本文是一篇英语论文，本研究比较分析了不同熟练程度下衔接项目（错误）使用的异同，这可以为高水平的英语学习者与低水平的同等学习者相比是否以及如何发展他们的写作能力提供一些证据。最后但同样重要的是，本研究调查了学生在写作中使用衔接手段的态度和意识。
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
1.1 Research Background
Cohesion is a currently increasing recognition of the explicit need for writing (Mora, Coyle & Becerra, 2021). It is perceived as the most salient factor in the organization of written text and also applauded as one of the important indicators of judging connectedness, unity and coherence of the text (Cheng, 2005, p.27). To date, cohesion has been addressed extensively in EFL educational settings and has enacted an exceptionally key role in the field of text analysis (Yang & Sun, 2012).
In China, National English Curriculum Standards for Senior High School (2017 Edition, 2020 Revised) puts forward that “students are able to use cohesive devices to improve textual cohesion” (Ministry of Education, 2020, p.4). More or less at the same time, China’s Standards of English Language Ability emphasizes that cohesion is a necessary ability for EFL learners’ overall written expression. Specifically, it requires that Chinese EFL learners not only “construct clear and convincing explanations by using a variety of cohesive devices” (Ministry of Education, 2018, p.26), but also “check for and correct inappropriate uses of cohesive devices as well as inappropriate expressions” (Ministry of Education, 2018, p.65). They fairly illustrate the great salience of cohesion in writing as well as the requirement for cultivating and facilitating Chinese students’ awareness of cohesion and appropriate employment of cohesive devices.
...................................
1.2 Significance of the Study
1.2.1 Theoretical Significance
Firstly, this study probes the correlation between EFL learners’ writing quality and the use of cohesion based on Halliday and Hasan’s cohesion taxonomy (1976) from both categories and subcategories, which can further deepen and enrich cohesion theory, and simultaneously provide new research strategies and perspectives for domestic studies on textual cohesion, i.e., multiple levels of cohesive devices.
Secondly, through exploring distinct proficiency EFL learners’ writing literacy at the textual level, this study may theoretically propound some insights into the patterns of variation of EFL written competence. Besides, given that the pergence of statistical standard about cohesive devices may lead to the conflicting of statistical magnitude despite the same data, this study clarifies that the total number of cohesive devices equate to both the correct and incorrect use of cohesive devices.
1.2.2 Practical Significance
This study verifies the significant cohesive devices indicating any patterns of variation in the written competence by investigating the relationship between writing quality and the uses of cohesive devices. It will provide useful guidance to assiststudents in their preparation for writing essays. From a testing perspective, the results may also probe evidence for the types of cohesion devices that are more predictive of essay quality.
..................................
CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Definitions
2.1.1 Cohesion
The notion of cohesion, firstly proposed by Halliday and Hasan (1976), and then further elaborated by Halliday & Hasan (1985) and Halliday (1994), which has played a salient role in the field of text analysis. According to Halliday and Hasan (1976), cohesion is one of the significant features of written English and supportive textual property to help build coherence. It is intrinsically a semantic relation which can be further categorized into reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjunction and lexical cohesion within a text. Some representative statements of cohesion by other scholars are collected in Table 2-1.
英语论文怎么写
According to the statements presented in the tabular form, the definitions of cohesion are either from the speech form or textual form. Due to the foci of this study exclusively on written texture instead of speech, this study defines cohesion as follows:
Cohesion in this study is confined in textual cohesion, referring to unity, flow and connectedness within the written text that are established via the cohesive devices causing elements within the text to be inter-related and inter-dependent.
.................................
2.2 Framework of Cohesive Variables
A bulk of studies on textual cohesion are prominently referred to and adhered to Halliday and Hasan’s cohesion taxonomy (1976), estimating the potential role of cohesive system in text analysis and language teaching (McCarthy, 1991), which is also the framework of this study. Although there are other frameworks for cohesion analysis available such as that of Hoey (1991), the revised version of Halliday and Matthiessen (2004), etc., Halliday and Hasan’s (1976) framework is chosen not only because it has been the most frequently adopted analytical taxonomy which provides a huge reference for the realm of cohesion, but also because the taxonomy is most closely associated itself with common descriptions of cohesive elements used in the writing instructions and learning manifested as the reference, conjunctions, synonyms, collocations etc.
