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A STUDY ON COHERENCE IN ENGLISH PARAGRAPHS WRITTEN BY THE TENTH FORM STUDENTS AT THANH LIEM A UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING TAY BAC UNIVERSITY TRAN THI TAM GRADUATION PAPER A STUDY ON COHERENCE IN ENGLISH PARAGRAPHS WRITTEN BY THE TENTH FORM STUDENTS AT THANH LIEM A UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL Field: English Methodology SON LA, 2013 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING TAY BAC UNIVERSITY TRAN THI TAM GRADUATION PAPER A STUDY ON COHERENCE IN ENGLISH PARAGRAPHS WRITTEN BY THE TENTH FORM STUDENTS AT THANH LIEM A UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL Field: English Methodology Supervisor: Mrs Tran Thi Hong Le, MA SON LA, 2013 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Mrs Tran Thi Hong Le, MA for her valuable guidance, correction, helpful suggestions and encouragements from the preparation to the completion of this study I also would like to express my thankfulness to the teachers and the tenth form students at Thanh Liem A upper secondary school for their help in completing my survey questionnaires as well as sharing their ideas about some aspects of my research My gratitude also sends to the teacher in the Department of Foreign Language for their help and care for me during the time I this study I am also indebted to all my friends who gave me assistance, and encouragement, without whom, the study would have no such great motivation Last but not least, the support of members in my family extended to me has been immeasurable I would like to send my gratefulness to them for their support and encourage throughout my study Son La, 10th May, 2013 Tran Thi Tam K50 English Course ABSTRACT This study is an investigation into coherence in English paragraphs written by the tenth form students at Thanh Liem A upper secondary school It is conducted to find out the coherence achievement in English paragraphs written by the tenth form students, to investigate students' perceptions of coherence in English paragraphs, to identify factors affecting coherence in students' English paragraphs and to give some suggestions to improve coherence in students’ English paragraphs According to the data from the 120 students’ writing assignments collected; from the survey questionnaires conducting 120 tenth form students of different classes, the result reveals that the tenth form students at Thanh Liem A upper secondary school face some difficulties, not only in the way of expressing ideas in their English paragraphs but also in using cohesive devices, synonyms of key nouns and consistent pronouns to make their written products coherent Besides, lacking the knowledge about a good English paragraph, the students’ habits when writing paragraphs and the influence of the mother tongue are also factors affecting coherence in students’ English paragraphs although students’ perceptions of the importance of coherence in English paragraph writing are rather good From a detail discussion of the major findings, the study gives some suggestions for teacher and students to improve coherence in students’ English paragraphs TABLES OF CONTENT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT TABLES OF CONTENT CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Purposes of the study 1.3 Scope of the study 1.4 Research questions of the study 1.5 Methodology 1.6 Design of the study CHAPTER 2: THE LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Theoretical background of writing 2.1.1 Definition of writing 2.1.2 The importance of writing 2.1.3 Kinds of writing 2.2 Theoretical background of paragraph 2.2.1 Definition of paragraph 2.2.2 Structure of an English paragraph 2.2.3 Elements of a standard English paragraph 2.3 Theoretical background of coherence 11 2.3.1 Definition of coherence 11 2.3.2 Cohesion versus coherence 12 2.3.3 The roles of coherence 12 2.3.4 Ways to achieve coherence 13 2.5 Summary 16 CHAPTER 3: DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS 17 3.1 Situation 17 3.1.1 Aim 17 3.1.2 Participants 17 3.1.3 Textbook 17 3.2 Data collection 18 3.2.1 Students’ writing assignments 18 3.2.2 The survey questionnaires 19 3.3 Data collection 19 3.3.1 Students’ writing assignments 19 3.3.1.1 Repetition of key nouns 19 3.3.1.2 Consistent pronouns 20 3.3.1.3 Transition signals 21 3.3.1.4 Logical order 24 3.3.2 The survey questionnaires……… ……………………… … ……….24 3.3.2.1 Students’ background