Cohesion and Discourse Grammar examines how words, phrases, clauses, sentences, and paragraphs connect to create coherent, meaningful, and logically organized spoken and written communication.

The following is a structured syllabus covering 25 major topics and their subtopics, from fundamental to advanced levels (A1–C2 and academic English).

1. Introduction to Cohesion and Discourse Grammar

• Definition of cohesion

• Definition of coherence

• Definition of discourse

• Differences between cohesion and coherence

• Differences between sentence grammar and discourse grammar

• Text versus discourse

• Spoken versus written discourse

• Grammatical versus lexical cohesion

• Local versus global coherence

• Discourse structure and organization

• Context-dependent interpretation

• Communicative competence and discourse competence

2. Grammatical Cohesion

• Reference

• Substitution

• Ellipsis

• Conjunction

• Anaphoric relationships

• Cataphoric relationships

• Endophoric reference

• Exophoric reference

• Cohesive ties

• Cohesive chains

• Grammatical continuity across sentences

• Grammatical cohesion in paragraphs

3. Reference and Referential Cohesion

• Personal reference

• Demonstrative reference

• Comparative reference

• Pronominal reference

• Definite reference

• Indefinite reference

• Anaphoric reference

• Cataphoric reference

• Exophoric reference

• Bridging reference

• Direct versus indirect reference

• Referential identity

• Reference tracking

• Ambiguous reference

• Pronoun–antecedent relationships

• Referential cohesion in extended texts

4. Substitution in Discourse

• Definition of substitution

• Nominal substitution

• Verbal substitution

• Clausal substitution

• Substitution using one and ones

• Substitution using do and does

• Substitution using so and not

• Substitution versus reference

• Substitution versus ellipsis

• Substitution in conversations

• Substitution in formal writing

• Avoiding unnecessary repetition through substitution

5. Ellipsis in Discourse

• Definition of ellipsis

• Nominal ellipsis

• Verbal ellipsis

• Clausal ellipsis

• Situational ellipsis

• Textual ellipsis

• Structural ellipsis

• Anaphoric ellipsis

• Cataphoric ellipsis

• Ellipsis in coordinated structures

• Ellipsis in comparative constructions

• Ellipsis in questions and answers

• Ellipsis in informal conversations

• Recoverability of omitted information

• Ellipsis and grammatical economy

6. Conjunction and Logical Connections

• Additive conjunctions

• Adversative conjunctions

• Causal conjunctions

• Temporal conjunctions

• Conditional conjunctions

• Concessive conjunctions

• Comparative conjunctions

• Coordinating conjunctions

• Subordinating conjunctions

• Correlative conjunctions

• Conjunctive adverbs

• Logical relationships between propositions

• Explicit versus implicit connections

• Inter-sentential conjunctions

• Conjunctions in academic discourse

7. Lexical Cohesion

• Lexical repetition

• Synonymy

• Near-synonymy

• Antonymy

• Hyponymy

• Hypernymy

• Meronymy

• Holonymy

• Collocation

• Semantic relationships

• Lexical chains

• Reiteration

• Superordinate terms

• General nouns

• Semantic fields

• Topic-related vocabulary

• Lexical consistency

• Vocabulary variation

• Lexical cohesion in academic texts

8. Discourse Markers

• Definition of discourse markers

• Functions of discourse markers

• Additive markers

• Contrastive markers

• Causal markers

• Sequential markers

• Temporal markers

• Exemplification markers

• Clarification markers

• Reformulation markers

• Emphasis markers

• Summarizing markers

• Concluding markers

• Topic-shifting markers

• Turn-management markers

• Interactional markers

• Formal versus informal discourse markers

• Position of discourse markers

• Punctuation with discourse markers

• Overuse and misuse of discourse markers

9. Transition Words and Linking Expressions

• Addition: furthermore, moreover, additionally

