Unit 3. Coherence and cohesion
Aren’t you cold?
Situations in which this sentence could be said:
• It is winter and I see a man with only a t-shirt.
• When you are at home without calefaction.
• It is cold and were are in class, and I open the window.
• When a person is ill.
This sentence is an utterance: something has got signification and the signification is common
but the value can change.
Power Point:
• Signification: is the meaning that would be common to all utterances of the sentences…
• Value: refers to the significance (importancia) of the utterance.
(Es más necesario conocer o saber el value) Para entender el value tengo que hacer una
presuposición. El camarero debería haber entendido que el cliente no quiere una mosca en su
sopa, pero no ha entendido el value, por lo que no ha entendido que está enfadado.
If you only understand the signification but not the value, you will do a joke.
Warm air rises
Situations in which this sentence could be said: Reason, Illustration or example, Objection,
Conclusion, Assumption, Explanation. Examples:
• When you are watching the weather channel and the man is announcing an storm
(explanation)
• Scientific law (as an introduction)
• You can read it in a primary school book.
Understanding a text properly implies understanding the value of each of its utterances, which is
the responsibility or the readers.
1. Text and non-text
A text is coherent because we have made use of cohesion to indicate the relationship between
various elements in the story.
We use (instead of...)
• Pronouns (instead of nouns). Ex: “it” replaces “the perfume”
• “The” instead of “a” (previously mentioned)
• Redundant words are omitted.
