Cohesion and coherence are important features for effective writing. Studies in contrastive rhetoric and text linguistics suggest that cohesion and coherence may vary across languages and cultures. This study examined cohesion and coherence features of Chinese ESL writings, explored the similarities and the differences between Chinese and English, and investigated the role of language transfer and interference in Chinese ESL writings. Four Chinese graduate students each composed two expository essays in English and two in Chinese and their writing sessions were videotaped. Essays were scrutinized for cohesion and coherence features, and along with transcripts, interviews and observations, they were examined for evidence of transfers and interferences. Findings indicate that the Chinese language depends more on lexical ties and similarities of structures whereas English employs more connectors. References in Chinese often take the form of lexical repetition and sometimes zero anaphora while English uses more pronouns and deictics. In addition, more ellipses are utilized in Chinese. Coherence features show that Chinese essays are more implicit and general while English writings emphasize explicitness with thesis statements and topic sentences. Chinese writings are writer-centered, and demand more of the reader to make sense of the text. Interferences and transfers were identified. Students were unable to use a variety of connectors that English offers in their own writings and often connections were missing and sometimes misleading. They occasionally failed to mark sentence boundaries; their essays often lacked a clearly defined thesis; and topic sentences were rarely used. The discussion was general, implicit, and writer-centered. / Ed. D.

Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Linguistics)

by Wong Tai Yuen. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 112-128). / Acknowledgements --- p.i / Abstract --- p.iii / Contents --- p.v / List of Tables --- p.ix / List of Figures --- p.x / Chapter Chapter I --- Introduction / Chapter 1.1 --- The Problem --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Statement of the Problem --- p.7 / Chapter 1.3 --- Hypotheses --- p.7 / Chapter 1.4 --- Limitations --- p.9 / Chapter 1.5 --- Definitions of Terms --- p.10 / Chapter 1.5.1 --- Text / Chapter 1.5.2 --- Discourse / Chapter 1.5.3 --- Texture / Chapter 1.5.4 --- Context of Situation / Chapter 1.5.5 --- Cohesion / Chapter 1.5.6 --- Cohesive Ties / Chapter 1.5.7 --- Cohesive Harmony / Chapter 1.5.8 --- Coherence / Chapter 1.5.9 --- T-unit / Chapter 1.5.10 --- Holistic Rating / Chapter 1.6 --- Significance of the Study --- p.16 / Chapter Chapter II --- Review of the Literature / Chapter 2.1 --- "Language, Context and Text" --- p.18 / Chapter 2.2 --- Relationship of the Text to its Context of Situation --- p.18 / Chapter 2.3 --- Cohesion --- p.20 / Chapter 2.4 --- Coherence --- p.21 / Chapter 2.5 --- Cohesion and Coherence --- p.23 / Chapter 2.6 --- Cohesion and Coherence as Defined in this Study --- p.26 / Chapter 2.7 --- "Cohesion, Coherence and Reading Comprehension" --- p.27 / Chapter 2.8 --- "Cohesion, Coherence and Writing" --- p.29 / Chapter 2.9 --- The Connections between Reading and Writing --- p.30 / Chapter 2.10 --- Cohesive Ties --- p.33 / Chapter 2.11 --- How Cohesion Works --- p.41 / Chapter 2.11.1 --- Cohesive Devices as Signals / Chapter 2.11.2 --- How Cohesive Devices Help to Integrate Text / Chapter 2.11.3 --- Cohesion and Processing Efficiency / Chapter 2.11.4 --- The Given-New Contract / Chapter 2.12 --- Measuring Cohesion --- p.44 / Chapter 2.13 --- Measuring Coherence --- p.46 / Chapter 2.14 --- How Cohesion and Coherence Are Measured in this Study --- p.47 / Chapter Chapter III --- Procedure and Design of the Study / Chapter 3.1 --- Sampling --- p.49 / Chapter 3.2 --- Design of the Scale to Measure Students' Control over the Use of Cohesive Devices in Writing --- p.51 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- The Writing Test / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Measure of Cohesion / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Cohesive Errors / Chapter 3.2.4 --- Measure of Coherence / Chapter 3.3 --- Design of the Scale to Measure Students' Ability to Understand and Interpret Text --- p.68 / Chapter 3.4 --- Statistical Design --- p.71 / Chapter Chapter IV --- Results and Discussion / Chapter 4.1 --- Linguistic Competence of the Subjects --- p.73 / Chapter 4.2 --- Analysis of the Reading Test --- p.74 / Chapter 4.3 --- Analysis of the Written Test --- p.78 