Hi guys Let's talk about coherence and cohesion in writ | IELTS Essays Band 9 | IELTS Writing 9.0
Hi guys
Let's talk about coherence and cohesion in writing task 2.
This post is for people who really care about the tiny details of essay structure. Honestly, for most people this is not a major thing, however it is an important point.
There is a little element of the band descriptors for writing task 2 that has always interested me. That point is the band 6 CC criteria which states.
"cohesion within and/or between sentences may be faulty or mechanical"
I fully understood 'faulty' - meaning errors - but I've never been sure exactly what 'mechanical' is or how it is interpreted by examiners.
Recently, I've got a little more advice on this by examiners who state that this 'mechanical' issue is occasionally due to 'overuse' of 'cohesive devices'.
The question then becomes, what is a cohesive device? Cohesive devices are expressions and words that we use to link our sentences and ideas to each other. Such words include 'Firstly, For example, However, this noun (referential), In addition, Furthermore, which, so, thus etc etc etc.
The examiner I spoke to gave me the advice that your whole essay shouldn't be full of 'Firstly, Secondly, First of all, Second of all, In addition, Furthermore, For example, For instance at the start of every new idea.
I've mentioned this before that it is not always necessary to start your ideas with one of these words, but it was confirmed to me that you genuinely shouldn't (always), otherwise you run the risk of sounding 'mechanical due to overuse of cohesive devices'.
I'm not saying that you shouldn't use words like 'Firstly or Secondly'. I just wouldn't be using them in every paragraph or before every idea. Use other natural ways to start your ideas. Sometimes it's fine to just jump into your idea without any 'cohesive device' and just let context take care of it.
P.s: I hope this is useful. I think it is important information to those especially who are trying to reach 8s or are IELTS teachers who follow this page.
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