Text generation processes in the development of written cohesion: The contribution of semantics and syntax.

The ability to write cohesive texts is a complex skill that engages multiple cognitive processes including language. However, there is a dearth of research examining the relationship between language skills and the emergence of cohesion. In this two part study, I examined the differential contributions that oral syntax and semantic skills make to fourth-grade children's ability to write cohesive texts. In the first experiment, regression analyses showed that assessed semantic skills accounted for approximately 15% of the variance associated with conjunction use, indicating that children with higher semantic abilities used fewer conjunctions in their writing. There was also a relationship between assessed syntax skills and the appearance of semantically related words in writing, such that children with stronger syntax skills tended to use fewer semantically related words. In the second experiment, children received either semantic, syntactic, or no language treatment over a period of four weeks. Children receiving semantic treatments showed increase in the number of semantically related words that appeared in their writing over the course of treatment. This change included a greater increase in the use of sophisticated lexical devices than the control group. Children receiving syntactic treatments changed the way they used conjunctions at midtreatment. More specifically, they showed a reduction in the use of simple conjunctions like and, then, and so following oral practice with more complex conjunction and sentence forms. All three groups showed improvements in cohesion as demonstrated by a decrease in the distance between ties however the changes for those receiving language treatments were larger and occurred sooner than for those in the control condition. These changes mirror developmental trends that have been found in cross-sectional studies of cohesion development. Overall, this two part study shows that both semantic and syntactic language processes and representations impact cohesion, and that th