VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES
**0**
LÝ QUỲNH TRANG

AN INVESTIGATION INTO HOW TO USE LINKING
WORDS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPEAKING AND
WRITING SKILLS FOR THE IELTS EXAMINATION

(Nghiên cứu về việc sử dụng từ nối trong việc phát triển
kỹ năng nói và viết phục vụ loại hình thi IELTS) M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS
Field:English Linguistics
Code: 60.22.15
HANOI - 2010

v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION BY CANDIDATE i
CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iii
ABSTRACT iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS v
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS viii
LIST OF TABLES ix
LIST OF FIGURES ix
INTRODUCTION 1
1. Rationale 1
2. Aims of the study 2
3. Scope of the study 2
4. Significance of the study 3
5. Methodology 3
5.1 Approaches 3
5.2 Methods 4
6. Design of the study 6
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 8
1.1 Text versus Discourse 8
1.2 Cohesion versus coherence 10

APPENDIX I
1. Speaking Sample Answers I
1.1 Sample 1 I
vii
1.2 Sample 2 III
1.3 Sample 3 VI
1.4 Sample 4 IX
1.5 Sample 5 XII
2. Writing Task 1 Sample Answer XIV
2.1 Sample 1 XIV
2.2 Sample 2 XIV
2.3 Sample 3 XV
2.4 Sample 4 XVI
2.5 Sample 5 XVI
3. Writing Task 2 Sample Answer XVI
3.1 Sample 1 XVII
3.2 Sample 2 XVII
3.3 Sample 3 XVIII
3.4 Sample 4 XIX
3.5 Sample 5 XIX
viii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
EAP: English for Academic Purpose
ESL: English as Second Language
INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
Language is functioned as means to maintain and set up social relations; people in all
circumstances get involved in expressing their feeling, attitudes and opinions. Therefore,
nowadays, when globalization is a worldwide tendency and especially after Vietnam joined
WTO, Vietnamese find English - the international language more important and necessary
to learn than ever before. Over the decades, there have been a growing number of English
learners wishing to study at tertiary level in English speaking countries. As a result, many
English as Second Language (ESL) students are enrolled in English for Academic
Purposes (EAP) courses which provide the opportunity to acquire essential skills for their
prospective studies in English-medium universities (i.e., courses taught in English at
universities in Anglophone or non-Anglophone countries). Besides acquiring academic
skills, EAP courses have other aims, such as to support non-native English speaker
students to go through English language tests such as the International English Language
Testing Systems (IELTS), which is widely recognized as a language requirement for
entering universities mainly in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand and many
other countries around the world. Academic essay-writing and speaking are two of the four
skills which international students must acquire both for their prospective studies in
English-mediated university courses and for obtaining the requiring score in the writing
and speaking section of the IELTS.
Linking words are crucial in writing and speaking in that they help readers / listeners
recognize the relationships between ideas and follow the thread of messages that the writer
wants to convey. By connecting individual clauses, sentences and paragraphs into a single
theme, linking words make obvious and visible the writers / speakers‘ ―line of thought‖.
However, during my process of teaching IELTS for my students, I come to realize that the
students lack the adequate linguistic knowledge to convey their ideas when writing or
speaking and they have difficulties in choosing a link word that appropriately expressess
the logical relations between ideas and thus the whole message of their text is vague,

