A Corpus-based Study Of The Use Of Grammatical Cohesive Devices In Senior High School Students’ Writing

The effective use of cohesive devices has a direct relationship with the writing quality.However,the results of previous research indicate that the appropriate use of cohesive devices in their English writing remains challenging for students.Therefore,based on two self-constructed corpora,ST(Senior High School Students’ texts)and RT(PEP English textbooks’ reading texts),this thesis explores how well senior high school students can employ grammatical cohesive devices in their English writings and provides corresponding suggestions for writing instruction.The findings show that ST and RT share some features in the use of grammatical cohesive devices: the most frequently used device is reference,followed by conjunction.Substitution and ellipsis rarely occur in ST and RT.However,there are certain distinguishing characteristics: in narrative writing,students employed fewer grammatical cohesive devices,whereas in expository writing,they used more.The use of reference by students focuses on some types,while the use of reference in textbooks is diverse.In the use of conjunctions,sequential relations of temporal conjunctions are used considerably more frequently by students,such as ‘to start with’,‘first(ly)’,‘first of all’,‘third(ly)’,‘at last’,etc.However,simple temporal relations are employed more frequently in textbooks,such as ‘after’,‘then’,‘before’,‘now’,etc.In addition,conjunctions,including ‘in the end’,‘in a word’,‘moreover’,‘on the other hand’,‘apart from’,‘above all’,etc.are used by students but are not found in textbooks.On the contrary,some conjunctions which have been used in textbooks are not found in students’ writing,such as ‘indeed’,‘in general’,‘in fact’,‘anyhow’,‘neither’,‘or’,etc.Furthermore,the study uncovers some problems students have in using grammatical cohesive devices: misuse and inappropriate use of reference and conjunction,and fail to use substitution and ellipsis.The reasons are as follows: differences between parataxis and hypotaxis on cohesion,negative transfer of mother tongue,and lack of register awareness.Based on these findings,corresponding implications were proposed for English teachers.First,teachers are expected to equip themselves with a thorough understanding of cohesion and cohesive devices.Furthermore,they are advised to utilize reading texts from English textbooks as examples of cohesion for writing instructions in the classroom and develop students’ awareness of cohesion in their writings.In view of the problems students have in using cohesive devices,teachers need to understand the reasons and design proper writing instructions to enhance the quality of their writing.