Error Analysis Of Cohesion In University Students' Writing

Writing is an important aspect in language acquisition, and one of the required abilities of an English learner. However, it is often a headache how to write a good article. With the coming of the 21^st century and the improvement of English learners' proficiency, the requirements for English writing are increasing. Writing is not simply a matter of arranging words into sentences and sentences into paragraphs. Attention should also be paid to the cohesion and structure of the whole composition. Halliday and Hasan point out that cohesion is the foundation of coherence, which is the most important prerequisite to the text. Therefore, the study of the cohesive devices used by students can help them improve the quality of their writings. So far most Error Analysis has been confined to the sentence level. As a result, it is the sentence, rather than the text as a whole that has received primary focus of study. This thesis attempts to apply error analysis to the discourse level.The present study is a data-based EA of English compositions written by Chinese non-English major college students. Based on the cohesion theory by Halliday and Hasan, the paper analyses the dialectical relationship between cohesion and coherence, cohesion and writing. By referring to previous studies of textual cohesion in writing, the author examines the current problems on the use of cohesive devices found in students' composition with the help of EA theory. Finally this paper also argues that it is necessary to train students in the use of cohesive devices so as to cultivate their awareness of the importance of cohesive devices in writing.It is expected that error analysis of cohesive devices should have somesignificant pedagogical implications for the teaching of English writing in China.