cohesive device at clausal and sentence levels in the two skills tested in IELTS academic
module: writing and speaking within seven main categories in 15 sample answers, that is:
Listing, Transition, Summation, Apposition, Cause / Result, Inference and Contrasting.
3
Finally, the study will not try to propose all possible solutions to cohesion teaching and
learning but only suggest some implication which is expected to help English users in
general and IELTS examinees employ linking words more precisely and effectively.
4. Significance of the study
In terms of theoretical significance, the study brings with it the task to verify the
correctness and significance if linguistic theory by working on IELTS speaking and writing
samples. It is hoped to improve the existing ideas on linking words to satisfy the
individuals‘ questions.
İn terms of practical significance, this research gives out some applications such as
combining linguitis theory and practice in analyzing English spoken and written discourse
of IELTS. İn addition, the study suggest some implication for English teachers and learners
to gain effective use of linking words in expressing ideas and then they would be able to
raise their IELTS band score as well as their English competence.
5. Methodology
5.1 Approaches
So as to achieve the objectives of the study, we have to follow both qualitative and
quantitative approaches, which are strategic methods in the study. However, quantitative
approach is exploited most of the time to search for the frequency of linking words
occurrence and their semantic categories distribution in the two skills IELTS speaking and
writing. Qualitative study is also useful for us to work out if there are links among clauses
and sentences in IELTS speaking and writing answers, and how we can apply the discourse
analysis of linking words in 15 samples to improve the IELTS writing and speaking
cohesive and coherence band score.

Preparation and Practice which include Cambridge Practice Tests for IELTS 1-7,
KAPLAN IELTS, 101 Hints for IELTS, 202 Hints for IELTS, IELTS Practice Tests 1 -2,
IELTS Test Builder 1-2, New Insight into IELTS, IELTS Graduation, Focusing on IELTS
speaking and listening; Writing and Reading.
A sample is a portion of population that is observed. The sample of this study is 15 sample
answers (five writing task 1 answers, five task 2 answers and five speaking answers) which
are chosen on linking words employment basis, that is to say, I extract the answers whose
occurrence of linking words is of high frequency and these samples have to be model
answers written by IELTS examiners or candidates who achieved IELTS band score 7 and
5
higher. Therefore, the technique applied here is purposive random sampling. According to
Wiersma (1991:265) ―purposive sampling is the selection conducted based on the
characteristics of the units (sites or individual) relevant to the research problems‖.
15 IELTS written and spoken discourses are picked out based on the samples choosing
method mentioned above. Moreover, for IELTS writing, there are two tasks: Task 1 and
Task 2 and each task have different types of questions so the samples chosen should also
ensure this diversity. In Task 1, examinees are given questions containing some visual
information such as graphs (tables, lines, bars, pie charts) and diagrams. Examinees are
expected to write a short description of information presented in the visual data. Therefore
I chose three samples of describing graphs and two samples of describing diagram to
investigate the use of linking words. As for Task 2, there are three main types of questions:
argumentative essay, discursive essay and account essay and so I chose two samples of
argumentative type, two samples of discursive type and one sample of account type.
5.2.3 Data analysis
To do the analysis, we use a coding system which aims to make our analysis clearer and
easier to follow.
Semantic categories of linking words

b. To introduce a restatement or explanation
5. Cause and result
a. To introduce a result
b. To introduce a cause / reason
6. Inference
a. To introduce an alternative
b. To introduce a condition
7. Contrast
a. To introduce a replacement
b. To introduce opposite ideas
c. To introduce a concession
L4
L4a
L4b
L5
L5a
L5b
L6
L6a
L6b
L7
L7a
L7b
L7c
Table 1: Semantic categories codes of Linking words
The next step is to number the sentences in each sample answer and then read through the
answers to find the link between sentences and work out the employment of linking words
in terms of semantic function used. And thus we have to tabulate the use of linking words
for each text, that is, each text will be analyzed using a table that is divided into four
columns: No, Sentence No, Cohesive item and Semantic category. Attention is focused on

