A Study Of Lexical Cohesive Devices In The Chinese University Students' Compositions

As a major component of text, cohesion contributes greatly to the text coherence. Lexical cohesion is one of the most important types of cohesion which regularly forms multiple relationships and the dominant mode of creating texture. Many Chinese and foreign researchers have reached the conclusion theoretically and practically that the adoption of lexical cohesive devices is closely related to the writing quality. This research mainly examines the features of the adoption of lexical cohesive devices in the compositions written by sophomore Chinese students majoring in English.Altogether 120 argumentative compositions written by 60 Chinese students in the exam and after class were analyzed using the cohesion theory, in comparison with 28 compositions written by American university students. The framework of lexical cohesion pattern adopted in this research, is based on Halliday and Hason's classification, and includes simple repetition, complex repetition, synonym, antonym, super-ordinate/hyponym and collocation. In the meantime, one questionnaire was administered to have a more reliable conclusion. The results show there is no great difference in the lexical cohesive devices used in the compositions by Chinese students in the exam and American students in terms of frequency except for the use of simple repetition. Only the use of simple repetition and antonym demonstrates the difference between Chinese and American students to some extent. However, Chinese students'use of lexical cohesive devices in the compositions written in the exam exhibits a much higher frequency than that in the compositions written after class. The change in writing is a potential explanation for it.The present research can help teachers have a better understanding of the characteristics of Chinese students'adoption of lexical cohesive devices in their writing and contribute to the teaching of EFL writing to some extent.