Beyond 'And': Investigating the Logical Flow and Connectivity in Senior High School Writing

Abstract

This paper addresses the difficulties that senior high school students face in producing logically coherent, well-connected pieces of academic writing. The study employs Corder’s error analysis methodology and utilizes an exploratory mixed methods design to examine 31 pieces of academic writing from a private Catholic educational institution, and identifies common cohesive errors. There were four major types of errors identified: the most frequent error was the omission of cohesive devices (35.06%); next were misused cohesive devices (29.87%); third was the redundancy of cohesive devices (18.18%); lastly was the overabundance of cohesive devices (16.88%). The results support the conclusion that most students do not possess the 'structural adhesive' to create a logically dependent connection between thoughts or to use only simplistic, repeating transitional phrases. Based on these findings, it is suggested that current teaching methods emphasize rote memorization of vocabulary lists rather than teaching functional grammatical rules, resulting in disorganized or overly simplistic writing. Therefore, this research paper proposes an adaptive cohesion essentials (A.C.E.) model. This model focuses on four critical components: transitioning from functional grammar to cohesive devices, becoming implicitly and explicitly audience-aware, reducing overcompensation behaviors, and providing strategic feedback in a coded format. The research concluded by advocating individualized teaching techniques to develop students' written communication skills as a preparation for both post-secondary and professional success.