FROM WORD TO TEXT

A text that flows naturally and is easy to read and understand surely displays two properties:
coherence and cohesion.
Coherence and cohesion are closely related. For a text to be coherent it must make sense. If it
does not, it is, by definition, incoherent. One of the qualities that contribute to textual
coherence is cohesion (the quality of well-formed discourses (texts) that gives them an
internal unity, making them "hang together”). It should be clear that coherence and cohesion
are not the same thing. That is, a text may be cohesive (i.e. linked together), but incoherent
(i.e. meaningless). Here is one such (invented) text:
I am a teacher. The teacher was late for class. Class rhymes with grass. The grass is always
greener on the other side of the fence. But it wasn't.
Each sentence is notionally linked to the one that precedes it, using both lexical and
grammatical means, but the text is ultimately senseless.
The following (much quoted) exchange, however, is coherent to most people, even though
there are no obvious links between its parts:
A:            There's the phone.
B:            I'm in the bath.
A:            OK.
It is coherent because we can easily imagine a context in which it would make sense. Just as
(albeit with more ingenuity perhaps) we can imagine a context in which the following would
make sense:
A:            Whose hands are these?
B:            They're your hands.
A:            Good.
Put simply, then: cohesion is a formal feature of texts (it gives them their texture), while
coherence is "in the eye of the beholder" - that is to say, it is the extent to which the reader (or
listener) is able to infer the writer's (or speaker's) communicative intentions. Thus, cohesion is
objectively verifiable, while coherence is more subjective. A text may be coherent to you, but
incoherent to me.

GRAMMATICAL COHESION

Spoken and written discourses display grammatical connections between individual clauses
and utterances. These links can be classified under three broad types: reference,
ellipsis/substitution and conjunction.

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Reference

"The patriotic archbishop of Canterbury found it advisable-"

"Found WHAT?" said the Duck.
"Found IT," the Mouse replied rather crossly. "Of course you know
what 'it' means."
"I know what 'it' means well enough, when I find a thing," said the
Duck: "it's generally a frog or a worm. The question is, what did the
archbishop find?"
Lewis Carroll: Alice in Wonderland

Reference items in English include pronouns, demonstratives, the article the and items like
such a. These items refer the reader to some point inside or outside the text.

Sometimes, referents are back in the text (we call this anaphoric reference). Look at the
following passage from Animal Farm:

Napoleon was now never spoken of as simply “Napoleon”. He was always referred to in
formal style as “Our Leader, Comrade Napoleon”, and the pigs liked to invent for him such
titles as Father of All Animals, Terror of Mankind, Protector of the Sheepfold, Ducklings’
Friend, and the like.

For the text to be coherent, we assume that he and him refer back to Napoleon, which has
been mentioned earlier.

On the other hand, when referents are withheld, like in the following example, we can talk of
cataphoric reference:

They pressed round him in ragged fashion to take their money. Andy, Dave, Paul,
Stephen, Bob.

Some other times, referents are assumed to be part of a world outside the text which is shared
by speaker and hearer (i.e. common ground). We call this type of reference exophoric. Have a
look at the following example:

The Government is to blame for unemployment.

Some nouns, which we call general nouns, also have a referential function in the text. These
nouns establish a relationship of co-referents with their referents. Although they do have a
constant meaning of their own, they are referential in a text when their interpretation depends
on their referent. Popular general nouns are problem, issue, thing, stuff, but some nouns which
are fully loaded with semantic meaning can also have a referential function in the text.

The question is whether he will come or not.

The Board wanted to change the date of the meeting. The proposal was not welcomed.

Ellipsis

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Ellipsis is the omission of elements normally required by the grammar, which the speaker
assumes are obvious from the context and therefore need not be raised. It is distinguished by
the structure having some missing element.

The children will carry the small boxes, the adults the large ones.
Nelly liked the green tiles; myself I preferred the blue.

Substitution

A word or a string of words substitutes for a part of the utterance which is easily recoverable
by the hearer. The items commonly used for substitution are:

One I offered him a seat, but he said he didn’t want one.

Do Did Mary rake? She might have done.
So/not Do you need a lift? If so, wait for me. If not, I’ll see you there.
Same She chose the roast duck; I chose the same.

Conjunction

Conjunctions presuppose a textual sequence and signal a relationship between segments of the
discourse. Halliday (1985) proposes three category headings: elaboration, extension and
enhancement.

Type Sub-types Examples

Elaboration Apposition In other words

Clarification Or rather

Extension Addition And / but

Variation Alternatively

Enhancement Spatio-temporal There / previously

Causal-conditional Consequently / in that case

It must be noted, however, that a few conjunctions (and, but, so and then) are extremely
frequent and may establish different relationships according to the context. Look at the
following examples:

She’s intelligent. And she’s very reliable. (additive)

I’ve lived here ten years and I’ve never heard of a pub. (adversative)
He fell in the river and caught a chill. (causal)
I got up and made my breakfast. (temporal sequence)

LEXICAL COHESION

Reiteration
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Correct lexical choices and appropriate register also contribute to the clarity of a text. Related
vocabulary items occur across clause and sentence boundaries and are a major characteristic
of coherent discourse. The main strategy is reiteration; i.e. restating an item in a later part of
the text by direct repetition or reasserting by exploiting lexical relations.
Rose is a hyponym of flower.
Eggplant and aubergine are synonyms.
People is a superordinate of creature.

Collocation

Collocations are frequent and predictable word combinations. It is because of their

predictability that they help the reader follow the text.

Rain heavily
Strongly resist
Seriously consider

Register

Register is closely tied to lexical selection. It depends on factors such as the context, the
author’s assumptions about the audience, whether the text is written or spoken, etc.

Problem drawback snag

Look at the following text written by a student. What is weird about it?

Louie rushed and got ready for work, but, when he went out the door, he saw the snowstorm
was very heavy. Therefore, he decided not to go to work. Then, he sat down to enjoy his
newspaper. However, he realized his boss might get angry because he did not go to the office.
Finally, he made another decision, that he must go to work. So, he went out the door and
walked to the bus stop.

REFERENCES

Carroll, L. (1992) Alice in Wonderland (1st edition 1865) and Through the Looking Glass (1st
edition 1872). Norton Critical Edition, Donald, J. (ed.) London: Norton & Co.

Mc Carthy (1991) Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers. CUP (401.41 MCC)

Thornbury, Scott Methodology: coherence and cohesion.

http://www.onestopenglish.com/section.asp?docId=154867

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