Expository writing in Turkish: a rhetorical approach to coherence and cohesion

Abstract

Coherence, i.e. the overall structure of the content of a text and cohesion, i.e. thetext-internal relations across clauses are considered two important standards that indicate the development of text construction abilities of children. This study analyzes the development of coherence and cohesion in expository writing in Turkish. The participants in this study from four grade groups (5th, 7th, 9th grade and universitys tudents) were asked to produce written expository text after having seen a video whichdepicts "the problems between people." With respect to the macrostructural organization of the texts, the demarcation of opening, developing, and concluding parts is achieved via their rhetorical function in theoverall text. To serve this purpose, MOVE analysis is recruited from genre analysis. It has also been noted that the existence or absence of structural parts such as opening, development, and conclusion can only be determined in relation to each other in thetexts.The cohesive properties of the data are analyzed in terms of reference, ellipsis, conjunction, lexical cohesion, temporality, aspectuality, and modality. It is noted that children's use of cohesive resources shows sensitivity to the rhetorical function of global parts of the discourse from early grades on. To conclude, the development of coherence and cohesion is proposed to beintricately related through literacy development. Especially the use of coordinative conjunctions, referential chains, and temporal-aspectual-modal marking seem to berelated to the rhetorical organization of the texts.