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Frequency Count of Cohesive Features / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Holistic Rating Scores / Chapter 4.4 --- Multiple Regression Analysis --- p.82 / Chapter 4.4.1 --- Line of Regression / Chapter 4.4.2 --- Test of Multicol1inearity / Chapter 4.4.3 --- Test of Autocorrelation / Chapter 4.5 --- Discussion of the Findings of the Multiple Regression Analysis --- p.85 / Chapter Chapter V --- Conclusions and Implications / Chapter 5.1 --- Summing up --- p.98 / Chapter 5.2 --- Further Discussion: Limitations and Possibilities --- p.102 / Chapter 5.3 --- Implications for Instruction --- p.108 / Bibliography --- p.112 / Appendices --- p.129 / Chapter Appendix A --- Reading Test / Chapter Appendix B --- Writing Test

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of English

Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Linguistics)

For this study an attempt was made to bridge the disciplines of linguistics and composition in order to examine factors contributing to textual coherence. Pairs of descriptive texts written by fifty college students were examined in order to identify the factors which differentiate quality and topic. Students were asked to compose a descriptive paragraph on the topic of fall. They were then encouraged to use their five senses, given leaves, and asked to compose a paragraph describing the leaves. The pairs of texts thus elicited were evaluated for preference by readers. The ANOVA revealed a significant difference (p=.001) between the two topics with fall texts preferred over the more specific leaves texts. Results suggest that encouraging students to use their five senses does not improve their writing. It may be more important to move through various levels of abstraction than to merely focus on sensory detail. The texts were also scored holistically by two trained evaluators. Results of this grading were used to choose five high- and five low-coherence texts on each of the two topics. These 20 texts were then analyzed in terms of the tagmemic referential hierarchy. A MANOVA was done to examine the dependent variables of Slot (location in time or space), Role (purpose or reason), and Cohesion (sociocultural context) in relation to quality and topic for these texts. Slot was found to be significant for both quality (p=.025) and topic (p=.004). Role was significant only for quality (p=.001). Cohesion was nonsignificant for either quality or topic. These results suggest that students should: (a) be encouraged to locate their texts in time and space in order to develop an adequate context for readers; (b) be encouraged to include purposes and reasons for the statements they make; and (c) be encouraged, where appropriate, to include a focus on humans and their activities (either literal or figurative) since such reference is a distinguishing feature of high-coherence texts.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2017-04-20T12:45:04Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria Aparecida dos Santos.pdf: 5171251 bytes, checksum: 6fa3753e3c794320913c58ca21402196 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-04-20T12:45:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Maria Aparecida dos Santos.pdf: 5171251 bytes, checksum: 6fa3753e3c794320913c58ca21402196 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-15 / This dissertation aims to find out how young and adult education students use cohesive elements in rewriting. Based on this general objective, we established as specific objectives: 1) to verify the extent to which the cohesive elements contribute to the coherence in the rewritten texts and 2) to propose rewriting activities for the analysis of the referential and sequential cohesion records that contributed to the textual coherence. The research was applied to 43 students of elementary school, which comprises the complementary stages (in the past, 5th and 6th grades) and the final stages (in the past, 7th and 8th grades) of a municipal school in the south zone of São Paulo city. In order to develop the research, we selected the short story Adivinha, adivinhão, by Luís da Câmara Cascudo, as motivational text to rewriting to verify how referential and sequential cohesion occur, and to distinguish the linguistic strategies used to form the desired logical-semantic relationships, which contribute to the coherence of the texts produced by the students. We provided copies of the text and asked the students to read them and re-read as many times as needed for comprehension and then rewrite the