Cohesion is an essential quality for good academic writing, which is just as important as accurate grammar, vocabulary and punctuation. It makes your written assignments easier to follow and understand. Writing that lacks cohesion may be disjointed, repetitive and difficult for readers to follow.
This section will help you to write assignments that flow and meet lecturers' expectations by:
self-evaluating your strengths and weaknesses
using six techniques for creating greater cohesion in your writing
creating effective headings and sub-headings in reports and long texts.
Download this summary sheet for your own reference.
Introduction to cohesion
Self evaluation
Before you continue, reflect on your previous writing experiences. How would you rate your ability in the following essay writing skills? Rate your ability from ‘good’ to ‘needs development’.
Reflect on your answers. Congratulations if you feel confident about your skills. You may find it helpful to review the materials on this page to confirm your knowledge and possibly learn more. Don't worry if your skills need development. All students have had to learn academic skills. These materials will help.
Cohesion part one.
Watch the video Cohesion Part One to learn more about this important element of writing.
Stop and reflect on what you’ve just learned. Write down three things you want to remember.
Now, check your understanding.
Cohesion part two
Watch the video Cohesion Part two to learn about three more techniques.
Stop and reflect on what you’ve just learned. Write down three more things you want to remember.
Now, check your understanding. Compare these paragraphs.
Which one seems more cohesive?
Which of the six cohesive devices from the video can you identify?
Text 1 Digital marketing strategies are a competitive advantage tool (Appel et al., 2020). Using social media for promotion enables business owners to accrue high revenue and returns. Making information about products and services readily available to the target market is sustainable, cost-effective, and creates efficiency. In 2020, more than 3.6 billion people used social media, and the number is projected to rise to about 4.41 billion by 2025 (Statista Research, 2021). Customers will be unreachable for small enterprises without a campaign on platforms like Facebook. This means serious falls in income (Wilfred, 2016). | Text 2 Stiff competition in small and medium enterprises (SME) has prompted many entrepreneurs in this sector to adopt digital marketing strategies as a competitive advantage tool (Appel et al., 2020). Digital marketing enables entrepreneurs to accrue high revenue and returns. It is sustainable, cost-effective and efficient because it enables SMEs to make information about their products and services readily available to the target market. In fact, in 2020, more than 3.6 billion people used social media, and the number is projected to rise to about 4.41 billion by 2025 (Statista Research, 2021). Thus, SMEs without a digital marketing strategy will soon be unable to reach their target market and this inability may result in serious falls in revenue (Wilfred, 2016). |
Check your thoughts by clicking on the hotspots.
Six techniques for better cohesion
This section will focus on six different techniques you can use to make your writing more cohesive.
Paragraph structure
Clear cohesive paragraphs that are sequenced well help your readers follow your argument. One method for clearly organising your paragraphs is TEEL/C.
T | Topic sentence: a sentence that signals the topic and controlling idea and links to the thesis or aim in the introduction. |
E E | Support for the idea presented in the topic sentence: explanation, elaboration, evidence, example |
L/C | Link to the next paragraph or conclusion. |
Visit Paragraphing for further practice.
Parallel sentences
Sentences that are parallel use the same grammar structure – or the same pattern of words – to express ideas that are:
in a list
performing the same function
similar in importance.
Example 1:
The attributes of successful students include an ability to communicate well, think critically, and time management.
This is not a parallel structure because it uses:
two verb phrases: communicate well and think critically
one noun: time management
The attributes of successful students include effective communication, critical thinking, and time management.
This is more cohesive because all nouns are used.
Identify the sentences that use parallel structure.
Key word repetition
Some students believe that good academic writing means using long words and showing off their extensive vocabulary. This is wrong.
Good academic writing is clear and easy to follow. Your writing will be more cohesive if you repeat key words or use a different form of the key word. Carefully chosen synonyms can help make your writing flow; however, you should use synonyms only when they improve cohesion, not when you want to display your range of vocabulary.
Compare these two extracts and pay attention to the words in italics. What do you notice?
| A: Cohesive | B: Less cohesive |
|---|---|
| The primary aim of this study is to describe the differences in planning nursing staff in the COVID period compared to a non-COVID period. The secondary aim of the study is to describe how workload differs between these periods. | The primary aim of this study is to describe the differences in planning nursing staff in the COVID period compared to a non-COVID period. The other purpose of the research is to contrast workload changes. |
Notice that the writer of text A chooses to repeat key words (aim, study) or use the same key word in another form (difference, differ). The writer of text B has chosen to use synonyms of key words. This is unnecessary and less cohesive.
Read this paragraph and find unnecessary synonyms.
Old before new information
Establishing a clear connection of ideas within paragraphs is important to help your reader follow the text. One way to do this is to put old – or familiar – information close to the beginning of your sentences.
