从教雅思时,开始注意到写作评分标准中关于cohesion衔接和coherence连贯的这一条。中文翻译并不能清楚表明两者关系,事实上这两者是相互关联,无法割裂开的。
IELTS Writing Band-9
use cohesion in such a way that it attracts no attention
skillfully manage paraphrasing
从Scott Thornbury著作Beyond the Sentence: Introducing Discourse Analysis里面,我找到了言简意赅、也容易理解的定义和描述。
Cohesion is a surface feature of texts, independent of the reader.
Coherence, on the other hand, results from the interaction between the reader and the text.
可以看出,Cohesion是文本的表面特征,让文本内部有强连接,功能类似胶水,让句与句产生强粘性。Cohesion与读者无关,意思是,即使读者无法理解文本内容,也不影响文本的这种强粘性,即Cohesion.
Coherence,正好相反,它建立在读者与文本互动之上,当读者的期待和认知图示与文本切合时,产生强连贯。文本句子信息结构符合end weight原则,即旧信息放在前面,新信息放在后面,就能让读者更容易理解文本,进而认为文本make sense. 从此意义上说,coherence与意义更相关,也就是,即使文本内不使用任何cohesive device,如连词,也能让文本具有coherence. 在雅思写作大作文9分标准上,也提及这样一种高级的语言能力,即不用过多连词,而是利用文本信息结构的摆放,实现文章的coherence.
Cohesion
实现cohesion的方式很多,它们被称为cohesive devices. 主要靠三方面达成:1. 词汇 2. 语法 3. 修辞 。
词汇(lexical):
- direct repetition, word families, synonyms and antonyms
- words from the same semantic field, lexical chains and lists
- substitution with one/ones
语法(grammatical)
- reference: pronouns, articles ... + nominalization
- substitution of clause elements using so, not, do/does/did, etc
- ellipsis of clause elements
- conjuncts (also called linkers)
- comparatives
- tense
修辞(rhetorical)
- question-answer
- parallelism
解释一下:
词汇实现,主要靠:
- 对词汇直接重复、衍生词、同义词、反义词来实现。e.g. clear, clearer; clean, cleaner, cleansing, cleaner; fresher, cleaner; dirt, clean; under control, out of control.
- 使用同一语义场词汇、同一词汇链词汇,如 theme-related vocabulary同一主题下的词汇。e.g. skin, complexion; soap, cleansing lotion, cleanser, water, after-cleansing astringent, lather.
- 用one/ones代替noun或noun phrases。
语法实现,主要靠:
- 代词指代(前指 cataphoric reference、回指 anaphoric、外指exophoric)、定冠词the指代。
- 用so, not, do/does/did等代替从句成份。e.g. Will it rain? I think so./I think not. 代替前面动词短语或整句话。
- 省略,即substitution-by-zero零替代,不用任何词来替代,留白,让读者自己脑补填回。
- 连词。句内but,so,or,because或句间(顺序first/to begin with/lastly、递进what's more/furthermore、让步however/in spite of/on the other hand)。
- 比较级。what's even better ... 与前文产生粘合。
修辞实现,主要靠:
- 设问句。Is it important that a gin comes from London? 后续要回答此问题。
- 排比句。文学作文。
特别强调一下语法实现cohesion中的nominalization名词化,对写作帮助大。我们来看它的定义:
Nominalization: Nouns that are typically used to 'nominalize' actions and events include situation, process, way, idea, theory and viewpoint. It is used to refer to what has been said or written. e.g. explanation, criticism, proposal, suggestion. (indirect方法)
Coherence
Coherence从micro和macro层面来实现。
micro是指句子与句子层面。Given information + new information 这个信息结构来摆放。另一种方式是nominalization来实现coherence,除了与cohesion相同,用于概括前面的信息,也可以用于预期后面的信息,完成文本内容的推进(evolve the argument of the text).
e.g. Each parent passes on certain characteristics to its offspring. This process is called heredity. Heredity works in an amazing way.
macro是指topical coherence.具体实现方式:1. 话题词汇topic-carrying words,主要是名词. 2. internal patterning 由cohesion的信息结构放置延伸而来,不再是句间,而是长文本内部。3. 建立macro script,符合typical/conventional text type的安排,如叙述类时间先后顺序、新闻类结果-细节-评论等,让文本符合读者认知预期。
总结
- Coherence检验标准是读者多大程度上能与文本产生互动和链接,感到文本make sense。
- Cohesive devices可以实现更强的coherence,但不是说cohesion越强,会导致coherence越强.
例如: cohesion中的lexical repetition会增强文本coherence,但cohesion不一定带来coherence. - Coherence反过来也可以加强cohesion,虽然不用连词。(Cohesion can be achieved lexically, with few conjuncts.)
老师能做的活动:
controlled -- freer activities
awareness-raising activities (noticing)
paraphrasing, summary-writing, predictable text type, quickly identify the topic of text
sentence insertion, how to use cohesive devices appropriately in essay writing (no overuse, underuse or misuse)