now flows from numerous academic disciplines that are very different from one another.
Included, of course, are the disciplines in which models for understanding, and methods for
analyzing, discourse first developed, such as linguistics, anthropology, and philosophy.
Given this disciplinary diversity, it is no surprise that the terms ―discourse‖ and ―discourse
analysis‖ have different meanings to scholars in different fields.
So abundant are definitions of discourse that many linguistics books on the subject now
open with a survey of definitions. In their collection of classic papers in discourse analysis,
for example, Jaworski and Coupland (1999: 1–3) include ten definitions from a wide range
of sources. They all, however, fall into the three main categories noted above: (1) anything
beyond the sentence, (2) language use, and (3) a broader range of social practice that
includes nonlinguistic and nonspecific instances of language.
Text and discourse analysis is one area of linguistics, the systematic Study of language.
The best way to understand what text and discourse analysis is about is to compare it with
another area of linguistics: grammar.
Grammar (or syntax, as it is sometimes called) deals mainly with the structure of
individual sentences. For instance, the rules of English grammar tell us that if some
English words are combined as in example (1) below, they form an acceptable English
sentence:
(1) If you want advice or practical help with health matters, ask your family doctor,
district nurse or health visitor.
The rules of grammar tell us that if we combine these words differently, as in (2), they do
not form an acceptable English sentence:
(2) Visitor health or nurse district, doctor family your ask, matters health with help
practical or advice want you if.
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Grammar, then, is basically about how words combine to form sentences, Some people
think that grammar is about how to write and speak properly, so that 'correct grammar'

If we look at examples (3) and (4), it's not hard to see what is wrong with (4). Most
strikingly, the words which are why at the beginning of the second sentence of (3) refer
back to the first sentence. In example (4) the same words are at the beginning of the first
sentence - SO there is nothing for them to refer back to. For this reason, example (4) gives
us the feeling that we are in the middle of a text and that we have missed the beginning,
while example (3) can stand on its own.
Another thing that makes example (3) coherent is the way the words it standard in the third
sentence refer back to the same words in the previous sentence. When the sentences are
rearranged in example (4) this linking of words doesn't work, because another sentence
gets in the way.
We can see from these examples that a coherent text has certain words and expressions in
it which link the sentences together. Expressions like which is why, and the use of
repetition, arc known as cohesive devices, they are like the glue which holds different parts
of a text together. Cohesive devices are only one factor in making a text coherent, but they
are a good place to start the study of text and discourse because they are quite easy to
identify. Just as important in making texts coherent are the intentions, expectations and
background knowledge of the text producer (the speaker or writer) and the text receiver
(the hearer or reader).
1.2 Cohesion versus coherence
1.2.1 Cohesion
There are many definitions of the term ―cohesion‖ defined by linguists. According to
Nunan (1993:116), cohesion is the formal links that mark various types of inter-clause and
inter-sentence relationships within discourse. A simple definition is given by Yule
(1985:190), he defines cohesion as ties and connection which exist within the text.
Similarly, Halliday and Hasan (1976:4) explain that the concept of cohesion is a semantic
unit one which refers to relation of meaning that exists within a text and that defines it as
text.
Halliday and Hasan (1976: 4) add that this cohesion occurs when the interpretation of some
elements in the discourse is dependent on that of another. The one presupposes the other,
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the type of semantic or rhetorical relationship that underlines texts.
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However, cohesion and coherence are interrelated. Cohesion is seen as one way s of
indicating coherence but it would be a mistake to identify it with coherence, and assume
that there is one-to-one correspondence between them.
1.3 Linking words
1.3.1 The notion of linking words
Linking words are vital to the success of any essay. They are the bread and butter of
writing. They are the glue that holds essays together. We can think of bricks building a
house without mortar, we will see that linking words hold the same importance, and thus
we need those words and phrases to join sentences and thoughts together in a coherent
fashion.
Linking words, for Mc Carthy (1991: 46), do not set off a search backward or forward for
their referents but they do presuppose a textual sequence, and signal a relationship between
segments of the discourse.
Cook (1989: 21) states that link words are words and phrases which explicitly draw
attention to the study of relationship which exists between one sentence or clause and
another while in Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar linking words are defined as an
umbrella term for any word that joins two linguistic units.
As regards to the term ―link words‖, it is necessary to note that there are many other words
or phrases which may be used to refer to this kind of discoursal cohesion and coherence.
Alice Oshima and Ann Hogue used the term transition signals in the book titled ―Writing
Academic English‖ – which show how one idea is related to the next so as to achieve
paragraph coherence.
Michael Swan, the author of ―Practical English Usage‖ prefers the term discourse markers
to refer to any word or expression which shows the connection between what is being said
and the rest of discourse.

