Categories of Cohesion 1 Category Example Reference PronominalThe woman lost track of her little boy at the mall. She became very worried. DemonstrativeThat was the worst exam I had all term. Comparative It's the same band we heard last week. Substitution My computer is too slow. I need to get a faster one 1 Carroll, David W Psychology of Language, third edition. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, p. 158.

Categories of Cohesion 2 Category Example Ellipsis I wish I had more talent. My sister has a lot more than I do. Conjunction Melissa flunked out of school, so she is looking for a job. Lexical Reiteration I saw a boy win the spelling bee. The boy was delighted afterward. Synonymy I saw a boy win the spelling bee. The lad was delighted afterward. Hyponymy I saw a boy win the spelling bee. The child was delighted afterward 2 Carroll, David W Psychology of Language, third edition. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, p. 158.

Cohesion through Pronominalization I went to the supermarket and bought a bottle of milk. I took the bottle of milk home and put the bottle of milk in the refrigerator. Later, when I wanted a drink, I took the bottle of milk out and poured myself a glass of milk. The milk was sour, so I took the bottle of milk back to the supermarket to exchange the spoiled bottle of milk for a good bottle of milk. 3

Anaphor and Antecedent The rat climbed up the wall to escape through a hole in the window. I sprayed it with the shower hose and it fell into the tub with me. 4

Use of Cohesive Devices I went to the supermarket and bought a bottle of milk. I took it home and put it in the refrigerator. Later, when I wanted a drink, I took the bottle out and poured myself a glass of milk. The milk was sour, so I took lousy product back to the supermarket to exchange it for a good one. 5

Given / New Strategy of Sentence Integration "In an explicit extension of Grices' (1975) maxim of relation, Clark and Haviland (1977) suggest that readers expect authors to use given information [cues] to refer to [or to signal or highlight] information the readers already know or can identify and to use new information [cues] to refer to concepts with which they [the readers] are not already familiar." (160 c) 6 Carroll, David W Psychology of Language, third edition. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, p. 160.

Three-Stage Process of Sentence Comprehension Using the Given/New Strategy 1. Identify NEW and OLD/GIVEN information in current sentence 2. Find antecedent in memory for GIVEN 3. Attach NEW information to that spot in memory 7 Carroll, David W Psychology of Language, third edition. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, p. 160.

Strategies for Establishing Coherence 1. Direct matching (repeat) We got some beer out of the trunk. The beer was warm. 2. Bridging (inference) Last Christmas John went to a lot of parties. This Christmas he got very drunk again. 3. Reinstating old information 4. Identifying new topics of discourse 8 Carroll, David W Psychology of Language, third edition. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, pp

Late Closure (Frank and Ernest) 9 Ashcraft, Mark H Human Memory and Cognition, second edition. New York: Harper Collins College Publishers, p. 432.

Memory for Discourse 1. Surface representations (forms) 2. Propositional representations 3. Situational models Carroll, David W Psychology of Language, third edition. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, pp

Discourse Structure & Storage Information stored in propositions Propositions are explicit information Propositions also include inferences Studies show that higher level propositions remembered better Carroll, David W Psychology of Language, third edition. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, pp

Conditions for Automatic Drawing of Inferences 1. "The inference must be necessary to make a text locally coherent." 2. "The information on which the inference is based must be easily activated (either from explicit statements in the text or from general knowledge)." 12 Carroll, David W Psychology of Language, third edition. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, p. 169.

Untitled Story With hocked gems financing him, our hero bravely defied all scornful laughter that tried to present his scheme. "Your eyes deceive," he had said, "an egg not a table correctly typifies this unexplored planet." Now three sturdy sisters sought proof, forging along sometimes through calm vastness, yet more often over turbulent peaks and valleys. Days became weeks as many doubters spread fearful rumors about the edge. At last from nowhere welcome winged creatures appeared signifying momentous success. (Dolling & Lachman, 1971, p. 217) 13 Carroll, David W Psychology of Language, third edition. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, pp

Genres Spoken Written lecture newspaper article sermon opinion article comedy monologue presidential inauguration speech narrative stories psych journal article (or thesis): abstract introduction method results discussion detective stories narrative stories 14 Carroll, David W Psychology of Language, third edition. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, pp

Educational Implications of Insights on Discourse Comprehension  Actively Processing Discourse  Connecting Propositions in Discourse  Identifying the Main Points  Building Global Structures  Tailoring Comprehension Activities to Tests 15 Carroll, David W Psychology of Language, third edition. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, pp