information 25 3.3.2.2 Students’ perception towards coherence in English paragraphs writing 26 3.3.2.3 Some common factors affecting coherence on students’ English paragraphs 29 3.4 Summary 31 CHAPTER 4: MAJOR FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS 32 4.1 Major findings 32 4.1.1 Findings from analyzing students’ writing assignments 32 4.1.2 Findings from analyzing the survey questionnaire 34 4.1.2.1 Students’ difficulties in the process of writing English paragraphs 34 4.1.2.2 Students' perceptions towards coherence in English paragraphs writing 34 4.1.2.3 Some factors affecting coherence in students’ English paragraphs 35 4.2 Suggestions to improve coherence in students’ English paragraphs 36 4.2.1 Some suggestions for teachers 36 4.2.2 Suggestions for students 38 4.3 Summary 41 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 42 5.1 Summary and emphasis 42 5.2 Limitations and suggestions for further study 42 REFERENCES APPENDICES LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS Table 1: Use of key nouns 19 Table 2: Use of consistent pronouns 20 Table 3: Use of transition signals 21 Table 4: Use of logical order 24 Table 5: Students’ background information 25 Figure 1.1 Students’ perceptions of the importance of coherence in English paragraphs writing 26 Figure 1.2 Students’ frequency in paying attention to coherence when writing English paragraphs 27 Figure 1.3 Students’ explanation to the importance of coherence in English paragraph writing 27 Figure 1.4 Students’ ways to achieve coherence 28 Figure 1.5 Students’ experience in writing English paragraphs 29 Figure 1.6 Students’ habits when writing English paragraphs 29 Figure 1.7 Students’ ways of writing English paragraphs 30 Figure 1.8 Students’ prior criteria in English paragraphs writing 31 CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale In the world today, there are 5,000 to 6,000 living languages among which English is by far the most widely used As a mother tongue, it ranks second only to Chinese, which is little used outside China English is spoken by more people than any other language, and is the native language of more than 350 million people And it is also the international language of diplomacy, business, science, technology, banking, computing, medicine, aviation, UN & NATO armed forces, engineering, tourism, Hollywood films and arguably the best pop and rock music in the world… Because of its importance in our daily life in Vietnam, English is now taught as a compulsory subject in most school from primary schools to colleges A great number of students have chosen English together with Maths and Literature or Maths and Physics as their major subjects for their entrance examinations into colleges and universities Teaching and learning English; therefore, have become so necessary It is undeniable that the most vital purpose of learning foreign language is to communicate successfully with foreigners Therefore, to communicate well, people need to enrich lots of skill including listening, reading, speaking and writing skill Writing is an important productive skill in language learning It can objectively reflect students’competence of thinking, organizing and expressing ideas In English teaching, writing is considered as a difficult skill for both teachers and students In recent years, there has been a growing awareness of the importance of the English writing skill at high schools in Vietnam The writing skill is part of the English syllabus at high schools According to the curriculum in the new English 10 textbook, students have to learn a lot of writing skills, such as filling in a form, writing letter, writing announcement, etc, among which, writing an English paragraph is one of the main focus However, there is a fact that a number of the tenth form students in upper secondary schools in general and at Thanh Liem A upper secondary school in particular, at present, cannot write a standard paragraph even if they have acquired a large number of vocabulary, studied a lot about English grammar and paragraph format It can be explained that in the writing lessons, teachers usually focus on grammar and vocabulary rather than teaching English as a whole; therefore, students can only be completely correct at sentence level When asked to produce a paragraph they are not well- done because a good English paragraph does not only depend on correct grammatical structures, but it is the combination of grammar and other