Some other examples of cohesive devices are: as a result, in spite of, although, despite, however, nevertheless etc.Ī ‘cliché’ is a phrase that is seen or heard often, the term cliche tells us that an idea is not very original. Firstly, I don’t believe it is accurate to call these phrases ‘clichés’ – they are good examples of cohesive devices, in other words, words and phrases used to connect ideas together. They referred to them as ‘cliches’, and were concerned about these phrases being ‘too simple’. Several people have recently asked me if it is ok to use phrases like this: ‘On the one hand….on the other hand’. So, what are ‘cohesive devices’ and what do the terms ‘faulty’ and ‘mechanical’ mean? This links very nicely to questions I am often asked about using common phrases that some people see as too simple. A criticism of band 6 is that the cohesive devices may be either ‘faulty’ or ‘mechanical’. We are told that, at band 6, candidates may make mistakes with cohesive devices, while at band 7 they are used well (even though sometimes they may be over-used). I always maintain that you can only achieve this by planning your answer before you begin to write.ģ. The third bullet point refers to cohesive devices. But a Band 7 candidate is able to logically present their ideas. At band 6, the ideas within a paragraph sometimes appear a little odd or as though they belong in another part of the essay. That idea may be linked to the second bullet point, which refers to paragraphing. So, we could say that, with a band 6 or 6.5 answer, we can generally follow the argument, but with a band 7 answer, we can follow the argument ‘throughout’ the essay.Ģ. With band 6 candidates, this is done clearly ‘overall’, but with band 7, this is much more consistent. This means how your ideas lead from one to another and build up on each other to create your argument. The difference is in the ‘progression’ of these ideas. With the first bullet point we can see that, for band 6 and band 7, ideas are presented clearly and coherently. Cohesion refers to how you connect those ideas together, and this also affects how easy it is to follow your ideas.Īgain, if you already know your IELTS band score, and you are hoping to change your score, then the description of your current band shows you where you are going wrong and the description of the band you would like to be tells you what to need to improve and work on.ġ. We have already talked about Task response at bands 6 and 7 and in this post I’ll look at Coherence and cohesion.Ĭoherence refers to how easy it is for the reader (the examiner) to understand and follow your ideas.
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