Compare these two extracts and pay attention to the words in italics. What do you notice?
| A: Cohesive | B: Less cohesive |
|---|---|
| The primary aim of this study is to describe the differences in planning nursing staff in the COVID period compared to a non-COVID period. The secondary aim of the study is to describe workload differences between these periods. | The primary aim of this study is to describe the differences in planning nursing staff in the COVID period compared to a non-COVID period. Describing workload differences between these periods is the secondary aim of the study. |
Notice that the writer of text A begins the second sentence with old, familiar information (study aims). The writer of text B begins the second sentence with new information (describing workload changes). This is less cohesive.
- Read the following sentences.
- Choose the best sentence to follow each.
This/these + noun
This/these + a noun can be used to establish a good old-new flow of information. The noun refers to the idea in a previous sentence. It may summarize the idea or repeat a key word.
Read these two extracts and pay attention to the words in italics. What do you notice?
| A: This/these + repeated key word | B: This/these + summary word |
|---|---|
| The primary aim of this study is to describe the differences in planning nursing staff in the COVID period compared to a non-COVID period. The secondary aim of the study is to describe workload differences between these periods. | The primary aim of this study is to describe the differences in planning nursing staff in the COVID period compared to a non-COVID period. The secondary aim of the study is to describe workload differences between these periods. These results will prove useful for... |
Notice that text A repeats a key word while text B uses the summary word results.
Be careful. An unsupported this/these, like in text C, can stop flow as your reader may not understand what this is referring to. Use these sparingly.
C: Unsupported this/these The primary aim of this study is to describe the differences in planning nursing staff in the COVID period compared to a non-COVID period. The secondary aim of the study is to describe workload differences between these periods. These will prove useful for... |
Notice that in text C, the lack of a noun after these could be confusing. The readers may not know if these refers to aims, periods, differences or results.
Which summary words could you use in these sentences? More than one answer could be correct.
Signpost language
Just as a signpost gives directions to a driver, signpost language guides your reader through your text. This language shows the direction of your argument.
Download the Useful Signpost Language document and use it as a guide when you are writing.
- Read each sentence and identify the relationship between the ideas.
- Choose one word from the document to fill the gaps in the sentences. Pay attention to punctuation.
- Refer to the Useful Signpost Language document to help you
Using headings and subheadings
All reports have headings, and in some disciplines, essays use headings too. Headings are used to:
- help organise the text and make it more cohesive
- guide your reader through the development of your ideas.
This section will introduce you to some hints for writing clear headings.
Writing useful headings
Before you begin to write your headings, answer these questions:
Do you have a template or specific headings you must use? Check your task instructions.
Have you written your plan for your assignment? This will help you categorise your information so you can divide it into sections and give them headings.
Here are some hints for writing clear, helpful headings:
Read this thesis statement from an assignment introduction.
| To achieve success at university, all students must quickly become familiar with the expectations of the university, its modes of study, modes of assessment, and available support resources. |
Read these five hints and examples in the table below. The example headings relate to the thesis statement above.
Organising your headings
Headings are a useful tool for making your text cohesive and easy to read. Always write your headings with your readers in mind. Ask yourself these questions.
If your readers have an interest in your topic and are likely to read the report from beginning to end:
- What headings will help them understand how my ideas develop and how they are related to each other?
If your readers are busy people who are reading your report for a specific purpose:
- What headings will help them quickly locate the information they want?
Below, you can see two draft contents pages with headings and sub-headings.
- Read and compare the drafts.
- Consider this question: which example has the most useful headings and sub-headings for the readers?
If you thought example 1 had the most useful headings and sub-headings, many people would agree with you. Notice how example 1 has headings and sub-headings that:
are short and concise
provide a summary of the report
are organised in logical order
are numbered and formatted to give a visual outline of how the ideas relate to each other.
Useful tips for writing headings
Tip 1
If you are working in MS Word, use the style function to set your headings and subheadings.
Tip 2
When you begin your assignment, follow these steps to ensure your text - and your headings - are cohesive:
- Brainstorm your ideas and then group the ideas into categories.
- Give each category a name and put them into a logical order.
- Read the category names and rewrite them so they could be useful headings and sub-headings.
- Draft the headings and sub-headings into a document using the style function.
- Create a contents page.
- Read the contents page and answer this question: do these headings provide a summary of my assignment?
- If yes, start drafting your assignment into the document using the headings as a framework.
- If no, revisit the headings and consider whether they need to be reordered or rewritten.
Tip 3
If you are writing a report, visit the Reports page for more information on typical headings and content in common report types.
Apply your learning
Reflect on what you have learned in this material and consider how you can use it in your own work.
Useful strategies
Try these tips for improving cohesion in your writing.
| Reread an assignment you have previously written for one of your units. |
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Read each paragraph of a draft you are writing and write the main idea in a one sentence summary. |
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Ask a peer to read your draft. |
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| Take one short section of your draft and cut and paste sentences into another document out of order. |
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Next steps
Reflect on your learning.
1 | Revisit the self-analysis quiz at the top of the page. How would you rate your skills now? |
2 | Remember that writing is a process and mistakes aren't a bad thing. They are a normal part of learning and can help you to improve. |
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