Linguistics and Literature Studies Vol. 11(1), pp. 1 - 10
DOI: 10.13189/lls.2023.110101
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The Use of Intra-/Inter-Sentential Cohesion by Secondary School Students in Written Texts: A Case Study of One School in Eswatini

Virginia T. Dlamini-Akintola ^*, Siphilangenkosi Siyaya
Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Humanities, University of Eswatini, Kwaluseni Campus, Eswatini

ABSTRACT

A survey of the pass rate of English language in Eswatini revealed that many candidates fail to credit the subject. Therefore, the opportunity to enroll in tertiary institutions or immediately seek for employment is either lost or delayed (for those who credit English after several upgrading attempts). The examination reports also revealed that many candidates failed the essay type of questions, which carry weight because many fail to construct cohesive and coherent texts (http://www.examscouncil.org.sz/). This report ignited our interest to investigate the linguistic resources available for teaching cohesion in English in secondary schools in the Kingdom of Eswatini. Therefore, we analysed the nature of content on cohesion in secondary school textbooks used in Eswatini, and examined students’ ability in using grammatical cohesive devices to combine ideas within and across sentence boundaries (intra-/inter-sentential cohesion). Secondary school students were given language exercises drawn from sampled simplified texts to combine ideas into cohesive texts. Linguistic and document analyses were employed to analyze data on language experimental exercises and the content in prescribed textbooks. The range of conjuncts used and frequency of their use to realize inter-/intra-sentential cohesion were evaluated. The occurrences of grammatical cohesive devices in the textbooks were also rated. The results showed limitations in the depth of content on grammatical cohesive devices in both prescribed textbooks and their use in students’ sampled simplified texts. The significance of conjuncts in intra-/inter-sentential cohesion is not given much attention in prescribed textbooks in Eswatini. There is a need to purposefully add content on grammatical cohesive devices in the design of English language textbooks used at this level since English is used as a second language.

KEYWORDS
Intra-/Inter-Sentential Cohesion, Grammatical Cohesive Devices, Clause Combining, Conjuncts

Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Virginia T. Dlamini-Akintola , Siphilangenkosi Siyaya , "The Use of Intra-/Inter-Sentential Cohesion by Secondary School Students in Written Texts: A Case Study of One School in Eswatini," Linguistics and Literature Studies, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 1 - 10, 2023. DOI: 10.13189/lls.2023.110101.

(b). APA Format:
Virginia T. Dlamini-Akintola , Siphilangenkosi Siyaya (2023). The Use of Intra-/Inter-Sentential Cohesion by Secondary School Students in Written Texts: A Case Study of One School in Eswatini. Linguistics and Literature Studies, 11(1), 1 - 10. DOI: 10.13189/lls.2023.110101.