factors such as unity and coherence If in writing sentences, grammar and vocabulary are the most noticeable matters, a lack of coherence in paragraphs is also one of the major problems confronted in paragraphs writing beside a lack of unity in paragraph ideas and organization Because of these reasons, I decided to carry out the study named: “A study on coherence in English paragraphs written by the tenth form students at Thanh Liem A upper secondary school” 1.2 Purposes of the study The main purposes of the study are as the following: To find out the coherence achievement in English paragraphs written by the tenth form students To investigate students' perceptions of coherence in English paragraphs To identify factors that affect coherence in students' English paragraphs To give some suggestions to improve coherence in students’ English paragraphs 1.3 Scope of the study In the curriculum, students have to learn a lot of writing skills, such as filling in a form, writing letters, writing announcements, etc However, in this study, the researcher only focuses on English paragraphs A good English paragraph is made by different elements, such as organization, structure, unity, expressions; however, due to the lack of time the concentration of the study is to focus on coherence in paragraphs not on other elements 1.4 Research questions of the study The study is carried out in order to find out the answers to these research questions: What is the real situation of coherence achievement in English paragraphs of the tenth form students? What are students’ perceptions of coherence in English paragraphs? What are factors affecting the use of coherence in students’ English paragraphs? What are suggestions to improve coherence in students’ English paragraphs? 1.5 Methodology In order to collect sufficient data for the anlysis the following methods were employed Theoretically, the researcher spent time reading books and materials available on coherence to get knowledge of the subject Moreover, in order to find out the real situation of coherence achievement in students’ paragraphs, analyzing students’ written assignments was conducted In addition, using questionnaires is also used to help the researcher collect the data The researcher can analyze and report all the collected data to help the study more realistically 1.6 Design of the study The study is divided into chapters presented below: Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: The literature review Chapter 3: The data collection and analysis Chapter 4: Major findings and suggestions Chapter 5: Conclusion 4.3 Summary Major findings and suggestions to improve coherence in writing English paragraph for the tenth form students at Thanh Liem A upper secondary school have been presented in Chapter Each given suggestion has its own strong and weak points, so it much better to combine them all together 41 CHAPTER CONCLUSION 5.1 Summary and emphasis Coherence is seen as the most important term in discourse analysis and text, since it is a rhetorical device that brings about order and unity and emphasis (Palmer, 1999) Data generated from the students’ writing assignments and survey questionnaire showed that in the process of writing English paragraphs, the tenth form students at Thanh Liem A upper secondary school faced a lot of difficulties, not only in the way of expressing ideas in their English paragraphs but also in using cohesive devices to make their written products coherent A number of findings from the study, to some extent, help us have a deeper understanding of the real situation of coherence achievement in English paragraphs, students' perceptions towards coherence in paragraph as well as factors that affect coherence in students' English paragraphs Basing on their major findings of the study, some suggestions are made to improve coherence in students’ English paragraph All the above suggested- techniques possess both their own strong and weak points; therefore, it is much better to combine them all together if it is suitable and possible instead of using each of them separately 5.2 Limitations and suggestions for further study The researcher has made great efforts to carry out and complete this paper However, due to the shortage of time, the lack of personal experience as well as limitations in the knowledge the study cannot avoid certain restrictions, consequently the inevitable shortcomings and mistake Thereby, all the remarks and comments from teachers and