INGLÊS I – Reading

Prof.ª Selma Borges Barros de Faria

1. What is the purpose of the article?

The article has as purpose criticize how cohesion and coherence are teach and study as
Second Language for English learners. It explains the Cohesion Theory, giving references
from people of the area, especially linguists. It shows the mistakes that appears when
cohesion and coherence are being teached, and explain many points of views about the
subject, expressing what is the meaning of each one. But mostly, it’s a critical article.

2. How is the article organized?

The organization of the article has the local and data firstly: what volume, the number,
when it was published. The article’s title and authors are shown after that, with the author’s
titles, like a short curriculum.
The Abstract is the next, showing the Article’s purpose, previewing what will be shown.
Then, an introduction: historical factors, references and finally, it achieves the main topic, the
Cohesion Theory. It explains what is the theory, why it’s used and what is its importance.
The criticism are divided in two topics: the first one, the theory itself and how coherence
is nowadays; and the second one, the empirical studies, standing arguments and explaining
them in a historical context.
Last, the author connects cohesion with what are teach and study, the occurrence of
mistakes and what the teacher has to remember when dealing with something about cohesion
and coherence. It focus on the implications for Second Language.
Finally, there are a bibliography, showing the references which the author have used.

3. Explain Halliday and Hasan’s view of the relationship between cohesion and
coherence.

Halliday and Hansan seems to prefer the term “texture” rather than “cohesion”, because
it’s what distinct of being or not a text. So, for him, cohesion could not be in a text. According
to him, coherence combines two semantics configurations: register and cohesion.
 Coherence has no significance at all, although cohesion is the main focus of the text.
Cohesion is what makes, but not concerns, what a text means. Thus, cohesion is inside
coherence.

4/5. Does coherence depend exclusively on cohesive devices? Why? (OWN

OPINION)

Cohesive are the particles with gives sense for the text. Coherence is only possible with
cohesive, although cohesive does not need the coherence at all. For example, we can
understand a supermarket list, with the products in topic. It has cohesion, but not coherence at
all. However, even if there is a text as “The supermarket items to be bought are: -. Don’t
forget any.”, but not the items itselves, there is not coherence.
It’s nonsense start and finish a list without the focus, the main elements. Without the
cohesion to make the text coherence.

6. What is Carrell’s main criticism?

7. What are the two different types of arguments that Carrell presents in order to
support her views?

Carrell divided her critics in two topics.

The Theorical Considerations about Cohesive View, she defends that a knowledge is
necessary to make a text coherence. A text is formed by structures and dates, but meaning is
not important at all. More important is what the reader does with it, the addition of
information, good or bad, for its life.
In the Empirical Studies, there are three studies which examined the relationship between
cohesion and coherience, and all them resulted as references for the article, sustained by, for
example, Halliday and Hasan studies. It shows de historical context, not only a thought, but
evidences and conclusions.

10. What piece of advice does Carrell give to teachers of English?

Teachers have to be careful with errors committed in texts, which are frequent. Equate
coherence and cohesion in order to explain a text structure, according the author and the
references, is a mistake, for reason pointed during all article’s reading. Coherence is
something occurred with the cohesion, but cohesion is not necessarily linked with coherence.
There are many books which coherence is not well explained. Consequently, is not well
teached for students which are learning the Second Language. If it well explained, students
would write coherent, or more coherent, texts.