Cognitive Predictors of Coherence in Adult ESL Learners’ Writing
Abstract
Background. Coherence is considered one of the most important qualities of written discourse. Despite its fundamental importance, it is still considered a fuzzy and abstract concept in most English Second Language (ESL) contexts. Consequently, many ESL learners struggle to produce a coherent text. Morphological, phonological, orthographic awareness, vocabulary knowledge, and grammatical competence have been identified as predictors of writing quality in novice writers. There is, however, a lack of data to assess whether such linguistic skills also predict coherence in adult ESL learners’ writing.
Purpose. The purpose of the study was to find out the relationships among a set of linguistic skills measures which included morphological, phonological, orthographic awareness, vocabulary knowledge and grammatical competence and coherence in adult ESL learners’ writing.
Methods. To testify to the potential predictors of coherence in ESL writing, adult university students (126) were assessed by the measures of the linguistic skills mentioned above in addition to four measures of coherence: two relatively reader-based measures (ILETS and the Holistic Coherence Scale) and two relatively text-based measures (Topical Structure Analysis and Topic Based Analysis). All measures of the study were proved valid and reliable.
Results. The findings revealed that vocabulary knowledge, morphological awareness, and grammatical competence were related to the coherence measures, particularly the reader-based measures. In contrast, measures of phonological and orthographic awareness generally did not correlate with the coherence measures.
Implication. Reasons for the associations among the variables of the study were discussed and areas for future research were offered.
Downloads
References
Abu-Rabia, S. (2001). Testing the interdependence hypothesis among native adult bilingual Russian-English students. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 30(4), 437-455. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010425825251.
Ahmed, F. E. Y. (2019). Errors of unity and coherence in Saudi Arabian EFL university students' written paragraph - A case study of College of Science & Arts, Tanumah, King Khalid University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. European Journal of English Language Teaching, 4(3), 125-155. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.321555
Ahmad, M., Mahmood, M. A., & Siddique, A. R. (2019). Organisational skills in academic writing: A study on coherence and cohesion in Pakistani research abstracts. Languages, 4(4), 1-26. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/languages4040092
Alsagoafi, A. A. (2013). An investigation into the construct validity of an academic writing test in English with special reference to the academic writing module of the IELTS test. [Unpublished doctoral thesis]. University of Exeter. https://ore.exeter.ac.uk/repository/handle/10871/10121.
Attelisi, A. A. S. (2012). The impact of teaching topical structure analysis on EFL writing with special reference to undergraduate students in Libya [Unpublished doctoral thesis]. Newcastle University. https://theses.ncl.ac.uk/jspui/handle/10443/1619.
Bamberg, B. (1984). Assessing coherence: A reanalysis of essays written for the National Assessment of Educational Progress, 1969-1979. Research in the Teaching of English, 18(3), 305-319. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40171021.
Berninger, V. W., Abbott, R. D., Nagy, W., & Carlisle, J. (2010). Growth in phonological, orthographic, and morphological awareness in grades 1 to 6. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 39(2), 141-163. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-009-9130-6
Berninger, V. W., Nagy, W., & Beers, S. (2011). Child writers' construction and reconstruction of single sentences and construction of multi-sentence texts: Contributions of syntax and transcription to translation. Reading and Writing, 24(2), 151-182. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-010-9262-y
Candelo, J. E., Soto, J. D., Torres, L., Schettini, N., Calle, M., García, L., & de Castro, A. (2018). Coherence and cohesion issues in argumentation documents written by engineering students. In proceedings of 2018 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON) (pp. 156-160). IEEE. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/EDUCON.2018.8363222
Chiang, S. (2003). The importance of cohesive conditions to perceptions of writing quality at the early stages of foreign language learning. System, 31(4), 471-484. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2003.02.002
Connor, U., & Lauer, J. (1985). Understanding persuasive essay writing: Linguistic/rhetorical approach. Text, 5(4), 309-326. http://hdl.handle.net/1805/2662.