students will be highly appreciated No matter what the study attempts, it can not cover all aspects of coherence in writing This study maybe makes interesting points for the further study into the similar problem Study on coherence in essay writing, improving coherence in essay writing among the Vietnamese learners of English… are some example further researches in the future 42 REFERENCES Agree, A & Kline G (1985) The basic written’s book New Jersey: Prentice Hall Ann Hogue, First Steps in Academic Writing, NewYork: Pearson Longman, 2008 Bamberg, B 1983 What makes a text coherent? College Composition and Communication Bander, R B 1983 American English Rhetoric New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston De Beaugrande, R and Dressler, W 1981 Introduction to text Linguistics Longman: London Bates, L (Ed.) Transitions: An interactive reading, writing, and grammar text New York, NY: Cambridge University Press Brown, G & Yule (1983) Discourse Analysis UK: Cambridge University Press Byrne, D (1998) Teaching Writing Skills Longman Chambers, Essay writing: Cohesion and Coherence, London: Longman, 1989 Enkvist, N E., Text Linguistics for an Applier: An Introduction In Connor U & Kaplan 10 Hall, D (1985) Writing well Boston: Little, Brown and Company 11 Halliday, M.A.K & Ruqaiya Hasan (1976) Cohesion in English London: Longman 12 Hatch, E., Discourse and Language Education, Cambridge University Press, 1992 13 Hedge, T (1988) Writing UK Oxford University Press 14 Hogue, A., & Oshima, A (Eds.) Writing academic English New York, NY: Pearson Longman 15 James W Heffernan And John E Lincoln (1990) A college Handbook 16 Katsura, C (2010) Anaphora Principles of translation Coursebook Mae fahLuang University 17 Law Davies, R, (1993) Coherence in Writing: A New Approach 18 Leki, I (1976) Academic Writing, Techniques and Tasks: St Martin Press, New York 19 Mc Carthy, M, (1991) Discourse Analysis for Language Teachers, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 20 Oshima, A & Hogue, A., Writing Academic English (4th ed) NewYork: Pearson Longman, 2006 21 Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, Oxford University Press 22 Palmer, J.C, Coherence and Cohesion in the English Language Classroom: The Use of Lexical Reiteration and Pronominalization, RELC Journal, Vol 30, No 2, (1999) 23 Palmer F (1990) Grammar New York: Penguin Group 24 Raimes, A (1983) Techniques in Teaching Writing Oxford: Oxford University Press 25 Richard, J C (1986) The language teaching Matrix, Cambridge University Press 26 Robert, F & Willson, Jr (1980) Writing: Analysic and application New York: Macmiclan Publishing Co., Inc 27 Rooks, G.M (1988) Paragraph power: Communicating ideas through paragraphs New Jersey: Prentice Hall Regents 28 Roy, E & Roy, S (1993) Prentice Hall guide to basic writing New Jersey: Prentice Hall 29 Thompson, G (1996) Introducing functional grammar London: Edward Arnold 30 Ur, P (1996) A course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory Cambridge University Press 31 Witt, S & Faigley, L., Coherence, Cohesion, and Writing Quality, College Composition and Communication, 32, (1981), 189 – 204 32 Yule, G., Pragmatics, Oxford Universit Press, 1996 32 Websites: http://hunbbel-meer.hubpages.com http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu http://childparenting.about.com http://allkindsofwriting.blogspot.com APPENDIXES APPENDIX 1: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE This survey questionnaire is designed for the graduation paper: “A study on coherence in English paragraphs written by the tenth form students at Thanh Liem A upper secondary school” It is highly appreciated if you could spend a little time helping me complete truthfully this survey questionnaire Please circle the answer you choose How long have you been learning English? A Less than years B years C to years What you think about your quality of writing? A Very good B Good C Average D Bad How often you write English paragraphs? A Always B Usually C Sometimes D Never What are the difficulties you face in the process of writing English paragraphs? (More than one choice) A The way to organize the ideas B The lack of transition signals for connecting ideas C The lack of vocabulary and grammatical structures D The insufficient time What you think about the importance of coherence in writing English paragraphs? A Very important B Important C Rather important D Not important How often you pay attention to