EFL Students’ Voices on Coherence: A Classroom-Based Inquiry

Abstract

Coherence is an essential concept in writing, but there are different perspectives on the concept and there seems to be little consensus as to what constitutes coherence. Moreover, in second and foreign language writing research, relatively less attention has been paid to coherence from students’ viewpoint.   Drawing on Lee's framework of teaching coherence (1998, 2002a & b) and the theoretical notion of students’ voices, this study explored how EFL students conceptualized coherence. Data were collected from classroom observation throughout one semester (28 sessions, 25 students and 1 teacher), interviews with 12 Thai EFL college students, documents used in the class, and students’ drafts.  The triangulation of the data revealed that there was, to a large extent, a convergence between the students' conceptualization of coherence and the teaching although the word "coherence" was not mentioned in the class, the syllabus, or the teaching materials. However, there were contradictions between the students' understanding and their writing practices. The results suggested that learning to produce a coherent piece of writing may take longer than one or two writing courses and that training in both reader-based and text-based features of coherence was essential in enhancing the students’ understanding of coherence and writing ability.