Vocabulary

level	assignment	master’s degree	comprehensive
formality	committee	to apply for	formal
statement of purpose	to deserve to influence	daily routines evidence	colloquial to grant
immature	background	to polish	conversational
to persuade	subordination	coherent	compound
arrogant	to target	superior	certain

Coherence: point of view

Objectives In this unit you will:	discover what coherence is;
	learn what a good writing is;
	learn the characteristic features of effective academic writing;
	analyze what cohesive devices are;
	classify specialized linking words;
	learn different means of coherency;
	classify signaling words.

Starting up

Listening

Script 5

Ex. 1. Listen to the tape and answer the questions:

1. What is a good writing?

2. What is one of the most important aspects in a good writing?

3. Why is it so important to use particular types of words and phrases known as ‘cohesive devices’?

Ex. 2. Listen to the tape again and complete these extracts.

1. Good writing needs to be as …….. as possible so that the reader can easily …….. sentences, ideas and details.

2. One of the most important aspects is to show the …….. and …….. between ideas.

3. Using …….. types of words and phrases, known as ‘........’, to link …….. sentences and …….. of sentences, helps the reader to follow the …….. …. ……..without any difficulty.

4. They help the writing to flow …….. , without unnecessary …….. .

Ex. 3. Read two passages aloud. Place a checkmark (√) on the line if the phrase describes the passage. The first one is done for you.

Passage A Passage B

Choppy/Basic …...√…... …………

Fluent/Complex …………. …………

Weak control of pronouns …………. …………

Effective control of pronouns …………. …………

Unclear audience …………. …………

Clear audience …………. …………

Excessive repetition …………. …………

Effective repetition …………. …………

One Benefit of Travel

Passage A

First of all, travel will enable people to take a break. People always have a lot of work to do. Hard work and pressure make you feel tired and uncomfortable. We are not working machines. They need time to take breaks. Travel will enable you to relax. Also, travel will energize people to work better, especially computer programmers. They use their brains a lot every day. After a long time, they may become slow-witted. Under such a condition, you cannot work effectively. We need to find a place for a vacation. You need to see natural phenomena, instead of looking at computers all day. They will get energy from nature and then come back to work much more efficiently than before. I have experience with this. I have been to Buffalo. I saw a wonderful sight there. I saw Niagara Falls. I looked up at it. It seemed to fall from the sky. It was very beautiful. You could feel the power coming from the falls. You were inspired to do your work [173 words].

Passage B

First of all, travel will enable people to take a break. Because people always have a lot of work to do, sometimes hard work and pressure make them feel tired and uncomfortable. People are not working machines. Therefore, they need time to take breaks, and travel will enable them to relax. Also, travel will energize people to work better, especially computer programmers, who use their brains a lot every day. After a long time, they may become slow-witted. Under such a condition, they cannot work effectively, so they need to find a place for a vacation where they can see natural phenomena instead of looking at computers all day. They will get energy from nature and then come back to work much more efficiently than before. For example, travel helped me overcome burnout. To relax from my stressful job as a computer programmer, I went to Buffalo, where I saw a wonderful sight, Niagara Falls. When I looked up at the falls, the gushing water seemed to fall from the sky, and I could feel its power. The sight was so beautiful that I was more inspired to do my work [191 words].

(Adapted with permission, Yunhai Yang, Taiwanese)