According to Halliday and Hasan (1976), textual cohesion was achieved via five categories: reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjunction and lexical cohesion. The detailed classifications and examples are presented in the following figure forms.
Reference establishes a cohesive relation between the cohesive item and its antecedent, which can be further subpided into three types, namely, personal reference, demonstrative reference as well as comparative reference. Specifically, personal reference is the reference by means of function in the speech situation through pronouns and determines, which are served to identify inpiduals and objects named in other points of the text. Demonstrative reference is a reference that requires an accompanying gesture for its complete interpretation. Comparative reference contributes to textual cohesion by setting up a relation of contrast.
............................
CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY ............................... 17
3.1 Research Questions .................................... 17
3.2 Participants .............................................. 17
3.3 Research Procedure ........................................... 18
CHAPTER FOUR DATA ANALYSIS ................................ 26
4.1 The Relationship between the Use of Cohesive Devices and Writing Quality.............................................. 26
4.1.1 The Relationship between the Use of Reference and Writing Scores... 26
4.1.2 The Relationship between the Use of Substitution and Writing Scores.................27
CHAPTER FIVE DISCUSSION .......................... 45
5.1 Major Findings of the Study ....................... 45
5.2 Pedagogical Implications ............................... 50
CHAPTER SIX CONCLUSION ....................... 52
6.1 Summary ........................................... 52
6.2 Limitations of the Study......................... 52
CHAPTER FIVE DISCUSSION
5.1 Major Findings of the Study
Finding 1: Senior high school students’ writing quality saliently positively correlate with the overall use of cohesive devices, lexical cohesion, conjunction and some subsets of cohesive devices.
According to the results of data analysis, students’ writing scores are positively concurrent with the employment of cohesive devices. The total quantity of cohesive devices thereby constitutes an effective indicator to assess the writing quality of EFL learners. Such a finding is resonated with the discoveries of some previous research (e.g., Liu & Braine, 2005).
Among all the categories of cohesion, lexical cohesion has been documented to be one of the essential properties of written texts. Teachers tend to award higher grades to essays with higher percentage of word variety. For one thing, it indicates that the overall quantity of lexical cohesion employed by EFL learners is concurrent with their EFL proficiency level. For another, it may index that higher EFL proficient students are equipped with more sophisticated written leverage, which bolsters with finding from Crossley and McNamara (2012) that more lexically perse and linguistically sophisticated essays are deemed to be of higher quality. Therefore, the adequate adoption of conjunctions is of great importance in the written text. Besides, conjunction on the whole is also shown to be a predictor of text organization and high-quality writing. Students are more likely to deploy conjunctions contextually and appropriately with accumulation of linguistic knowledge and relatively more advanced EFL written textual competence.
英语论文参考
................................
CHAPTER SIX CONCLUSION
6.1 Summary
This study probed the relationship between writing quality and cohesive devices employed by Chinese senior high school students in narrative writings so as to verify the particular cohesive devices that students should pay more attention to. Beyond that, this study comparatively analyzes the similarities and differences in the (incorrect) use of cohesive items at different proficiency levels, which could offer some evidences of whether and how higher proficiency EFL learners develop their written competence as compared with the lower proficiency equivalent. Last but not least, this study investigated students’ attitude and awareness of using cohesive devices in their writings.
This study has primarily delved into one element of linguistic profile of students’ writing, i.e., cohesion. Notwithstanding a significant element of writing (evidenced in the reported effective sizes), cohesion does not operate in isolation. Rather, it is generally agreed that various factors affecting SLA are interrelated. Therefore, the interaction between cohesion and other linguistic elements bears further discussion in the future studies.
reference(omitted)