A Comparative Study Of Lexical Cohesion And Its Application In English Language Learning

Cohesion and coherence are two basic concepts in text/discourse analysis.This thesis, based on Halliday&Hasan’s theory of cohesion, takes the “FortressBesieged”(originally written by Ch’ien Chung Shu) and its English version (translatedby Jeanne Kelly and Nathan K Mao) as an important source in the analysis of thedifferences and similarities of cohesive devices in both Chinese and English languages.In the process, methods like comparison, exemplification, listing, description andsynthesis are used in an attempt to discover and interpret the deeper reasons behindand to provide evidences for translation and writing in English learning.This thesis consists of six parts. Chapter one makes an introduction to thesignificance, background information, and methods applied in text; chapter two is abrief review of studies on lexical cohesion both within and outside China; chapterthree analyzes materials adopted from “Fortress Besieged” in terms of lexicalcohesion; chapter four compares the original and translated versions of “FortressBesieged” and tries to find the differences and similarities between the two languages;chapter five applies the findings to English learning; and chapter six concludes.