How is the written exam scored?

According to IELTS, markers are looking for:  Coherence and Cohesion, Lexical Resource and Grammatical Range and Accuracy.  The four criteria are equally weighted.

     Coherence and Cohesion = Cohesiveness
      Lexical Resource = Extensive Vocabulary
      Grammatical Range = Extensive Grammar knowledge and use
      Grammatical Accuracy = proper usage of English grammar

According to TOEFL, markers are looking for: (1) development, (2) organization, (3) appropriate and precise use of grammar and (4) appropriate and precise use of vocabulary.  Scores are given for each category.

      Development = use of style and register
      Organization = Cohesiveness

- informative
- persuasive
- narrative
- artistic

- formal / informal
- technical / non-technical
- academic / non-academic

Cohesion = (on linguistic level) grammatical & lexical relationships within a text.

Coherence = (on semantic level) making a text completely comprehensible, and easily so.

     1.  Informative:  like the news, just giving information.  This is also called expository style.

     2.  Persuasive:  trying to convince one's reader that your idea is superior to other ideas.  This requires:

            a.  at least two points, given in the introductory paragraph

            b.  at least two supporting "evidences" for each point

            c.  a short summary of the points.

     3.  Narrative:  writing a story.  All stories must have:

            a.  Setting (time, place, main characters).  The setting must be elucidated at the beginning of a narrative

            b.  Plot (problem, solution).  After the solution to the problem, the narrative is OVER!

     4.  Artistic:  like prose and poetry.

     1.  Formal.  This register requires:

            a.  no use of slang

            b.  avoidance of idiomatic expressions and phrasal verbs (as much as possible).  It is 99.9% possible, but you may not know how to do it, so, I say, "As much as you possibly can."

            c.  avoidance of literary forms, such as hyperbole, alliteration, apostrophe, sarcasm, irony, etc.

     2.  Informal.  This register allows:

            a.  use of slang

            b.  use of idiomatic expressions and phrasal verbs

            c.  use of literary forms, such as hyperbole, alliteration, apostrophe, sarcasm, irony, etc.

     3.  Technical.  This register requires:

            a.  use of formal register

            b.  use of proper nomenclature/terminology (of the technical field that applies)

     4.  Non-technical.  This register allows:

            a.  use of informal register

            b.  use of lay-persons' terminology

     5.  Academic.  This register requires:

            a.  use of formal register

            b.  avoidance of active voice as much as possible; use of passive voice as much as possible.

            c.  avoidance of contractions

            d.  avoidance of absolute statements that cannot be substantiated.

     6.  Non-academic.  This register allows:

            a.  use of informal register

            b.  either voice (active or passive)

            c.  contractions

            d.  hyperbole or generalizations

Cohesiveness is composed of two things:  cohesion and coherence

COHESIVENESS
|
------------------------
|                             |
COHESION            COHERENCE

DEFINITIONS:

1.  COHESIVENESS [Przybyla, 2003]:  both cohesion and coherence

2.  COHESION:  linguistically "sticking" words, sentences, and paragraphs together, logically.

          [linguistically means grammatically and lexically]

3.  COHERENCE:  semantically "sticking" words, sentences, and paragraphs together, logically.

          [semantically means meaningfully]

EXAMPLES:

First, let me deal with cohesion.

Please look at the following paragraph:

That example lacks cohesion for several reasons:

- Cohesion Problem 1:  Why is the author writing about amphibians AND mammals in the same text?  There is no linguistic devices to "tie" or "connect" the two together.

- Cohesion Problem 2:  In the third sentence, the pronoun "it" is used, but we have no idea what "it" might refer to.

- Cohesion Problem 3:  In the fourth sentence, the pronoun "they" is used, but we don't know if it is referring to frogs or giraffes.

Sample Correction:

Ah!  Now we have cohesion (and coherence)!

According to Halliday & Hasan (1976) as reported by Carrel (1982) in TESOL QUARTERLY, coherence comes only as a result of proper register and proper cohesion.  Carrel is quick to point out that it's not so simple (and she quotes a lot of other famous researchers).

One very important factor that contributes to coherence is word choice, or word usage.

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