The Combination of Topical Structure Analysis and Lexical Cohesion as a Strategy for Improving Coherence in Writing

結合主題結構分析法與語彙連貫機制為寫作修改策略之教學成效

劉瑋婷

指導教授 ： 曹逢甫

國立清華大學/人文社會學院/外國語文學系/碩士(2009年)

https://doi.org/10.6843/NTHU.2009.00819

摘要

在英文寫作的各項評分標準中，文章的連貫性可說是最重要，卻又最抽象的概念。其特徵和構成成分難以分析或加以描述，也因此造成寫作教學上的困難。本篇論文旨在探討運用進階版的「主題結構分析法」(Topical Structure Analysis) 做為一修改寫作的技巧，希望能藉由實際操作分析的過程，讓學生能自發性的發現自己寫作上的缺陷，並對「文章連貫性」有更深入的了解。
「主題結構」是指文章中，一連串句子主題(sentence topic)之間的關係，也就是這些主題如何合作，一句句的堆疊ヽ建立出整個篇章的主題(discourse topic) 。這樣整體主體的建立主要是透過三種不同的結構關係: 平行結構(parallel progression)ヽ接續結構 (sequential progression)和延伸平行結構 (extended parallel progression) 。平行結構是指兩個(或以上)的句子主題相同或近義；接續結構則是前後兩個(或以上)的句子主題不同；延伸平行結構是文章從一主題發展出另一不同的主題，而後又折回原本的主題。
本論文採兩組對照和組內教學前後差異的設計。受試者為進階寫作的大二外文系學生，對照組接受概括性的連貫性教學，和教師單向的寫作評語；實驗組則接受主題結構分析法的教學，並將其應用於修改草稿；此外我們也在適當時機向實驗組學生介紹語彙連貫機制(lexical cohesive device)，希望能幫助學生更了解句子主題間的語義連結。研究結果顯示，主題結構分析法比一般評語更能幫助學生理解連貫性的要義，並有助於他們自發性的找出篇章中不連貫之處，以及語義連結鬆散的句子；之後也更能善用句子主題來詳盡發展篇章中重要的概念，並設法彌補語義不連貫之處。這些改變表現在整體和段落連貫性的大幅進步。此外，主題結構分析法的教學似乎對學生有持續性的影響，使他們三周之後還能獨立運用並有明顯的進步。最後，從問卷和訪談的結果得知大部分的學生對於主題結構分析法表示肯定，認為他們對篇章連貫性的認識的覺察有大幅提升。我們也觀察到不同寫作程度的學生對主題結構分析法的學習，有不同的看法和收穫。

關鍵字

主題結構分析法 ； 語彙連貫機制 ； 連貫性 ； 主題 ； 寫作修改策略

並列摘要

Among all the criteria of English writing, coherence is claimed to be the most abstract but essential, whose subcomponents and characteristics are difficult to analyze and describe. It thus gives instructors a hard time explaining to learners as well as planning effective pedagogical activities; it also seems inaccessible to learners while composing and revising. Therefore, the present study aims to explore the effect of teaching a revision strategy, an enhanced version of Topical Structure Analysis (TSA) to promote advanced EFL writers’ understanding on the essence of coherence by involving them in hands-on analyzing experiences, through which they can identify their own weakness and further improve coherence in writing.
Topical structure refers to the relationship among sequences of sentence topics in text and how they work together throughout the discourse to establish a unified meaning gradually. Three topical progressions among an article are identified: parallel (PP), sequential (SP) and extended parallel progressions (EPP). In parallel progression (PP), the topics in serial sentences are identical or synonymous. Sequential progression (SP) takes different topics in successive sentences, and some of the topics are comments from previous sentences. In extended parallel progression (EPP), two semantically identical topics are interrupted by at least one sequential progression.
The research was based on both within- and between- group designs, which was basically modified from the scheme of Fan (2008). The participants of the study were two classes of English major sophomores, with 15 students in each. The experimental group was introduced the concept of TSA. Our instruction was firstly centered on the relationship between discourse topic and sentence topics and then moved to the semantic relations carried among sentence topics. Exercises were given to identify sentence topics and comments, determining sentence progression in samples, and in due course the lexical cohesion was brought in to help the analysis of the semantic relationship among topics. In-class discussion of how the samples should be revised was conducted and students were required to apply the technique to their own revising processes. In contrast, the control group only revised based on the comment given by the instructor. Students’ essays before and after the revision were rated and compared to see which group gain more score in general writing quality as well as in coherence after the revision. The experimental group’s essays were analyzed additionally on a scale tailored for topical structure to examine whether they improve coherence in terms of topical unity and whether they develop the discourse topics in a more sophisticated way. In addition, the group was required to apply the strategy to their next assignment and it was compared with the first essay written at the beginning of the study, which aimed to examine if our previous instruction was sufficient for the students to apply the strategy independently. Besides students’ essays, questionnaires were distributed to survey students’ perspectives on the revising strategy and whether it promoted their awareness of their own idea progressions and of the elements of textual coherence.
The results demonstrated that the experimental group not only improved the general impression of unity, but also achieved better performance in the coherence internal to each paragraph than their peers in control group. They became clearer about the paragraph main idea they intended to convey, and were better able to modify ill-developed supporting ideas by further providing necessary information to complete the development. Furthermore, some ambiguously- connected ideas were pinpointed and the gaps among their meaningful relations were bridged by giving transitional sentences. These improvements were reflected in the different patterns of topical progressions in students’ two versions of writing. Significantly more PP appeared in their revisions to add more details onto those important ideas by repetitively mentioning them as topics. A slight drop in the percentages of unrelated progression (UP) and superstructure (SUPER) was identified and found to greatly influence the connectedness of ideas. Besides, the strategy was found to not only work during the instructional sessions where intensive attention was given, but had somewhat lasting effect that kept helping students improve coherence three weeks later. In addition, the questionnaire response also revealed students’ general positive perception of the strategy. Most students agreed that TSA helped them to be better aware of the coherence in their writing and that it gave them a tangible way for self-revision in which they can approach the coherence problem level by level. The follow-up interviews showed the somewhat different opinions on the technique held by writers of different writing proficiency.

並列關鍵字

Topical structure analysis ； Lexical cohesion ； Coherence ； Topic ； Revising strategy

參考文獻

Fan, Y. S. (2008). Topical structure analysis as an alternative learning strategy for coherent writing. Master thesis, National Tsing Hua University, Taipei, Taiwan.

Carrell, P. L. (1982). Cohesion is not coherence. TESOL Quarterly, 16(4), 479-488.

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Connor, U. (1987). Research frontiers in writing analysis. TESOL Quarterly, 21(4), 677-696.

Connor, U., & Farmer, M. (1990). The teaching of topical analysis as a revision strategy for ESL writers. In B. Kroll (Ed.). Second Language Writing: Research Insights for the Classroom (pp.126-139). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.