THE PROBLEMS OF COHERENCE IN THE ESSAYS OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS
THE PROBLEMS OF COHERENCE IN THE ESSAYS OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page
Certification
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Abstract
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
1.2 Statement of the Problem
1.3 Purpose of the Study
1.4 Research Questions
1.5 Significance of the study
1.6 Delimitation of the Study
1.7 Limitation of the Study
1.8 Definition of Terms
CHAPTER TWO – REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
CHAPTER THREE – RESEARCH METHODS
3.1 Research Design
3.2 Area for the study
3.3 Population for the study
3.4 Sampling and Sampling Technique
3.5 Instrumentation
3.6 Instrument Validation
3.7 Administration of Instrument
3.8 Scoring of the Instrument
3.9 Method of Data Analysis
CHAPTER FOUR – DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
4.1 Data Presentation and Analysis
4.2 Discussion of Result
CHAPTER FIVE – SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summary
5.2 Conclusion
5.3 Recommendations
5.4 Suggestions for further study
References
Appendix
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Writing is considered an essential learning tool for all content areas; it is undoubtedly one of the most challenging skills to master by students as well as language teachers. Moreover, writing skill is not just the words written on the paper; it demands effective communication of complex ideas in the purest form of words.
Writing is also a product, an approach that pays individual attention to handling linguistic skills effectively, such as grammar rules control and vocabulary development.
On the other hand, coherence plays an important role in essay writing because it involves expressing consistent and understandable ideas in a text. This consequently must have prompted Whitton and Wiemelt (2010) to state that coherence is a component of writing skill that proves to be an essential part of and a virtual guarantee of the quality of writing. Indeed, it is accomplished by seamlessly combining sentences and concepts and flowing together.
THE PROBLEMS OF COHERENCE IN THE ESSAYS OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS
Without reservation, an essay without coherence can inhibit the ability of a reader to comprehend the essay’s ideas and main points. Therefore, coherence allows the reader to move from one idea to another, from one sentence to the next and from one paragraph to the next, efficiently throughout the essay.
From the above, it becomes clear that, coherence is a “rhetorical” aspect of writing, which includes the development and support of argument (e.g. development of thesis statements), the synthesis and integration of readings, organization, and clarification of ideas.
Furthermore, Aguieb and Bouaziz (2017) investigate students’ problems in using coherent and cohesive devices from a discourse analysis perspective. Without a doubt, from their investigation, it is clear that a well-constructed arrangement of sentences is a way to achieve coherence in a written work. One approach to accomplish coherence is to use examples in order to clarify abstract ideas or chronology when students write a list consisting of events arranged based on a time sequence (Arnaudet & Barret, 1984).
In the same vein, Mali (2014) states that another approach is the use of causality to create a time relationship between two actions or events in such an order that one action leads to another one. The problems of coherence in the essays of senior secondary school students.
Process can also be regarded as an idea which contributes to achievement of coherence through essay writing and listing of steps or stages within a time frame to form a process relationship between the ideas.
Since coherence by definition implies arranging ideas in a way that each idea submitted is connected to the other one, this implies that there needs to be connection of ideas on a sentence level as well as on a paragraph level. In fact, It is vital to teach students to recognize idea relationships in their essays to achieve coherence.
Since the body of the essay is opened by a topic sentence it needs to be subsequently followed by its supporting evidence. Every body of the essay should therefore be relevant to the thesis statement and the topic sentence written at the beginning of the paragraph.
It is on the foregoing that this research project focus on the investigation of the problems of coherence in the essays of senior secondary school students.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Over the years, Secondary School Students in Itu Local Government Area generally meet major coherence problem in their essay writing. It is also clear that lack of coherence in these students’ writing is a serious problem that cannot be ignored in both primary and tertiary institution in the country.
Moreover, the importance of coherence in these students’ essays as far as English as Foreign Language cannot be over-emphasised. It therefore becomes obvious that these students need help by teachers and their counselors in coping with these situations that are most challenging for them to produce coherent, organized and well-structured essay writing. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the problems of coherence in the essays of senior secondary school students.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The main objective of this study is to investigate the problems of coherence in the essays of senior secondary school students. Specifically, the study aims to:
- identify the problems that Senior Secondary School Students face while attempting to achieve coherence in their written essay
- examine the teachers’ approach in the teaching of essay writing to Senior Secondary School students.
- Investigate the solutions to the problems of coherence in the written Essays of Senior Secondary School Students.
1.4 Research Questions
The following research questions guided the study, these are:
- What are the problems that Senior Secondary School Students face in achieving coherence in their written essays?
- To what extend does the teachers’ teaching approach help in improving essay writing among Senior Secondary School students?
- What are the solutions to the problems of coherence in the written essay of Senior Secondary School students?
1.5 Significance of the Study
The findings from this study will make the learners more mindful about the problems that may encounter in their written discourse. Moreover, it will provide them with the reasons behind these problems and how to avoid them. Teachers at the primary level of education as well as lecturers at the tertiary institutions will find this research work significant in the teaching of essay writing.
Also, other researchers may find this work useful as a reference material. This study will also help textbooks writers in writing more books pertaining to the challenges of essay writings among students in Schools and Colleges from discourse analysis perspective by focusing on both grammatical and lexical coherence ties.
1.6 Limitation of the Study
Firstly, the researcher face limited time in completing the research due to lectures, assignments and financial challenges in visiting the schools in the study area. Also, lack of enough time in getting materials from the library, academic journals and internet materials as well as information from the respondents in the selected Secondary Schools of the study area plays another limitation of the study. The problems of coherence in the essays of senior secondary school students.
Secondly, the researcher has a time limit and lack of enough time due to the duration of the project defence regarding accessibility of the students’ scripts in getting accurate information because most of the respondents are shy to speak while some refuses to give out their written essay due to their poor performance.
Definition of Terms
Problem: Problem may be defined as a question rose for inquiry, consideration or solution to be solved.
Coherence: In brief, coherence may be defined as the quality of being logical and consistent.
Essay: In brief, an essay may be defined as a short piece of writing on a particular subject.
Writing: Writing may be defined as any conventional system of marks or signs that represents the utterances of a language.
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