
general class. For example, I saw a cat, the animal was very hungry and
looked ill.
e.g. Elephants have long trunks and tusks, which distinguishes them from
many other animals.

The words elephants, trunks, tusks, and animals are a lexical chain. Trunks
and tusks are parts of elephants, and elephants are types of animals.

Grammatical Cohesion
Grammatical cohesion refers to the grammatical relations between text elements.
This includes the use of reference, ellipsis, substitutions, and conjunctions or
transition words:
- Reference is when you use a word referring back to another word used
earlier in a text or conversation. For example, Jane was brilliant, she got the
best score.
- Ellipsis refers to the omission of a word or words that are superfluous or
able to be understood from contextual clues. For example, John saw two
hawks in the sky, and Bill saw three.
- Substitutions refer to the use of a word to replace another word. For
example, which t-shirt would you like? I would like the pink one.
- Conjunctions and transition words are parts of speech that connect words
phrases clauses or sentences. Examples of conjunctions, and, or, but…
examples of transition words, in addition, moreover, similarly… e.g.
I called Tracy and John.
 She was tired but happy.
He went to bed after he had done his homework.

Task: read the following paragraph and take notes on the three lexical cohesive
devices:

Cohesion is an important feature of academic writing. It can help ensure that

your writing coheres, 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 linking
words. A fourth is substitution. The final important aspect is ellipsis.

Repeated keywords/ideas
 cohesion (x2), coheres (from the same word family)

 important (x3)

 feature (x3)

 writing (x2)

Lexical set
writing, reader, main ideas, essay, report, words (writing)

Lexical chain
 repeated words, reference words, linking words, substitution, ellipsis (types of
cohesion)

 important = key

 feature = aspect

 Grammatical devices

1. Pronouns and reference words

Pronouns and reference words help writers avoid repetition by referring to
something which has already been mentioned. These words refer to something else
in the text.

e.g. this/these, that/those, it, they, them, he, she, which

2. Linking words and phrases

These are words that signal relationships between ideas and have different
functions such as giving examples, summarizing, making lists or expressing an
alternative.

Function Linking words and phrases

To make lists First, second, to begin, finally, then
To give examples For example, for instance, namely, in
other words
To generalize In general, generally, on the whole,
usually, for the most part
To show a result or consequence So, therefore, as a result, hence, thus,
consequently
To summarize In conclusion, to summarize, in brief,
 to conclude, overall
To express an alternative Alternatively, on the other hand, rather,
another possibility would be

Task: The text below is a paragraph from an academic book discussing online
learning and gender. Complete the gaps by putting the words in their correct place.

For example/gender/interactions/others/confusion/and/talking
about/their/while/online communication/she

Gladys We (1993) observed that there are as many ways of communicating online
as there are individuals. ______ (1) also observed that_______ (2) has the potential
both to be liberating ______ (3) to duplicate all of the misunderstandings and
________ (4) that arise in_______ (5) between women and men in everyday life.
She found that when the contact is professional, communication tends to be
relatively free of gender cues, ______ (6) when the contact is social, _______ (7),
in a newsgroup, women may be more aware of__________ (8) differences, be
more guarded with men than women, and feel freer about expressing _______ (9)
feelings and _______ (10) their own life experiences. Some men felt that it was
easier to get to know women online; ___________ (11) distrusted the shifting
nature of online personas.

Task: The texts below come from a variety of faculties and disciplines. Please
look at them and identify what different features of cohesion from the list below
the colored text shows.
 Features of cohesion
 linking words/phrases
 pronouns/reference words
 substitution
 lexical sets/chains, repetition of keywords/ideas
 Ellipsis

Science
Lasers have found widespread application in medicine. For example, they play an
important role in the treatment of eye disease and the prevention of blindness. The
eye is ideally suited for laser surgery because most of the eye tissue is
transparent. Because of this transparency, the frequency and focus of the laser
beam can be adjusted according to the absorption of the tissue so
that the beam “cuts” inside the eye with minimal damage to the
surrounding tissue – even the tissue between the laser and the
incision. Lasers are also more effective than other methods in treating some causes
of blindness. However, the interaction between laser light and eye tissue is not
fully understood.

Arts
In the ancient world, social customs determined separate roles and tasks for males
and females. Traditional self-sufficient communities dependent
on agriculture and fishing rarely had more than 20-30 categories of labor, in
contrast to modern industrial states that have thousands of different job
types. Some functions, such as religious and political leadership or medicine, were
restricted to individuals with inherited or specialist knowledge. As civilization and
technology evolved, however, specialization led to a proliferation of different
forms of work. In this way, hunters, farmers and fishermen were joined by
skilled craft workers using metal, pottery and wood.

Social Sciences (management)

The location of headquarters can be a contentious issue within MNCs (Forsgren et
al., 1995). Thus, decisions about where to locate divisional headquarters have both
symbolic and strategic dimensions, and they are often political as well. Unraveling
the factors that motivate firms to relocate or that have a chilling effect
on them from doing so calls for an eclectic approach. In this study, we draw on
agency, resource based, and institutional perspectives, to investigate the drivers
of divisional HQ location and relocation. Our study reveals a substantial and
increasing tendency amongst large Norwegian companies
to locate divisional headquarters abroad. We find that these decisions are driven by
efficiency/effectiveness as well as legitimacy factors, thus adding to the
burgeoning literature on strategic internationalization and ‘internationalization of
the third degree’.

Engineering
Polylactide (PLA) has received much attention in recent years due
to its biodegradable properties, which offer important economic benefits. PLA is
a polymer obtained from corn and is produced by the polymerization of
lactide. Significantly, it has many uses in the biomedical field [1] and has also been
investigated as a potential engineering material [2, 3]. However, it is too weak
under impact to use commercially [4].

Answers
Blue
lexical sets/chains, repetition of keywords/ideas
Pink

linking words/phrases

Red
pronouns/ reference words
Green

Substitution

Orange

Ellipsis

Activity: Highlighting cohesion in a text

For this activity you are going to read the short narrative text below, which is a
piece of creative writing about a student, and then complete an exercise in
highlighting the cohesive words, using color codes. First, read the text quickly and
try to think of a title for it.

The student sighed as she handed in the assignment, at last, it was finished. This
was the most difficult piece of writing that she had been set, but she had completed
it. The ‘magnum opus’ was 10,000 words long. This project, though not quite a
dissertation, was still the longest piece of academic writing she had ever written.
She had thought she would never complete it and it had taken all her strength to do
so.

Her achievement made her elated but had left her exhausted. When she had read
the title of the task, she knew it was not going to be just another essay, not an easy
one at all. Finally, the completed work lay on the counter of the reception [and
was] beautifully bound. She would sleep easy at night, [and she would be] no
longer troubled by thoughts of its accusing blank pages – the nightmare was over!