But it is not true for most conjuncts. They are more flexible and can occur in different
positions: initial, medial or final positions.
E.g: John plays the guitar; his sister, moreover, plays the piano.
Does she still live in Rome then?
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Secondly, coordinated clauses are sequentially fixed in relation to the previous clause and
therefore cannot be transposed without producing unacceptable sentences or at least
changing the relationship of the clauses.
E.g: They are living in London or they are on holiday there.
*Or they are on holiday in London, they are living there.
This is also true for conjuncts.
E.g: I have done all the homework. So I can go out with you.
*So I can go out with you. I have done all the homework.
But this is not true for most subordinators.
E.g: Although Mary wanted it, John gave it away.
John gave it away although Mary wanted it.
The third difference is that coordinators are not preceded by a conjunction but conjuncts as
well as subordinators can usually be preceded by conjunctions.
E.g: I have done all the homework, and so I can go out with you.
*He was unhappy about it, and but he did what he was told.
Fourthly, coordinators such as and, or and but allow ellipsis of the subject of the clause
they introduce if the subject is co-referential with that of the preceding linked clause.
However it does not apply to most conjuncts.
E.g: I may see you tomorrow or (I) may phone you later in the day.
*He went to bed late, nevertheless (he) felt tired.
Another difference is that coordinators like and and or can link subordinate clauses but it is
not possible for conjuncts.

First(ly), second(ly), third(ly)
One ,two, three
Next, then, last, lastly, finally
For one thing, for another thing
To begin with / To start with
In the first place, In the second
place 16
To indicate order of
importance
More important(ly), most
important(ly)
First and foremost
First and most important(ly)
The most important + noun
The first + noun Table 2: Enumerative Linking Words
b. Addition
The relationship of addition is used to introduce continuation and is often conveyed by two
classes of additive linking words: reinforcing and equative words. Reinforcing words
simply mark the next unit of discourse as being added to the previous one; equative words
show explicitly an indication that the second item is similar to the first. These classes cover
the items in the table below.

1.3.4.2 Transition
Transition by nature is a turn to a new stage in the sequence of thought. This class can be
divided into two sub-categories: discoursal and temporal linking words.
a. Discoursal words
Discoursal words serve to shift attention to another topic, a new incident in the story, a new
point in the argument, a new role or attitude being taken on by the writer / speaker and so
on. The new topic is not incompatible with what is linked to but rather it is signaled as only
loosely connected or unconnected.
b. Temporal words
Temporal linking words are used as signal for marking the transition to a temporally
related event or to clarify chronological order.
Meaning / function
Sentence Connectors
Coordinators
Subordinators
To introduce a new
topic
Now, incidentally, by the by, by the
way
As for, with regard to
Talking of… / speaking of… To show
chronological order
First, second, third
Meanwhile, meantime
Next, last, finally
After that, Since then
In the meantime, In the meanwhile

Table 5: Summation Linking Words
1.3.4.4 Apposition
Apposition is considered very applicable to the process of information retrieval.
Apposition linking words can be used to show that the second unit is to be taken as a
restatement of the first, reformulating the information it expresses in some way or stating it
in more explicit terms. In some case the second unit of a text is an example of the previous.
It is therefore presented as information that is in some sense included in, rather than
exactly equivalent to the previous text.
Meaning / function
Sentence Connectors
Coordinators
Subordinators
To introduce an example
Namely, that is to say,
specifically
For example, for instance,
An example of+ noun To introduce a
restatement or
explanation
That is, indeed, i.e
In other words, in fact Table 6: Appositive Linking Words