[01] Thouqan Saleem Masadeh, Department of Curriculum & Instruction, Najran University, Najran, KSA.

The present study investigated cohesion and coherence in the writings of Saudi undergraduates majoring in English. A corpus of sixteen essays was analyzed using three rating scales, namely a holistic rating scale for the effectiveness of each essay, cohesion rating scale and coherence rating scale. Findings showed that undergraduates' essays were not convenient and well-developed. Cohesion and coherence were not highly established in the written essays. The most prominent problematic area students faced when writing cohesively was the very low ability to use synonymous words/phrases when needed. The bad use of accurate conjunctions and transition words to link sentences and/or paragraphs together to convey relationships throughout the essay was also another problematic area. On the other part, keeping repeating the same ideas, their failure to split their paragraphs in terms of content relevance, in addition to their inability to elaborate their ideas were the most problematic areas that prohibited them from producing coherent essay.

Saudi Undergraduates, Cohesion, Coherence, Rhetoric, Written Essays, Writing Rating Scales

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