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IELTS Writing Coherency and Cohesion

by KOMIL
(TASHKENT)

You know it seemed very easy to write essay at the first time when I’ve started writing task 2 however when I submitted my assignments to my tutor he told me that you can make your sentences clearly but there some mistakes with cohesion you should follow the rule.

What kind of vital advices can you give which could facilitate of my writing process.

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May 25, 2015
 Writing Coherence
by: IELTS buddy

Hi Komil,

There is a lesson here about Essay Writing Coherence.

Also, try working your way through the links to all the Task 2 writing lessons on those pages as it may help.

Thanks

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Can someone comment on my coherence in this paragraph?

by leo liang
(sydney)

below is one paragraph about negative effect by IT, which i write for practising my coherence

Technology has led to significant improvements in people’s life, do u agree or not?

A particularly dire effect of developments in technology is lack of family bonding. This is because people’s behavior has been changed by modern technology. For example, in recent years the younger generation tends to enjoy their time on their online life such as checking facebook rather than interact with their families at their free time. If they expose to this situation for long time, they may only live in their own virtual world. As a result, it will not only decrease their communication skills, but also limit their social opportunities with people from outside.

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May 26, 2014
 Paragraph Coherence
by: IELTS buddy

Hi,

It looks good to me. Very easy to read and follow, and there is no repetition.

You have a clear topic / central idea to the paragraph, presented in the first sentence.

You give a reason for starting this, then provide a fully developed example, followed by the consequences of this.

Well done!
Jun 07, 2014
 Nice.
by: Harry Punjabi

The coherence part is perfect in my opinion. I would, however like to point out a few parts that you can improve. (My suggestions in brackets.)

A particularly dire effect of developments in technology is lack (or weakening) of family bonding. This is because people’s behavior has been changed (altered) by modern technology. For example, (nowadays)the younger generation tends to enjoy their time on their online life such as checking (Facebook) rather than (interacting) with their families (in) their free time. If they (are exposed) to this situation for long time, they may live (only) in their own virtual world. As a result, it will not only decrease (Or Harm) their communication skills, but also limit their social opportunities with people from outside.
Jun 09, 2014
 improve accuracy
by: leo

Thanks Harry Punjabi

i really appreciate that you can pay attenation to read my paragraph,and replace some more advanced words. my next goal is to improve my vocabalary that i want to use collocation accurately. this is a job that most difficult for non-native speakers

i have submitted several essaies in the fourm, but it seems have not approved by Ielts buddy.

hope more people can correct my essay in this website that i found really useful.

cheers

leo
Apr 15, 2016
 Check this out
by: Arvind

Hi,

I have completely re-written this paragraph in my own language. Kindly check this and let me know if it can be improved at certain level.

The first and foremost effect of technology on people’s life is an unhealthy lifestyle. As youth is engaged with their mobile phones and laptops, they do not participate in outdoor sports games which has an adverse impact on their health. For instance, according to a medical study, it has been proven that people who sit in a one posture and tied up with technical devices are having many physical and health issues. Consequently, their health level is getting declined considerably, and they live with harmful diseases. Thus, it is clear that technology has a bad impact on people’s lifestyle and it has long term consequences.

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Phrases for Giving Examples

by vahideh
(hong kong)

A question comes to my mind. In writing task 2 I plan to clarify a point of view. can I say that "To illustrate this point of view, ....."

For example:

"One the one hand, some people think that parents are responsible for children's education. to illustrate this point of view, ......"

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Aug 27, 2017
 Phrases for Giving Examples
by: IELTS buddy

That isn't a phrase that is normally used. Something like that would need to be followed by a subject and verb such as:

"To illustrate this point I will explain....".

But that is too informal for an essay.

I'd stick to the normal ones that are used. If you do an online search you'll find plenty to look at.
Aug 27, 2017
 thank you
by: Anonymous

Thank you for explaining to me.

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What are the best IELTS writing cohesive devices?

by saeeed
(teh)

Hi to all.

I have studied your marvelous sample writing task 2. If we like to write multiple ideas, which one of following structures is better? I mean which one get the better score.

First structure:

In this structure, I use the 'firstly' and 'moreover' to separate ideas. please take a look at this example:

Sth has several disadvantages. Firstly, one of the most important item is that sth is useful. Moreover, another disadvantage of sth is that it is free.

Second structure:

In this structure, 'one of the most important item' and 'Another disadvantage of sth is that it is free', are added, we must not use 'firstly' and 'moreover'. Please take a glimpse on following example:

Sth has several disadvantages. one of the most important item is that sth is useful. Another disadvantage of sth is that it is free.

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Dec 09, 2019
 Cohesive Devices and Phrases
by: IELTS buddy

It's not that you can only use one or the other i.e. only use one word cohesive devices, such as 'Firstly', or only use longer ones, such as 'One of the first advantages of....is that....".

You can mix and use both. The point is you want to show you have flexible use of language and lexis.

But yes if someone used the more complex ones you mentioned (correctly of course) all the way through as opposed to lots of words such as 'firstly', 'moreover' all the way through, it would look better for coherence and cohesion.

I can't say it would automatically get you a better score because you are marked on other things as well for CC and you would, as I said, have to be using them correctly.

I have a video on using more complex cohesive devices here:

Band 7+ Transitional Phrases

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Different Meaning of Coherence and Cohesion

by Mike Tam
(Cebu, Philippines)

Is it possible that an essay is coherent but not cohesive? and vice versa. How?

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Jan 20, 2018
 Different Meaning of Coherence and Cohesion
by: IELTS buddy

Hi,

In theory you could have one without the other to an extent, as this is one definition from the internet:

Coherence is based more on the logic of the ideas and how they are presented rather than on the language that is used to express these ideas. "Cohesion" refers to the degree to which sentences (or even different parts of one sentence) are connected so that the flow of ideas is easy to follow.

Or another definition:

Basically, coherence refers to the "rhetorical" aspects of your writing, which include developing and supporting your argument (e.g. thesis statement development), synthesizing and integrating readings, organizing and clarifying ideas. The cohesion of writing focuses on the "grammatical" aspects of writing.

So in other words, coherence is to do with the ideas and support you come up with and the way you present them - do you organise them in a way that makes sense and is logical.

Cohesion, on the other hand, is the language you are using to achieve that. For example, linking words such as 'however', 'and' etc.

So someone in theory could have clear logical ideas, but mess up with their linking words.

But realistically it's unlikely someone will do well in one but badly in the other, because as you can see they will likely end up very interconnected. In order to present your ideas in a logical and clear way you'd need to use the right connecting devices, and if you mess up with those, your ideas will probably be difficult to follow.

That is why they are placed together in the marking as they are really part of the same thing.

Certainly examiners are unlikely to be distinguishing between the two terms when they mark an essay.

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