Coherence Problems in the English Writings of Saudi University Students

Abstract

This paper aims at investigating the problems of coherence in the English writings of Saudi male and female students at Albaha University. The study adopted a descriptive analytical approach. A corpus of students’ writings (30 scripts) was analyzed adapting an analytical coherence scale developed in the light of Bamberg’s (1984) holistic coherence scale and approaches and studies that concern with text coherence in English. The findings of the study showed that the overall mean score of the evaluation of coherence in the students’ writings is above average, namely 62.07. The results of the analysis of the study corpus revealed that the problems of coherence in the students’ writings are ascribed to the following: 1) students’ inability to write an idea-focused text substantiated by relevant and supporting details; 2) impact of Arabic rhetorical traditions in marshaling the details in the text; 3) students’ ignorance of the systematic organization of information in the concerned text of writing; 4) students’ failure to correctly and appropriately use conjunctions, references and lexical items that link sentences of the text; 5) students’ low proficiency in writing well-constructed sentences that express clear ideas. The study concluded with some suggestions to the concerned teachers of English writing, hoping that they address the students’ problems in text coherence.