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A Contrastive Study of Textual Cohesion and Coherence Errors in Chinese EFL Abstract Writing in Engineering Discourse

This pilot empirical study examined the deficiency of textual cohesion and coherence reflected in genre-based English abstract production of the engineering discourse by most Chinese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) advanced learners, using cohesive theory, text linguistics, and intercultural theory as the theoretical framework. The problems were addressed typically from the perspective of intercultural communication, aiming to help Chinese EFL advanced writers achieve effective communication in the interaction with International English readers (IE). This study compared the data obtained from 30 abstracts written by Chinese advanced EFL writers and another 30 abstracts written by English as Mother Language (EML) writers in terms of structural cohesion and non-structural cohesion. The contractive results showed that Chinese and English are surprisingly different in strategies of cohesion and coherence, and that the major cohesive and coherence errors made repetitively by most Chinese EFL respondents are more associated with their cultural transfer in a way of fossilization. We hope to provide meaningful insight into these problems by tracing the influence on linguistic, pragmatic, cognitive, and cultural aspects.