GRAMMATICAL COHESION IN WRITTEN ENGLISH

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine various frameworks of text analysis with a view to adapting a particular scheme of analysis and applying it to describing the cohesive properties of a corpus of written texts comprising excerpts from various sources as well as narrative and expository compositions written by English-medium Secondary Four pupils. A relatively minor aspect of the investigation will focus on a student-evaluation of the excerpts in order to assess the importance of cohesive devices as an aid to reading comprehension. The introductory chapter deals with the objectives, the rationale and the scope of the study. The second chapter reviews related literature with reference to definitions of key terms and concepts in the study of cohesion, various schemes of text analysis and relevant theoretical assumptions. The next chapter deals with design methodology which comprises the method of Jata collection and a description of the text analysis scheme and notation used. The analysis of data follows in the fourth chapter. This includes a description of the type of cohesion predominant in each category of the excerpts as well as an analysis of results of the student valuation of excerpts. The final chapter contains the conclusions that can be made within the limitations of the study.