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What are cohesive devices?
We are going to explain the cohesive devices. You may have seen people around you who, despite good knowledge of English vocabulary and grammar, do not understand the connection between what they are saying when they speak or write.
What is the reason for this? Why can’t we understand the connection between the beginning and the end of their words?
One of the reasons is the lack of use of cohesive devices. What is a cohesive device or connecter? And what’s its use? We will explain in this post.
What are the cohesive devices?
Cohesive devices are words and phrases that integrate text and make it understandable. They are also one of the important factors for getting a high score in writing and speaking is the IELTS test.
Cohesive devices are words like ‘For example, In conclusion, however, and moreover’ that guide the reader of the text to see what the connection is between ideas, clauses, sentences, and paragraphs.
Examples of Cohesive Devices:
1) The public transport in this city is unreliable and it’s cheap.
2) The public transport in this city is unreliable but it’s cheap.
The first example uses ‘and’, and the second uses ‘but’. Each of them sends different signals and changes the meaning of the sentence. In the first example, the use of ‘and’ has made the reader realize that ‘it’s cheap’ has been added to the previous sentence as additional information. In fact, it is describing ‘the public transport’, pointing out two main features of it.
However, in the second example, using ‘but’ lets the reader know that what is in the second part is the opposite of the first part, maybe in comparison with the public transport in other cities or countries that are unreliable and expensive.
How to use cohesive devices?
One of the main problems for learners is that they don’t know how to use connecters properly, so they run into problems when writing text.
The use of these communication tools must be consistent with the text and its content. You can’t use them too much or too little, and you can’t use wrong connectors.
The following criterion is mentioned in the IELTS writing band descriptor for a score of 7:
“Uses a range of cohesive devices appropriately although there may be some under- / over-use”
This means that the candidate has used a variety of cohesive tools correctly, but it is too much or too little use. So learners need to master how to use connectors adequately and appropriately in their work.
The advice for using the cohesive device
1. Read or listen to a lot
If you really want to learn how to use connectors correctly, you must first see their use in different sentences.
Just seeing them is not enough, but it is the first step in learning. What kind of connectors are used and in what sentences is the thing you can do by reading a lot of texts or listening to different recordings.
2. Practice and evaluate yourself
Practice these cohesive devices and ask an experienced IELTS teacher to read your text and comment on your use of these words.
You may not be able to evaluate yourself in the first place, but if a teacher informs you of your strengths and weaknesses, you will certainly get improved.
The abstract of the article:
In this article, we talked about the cohesive devices and thoroughly researched this topic, as well as provided practical tips and tricks.
