Cohesive devices and transitions COHESIVE DEVICES • Used to connect ideas between sentences and paragraphs in a seamless way • Cohesive devices can be taken as clues to understand and interpret a text • Readers can follow a writer’s flow of ideas by looking at the cohesive devices used • Cohesive devices can be transitional words or phrases • They also allow you to see the logical sequence of the paragraph Examples 1. Repetition of a key term or phrase 2. Pronouns 3. Synonyms 4. Sentence patterns Repetition of a key term or phrase
• Writers often use repetition of a key term to ensure the readers’
concentration • Eg. Many new university students face homesickness as they face new challenges on campus. Homesickness as they face new challenges on campus. Homesickness is often faced by students who have never stayed away from their parents. Pronouns • Writers often use pronouns to refer to an idea/a thing/ a person that is previously mentioned • Eg. We wanted to visit Sydney with my mother. However, she promised her brother to visit him in Tokyo. So, she went to Tokyo without us. Synonyms • Synonyms ass coherence to a text and enrich the text with the usage of rich vocabulary • Eg. Parents expect their offspring to respect other people as a mark that their children have been raised properly. Sentence patterns • Writers use parallel or repeated sentence patterns to link ideas • Eg. Students are advised to sleep early. They are reminded to eat properly. They are recommended to participate in the campus activities. TRANSITIONS • Transition words are used in a sentence to connect two ideas. They join clauses or sentences together to show a difference or a connection. • Example 1: We arrived late at the movie, so we didn’t understand the ending. • In Example 1, the word so connects two clauses to show a result. It was because we were late that we didn’t understand the ending. The meaning of the two clauses is clearer than if each stood alone • Example 2: We arrived late at the movie. We didn’t understand the ending. • In Example 2, the two ideas are separate. • There is no connection with arriving late and not understanding the movie. Instead, it appears that not understanding the ending has nothing to do with arriving late. TRANSITIONS FUNCTION TRANSITION TO SHOW A PROCESS 1. First, second, third, fourth 2. Firstly.. 3. Secondly.. 4. Thirdly.. 5. At first.. 6. In the beginning.. 7. After that.. 8. At first.. 9. At last.. 10.Meanwhile 11.Next 12.Soon 13.later FUNCTION TRANSITION TO SHOW A CONDITION 1.If 2.As 3.Due to 4.Unless 5.As long as 6.In order to 7.In view of 8.Provided that FUNCTION TRANSITION TO INDICATE MORE IDEAS 1.In addition 2.Moreover 3.Furthermore 4.Besides 5.In fact 6.Apart from that FUNCTION TRANSITION TO COMPARE 1.Likewise 2.Similarly 3.Coincidentally FUNCTION TRANSITION TO CONCLUDE 1.In summary 2.To recapitulate 3.To sum up 4.In conclusion 5.finally FUNCTION TRANSITION TO MAKE SUGGESTION 1.To this end 2.For this purpose 3.With this in mind FUNCTION TRANSITION TO SHOW TIME 1.Tomorrow 2.Afterwards 3.During 4.Today FUNCTION TRANSITION TO PROVIDE EXAMPLES 1.For instance 2.For example 3.To illustrate FUNCTION TRANSITION TO SHOW CAUSE AND EFFECT 1.With the result that 2.So that 3.Consequently 4.Therefore 5.So 6.Thus 7.As a result FUNCTION TRANSITION TO SHOW CONTRAST OF 1.On the contrary IDEAS 2.However 3.Notwithstanding FUNCTION TRANSITION TO BRING ATTENTION TO 1.Especially 2.Specifically 3.In particular FUNCTION TRANSITION TO CONCEDE TO A POINT 1.Although 2.At least 3.At any rate FUNCTION TRANSITION TO CLARIFY 1.In other words 2.Anyway 3.By all means 4.In this case FUNCTION TRANSITION TO SHOW A LOCATION 1.Below 2.Beneath 3.Above 4.Across Example 1 • Irsyad realises that his parents work hard to support his education. Therefore, he studies hard and is awarded the Dean’s List every semester. • Therefore- a cohesive device to connect the first idea with the second idea, thus, showing the cause-effect relationship
The First Idea The Second Idea
Irsyad realises his parents He studies hard and work hard to support his achieves a Dean’s List education award for every semester Example 2 • Noreen does everything she can to ensure she gets good results. For example, she attends extra classes during weekends. • For example- a cohesive device to connect the first idea with the second idea, thus, illustrating example.
The First Idea The Second Idea
Noreen does everything She attends extra classes she can to ensure she gets during weekends. good results Exercise 1 • https://quizizz.com/admin/quiz/5bafafc3ba1022001907a683/cohesiv e-devices Exercise 2: Fill in the blanks with appropriate cohesive devices. • Hamdan woke up late for his morning lecture. When he left his dorm room, the rain started to fall heavily. (1)_____________, he decided to skip his lecture. (2) __________________, he lay on his bed. (3) __________________, he felt that his lecturer would be angry with him (4) ______________________ he did not attend the lecture. (5) _____________________, he felt guilty as he promised his parents to attend all his lectures. (6) ______________________, he decided to attend the lecture. (7) _____________________, he took his umbrella and walked to the lecture hall. Exercise 3: Read the passage. Pay attention to the three transitions in the passage. • A rise in living expenses has forced some university students to rethink their finances. For instance, some of the students spend no money at all for breakfast, choosing to load up during lunch or dinner instead. As a result, they often feel hungry in the morning. Although they are hungry, they still manage to concentrate in class. ‘For instance’ in the paragraph joins two ideas. Write them in the space given. FIRST IDEA SECOND IDEA ‘As a result’ in the paragraph joins two ideas. Write them in the space given. FIRST IDEA SECOND IDEA ‘Although’ in the paragraph joins two ideas. Write them in the space given. FIRST IDEA SECOND IDEA