COHESION IN WRITING AND THE ROLE OF

CULTUREAisha Sayidina, PhD.

Department of EnglishAmerican University of Sharjah

Copy right Aisha Sayidina, 2010. This work (except slide 2) is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided

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Discourse Organization Across Cultures (Kaplan, 1966)

Transition Words: Four main types of propositional relations are

identified for the purpose of this study:(i) Additive: and, also, furthermore, moreover,

besides, in addition, for example.(ii) Adversative: but, yet, however, nevertheless,

although, despite.(iii) Temporal: then, next, previously, before, after;

first, second; the first point, the second point, the final point.

(iv) Causative: so, therefore, hence, because, as a result, consequently, for this reason.

Model of Analysis

Grammatical cohesion contains three main sub-classes:

(i) Reference: The use of pronouns (personal, demonstrative, comparative) to refer to an entity mentioned elsewhere in the discourse.

(ii) Substitution: The use of a word (e.g. one, ones, do, so) in place of another word or sentence.

(iii) Ellipsis: Substitution by zero. Here, a head noun, main verb, or a whole clause mentioned previously is subsequently elided.

Several types of lexical cohesion can be identified: repetition of lexical items or whole clauses/ sentences. Repetition of lexical items includes repetition of the same noun or repetition of a synonym.

 

Cohesion

Total Transitions means

Means of Same Noun Repetition and Grammatical Cohesion

  (i) Arabic texts contain more coordination than subordinations. By contrast, subordinations are more common than coordination in the English texts.

(ii) Additive transition words in the Arabic texts are

used more frequently than adversative, temporal, and causative transition words combined. In the English texts, on the other hand, non-additive transitions are more common than the additive ones.

Summary of Findings

The semantic implication of the above findings is that Arabic rhetoric is characterized by additive modes of propositional development, while English rhetoric is characterized by non-additive modes of propositional development.

(iii) The most common cohesive device in the Arabic texts is the repetition of the same noun.

Summary of Findings Cont...

Interrelationships between cultural and cohesive contrasts: Arabic and English

Kaplan, R. (1966). Cultural-thought patterns in intercultural communication. Language Learning, 16, 1-20.

References