The Impact of Cohesion on Second Language Speaking and Writing Scores

This study explores the relationships between cohesion and the scores of second language (L2) persuasive speaking and writing. The data comprised 136 speeches and 136 essays produced by university-level L2 English learners. The L2 speeches were based on dialogues in which learners were required to persuade their listeners, while the L2 essays were written as persuasive essays. Cohesive features were analyzed, using reference, conjunctions, and lexical cohesion. Regression models were developed to predict L2 speaking and writing scores. The model predicting L2 speaking scores indicated that higher-rated persuasive L2 speeches tended to include more demonstratives, greater repetitions of content words throughout the speech, and less frequent use of first-person pronouns. In contrast, the model predicting L2 writing scores revealed that higher-rated persuasive L2 essays tended to include fewer repetitions of content words, less frequent use of causal conjunctions, and more frequent use of temporal conjunctions. These findings highlight the distinct roles of cohesion in L2 speaking and writing, emphasizing modality-sensitive cohesive features that contribute to higher-rated speeches and essays.