Crossley, S.A., & McNamara, D.S. (2010). Cohesion, coherence, and expert evaluations of writing proficiency. In R. Catrambone & S. Ohlsson (Eds.), Proceedings of the 32nd annual conference of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 984-989). Cognitive Science Society.
de Beaugrande, R. A., & Dressler, W. U. (1981). Introduction to text linguistics. Longman.
Diamond, K. E., Gerde, H. K., & Powell, D. R. (2008). Development in early literacy skills during the pre-kindergarten year in Head Start: Relations between growth in children's writing and understanding of letters. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 23(4), 467-478. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2008.05.002
Garing, A. G. (2014, March). Coherence in argumentative essays of first-year College of Liberal Arts students at De La Salle University. In DLSU Research Congress (pp. 1-15). DLSU press.
Ghazanfari, M., Alavi, S. Z., & Ghabanchi, Z. (2011). The relationship between types of paragraphs and topic progression used in paragraphs written by Iranian EFL students. Journal of International Education Research, 7(4), 39-46. DOI: https://doi.org/10.19030/jier.v7i4.8003
Halliday, M. A. K., & Hasan, R. (2014). Cohesion in English. Routledge.
Harrison, G. L., Goegan, L. D., Jalbert, R., McManus, K., Sinclair, K., & Spurling, J. (2016). Predictors of spelling and writing skills in first-and second-language learners. Reading and Writing, 29(1), 69-89. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-015-9580-1
Hewings, A., & North, S. (2006). Emergent disciplinarity: A comparative study of Theme in undergraduate essays in geography and history of science. In Whittaker, R., McCabe, A. & O'Donnell, M. (Eds.). Language and literacy: Functional approaches (266-281). Continuum.
Jones, S., Myhill, D., & Bailey, T. (2013). Grammar for writing? An investigation of the effects of contextualised grammar teaching on students' writing. Reading and Writing, 26(8), 1241-1263. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-012-9416-1
Khalil, A. (1989). A study of cohesion and coherence in Arab EFL college students' writing. System, 17(3), 359-371. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0346251X(89)90008-0
Kılıç, M., Genç, B., & Bada, E. (2016). Topical structure in argumentative essays of EFL learners and implications for writing classes. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies, 12(2), 107-116. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/jlls/issue/36115/405544.
Kim, M., & Crossley, S. A. (2018). Modeling second language writing quality: A structural equation investigation of lexical, syntactic, and cohesive features in source-based and independent writing. Assessing Writing, 37, 39-56. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2018.03.002
Kim, Y.-S., Al Otaiba, S., Sidler, J. F., & Gruelich, L. (2013). Language, literacy, attentional behaviors, and instructional quality predictors of written composition for first grades. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 28(3), 461-469. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2013.01.001
Knoch, U. (2007). ‘Little coherence, considerable strain for reader': A comparison between two rating scales for the assessment of coherence. Assessing writing, 12(2), 108-128. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asw.2007.07.002
Lautamatti, L. (1978). Observations on the development of the topic in simplified discourse. Afinla-import, 8(22), 71-104.
Lee, I. (2002). Teaching coherence to ESL students: A classroom inquiry. Journal of Second Language Writing, 11(2), 135-159. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1060-3743(02)00065-6
Lee, S. H. (2003). ESL learners' vocabulary use in writing and the effects of explicit vocabulary instrcution. Syetem, 31(4), 537-561. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2003.02.004
Mackenzie, N., & Hemmings, B. (2014). Predictors of success with writing in the first year of school. Issues in Educational Research, 24(1), 41-54. https://search.informit.org/doi/. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3316/informit.352676063609817
Masadeh, T. S. (2019). Cohesion and coherence in the writings of Saudi undergraduates majoring in English. Journal of Social Sciences and Humnaities, 5(3), 200-208. http://www.aiscience.org/journal/paperInfo/jssh?paperId=4522.
McCutchen, D., & Stull, S. (2015). Morphological awareness and children's writing: Accuracy, error, and invention. Reading and Writing, 28(2), 271-289. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-014-9524-1
McCutchen, D., Stull, S., Herrera, B. L., Lotas, S., & Evans, S. (2014). Putting words to work: Effects of morphological instruction on children's writing. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 47(1), 86-97. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219413509969
McCulley, G. A. (1985). Writing quality, coherence, and cohesion. Research in the Teaching of English, 19(3), 269-282. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40171050.
