Of the problem

Frontline English teachers use the theory of discourse clause relationships to analyze the coherence and cohesion issues in students' compositions; Although the grammar of the student's essay is correct, the language is loose and lacks hierarchy and narrative chain; 32 samples of high school seniors' compositions were used to analyze cohesion and coherence issues, in order to cultivate students' awareness of clause relationships.

The Development of Small Sentence Theory

Explored in depth the development of the theory of clause relations and its importance in discourse structure. The clause relationship refers to the semantic or logical connection between adjacent clauses, including the main clause relationship. Eugene Winter first classified clause relationships into two categories: logical sequences and contrastive relationships. Michael McCarthy, Ronald Carter, and Michael Hoey further developed this theory. Hoey proposed five more specific clause relationships: general individual, cause result, example, contrast, and order, and elaborated on the characteristics of each relationship through examples.

Analysis of the Relationship between Small Sentences in Student Composition

By analyzing 32 English compositions of high school seniors, this study explores the problems that students face in using clause relationships and their impact on the coherence and cohesion of their compositions. Research has found that common small sentence relationship errors in students' compositions include unclear hierarchy, irrelevant topics, lack of logical relationships, and misuse of logical connectors. For example, some students have a disordered logical sequence when narrating, which cannot form a correct narrative chain; In general individual clause relationships, students sometimes suddenly turn to another thing, causing the topic to drift away; Incomplete or misunderstood semantic relationships between clauses result in weak and illogical semantics. In addition, the misuse of logical connectors is a common problem in students' essays, which affects the readability of their compositions. In order to improve these issues, teachers can take advantage of the opportunity for students to revise their compositions, help them deeply understand the order of sentence relationships, pay attention to the order of thinking changes, and horizontally unfold around a topic, making the narrative rigorous and logical. At the same time, creating meaningful writing contexts in writing training, fully utilizing students' existing knowledge to actively construct new knowledge, and requiring students to construct accurate logical relationships within the limited information of the topic.

Teaching Tips

Six methods were introduced to enhance the coherence and cohesion of students' English compositions: 1 Guide students to familiarize themselves with the usage of conjunctions and phrases; 2. Divide writing training into three stages: pre writing, writing, and post writing; 3. Ensure that the key points are complete and master the order from simple sentences to compound clauses; 4. Use grammar and vocabulary connections correctly; 5. Introduce a logical thinking diagram to visualize the logical thinking in the composition; 6. Strengthen the application of writing micro skills, such as the cohesive use of pronouns, linking adverbs, etc.

conclusion

It is pointed out that students may reduce the problem of incoherent writing within sufficient time, but to fundamentally solve it, it is necessary to cultivate the awareness of establishing semantic or logical relationships between clauses. The current teaching methods for high school English writing have limitations, making it difficult to identify the root causes of coherence issues in writing. Although the sample size is limited, this article provides teachers with methods for analyzing and overcoming coherence issues in writing.