Assessing Cohesion and Coherence in Academic Essays of English-Major Students

Abstract

This study investigates how first-year English- major students at a university in Vietnam construct cohesion and coherence in academic English essays and identifies the common difficulties they encounter. The data comprises 113 essays written collaboratively in pairs as part of the Writing course. A mixed-method content analysis was conducted using an analytical rubric developed based on the theoretical frameworks of Halliday & Hasan (1976), Witte & Faigley (1981), and Hyland (2005). The findings reveal a relative distribution of essays into two main levels of cohesion and coherence, namely high and medium. Overall, students demonstrated a tendency to employ a variety of cohesive devices and to organize arguments in a logical sequence. However, three main problem areas were identified: (1) illogical macrostructure, (2) weak coherence, and (3) limited use of metadiscourse. This study highlights the importance of cohesion and coherence in academic writing and provides pedagogical implications for writing instruction and feedback practices.