coherence when you write paragraph? A Usually B Sometimes C Rarely D Never Why you think that coherence is important in writing paragraph? (More than one choice) A It helps the paragraph make sense to every reader B It presents ideas in a logical order C It makes the ideas relevant to the thesis statement D It connects the ideas in the paragraph What you think about the ways to achieve coherence? (More than one choice) A Repeating of Key Nouns B Using consistent Pronouns C Using transition Signals D Arranging ideas logically What type of exercise did you often when you were in lower secondary school? A Writing English sentences to revise grammar and vocabulary B Combining the sentences C Translating sentences from Vietnamese to English D Writing paragraphs 10 What you often as soon as you are asked to write English paragraph in the class? A Writing immediately B Finding the ideas C Drafting D Outlining 11 Which the following ways you often apply when writing English paragraphs?(More than one choice) A Translating from Vietnamese into English B Copying sample paragraphs with the same topic C Thinking in English D Using several tools, such as Google Translate or Translation software 12 What is your prior criterion in paragraph writing? (More than one choice) A Content B Paper format C Coherence D The accuracy (Grammar, spelling, punctuation) Thanks for your cooperation! CÂU HỎI ĐIỀU TRA Mong bạn vui lòng chọn câu trả lời cho câu hỏi phiếu điều tra (khoanh tròn vào phần bạn chọn ) nhằm phục vụ cho khóa luận tốt nghiệp: “Nghiên cứu tính mạch lạc đoạn văn Tiếng Anh học sinh lớp 10 trường THPT A Thanh Liêm” Xin chân thành cảm ơn! Bạn học Tiếng Anh bao lâu? A Ít năm B năm C 5- năm Bạn nghĩ khả viết bạn nào? A Rất tốt B Tốt C Trung bình D Kém Bạn có thường xuyên viết đoạn văn Tiếng Anh không? A Luôn B Thường xuyên C Thi thoảng D Khơng Những khó khăn bạn viết đoạn văn tiếng Anh gì? (Có thể chọn đáp án) A Cách xếp ý B Thiếu từ nối để kết nối ý tưởng C Thiếu từ vựng cấu trúc ngữ pháp D Thiếu thời gian Bạn nghĩ vai trị tính mạch lạc đoạn văn Tiếng Anh nào? A Rất quan trọng B Quan trọng C Khá quan trọng D Không quan trọng Bạn có thường xun ý tới tính mạch lạc đoạn văn Tiếng Anh không ? A Thường xuyên B Thi thoảng C Hiếm D Không Tại bạn cho tính mạch lạc lại quan trọng việc viết đoạn văn Tiếng Anh ? A Tính mạch lạc giúp người đọc hiểu đoạn văn dễ dàng B Tính mạch lạc giúp ý tưởng trình bày cách logic C Tính mạch lạc làm cho ý tính liên quan tới câu chủ đề D Tính mạch lạc kết nối ý tưởng đoạn văn Theo bạn đâu cách để đạt tính mạch lạc? (Có thể chọn đáp án) A Nhắc lại từ khóa B Sử dụng đại từ phù hợp C Sử dụng từ nối D Sắp xếp ý cách logic Những dạng tập sau bạn thường làm học trung học sở? A Viết câu tiếng Anh để luyện tập ngữ pháp từ vựng B Nối câu C Dịch câu từ tiếng Việt sang tiếng Anh D Viết đoạn văn 10 Những hoạt động sau bạn thường thực yêu cầu viết đoạn văn Tiếng Anh lớp? A Viết B Tìm ý C Viết nháp D.Lập dàn ý trước viết 11 Bạn thường áp dụng cách sau viết đoạn văn Tiếng Anh? (Có thể chọn đáp án) A Dịch từ Tiếng Việt sang Tiếng Anh B Sao chép đoạn văn mẫu có chủ đề C Tư Tiếng Anh D.Sử dụng công cụ hỗ trợ Google Dịch phần mềm dịch thuật 12 Khi viết đoạn văn Tiếng Anh bạn thường tập trung vào tiêu chí ? (Có thể chọn đáp án) A Nội dung B Hình thức trình bày C Tính mạch lạc D Tính xác ( ngữ pháp, tả, dấu câu) Xin chân thành cảm ơn cộng tác bạn! APPENDIX A sample of a coherent paragraph (1)Throughout most of my school days my eyes failed to focus correctly when reading (2)Consequently, I saw different symbols every time I read a sentence (3)As a result, the printed page was a chaotic kaleidoscope of constantly changing letters that made no sense (4) For example, when reading the last sentence I would see: “A tters made sense,” or “As le ter that made no ense,” or“Letters mad no sens,” depending on how my eyes focused on a sentence (5)After my eye problem was corrected, my real problems began because it was assumed that I could now read like everyone else (6)This was a big mistake that overlooked the psychological effects created by my visual disability (7)Most importantly, I was left doubting my understanding when reading unfamiliar material while teachers began to give me increasingly complex material to read (Get permissions from Jeremy Hexham) • In this writer’s first sentence, he introduces the topic of the paragraph, then creates a connection of cause and effect with his use of “consequently” at the beginning of the next