2. The slow and reflective nature of the process of writing in itself
enables the writer to devote time and attention to formal aspects during the
process of production. The writer needs to pay some attention to formal
aspects: neat writing, correct spelling, punctuation, acceptable grammar,
selection of vocabulary. The purpose of writing is the expression of ideas, the
conveying of a message to the reader; the ideas themselves should arguably
be seen as the most important aspect of writing. Much higher standards of
language are normally demanded in writing than in speech: more careful
constructions, more precise and varied vocabulary, more correctness of
expression in general. Setting questions to answer is not the only way to get
learners to engage with meaning of a reading passage.
3. What is coherence?
Why is it important?
Identified problems when teaching coherence
Giving feedback on coherence
Putting things all together: How to include
the teaching of coherence
My own class: an action research procedure
4. My hometown and my college town have several things in common.
First, my hometown, Gridlock, is a small town. It has a population of only
about 10,000 people. Located in a rural area, Gridlock is surrounded by many
acres of farmland which are devoted mainly to growing corn and soybeans.
Gridlock also contains a college campus, Neutron College, which is famous for
its Agricultural Economics program as well as for its annual Corn-Watching
Festival. As for my college town, Subnormal, it too is small, having a
population of about 11,000 local residents, which swells to 15,000 people
when students from the nearby college are attending classes. Like Gridlock,
Subnormal lies in the center of farmland which is used to raise hogs and
cattle. Finally, Subnormal is similar to Gridlock in that it also boasts a
beautiful college campus, called Quark College. This college is well known for
its Agricultural Engineering department and also for its yearly Hog-Calling
Contest.
5. “Unity is a very important characteristic of good
paragraph writing. Paragraph unity means that
one paragraph is about ONLY ONE main topic.
That is, all the sentences -- the topic, supporting
sentences, the detail sentences, and
(sometimes) the concluding sentence -- are all
telling the reader about ONE main topic. If your
paragraph contains a sentence or some
sentences that are NOT related to the main
topic, then we say that the paragraph "lacks
unity," or that the sentence is "off-topic."
6. TOPIC SENTENCE My hometown and college town are similar.
SUBTOPIC #1: GRIDLOCK
Gridlock is a small town.
o It has about 10,000 people.
Gridlock is in a rural area.
o It is surrounded by many acres of farmland.
DETAILS ABOUT GRIDLOCK: o This farmland is devoted to growing corn.
o The land is also used to grow soybeans.
Gridlock is home to Neutron College.
o This college is famous for its Agricultural Economics program.
o It is also famous for its annual Corn-Watching Festival.
SUBTOPIC#2: SUBNORMAL
Subnormal is a small town.
o Subnormal has about 4000 college students.
o It has about 11,000 local residents.
Subnormal is in a rural area.
DETAILS ABOUT SUBNORMAL: o Subnormal is in the center of land used for raising hogs.
o This land is also used to raise cattle.
Subnormal contains Quark College.
o This campus is famous for its Agricultural Engineering department.
o It is also famous for its yearly Hog-Calling Contest.
7. Macrostructure.
Generally refers to the overall structure of the
text. It is an outline of the main categories or
functions of the text. It helps readers
understand how the sentences in a text are
related to each other, and how they all
contribute to the coherence of the text.
8.
9. Pair of sentence Relation Possible
cohesive device
Pair 1: A. You have chosen a destination
Time After
B. Make a list of equipment you need
Pair 2: A. The computer is an important learning tool.
B. It helps children to master math and language Reason Because
Pair 3: A: Human can malfunction.
B. Robots can malfunction. Similarity Both, as well as
Pair 4: A. Millions of people go on diets.
B. Very few people succeed in losing weight Contrast However
10. “Cohesion is the grammatical and lexical
relationship within a text or sentence.
Cohesion can be defined as the links that
hold a text together and give it meaning. It is
related to the broader concept of
coherence.”(Wikipedia)
“When we write texts we have a number of
linguistic techniques at our disposal to make
sure that our prose ‘sticks
together’”(HTW,Harmmer)
11.
12. “…for a text to have coherence, it needs to
have some kind of internal logic which the
reader can follow with or without the use of
prominent cohesive devices. When the text is
coherent the reader can understand at least:”
1. The writer’s purpose.
2. The writer’s line of thought.
(HTW, Harmmer: 24)
13. TYPES OF
FEEDBACK ON
WRITTEN WORK
CORRECTING RESPONDING
14. Topic
CONTENT Opinions
Praise
Cohesion
RESPONDING -Lexical
cohesion
-Grammatical
cohesion
ORGANIZATION
Coherence
-Writer’s
purpose
-Line of
thought
15. Summarizing the procedure:
+Analyze macrostructure
+Outline your writing
+ Plan clause relations
+Plan lexis and devices to achieve cohesion
+Write considering a purpose and a line of
thought.
+Give feedback on form, content and
organization.