• Contrast: however, nevertheless, conversely

• Cause: because, since, owing to

• Effect: therefore, consequently, thus

• Purpose: so that, in order to

• Condition: provided that, unless

• Concession: although, even though, despite

• Comparison: similarly, likewise

• Examples: for example, for instance

• Sequence: first, next, finally

• Time: meanwhile, subsequently

• Clarification: in other words, that is

• Emphasis: indeed, notably

• Summary: in summary, to summarize

• Conclusion: in conclusion, ultimately

• Appropriate selection of linking expressions

• Register and style of transitions

10. Coherence and Logical Organization

• Definition of coherence

• Logical consistency

• Unity of ideas

• Continuity of meaning

• Relevance of information

• Topic development

• Logical progression

• Chronological organization

• Spatial organization

• Cause-and-effect organization

• Comparison-and-contrast organization

• Problem-and-solution organization

• General-to-specific organization

• Specific-to-general organization

• Deductive reasoning

• Inductive reasoning

• Reader expectations

• Inference and implicit connections

• Recognizing coherence problems

11. Theme and Rheme

• Definition of theme

• Definition of rheme

• Theme–rheme structure

• Topical theme

• Interpersonal theme

• Textual theme

• Marked theme

• Unmarked theme

• Simple versus multiple themes

• Given versus new information

• Theme progression

• Constant-theme progression

• Linear thematic progression

• Derived-theme progression

• Split-rheme progression

• Thematic continuity

• Thematic shifts

• Theme–rheme organization in academic writing

12. Information Structure

• Given information

• New information

• Presupposed information

• Shared knowledge

• Topic and comment

• Topic–focus structure

• Focus and background

• Broad focus

• Narrow focus

• Contrastive focus

• End-focus principle

• End-weight principle

• Information packaging

• Cleft sentences

• Pseudo-cleft sentences

• Fronting

• Inversion

• Extraposition

• Dislocation

• Information structure and intonation

13. Topic Continuity and Topic Management

• Discourse topics

• Sentence topics

• Topic introduction

• Topic maintenance

• Topic development

• Topic shifting

• Topic reintroduction

• Topic closure

• Global topic versus local topic

• Topic chains

• Topic continuity

• Topic prominence

• Topic-comment organization

• Topic management in conversations

• Topic management in academic writing

• Abrupt topic shifts

• Maintaining thematic consistency

14. Paragraph Cohesion and Unity

• Paragraph structure

• Topic sentences

• Supporting sentences

• Concluding sentences

• Paragraph unity

• Paragraph coherence

• Sentence sequencing

• Logical ordering of supporting details

• Internal paragraph transitions

• Repetition of key concepts

• Pronoun reference across sentences

• Lexical chains within paragraphs

• Paragraph development

• Paragraph length and balance

• Paragraph transitions

• Avoiding irrelevant sentences

• Avoiding fragmented paragraphs

15. Text Organization and Discourse Structure

• Text beginnings and openings

• Introductions

• Background information

• Main-body organization

• Discourse sequencing

• Development of arguments

• Supporting evidence

• Examples and illustrations

• Counterarguments

• Rebuttals

• Summaries

• Conclusions

• Text closure

• Headings and subheadings

• Section transitions

• Global text organization

• Genre-specific organization

• Macrostructure and microstructure

16. Rhetorical Relations and Discourse Relations

• Elaboration

• Explanation

• Evidence

• Justification

• Cause

• Result

• Purpose

• Condition

• Concession

• Contrast

• Comparison

• Sequence

• Circumstance

• Background

• Restatement

• Summary

• Evaluation

• Interpretation

• Problem–solution relationships

• Claim–support relationships

• Rhetorical Structure Theory (RST)

