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Cohesive features in the expository essays of secondary four (express) and secondary five (normal) students in Singapore
Author
Karasi, Mangayer
Supervisor
Ho, Wah Kam
Abstract
This study investigated the extent of the use of cohesive features in the expository essays of secondary four/five students. 135 essays were rated by 3 raters using a modified five-point GCE 'O' level marking scheme. Essays of Grades A and B were identified as better quality essays, Grade C essays as average and Grade D and Grade E essays were considered poor.
Halliday and Hasan's taxonomy of cohesive devices and their framework for analysis were used in the study with some modifications. A coding system to account for and quantify the distance in ties, according to the categories, was established.
The results show that :
● there is no direct relationship between quality of the essay and the total number of cohesive ties.
● good essays reflected more immediate ties than poor essays which showed more remote ties.
● all the writers depended on lexicals most, followed by references and conjunctions, in that order.
● it is significant to note that there is a relationship between quality of essay and use of conjunctions.
● good essays had more conjunctive ties.
● good writers used more of the sub-categories of reference and conjunctions than less able writers.
● the difference between good writers and less able writers lay not in the quantity of use of the cohesive ties but in the range of cohesive devices used and in the frequency of some sub-categories of cohesive devices used.
The study is significant in that it highlights the need for systematic, integrated and contextualised teaching of cohesive devices. It also shows that the frequency of use of cohesive devices, particularly conjunctions and comparatives, have some association with the quality of the essay. Therefore, teaching these devices and their function will help towards making the writing of students, including the less able ones, more cohesive than that examined in this study.
Halliday and Hasan's taxonomy of cohesive devices and their framework for analysis were used in the study with some modifications. A coding system to account for and quantify the distance in ties, according to the categories, was established.
The results show that :
● there is no direct relationship between quality of the essay and the total number of cohesive ties.
● good essays reflected more immediate ties than poor essays which showed more remote ties.
● all the writers depended on lexicals most, followed by references and conjunctions, in that order.
● it is significant to note that there is a relationship between quality of essay and use of conjunctions.
● good essays had more conjunctive ties.
● good writers used more of the sub-categories of reference and conjunctions than less able writers.
● the difference between good writers and less able writers lay not in the quantity of use of the cohesive ties but in the range of cohesive devices used and in the frequency of some sub-categories of cohesive devices used.
The study is significant in that it highlights the need for systematic, integrated and contextualised teaching of cohesive devices. It also shows that the frequency of use of cohesive devices, particularly conjunctions and comparatives, have some association with the quality of the essay. Therefore, teaching these devices and their function will help towards making the writing of students, including the less able ones, more cohesive than that examined in this study.
Date Issued
1994
Call Number
LB1631 Kar
Date Submitted
1994