Cover not available

Article published In: Pragmatics
Vol. 5:3 (1995) ► pp.299–324

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF

Cohesion strategies and genre in expository prose: An analysis of the writing of children of ethnolinguistic cultural groups

Open Access logo
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.
Published online: 1 September 1995
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.5.3.02aba
In most societies the ability to write has become a significant criterion in judging one's "success or "failure" in becoming literate. This paper focuses on the classroom literacy practice called "writing," inasmuch as learning to write in a specific kind of way is part and parcel of children's literacy learning expectations. It is based on a study which examined cohesion patterns found in expository writing samples of sixth grade urban African American, urban Appalachian, and mainstream culture children attending a middle school in a large midwestern urban school system in the United States. This paper challenges the prevailing notion that ethnicity, social class and language variation influence the quality of writing these children produce.
References (60)
Ackerman, J.M. (1991) Reading, writing, and knowing: The role of disciplinary knowledge in comprehension and composing. Research in the teaching of English 251: 133-178.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Akinnaso, F. (1985) On the similarities between spoken and written language. Language and speech 28.4: 323-359.  BoP Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Applebee, A.N., J.A. Langer, and I.V. Mullis (1986) The writing report card: Writing achievement in American schools. Princeton: Educational Testing Services.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baugh, J. (1987) Research currents: The situational dimension of linguistic power in social context. Language arts 64.2: 234-240.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bereiter, C, and M Scardamalia (1982) From conversation to composition. In R. Glaser (ed.), Advances in instructional psychology. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Binkley, M. (1983) A descriptive and comparative study of cohesive structures in text materials from differing academic disciplines. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
Britton, J. (1970) Talking and writing. In E. Events (ed.), Explorations in children’s writing. Illinois: NCTE.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bryan, A.H. (1989) Cohesion analysis of the speaking and writing of four Black college students. Dissertation Abstracts International 51:08A. (University Microfilm No. 90-16, 432).
Carrell, P.L. (1982) Cohesion is not coherence. TESOL quarterly 16.4: 479-489. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chall, J.S., and V.A. Jacobs (1983) Writing and reading in the elementary grades: Development trends among low-SES children. Language arts 601: 617-626.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chapman, L.J. (1981) The comprehension of anaphora. (ERIC Document Reproduction Services No. ED 205 897).
. (1983) Reading development and cohesion. London: Heinemann.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1987) Reading from 5–11 years. London: Open University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chapman, L.J., and W. Louw (1986) Register development and secondary school texts. In B. Gillham (ed.), The language of school subjects. London: Heinemann, pp. 8-23.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Christie, F. (1991) Pedagogical and content registers in a writing lesson. Linguistics and education 31: 203-224. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cox, B.E., T. Shanahan, and E. Sulzby (1990) Good and poor elementary readers’ use of cohesion in writing. Reading research quarterly 251: 47-65. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cox, B.E., T. Shanahan, and M.B. Tinzmann (1991) Children’s knowledge of organization, cohesion, and voice in written exposition. Research in the teaching of English 25.2: 179-218.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cox, B.E., and M. Tinzmann (December 1987) Elementary children’s knowledge of exposition. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Reading Conference, St. Petersburg, FL.
Cronnell, M. (1991) Interrelationships between reading and writing persuasive discourse. Research in (he teaching of English 25.3: 314-338.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Crowhurst, M. (1987) Cohesion argument and narration at three grade levels. Research in the teaching of English 211: 185-201.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cunningham, R. (1981) Apples on the flood: The southern mountain experience. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
DeStefano, J.S. (1990) Assessing students’ communicative competence using a linguistic analysis procedure. Linguistics and education 2.2: 127-145. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
DeStefano, J.S., and R. Kantor (1988) Cohesion in spoken and written dialogue: An investigation of cultural and textual constraints. Linguistics and education 11: 105-124. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
DeStefano, J.S., H. Pepinsky, and T. Sanders (1982) Discourse rules for literacy learning in a classroom. In L.C. Wilkinson (ed.), Communicating in the classroom. New York: Academic, pp. 101-129.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dipardo, A. (1990) Narrative knowers, expository knowledge: Discourse as a dialectic. Written communication 71: 59-95. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Durst, R.K. (1989) Monitoring processes in analytical and summary writing. Written communication 61: 340-363. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dyson, A.H. (1991) The word and the world: Reconceptualizing written language development, or, do rainbows mean a lot to little girls? Research in the teaching of English 251: 97-123.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Flower, L. (1989) Cognition, context, and theory building. College composition and communication 401: 282-311. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fordham, S. and J.U. Ogbu (1986) Black students’ school success: Coping with the burden of “acting white.” The urban review 181: 176-206. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Garber, M.D. (March 1980) An examination and comparison of selected cohesive features found in child-produced texts and beginning reading materials. Paper presented at the National Conference on Language Arts in the Elementary School, San Antonio, TX.
