Cohesion and Coherence

COHESION / COHERENCE
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COHESION When we write text we have a number of linguistic techniques at our disposal to make sure that our prose ‘sticks together’. We can, for example, use lexical repetition and/or ‘chains’ of words within the same lexical set through a text to have this effect. The topic of the text is reinforced by the use of the same word more than once or by the inclusion of related words. We can use various grammatical devices to help the reader understand what is being referred to at all times, even when words are left out or pronouns are substituted for nouns.

Lexical cohesion is achieved by the use of two main devices:
• Repetition of words
• Lexical set ‘chains’


Grammatical cohesion is achieved in a number of different ways too:

• Pronoun and possessive reference:
• Anaphoric reference
• Article reference
• Tense agreement
• Linkers
• Substitution and ellipsis


COHERENCE The cohesive devices help us to bind elements of a- text together so that we know what is being referred to and how the phrases and sentence relate to one another. But it is perfectly possible to construct a text which, although it is rich in such devices, makes little sense because it is not coherent.
For a text to have coherence, it needs to have some kind of internal logic which the reader can follow with or without the use of prominent cohesive devices. Coherence, therefore, is frequently achieved by the way a writer sequences information
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