McKenna, M. J. (1988). The development and validation of a model for text coherency. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED302830.
Mochizuki, M., & Aizawa, K. (2000). An affix acquisition order for EFL learners: An exploratory study. System, 28(2), 291-304. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0346-251X(00)00013-0
Moore, T. J., & Morton, J. (2007). Authenticity in the IELTS academic module writing test: a comparative study of task 2 items and university assignments. In L. Taylor & P. Falvey (Eds.), Studies in language testing 19: IELTS collected papers (pp. 197 - 248). Cambridge University Press.
Müller, A., & Daller, M. (2019). Predicting international students' clinical and academic grades using two language tests (IELTS and C-test): A correlational research study. Nurse Education Today, 72, 6-11. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2018.10.007
Northey, M., McCutchen, D., & Sanders, E. A. (2016). Contributions of morphological skill to children's essay writing. Reading and Writing, 29(1), 47-68. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-015-9579-7
O'brien, I., Segalowitz, N., Collentine, J., & Freed, B. (2006). Phonological memory and lexical, narrative, and grammatical skills in second language oral production by adult learners. Applied Psycholinguistics, 27(03), 377-402. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0142716406060322
Pearson, W. S. (2018). Written corrective feedback in IELTS writing task 2: Teachers' priorities, practices, and beliefs. Tesl-Ej, 21(4), 1-32. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1172568.
RahmtAllah, E. A. E. (2020). EFL students' coherence skill in writing: A case study of third-year students of bachelors in English language. English Language Teaching, 13(8), 120-126. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v13n8p120
Roessingh, H., Elgie, S., & Kover, P. (2015). Using lexical profiling tools to investigate children's written vocabulary in grade 3: An exploratory study. Language Assessment Quarterly, 12(1), 67-86. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15434303.2014.936603
Saeed, A. (2020). Cognitive predictors of coherence in adult ESL learners' writing. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Canterbury. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26021/2710
Saeed, A., Ghani, M., & Ramzan, M. (2011). Gender Difference and L2 Writing.International Research Journal of Arts & Humanities (IRJAH), 39(39). https://sujo-old.usindh.edu.pk/index.php/IRJAH/article/view/1148/1064.
Schleppegrell, M. J. (2004). The language of schooling: A functional linguistics perspective. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410610317
Schoepp, K. (2018). Predictive validity of the IELTS in an English as a medium of instruction environment. Higher Education Quarterly, 72(4), 271-285. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/hequ.12163
Shamim, F. (2008). Trends, issues and challenges in English language education in Pakistan. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 28(3), 235-249. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02188790802267324
Todd, R. W. (2016). Discourse topics. John Benjamins Publishing Company.
van Dijk, T. A. (1977). Semantic macro-structures, knowledge frames, and discourse comprehension. In M. A. Just & P. Carpenter (Eds.), Cognitive processes in comprehension (pp. 03-32). Erlbaum.
Wang, Y., Yin, L., & McBride, C. (2015). Unique predictors of early reading and writing: A one-year longitudinal study of Chinese kindergarteners. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 32, 51-59. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2015.02.004
Witte, S. P., & Faigley, L. (1981). Coherence, cohesion, and writing quality. College Composition and Communication, 32(2), 189-204. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/356693
Wong, A. S. C. (2012). An investigation of the predictors of L2 writing among adult ESL students [Unpublished doctoral thesis]. University of Canterbury. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26021/9887
Zhang, D., & Koda, K. (2012). Contribution of morphological awareness and lexical inferencing ability to L2 vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension among advanced EFL learners: Testing direct and indirect effects. Reading and Writing, 25(5), 1195-1216. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11145-011-9313-z
Zhao, J. (2011). Spelling English words: Contributions of phonological, morphological and orthographic knowledge in speakers of English and Chinese [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Texas A&M University.
Copyright (c) 2022 National Research University Higher School of Economics
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the Copyright Notice.
