Discourse in English Language Education JOHN FLOWERDEW (2013) Chapter 3: Cohesion Instructor: Dr. Ali Malmir Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics, Imam Khomeini International University (IKIU), Qazvin, Iran

1. In the Name of God
The Compassionate, The
Merciful

2. Course: Discourse Analysis

3. What is Cohesion?
The formal or the semantic links between clauses.
How an item (a pronoun, a noun or a conjunction)
in one clause may refer backward or forward in
another clause.

4. What is Coherence?
It is the overall interpretation of a text as a unified
piece of discourse.
Based on many linguists such as Brown and Yule,
it is possible to have discourse without cohesion.
Example:
Wife: The phone is ringing.
Husband: I’m in the shower.
Wife: OK.

5. The relationship between the two
elements is referred to as a tie.
Halliday and Hasan
describe cohesion as a semantic
phenomenon.
Interclausal: Cohesion within the clause
Intersentential: Cohesion whitin the
sentence

6. Intraclausal: Cohesion across the clause
Intrasentential: Cohesion across the
sentence
Example:
David talked to his father about the issue.
David talked to his father about the
problem and he helped him to get it
solved.

7. Cohesive devices are divided
into five categories:
 Reference
 Substitution
 Ellipsis
 Conjunction
 Lexical Cohesion

8. Reference
A reference item is a word or phrase, the
identity of which can be determined by
referring to other parts of the text or the
context.
They include:
Pronouns, possessives, demonstratives
and definite article the.

9. Types of reference
 Endophoric: reference within the text
 Exophoric: reference outside the text.
Like something which a part of the context
of situation.
Example:
That man is a great teacher.

10. Two categories of endophoric
reference:
 Anaphoric : referring backward
 Cataphoric: referring forward
Cataphoric reference is less frequent than
the other types.
Example:
Usually after colon, semicolon and dash
Bear this in mind:
Hope for the best, plan for the worst.

11. Definite reference “the”
The is a less transparent type of reference
which is known as,“referential the”.
Example:
There was a man in the park.
The man was having an ice cream.
The ice cream was scrumptious.

12. Substitution
Substitution is the replacement of material
which would otherwise be anticipated in
the text.
A substitute word of phrase is replaced by
another.
Which jeans do you like?
The blue ones.
So, do, does, ….

13. Ellipsis
Ellipsis is the removal of material which
would otherwise be anticipated in the text
and it is a variation on substitution.
Question and answer routines.
A: do you speakTurkish?
B:Yes, I do./No, I don’t.

14. Conjunction
Christiansen (2011) describes conjunction
as the most explicit and obvious cohesive
device in a text because the meaning
relation is contained in the cohesive item
itself.

15. Four major types of conjunction:
Additive (besides,… )
 Adversative (despite, … )
 Casual (so, …. )
 Temporal (then, finally, …. )

16. Coordinating Conjunctions:
FAN BOYS
For, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
A coordinating conjunction joins parts
of a sentence (for example words or
independent clauses) that are grammatically
equal or similar.A coordinating
conjunction shows that the elements it
joins are similar in importance and
structure.

17.  There are seven coordinating conjunctions, and they are all
short words of only two or three letters:
 and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so
 Look at these examples - the two elements that the coordinating
conjunction joins are shown in square brackets [ ]:
 I like [tea] and [coffee].
 [Ram likes tea], but [Anthony likes coffee].
 Coordinating conjunctions always come between the words or
clauses that they join.
 When a coordinating conjunction joins independent clauses, it is
always correct to place a comma before the conjunction:
 I want to work as an interpreter in the future, so I am studying
Russian at university.
 However, if the independent clauses are short and well-
balanced, a comma is not really essential:
 She is kind so she helps people.
 When "and" is used with the last word of a list, a comma is
optional:
 He drinks beer, whisky, wine, and rum.
 He drinks beer, whisky, wine and rum.

18. What Are Subordinating Conjunctions?
 A subordinating conjunction is used to link
a subordinate clause (also known as
a dependent clause) to the main clause (also
known as an independent clause).
In each example below, the main clause is in
bold, and the subordinating conjunction is
shaded.She left early because Mike arrived
with his new girlfriend.
 Keep your hand on the wound until the
nurse asks you to take it off.

19. A List of Common Subordinating Conjunctions
after
although
as
as soon as
because
before
by the time
even if
even though
every time
if
in case
in order that
in the event that
just in case
now that
once
only if
provided that
rather than
since
so that
than
that
though
until
when
whenever
where
whereas
wherever
whether
whether or not
while
why

20. Lexical Cohesion
Halliday and Hasan (1976) have two
subcategories of lexical cohesion:
Reiteration and Collocation

21. Reiteration is repetition of a word, use
of a synonym, a near synonym, a
superordinate or a general class word.
see page 40 for examples.
Collocation is the way in which words
are used regularly together.

22. Two systems operate within
Collocation:
Hyponomy: relations between groups of
words.
E.g. tie, shirt, skirt ,… are hyponyms of
superordinate clothes.
Antonomy: the opposites
E.g: optimism and pessimism are pairs of
antinyms.

23. A motivational quote:
If you don’t like where you are standing,
change it!
You are not a tree.
Jim Rohn
Thanks for the attention and the patience.
Good Luck