• Discourse relation identification

17. Sentence Connections and Inter-Sentential Relations

• Sentence-to-sentence cohesion

• Inter-sentential reference

• Semantic continuity

• Lexical repetition across sentences

• Logical transitions

• Parallel sentence structures

• Contrastive sentence relationships

• Cause-and-effect sentence relationships

• Temporal sentence relationships

• Explanatory sentence relationships

• Referential chains

• Sentence ordering

• Sentence combining

• Sentence splitting

• Avoiding disconnected sentences

• Improving sentence flow

18. Spoken Discourse Grammar

• Characteristics of spoken discourse

• Spoken versus written grammatical structures

• Conversational ellipsis

• Discourse particles

• Fillers and hesitation markers

• Repetition in speech

• Reformulation and self-correction

• Backchannel responses

• Response tokens

• Question–answer sequences

• Adjacency pairs

• Turn-taking

• Turn allocation

• Turn transitions

• Overlapping speech

• Interruptions

• Repair strategies

• Topic negotiation

• Conversation openings and closings

• Spoken discourse coherence

19. Pragmatics and Discourse Interpretation

• Context and meaning

• Speaker meaning

• Hearer interpretation

• Deixis

• Personal deixis

• Spatial deixis

• Temporal deixis

• Discourse deixis

• Social deixis

• Presupposition

• Implicature

• Conversational implicature

• Conventional implicature

• Speech acts

• Direct speech acts

• Indirect speech acts

• Cooperative Principle

• Gricean maxims

• Politeness strategies

• Common ground

• Inference in discourse

• Contextual ambiguity

20. Register, Genre, and Discourse Style

• Definition of register

• Definition of genre

• Formal discourse

• Informal discourse

• Academic discourse

• Professional discourse

• Scientific discourse

• Technical discourse

• Literary discourse

• Journalistic discourse

• Legal discourse

• Political discourse

• Digital discourse

• Conversational discourse

• Genre conventions

• Audience awareness

• Purpose and communicative context

• Field, tenor, and mode

• Register variation

• Cohesive devices across genres

21. Academic and Scientific Discourse

• Academic text organization

• Scientific argumentation

• Research article structure

• Abstract organization

• Introduction development

• Literature review cohesion

• Methodology sequencing

• Results presentation

• Discussion coherence

• Conclusion organization

• Research-gap statements

• Claim–evidence relationships

• Hedging expressions

• Boosting expressions

• Stance markers

• Metadiscourse markers

• Citation integration

• Reporting verbs

• Nominalization

• Lexical density

• Grammatical complexity

• Objective and cautious language

• Cohesion in research proposals

• Cohesion in dissertations and theses

22. Metadiscourse and Writer–Reader Interaction

• Definition of metadiscourse

• Interactive metadiscourse

• Interactional metadiscourse

• Transition markers

• Frame markers

• Endophoric markers

• Evidentials

• Code glosses

• Hedging devices

• Boosters

• Attitude markers

• Engagement markers

• Self-mentions

• Reader guidance

• Writer stance

• Authorial voice

• Reader engagement

• Argument navigation

• Metadiscourse in academic writing

23. Advanced Discourse Grammar

• Discourse-level syntax

• Discourse configurationality

• Discourse anaphora

• Discourse deixis

• Centering Theory

• Accessibility Theory

• Discourse Representation Theory (DRT)

• Segmented Discourse Representation Theory (SDRT)

• Information-structural constraints

• Focus-sensitive constructions

• Contrastive topicalization

• Left dislocation

• Right dislocation

• Topicalization

• Cleft constructions

• Pseudo-cleft constructions

• Existential constructions

• Inversion and discourse prominence

• Gapping and discourse recoverability

• Sluicing

• Pragmatic ellipsis

• Discourse segmentation

• Discourse dependency relations

• Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL)

24. Cohesion and Discourse Errors

• Weak cohesion

• Lack of coherence

• Unclear pronoun reference

• Ambiguous antecedents

• Excessive repetition

• Inappropriate synonym substitution

• Incorrect discourse markers

• Misleading transitions

• Missing logical connections

• Redundant conjunctions

• Inconsistent terminology

• Abrupt topic shifts

• Faulty paragraph transitions

• Inconsistent tense sequencing

• Inappropriate information ordering

• Weak topic sentences

• Irrelevant supporting details

• Unclear argument progression

• Overuse of nominalization

• Register inconsistency

• Unclear writer stance

• Misplaced emphasis

• Problems with given–new information flow

• Revision strategies for discourse errors

25. Discourse Analysis and Practical Applications

• Introduction to discourse analysis

• Textual analysis

• Conversational analysis

• Cohesion analysis

• Coherence analysis

• Lexical chain analysis

• Reference chain analysis

• Thematic progression analysis

• Information structure analysis

• Discourse marker analysis

• Genre analysis

• Register analysis

• Rhetorical structure analysis

• Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)

• Corpus-based discourse analysis

• Corpus linguistics and cohesion

• Computational discourse analysis

• Automatic coherence assessment

• Text summarization and discourse structure

• Discourse annotation

• Cohesion in essay writing

• Cohesion in TOEFL and IELTS writing

• Cohesion in presentations and public speaking

• Cohesion in professional communication

• Editing and proofreading for coherence

Recommended Learning Sequence

Level, Recommended topics

Beginner (A1–A2)

1, 2, 6, 9, 14

Intermediate (B1–B2)

3–5, 7, 8, 10, 13, 15, 17

Advanced (C1–C2)

11, 12, 16, 18–20, 22, 24

Academic and Research

21, 23, 25, with advanced study of 11, 12, 16 and 22

Total: 25 major topics with more than 400 subtopics and related concepts.

This syllabus integrates grammatical cohesion, textual coherence, discourse structure, pragmatics, information structure, and academic discourse. It is suitable for advanced English grammar study, TOEFL/IELTS preparation, academic writing, and introductory linguistic research.