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8.2.2 Evaluation and Overall Coherence
In chapter 5, page 158, we noted the negative correlation which could be drawn between the amount of evaluation found in the set of narratives and the number of inter-clausal
pauses which we have been calling “discontinuities”. Then, in section 8.1.1 we noted the discontinuities in Aqeel’s Story B2 and in section 8.1.2 how these related to evaluation.
We now want to look at coherence in more general terms; coherence is not just an absence of breaks in continuity but a global concept related to global level discourse functions
within a narrative. In chapter 2, section 2.4.6, where we first introduced our view of the interrelationship of
evaluation and plot construction as two sides of the same coin - effective communication within narrative, we quoted the opening of Shvinder’s Story B as an example of this
interrelationship see pp. 47–48, making a few general remarks about it which are all related in some way to the question of coherence. We noted the presence of a distinct orientation
section, the clear presentation of temporal sequence and nominal-pronominal reference, the effective use of direct speech with the correct first-person pronouns, and the use of
expressive phonology and other evaluative devices which also serve as cohesive devices, tying events together and presenting the listener with a coherent product for hisher
attention. Then, on page 50, we listed some of the features we would put under the heading of “poor plot construction”. As well as the more obvious discontinuities, lack of orientation,
disordered temporal sequencing, and ambiguous pronominal reference, we noted other features which prevent coherence and frustrate listeners, i.e. meaningless repetition, over- or
under-elaboration of details, and lack of the appropriate vocabulary required for the telling. Finally, we ended chapter 2 see pp. 54–55 with a quotation from Bamberg 1987,
contrasting the young child’s notion of a globally coherent narrative schema with hisher inability to “filter this schema down to the level of forming the appropriate sequential
segments so that a locally cohesive interpretation comes into existence” p. 17. Coherence and cohesion have to do with all the devices, phonological, syntactic, and
lexical, which speakers use in discourse to tie the text together so that it is recognized by their hearers as a unified whole. In narrative there are specific devices, such as devices for
indicating temporal orientation, which mark that particular discourse as a narrative. Bamberg 1987 suggests that the only way to plug the explanatory gap between what
children know globally about narrative schemata and what they know locally about how to link the various segments of their narratives together is to undertake a detailed study of
- 364 - the growth of these cohesive devices, “and the functions these devices serve as children of
different ages employ them in their own productions of cohesivecoherent discourse” p. 17. In a small way this is what we have been seeking to do.
We have noted that our better storytellers not only, quantitatively, employ more devices than the others, but they also, qualitatively, employ them in more effective ways. We claim
that, in the main, these differences are developmental; however, it is also clear that factors inherent in the interactive situation may be at work, such as the personality of the speaker,
the difficulty of the task, the interference of the hearer or the lack of rapport between speaker and hearer, or the speaker feeling physically unwell at the time. Nevertheless, in
our data we do find that the more able subjects produce more globally coherent narratives than those who have less ability in English as an L2.
8.2.3 The Problem of L2 Syntax
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