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Written English
How to write essays for IELTS & TOEFL
& for other Exams as well

 

Foreword / Introduction

What do markers look for when they mark the written portion of a test?

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

This page deals with styles, registers, and cohesiveness.

  

 

　

DEFINITIONS

Terms Definitions
Styles Styles of writing include the following:

- informative
- persuasive
- narrative
- artistic

These are explained in detail below
Registers Registers of writing include the following:

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

These are explained in detail below
Cohesiveness Cohesiveness [Przybyla, 2003] = Cohesion + Coherence

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

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

Note:  all styles and registers require cohesiveness.

 

 

　EXTRAPOLATION / EXPLANATION / EXAMPLES:

　

 
Styles

     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.

　
 
Registers

     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 [Przybyla, 2003]

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:

Frogs are amphibians.  Giraffes are mammals.  It is green with brown spots.  They live in Africa.

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:

There two kinds of animals that shall be discussed in this text.  One kind is amphibian, and the other kind is mammal.  An example of an amphibian is a frog.  An example of a mammal is a giraffe.  Both frogs and giraffes have spots, and thus, they are not in different categories because of their appearance.  Both frogs and giraffes live in Africa, so they are not categorized differently because of region.... etc.

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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