Gee, J. (1986) Literate America on illiterate America: A review of Jonathan Kozol’s Illiterate America. Journal of education 1681: 126-140. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gutwinski, W. (1976) Cohesion in literacy texts (Janua Linguarum Series Minor 204). The Hague: Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Halliday, M., and R. Hasan (1976, Reprint 1992) Cohesion in English. New York: Longman, Inc.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(1985) Language, context, and text: Aspects of language in a social-semiotic perspective. Victoria: Deakin University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hasan, R. (1984) Coherence and cohesive harmony. In J. Rood (ed.), Understanding reading comprehension. Delaware: International Reading Association, pp. 181-219.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Haskins, R. (1980) Race, family income, and school achievement. The urban review 181: 176-206.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Higgins L (1990) Planning text together: The role of critical reflection in student collaboration. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Boston, MA. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 322 495).
Kameenui, E.J., and D.W. Carnine (1982) An investigation of fourth graders comprehension of pronoun constructions in ecologically valid texts. Reading research quarterly 181: 556-680. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kantor, K.J. (October 1987) Teaching writing since Dartmouth: Broadening the context. English education 19.3: 171-180.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kantor, K.J., and D.L. Rubin (1981) Between speaking and writing: Processes of differentiate. In B.M. Kroll and R.J. Vann (eds.), Exploring speaking-writing relationships. Illinois: NCTE.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
King, M L., and V.R. Rentel (1979) Towards a theory of early writing development. Research in the teaching of English 131: 243-253.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Littlefair, AB. (1991) Reading all types of writing. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Martin J R., and P. Peters (1985) On the analysis of exposition. In R. Hasan (ed.), Discourse on discourse: The Macquarie workshop on discourse analysis. Australia: Applied Linguistics Association of Australia, pp. 61-92.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McCoy, C.B., J.S. Brown, and V.M. Watkins (1981) Implications of changes in Appalachia for urban areas. In W.W. Philliber and C.B. McCoy (eds.), The invisible minority: Urban Appalachians. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McGinley, W. (1992) The role of reading and writing while composing from sources. Reading research quarterly 27.3: 227-250. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Moe, AJ. (October 1979) Cohesion, coherence, and the comprehension of text. Journal of reading, 16-20.
Moffett, J. (1985) Hidden impediments. In S. Tsudi (ed.), Language, schooling, and society. New Jersey: Boynton/Cook, pp. 89-100.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
National assessment of educational progress (1986) The reading report card, progress toward excellence in our schools: Trends in reading over four national assessments, 1971–1984. Princeton: Educational Testing Service.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Neuner, J.L. (1987) Cohesive ties and chains in good and poor freshman essays. Research in the teaching of English 211: 121-145.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ogbu J U (1990) Overcoming racial barriers to equal access. In J. Goodlad, and P. Keating (eds.), Access to knowledge: An agenda for our nation’s schools. New York: College Board Publications, pp. 59-89.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pappas, C.C. (1985) The cohesive harmony and cohesive density of children’s oral and written stories.’ In J.D. Benson and W.S. Greaves (eds.), Systemic perspectives on discourse volume 2: Selected applied papers from the 9th international systemic workshop. New Jersey: Ablex, pp. 169-186.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Perera, K. (1986) Some linguistic difficulties in school text books. In B. Gillham (ed.), The language of school subjects. London: Heinemann Educational Books.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1984) Children’s writing and reading: Analysing classroom language. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Prater, D., and W. Pädia (1983) Effects of modes in discourse writing performance in grades four and six. Research in the teaching of English 171: 127-134.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rutter, P., and B. Raban (1982) The development of cohesion in children’s writing: A preliminary investigation. Foreign Language 31: 63-75.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Smith, F. (1982) Writing and the writer. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Spivey, N.N. (1991) The shaping of meaning: Options in writing the comparison. Reading research quarterly 25.4: 390-418.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tierney, R.J., and J. Mosenthal (1981) The cohesion concepts’ relationship to the coherence of text. (Tech. Rep. No. 221). Illinois: University of Illinois, Center for the Study of Reading.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Witte, S.P. (March 1980) Text cohesion and the study of written discourse. Paper presented at the annual meeting of.the Conference on College Composition and Communication, Washington, D.C. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. 185 586).
Wolfram, W., and D. Christian (1976) Appalachian speech. Arlington, VA: Center for Applied Linguistics.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Hu, Zhuanglin
2024. The Application of Discourse Analysis in Language Teaching. In Halliday and Chinese Linguistics: The Full Circle [The M.A.K. Halliday Library Functional Linguistics Series, ], ► pp. 185 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 30 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue