Cohesion and Coherence Problems Among Non-Native English Students’ Writing Essays

Widyashanti Kunthara Anindita(1*)


(1) University of Surakarta
(*) Corresponding Author

Abstract


In order to properly organize ideas and express significant information, non-native students sometimes struggle with cohesion and coherence in their essays. This study examines the body of literature to pinpoint frequent problems non-native writers have while trying to make their writing coherent and cohesive. This study aims to assess the literature on cohesion and coherence issues in essays written by non-native students, with a particular focus on a number of components, including referential and relational coherence, theme and rheme, and grammatical and lexical cohesion. The literature study looks at papers that address problems with coherence and cohesiveness in student writing. It groups the results according to several coherence and cohesion criteria, such as referential and relational coherence, theme and rheme, and grammatical and lexical cohesion. An analysis of the essays shows common problems that non-native students face. Accompanying difficulties with collocation and diction are lexical cohesion faults, like as repetition and restricted vocabulary utilization. Issues with conjunction usage and text arrangement are examples of grammatical cohesion issues. Coherence is an issue that students struggle with; they have trouble coming up with thesis statements, topic sentences, introductions, and conclusion that are all coherent. Recognizing these difficulties emphasizes the necessity of focused interventions to improve non-native students' writing abilities. The development of instruments such as Tool for Automatic Cohesion Analysis (TAACO) presents encouraging paths for methodically evaluating and resolving cohesion concerns. These insights can be used by educators to create coherence and cohesiveness-enhancing tactics for non-native essay writers, which will ultimately result in clearer, more coherent writing.

 

Keywords


Coherence, EFL & ESL Students, Grammatical & Lexical Cohesion, Students’ Essay.

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References


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.14.1.2024.58-79

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Lensa: Kajian Kebahasaan, Kesusastraan, dan Budaya (Lensa)
p-ISSN: 2086-6100; e-ISSN: 2503-328X
Published by: Faculty of Educational Science and Humanity,Universitas Muhammadiyah Semarang

 

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