IQ Analysis What does ‘coherence’ mean? The areas of ‘coherence’ and ‘cohesion’ (see Steps 28 and 29) are closely related to each other. While cohesion generally refers to the way in which a text links together, coherence relates to the overall idea of logical development and whether your argument is consistent throughout. There are three key questions which can be asked in order to see if your text is coherent: W
Is it clear? • Can the reader easily follow your line of argument?
masoomi.mohsen@outlook.com
• Does the argument develop in a clear, logical, step-by-step fashion?
Time management: a review Incoherent text is often the result of poor planning, organization and time management. It is important to follow each stage of writing an essay (i.e., brainstorming, outlining, writing and proofreading) so that your essay is coherent. Review Step 12 for more details.
• Have you chosen the correct overall structure for your essay? • Have you written good topic sentences which clearly outline each paragraph? Is it consistent? • Is your argument/position the same at the beginning as at the end? • Are you clear exactly what the title is asking you to do, and how you intend to answer it? (S\ Is it concise? • Does each paragraph contain only one main idea?
What makes academic writing incoherent? The following list identifies four of the most common factors that may make academic writing incoherent, along with some potential solutions.
Sentence length f i t Problem: Overlong sentences are a common feature of poor academic writing. Many non-native speakers write very long sentences, believing that such sentences are more ‘academic’. This is not true. It is much better to write a sentence which is shorter andmore accurate than one which is long and difficult to follow. Three of the best indicators that your sentence may be too long are that it has: • too many words (if more than 25, it should be checked carefully) • too m any pr epo sitio ns (more than four can m ake it difficult to understand the meaning)
• too many c o n ju n c tio n s or relative sentence may be too complicated)
pro no uns
(more than three suggests that the
Solutions: • Divide the sentence into two (using a full stop or semicolon). • Change the structure of the sentence. • Simplify the idea of the sentence - do not try to achieve too much.