Problems of cohesion and coherence in the writing of non-native advanced learners of English : the case of 4th year English specialists, College of Education, Sana'a University, The Republic of Yemen
For a long time writing as a language skill has been neglected in the curriculum of the English Department, College of Education, Sana'a University. One can see the effect of this negligence in the students' poor writing performance, most worryingly when they are on the verge of their B. A. graduation. On several occasions I have noticed that 4th Year B. A. English Specialists are confronted by obstacles whenever they are asked to write a piece of composition. Upon reading the students' written performance one will find it a hard task to retrieve the precise intended meaning. This practical problem leads to the purpose of this study, which is to investigate, cohesion and coherence properties and the problems associated with them in the writings of non-native advanced speakers of English. The study is a detailed examination of both controlled and free open-ended writing tasks of 37 students in their final 4th Year B. A., English course, the English Department, College of Educati on, Sana'a University. The current study depends on the works of M. A. K. Halliday and R. Hasan (1976) when it comes to investigate the internal cohesive problems in the subjects' performance. The study also relies on Michael Hoey's
Shamsher, Mahmood Ali
Linguistics
Problems of cohesion and coherence in the writing of non-native advanced learners of English : the case of 4th year English specialists, College of Education, Sana'a University, The Republic of Yemen. For a long time writing as a language skill has been neglected in the curriculum of the English Department, College of Education, Sana'a University. One can see the effect of this negligence in the students' poor writing performance, most worryingly when they are on the verge of their B. A. graduation. On several occasions I have noticed that 4th Year B. A. English Specialists are confronted by obstacles whenever they are asked to write a piece of composition. Upon reading the students' written performance one will find it a hard task to retrieve the precise intended meaning. This practical problem leads to the purpose of this study, which is to investigate, cohesion and coherence properties and the problems associated with them in the writings of non-native advanced speakers of English. The study is a detailed examination of both controlled and free open-ended writing tasks of 37 students in their final 4th Year B. A., English course, the English Department, College of Educati on, Sana'a University. The current study depends on the works of M. A. K. Halliday and R. Hasan (1976) when it comes to investigate the internal cohesive problems in the subjects' performance. The study also relies on Michael Hoey's
problems cohesion_coherence write non_native advanced learner_english case english specialist college education university republic yemen long_time write language_skill neglect curriculum english department college education university see effect student poor write performance verge several occasion notice english confront obstacle whenever ask write piece composition upon read student_write performance hard task retrieve precise intend meaning practical problem lead purpose_study investigate cohesion_coherence property problem associated writing non_native advanced speaker_english study detail_examination control free open_ended writing task student final english course english department college university current_study depend work halliday come investigate internal cohesive problem subject performance study also rely