story as closely as the original text. After this activity, we began the analysis. Our theoretical foundations are based on Beaugrande's (1997) text concept and on the concepts of cohesion and coherence defined by Koch (2010), Halliday & Hassan (1976), Antunes (2005), Beaugrande & Dressler (1981) and Koch & Travaglia (2004). The results obtained in the analysis of the rewritten texts indicate that the referential and sequential strategies used by the students are restricted and repetitive, but do not compromise the semantic and pragmatic coherence, so necessary to the interpretability of the text / Esta dissertação tem como objetivo geral averiguar como os alunos da educação de jovens e adultos utilizam os elementos coesivos na reescrita de textos. Com base nesse objetivo geral, estabelecemos os seguintes objetivos específicos: 1) verificar em que medida os elementos coesivos contribuem para a coerência nos textos reescritos e 2) propor atividades de reescrita para a análise dos expedientes de coesão referencial e sequencial que contribuem para a coerência textual. A pesquisa foi aplicada a 43 alunos do Ensino Fundamental II, que compreende as etapas complementares (antigas 5ª e 6ª séries) e as etapas finais (antigas 7ª e 8ª séries), de uma escola municipal da zona sul da cidade de São Paulo. Para procedermos à pesquisa, selecionamos o conto Adivinha, adivinhão, de Luís da Câmara Cascudo, como texto motivador da reescrita para verificação de como ocorrem a coesão referencial e sequencial, de modo a distinguir as estratégias linguísticas usadas para formar as relações lógico-semânticas pretendidas que contribuem para a coerência dos textos produzidos pelos estudantes. Entregamos cópias do texto e solicitamos que os alunos as lessem e relessem quantas vezes fossem necessárias à compreensão para, então, procederem à reescrita da história da forma mais próxima do texto original. Após essa atividade, iniciamos a análise. Temos como fundamentação teórica Halliday e Hassan (1976), Beaugrande (1997), Beaugrande e Dressler (1981), Koch (2010), Antunes (2005) e Koch e Travaglia (2004). Os resultados obtidos por meio da análise dos textos reescritos indicam que as estratégias referenciais e sequenciais utilizadas pelos alunos são restritas e repetitivas, mas não comprometem a coerência semântica e pragmática, tão necessárias à interpretabilidade do texto

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2017-05-23T12:17:58Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Damares Souza Silva.pdf: 1206681 bytes, checksum: a286b16763c5755fdf0e7148f888a339 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-23T12:17:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Damares Souza Silva.pdf: 1206681 bytes, checksum: a286b16763c5755fdf0e7148f888a339 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-04-18 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The subject of this study is centered on the teaching of referencing and its respective effects of meaning in the production of written text, having as perspective Chevallard's rules that guide the concept of didactic transposition. The questions that guide the study are: what historical factors related to the the formation of Portuguese language discipline can facilitate the understanding of features that permeate the practice of first language teaching nowdays? How teaching interventions of the referentiation concept can promote the field of this discursive activity by providing students the ability to produce and develop the sense effects on their written work? Which aspects can help the teacher develop, deepen and enhance the ability to convert theory into practice with regard to the teaching of writing? The overall objective of the present research sought to examine the effects of referentiation in the letters written by ninth grade students of elementary school after educational intervention about the concept of referentiation. We consider four specific objectives: identify what is the relationship of the student with the textual production; apply a proposal for teaching the referentation concept and its respective meaning effects; clarify the potential effects of referentiation meaning in the letter writing; guide the participant to compose a reader letter aiming at referentiation as a resource for argument. The investigation is beaconed in authors such as Mondada and Dubois (2003), Koch (1987; 1989; 1996; 1997; 2002; 2004), Koch and Elias (2009; 2012), Marcuschi (1983; 2001; 2005; 2007), Cavalcante (2004; 2005; 2010; 2014), Soares (1997; 2002), Pietri (2010), Abrão (2009), Chevallard (1991) and Vygotsky (1984). We start with the following assumptions: the students can learn and deepen their knowledge of written language by articulating aspects of their own experiences in society with new concepts taught in school; the teacher is able to grasp updated concepts developed in the academic area and, in possession of that theoretical framework, be the author of his Portuguese language teaching practice, converting theory into practice as is guaranteed him direct access to updated theoretical knowledge about language teaching; the knowledge of the historical formation aspects of the Portuguese language curricular discipline can help to identify possible ways to develop, analyze and build proposals in order to fix first language teaching problems nowdays. We analyzed 15 textual productions. Based on the result of the analysis of these productions, we concluded that the three questions that erected this work more the proposed objective helped us to recognize that it is possible to teach students the referentiation concept, offering edcation policies that take in consideration the students heterogeneity so that the student can use the various possibilities of interaction increased by the referral process to produce meaning effects on his written work / O tema deste estudo está centrado no ensino da referenciação e seus respectivos efeitos de sentido na produção do texto escrito, tendo como perspectiva as regras que orientam o conceito de transposição didática de Chevallard. As questões que norteiam o estudo são: de que modo as intervenções de ensino do conceito de referenciação podem favorecer o domínio da referida atividade discursiva proporcionando ao estudante a capacidade de produzir e desenvolver efeitos de sentidos na sua produção escrita? Quais aspectos podem colaborar para que o professor desenvolva, aprofunde e potencialize a capacidade de converter a teoria em prática no que diz respeito ao ensino da escrita? O objetivo geral da presente investigação buscou analisar os efeitos de sentido da referenciação nas cartas de leitor produzidas pelos alunos do nono ano do ensino fundamental após uma intervenção de ensino acerca do conceito de referenciação. Consideramos quatro objetivos específicos: identificar qual a relação do aluno com a produção textual; aplicar uma proposta de ensino sobre o conceito de referenciação e seus respectivos efeitos de sentido; explicitar as potencialidades dos efeitos do sentido da referenciação no gênero carta do leitor; orientar o participante a compor uma carta do leitor visando o uso da referenciação como recurso para compor o argumento. A investigação está balizada em estudos de Mondada e Dubois (2003), Koch (1987; 1989; 1996; 1997; 2002; 2004), Koch e Elias (2009; 2012), Marcuschi (1983; 2001; 2005; 2007), Cavalcante (2004; 2005; 2010; 2014), Soares (1997; 2002), Pietri (2010), Abrão (2009), Chevallard (1991) e Vygotsky (1984). Partimos das seguintes hipóteses: o aluno pode aprender e aprofundar seus conhecimentos sobre a língua escrita articulando aspectos de sua vivência em sociedade com novos conceitos ensinados na escola; o professor é capaz de apreender conceitos atualizados desenvolvidos no espaço acadêmico e, em posse do referido arcabouço teórico, ser autor da sua prática de ensino da língua portuguesa, convertendo a teoria em prática à medida que lhe seja garantido o acesso direto ao conhecimento teórico atualizado acerca do ensino da língua; o conhecimento dos aspectos históricos da constituição da disciplina curricular da língua portuguesa pode contribuir para identificar possíveis caminhos para desenvolver, analisar e erigir propostas com a finalidade de sanar problemáticas do ensino da língua materna nos dias atuais. Analisamos 15 produções textuais. Partindo do resultado da análise das referidas produções, concluímos que as duas perguntas que erigiram esse trabalho mais o objetivo proposto e aplicado nos ajudaram a reconhecer que é possível ensinar ao aluno o conceito de referenciação, oferecendo condições de ensino que considerem a heterogeneidade discente, de modo que o estudante possa usar as várias possibilidades de interação potencializadas pelo processo de referenciação para produzir efeitos de sentido em sua produção escrita

