Essential Elements of Textual Coherence and Cohesion

Narrative and Argumentative Text Types

Narrative: This is the representation of events that develop over time, presenting a logical and chronological order. Occasionally, that order is altered for aesthetic purposes.

Argumentation: This refers to texts that utilize evidence to convince a reader of a specific viewpoint or to affirm the validity of an opinion.

Properties of Textual Coherence

The statements forming a text are not an arbitrary list; they function based on intended meaning. A statement can provide information, zoom in, edit, or contrast previous points to achieve textual coherence. Key mechanisms include:

• Topic: The subject being discussed or written about must subordinate every sentence within the text.
• Presuppositions: Information the sender assumes the recipient already knows. This is essential for a consistent text.
• Implications: Additional information contained within a statement.
• General Knowledge: Coherence depends on our shared understanding of the world.
• Frame: The text type, purpose, and communicative situation. Context determines if a set of statements coheres.

Understanding Textual Cohesion

Cohesion is the grammatical dependence between the different units that compose a text. Several mechanisms provide this structure:

Reference Mechanisms

Reference links to something mentioned in the text or the communicative situation. There are two types:

• Situational: Elements refer to something in the communicative situation not explicitly stated (e.g., "I want that").
• Textual: Elements refer to something previously stated or to be expressed later.

Deixis and Its Tools

Deixis is a linguistic mechanism signaling who, where, and when. Common tools include:

• Person Deixis: Personal and possessive pronouns.
• Space Deixis: Demonstrative pronouns and adverbs of place.
• Time Deixis: Adverbs of time.

Additional Cohesion Mechanisms

• Replacement: Replacing one element with another.
• Ellipsis: The omission of a sentence element that is understood from the context.
• Isotopia: The repetition of linguistic units linked by shape or meaning. It includes:
  • Grammar: Repetition of elements in the same grammatical category.
  • Semantic and Lexical: Accumulation of words in the same semantic field or repetition of synonyms.
  • Phonic: Repetition of sounds.
• Connectors: Words or expressions that link elements and presuppose the presence of other text parts, often functioning like conjunctions.