sentence • In sentence (3), he creates coherence by creating another cause and effect relationship with the phrase, “as a result”, and by referring back to the “last sentence.” • In sentence (5), he creates a narrative relationship between events by beginning his sentence with “after” and repeats a key concept, “eye problem”, from the topic sentence • The writer then creates coherence in sentence (6) by using a pronoun, “this”, to refer back to an event he described in sentence (5) • In sentence (7), he completes the circle by referring to another key idea in his topic sentence, that of reading (Source: write-site.athabascau.ca/documentation/Sample-Coherent-Paragraph.pdf) APPENDIX Transition Words and Clause Connectors What it Means Sentence Transition Words Choices for Connecting Clauses Others Coordinati Subordinating ng Add or move to Also, Additionally a similar idea Furthermore, , too In addition, , as well Moreover, Besides, , and , nor Compare In the same way, Likewise, Similarly, , too , and not only… ., but also as… as if … as though,… just as,… rather than… than… whenever… whether… while… Conclude All in all, Thus, In brief, Consequently, In conclusion, Indeed, In short, In summary, Hence, Finally, Alternatively, Otherwise, Providing that, , or if if ….then even if only if unless Offer a condition or alternative another, an additional, in addition to, besides also… as as like/alike… just like… similar to… be alike… be similar both and neither nor… It is clear that The evidence suggests that These examples show that Contrast or move to an opposite idea However, , but Despite this, , yet In contrast, Instead, In/By comparison, Nevertheless, Nonetheless, On the other hand, On the contrary, Still, Conversely, although even if even though though whereas while Give an example For example, Namely, For instance, Specifically, State order of importance Indicate place such as like an example of , e.g., Above all, First and foremost, More/Most importantly/ significantly, Secondly, Thirdly… a more important the most important the primary primarily In the front, In the back, Nearby, In the distance, Show purpose Give reason or cause despite + noun even so compared to/with be different (from) be dissimilar be unlike differ (v) (from) instead of , for anywhere everywhere where wherever in order that so that that because since as in order that so that to + verb result (v) from be the result of due to… because of… the effect of… the consequence of… as a result of… as a consequence of… Choices for Connecting Clauses What it Means Transition Words Others Coordinating Subordinating Indeed, , i.e., Hence, Restate that is That is to say, In brief, In sum, To summarize, Provide result Accordingly, , so result (v) in or effect As a result, cause (v) As a consequence, have an effect Consequently, of affect (v) Hence, the cause of Thus, Therefore, the reason for Signal time First/Second/, after as the first order First of all, as soon as the second Then, before since the next Eventually, until the last the final Next, Currently, till when while before Now, Soon, now that after Last/Finally, as long as since Meanwhile, once whenever in the year Gradually, (any time After that, expression) Afterward, Since then, Subsequently, * Notes on Sentence Transition Words • If the two sentences are closely connected in thought, you can use a semicolon (;) to connect them • Many of these expressions can also come in the middle of the sentence **Notes on Subordinating Clauses • If the subordinate clause comes at the beginning of the sentence, put a comma after the subordinate clause • If the subordinate clause comes at the end of the sentence, not use a comma, unless it expresses a contrast ( Source: Copyright © 2008 University of Saskatchewan (revised Jan 2012) Prepared by the Language Centre, University of Saskatchewan.) ...MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING TAY BAC UNIVERSITY TRAN THI TAM GRADUATION PAPER A STUDY ON COHERENCE IN ENGLISH PARAGRAPHS WRITTEN BY THE TENTH FORM STUDENTS AT THANH LIEM A UPPER SECONDARY. .. grammar and paragraph format It can be explained that in the writing lessons, teachers usually focus on grammar and vocabulary rather than teaching English as a whole; therefore, students can only... ungrammatical transitions In using conjunctions, a writer must make sure that they assign clear and appropriate transitional expressions by considering both the information that follows and the information