The study of indirect anaphora leads to rethink the issue of anaphoric processes used in textual productions. The very coherence shall be taken as a principle of interpretation Marcuschi (2005) and, in the interim of this assertion, the indirect anaphoras are considered important in the construction of meanings and textual progression. The indirect anaphoras as noted Marcuschi (2005) have in cognitive processes and strategies to inferentially decisive basis in the activity of textualization. The use of anaphoric processes was also present in the texts constructed by the students in the classes of the course offered at the Youth Apprentice - Senac Sergipe. However, these uses occurred in different ways for young people with different levels of education. It is in this context that we seek the theoretical linguistics textual to discuss issues such as referencing objects of discourse, indirect anaphora, the anchor, the consistency considered important in the discussion of the use of process reference. Work guided by the points of view of Marcuschi (2005), Mondada; Dubois (2003), Koch (2009), Cavalcante (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013) of the light reflected on such theoretical ratio between the greater or lesser use of anaphora and indirect schooling of learners. Before we draw primarily theoretical postulates some considerations on the historical linguistics Textual because we believe that some anaphoric processes are still in line with the theoretical discussions of the first and second phase of LT also opened space to discuss the notions of text, context and subject adopted in our work. Then we discuss the referral as discursive activity to reflect on it from the anaphora, specifically, indirect, beyond the role of anchors in the construction of coherence. In order for us are guided in identifying indirect anaphora in texts of learners adopts the proposed classificatory Marcuschi (2005) which was briefly discussed. Therefore, we point out the methodological steps followed for the analysis of texts and, finally, we analyze the productions of the learners in order to track the extent to which greater or lesser use of indirect anaphora is influenced by education level of the learners. In this context, this research is configured as qualitative, given the discursive analysis of the greater or lesser use of indirect anaphora in the corpus of the work. / O estudo das anáforas indiretas leva a repensar a questão dos processos anafóricos utilizados nas produções textuais. A própria coerência passa a ser tida como um princípio de interpretação Marcuschi (2005) e, no interim dessa assertiva, as anáforas indiretas são consideradas importantes na construção dos sentidos e na progressão textual. As anáforas indiretas como lembra Marcuschi (2005) têm nos processos cognitivos e nas estratégias inferenciais a base decisiva na atividade de textualização. O uso de processos anafóricos também se fez presente nos textos construídos pelos estudantes nas aulas do curso Adolescente Aprendiz ofertado no Senac-Sergipe. No entanto, esses usos aconteceram de distintas maneiras pelos jovens com diferentes graus de escolaridade. É nesse contexto que buscamos o aporte teórico da Linguística textual ao discutirmos questões como a referenciação, os objetos de discurso, a anáfora indireta, a âncora, a coerência considerados elementos importantes na discussão sobre o uso dos processos referencias. Trabalhamos norteados pelos pontos de vistas de Marcuschi (2005), Mondada; Dubois (2003), Koch (2009), Cavalcante (2010; 2011; 2012; 2013), à luz de tais teóricos refletimos sobre a relação entre o maior ou menor uso das anáforas indiretas e o grau de escolaridade dos aprendizes. Diante dos postulados teóricos traçamos primeiramente algumas considerações sobre o percurso histórico da Linguística Textual porque acreditamos que alguns processos anafóricos ainda estão em consonância com as discussões teóricas da primeira e da segunda fase da LT, além disso, abrimos espaço para discutirmos as noções de texto, contexto e sujeito adotadas em nosso trabalho. Em seguida, discutimos sobre a referenciação enquanto atividade discursiva para a partir disso refletirmos sobre as anáforas, especificamente, as indiretas, além do papel das âncoras na construção da coerência. No intuito de nos norteamos na identificação das anáforas indiretas nos textos dos aprendizes adotamos a proposta classificatória de Marcuschi (2005) que foi brevemente discutida. Por conseguinte, apontamos os passos metodológicos seguidos para a análise dos textos e, por fim, analisamos as produções dos aprendizes a fim de verificamos em que medida o maior ou menor uso das anáforas indiretas é influenciado pelo grau de escolaridade dos aprendizes. Nesse contexto, esta pesquisa se configura como qualitativa, haja vista à análise discursiva do maior ou menor uso das anáforas indiretas nos corpus do trabalho.