On the Significance of Lexical Cohesion from the Perspective of English Learning

（Southwestern University of Finance and Economics，School of Foreign Language for Business， Chengdu， Sichuan， 611130）

【Abstract】：The use of lexical cohesion plays a very important role in English learning. This paper specifically analyzes its significant meaning in writing， reading and translation. The author also provides several strategies and skills to achieve better texture cohesion.

【Key word】： Lexical Cohesion； English Learning； Cohesion

Literature review

In their famous Cohesion in English， Halliday and Hasan （1976） define that cohesion refers to relations of meaning that exist within the text and that define it as a text. They also identify five main cohesive devices in English： reference， substitution， ellipsis， conjunction， and lexical cohesion. Among them， lexical cohesion refers to a number of semantically related words occurring in text subsequently to make all parts of the text connected closely to each other in meaning. Based on different semantic meanings， it divides the ways of cohesion into two distinct but related categories： reiteration and collocation.

Reiteration is the repetition of a lexical item， that is， where the two occurrences have the same referent （Halliday and Hasan， 1976）. Repetition， synonym， hypernym， and general word belong to the forms of reiteration. While Halliday and Hasan （1976） define another category， collocation is “the cohesion that is achieved through the association of lexical items that regular co-occur”.

Although Brown Yule （1983） indicate that lexical cohesion is not always necessary for text to produce semantic relations between sentences， it is necessary to consider cohesive ties as a “manifestation of how we are making sense of the message in the text” （Carter McCarthy， 1988）.

English Learning

For English learners， it is of great significance to have a profound understanding of lexical cohesion.

Firstly， making greater use of lexical cohesion will promote high quality in writing. Lexical cohesion provides the variety or diversity in creating better sentences， it will help the learners to lead their readers without losing track of the ideas transmit by the writers. For example，

“...resulting in a big mess and chaos...which are to properly quote and cite...the correct and righteous ways to do so...”

In this part， synonyms are used in pair together， making a sense of well-organized structure.

On the other hand， the overused of certain types of lexical cohesion such as repetition which might distract the readers to continue reading their writing. Although in Martin Luther King’s speech “I Have a Dream”， he repeats “I have a dream” for emphasis and attention， repetition has to be used with care. Otherwise， it will make passages boring to read.

Secondly， lexical cohesion helps readers comprehend the intended meaning and the author’s attitude properly in reading. Reading is an interactive process between text and reader. Lexical cohesion bridges a cohesive chain through the whole text by vocabulary choice. Hence， while reading， if English learners are able to figure out these cohesive elements， they will easily work out the logical connections of the sentences， tell the main idea from the supporting details and interpret what the author intends to express.

Thirdly， lexical cohesion is a necessary condition to make a good translation. For translator， the problem of choosing the exact word among a group of synonyms cannot be ignored. For example，

“The man who， in old age， can see his life in this way， will not suffer from the fear of death， since the things he cares for will continue. And if， with the decay of vitality， weariness increases， the thought of rest will be not unwelcome. I should wish to die while still at work， knowing that other will carry on what I can no longer do…” （How to grow old by B， Russell）

Translation： 上了年級而能這樣看待生活的人就不會遭受怕死的痛苦，因為他所關懷的事物將繼續下去。同時，如果精力衰退了，疲乏增加了，休息的思想并非是要不得的。我倒愿意工作不息，死而后已，因為我知道別人會繼續我未完成的事業。（《新概念英語》第四冊，上海外語教育出版社）

Here， the author uses “death”， “rest” and “die”， the three related words to represent the topic of death. “Rest” is euphemism， constituting reiteration with “death” and “die”. However， the translator translates “rest” into “休息”， which disrupts the textual coherence.

Besides， collocations occur great problem because sometimes translator just pays attention to the rough idea of text without considering the form of source text. For example，

“Suppose it were perfectly certain that the life and fortune of every one of us would， one day or other， depend upon his winning or losing a game of chess. Don ' t you think that we should all consider it to be a primary duty to learn at least the names and the moves of the pieces， to have a notion of a gambit， and a keen eye for all the means of giving and getting out of check？” （A Liberal Education by T. H. Huxley）

In this text， the author refers to life as a game of chess， bringing a set of lexicon related with this meaning including “pieces”， “names”， “moves”， and “check”. Under such circumstance， translator should re-interpret the relationship of allocation of the source text in the target text. So these five words mentioned above are supposed to be translated into “盤”，“走法”， “開局”， and “將軍” in accordance with source text.

Conclusion

In short， the knowledge of lexical cohesion can help language learners in writing， reading and translation. It is essential to make use of lexical cohesion to interpret or create coherence in a text.

References

[1] Halliday， M.A.K. and Hasan， R. Cohesion in English [M]. London： Longman， 1976.

[2] Brown， G Yule G. Discourse Analysis [M]. London： Cambridge， 1983.

[3] Carter R McCarthy. M. （eds）. Vocabulary and Language Teaching. London： Longman， 1988.

[4]亞歷山大、何其莘.新概念英語[M].上海外語教育出版社， 2004.