'Little coherence, considerable strain for reader': A comparison between two rating scales for the assessment of coherence

Abstract

The category of coherence in rating scales has often been criticized for being vague. Typical descriptors might describe students' writing as having 'a clear progression of ideas' or 'lacking logical sequencing.' These descriptors inevitably require subjective interpretation on the side of the raters. A number of researchers (Connor & Farmer, 1990; Intaraprawat & Steffensen, 1995) have attempted to measure coherence more objectively. However, these efforts have not thus far been reflected in rating scale descriptors. For the purpose of this study, the results of an adaptation of topical structure analysis (Connor and Farmer, 1990; Schneider and Connor, 1990), which proved successful in disti..