An analysis of cohesive devices in bussiness letters in english and vietnamese

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HANOI OPEN UNVERSITY

AN ANALYSIS OF COHESIVE DEVICES IN
BUSSINESS LETTERS IN ENGLISH AND
VIETNAMESE
NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ PHƯƠNG TIỆN LIÊN KẾT TRONG THƯ
TÍN KINH DOANH TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT

M.A. THESIS

Field: English Language
Code: 60220201

Hanoi, 2015


MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HANOI OPEN UNVERSITY

AN ANALYSIS OF COHESIVE DEVICES IN
BUSSINESS LETTERS IN ENGLISH AND
VIETNAMESE
NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ PHƯƠNG TIỆN LIÊN KẾT TRONG THƯ
TÍN KINH DOANH TIẾNG ANH VÀ TIẾNG VIỆT

M.A. THESIS

Field: English Language
Code: 60220201

Supervisor: Nguyen Dang Suu. Ph.D

Hanoi, 2015


CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY
I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project
report entitled“ An analysis of cohesive devices in business letters in
English and Vietnamese” submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Master in English Language. Except for the
reference is indicated, no other person‟s work has been used without due
acknowledgement in the text of the thesis.
Hanoi, 2015

Nguyen Thi Thuy

Approved by
SUPERVISOR

Nguyen Dang Suu. Ph.D

Date:……………………

i


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This thesis could not have been completed without the help and
support from a number of people.
First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude

Nguyen Dang Suu. Ph.D, my supervisor, who has patiently and constantly
supported me through the stages of the study, and whose stimulating ideas,
expertise, and suggestions have inspired me greatly through my growth as
an academic researcher.
A special word of thanks goes to Post Graduate Falcuty and many
others, without whose support and encouragement it would never have been
possible for me to have this thesis accomplished.
Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my family, my friends for
the sacrifice they have devoted to the fulfillment of this academic work.

ii


ABSTRACT
This research was conducted to gain more insights in the writers‟ use
of cohesive deices and styles in business letters in English with reference to
Vietnamese equivalents. In addition, the author tries to figure out the
similarities and differences between English and Vietnamese

business

letters, which is regarded as one of the effective communication tools in
terms of cohesion aspects of Systemic Functional Grammar.
To fulfill these objectives, the authors conducted an analysis
with a sample of 30 business letters, including fifteen letters written in
English and fifteen translation versions of those letters in Vietnamese. The
research results indicate that there are some significant remarks on the
style of business correspondence, the frequency cohesive devices and the
similarities and differences in terms of cohesion between English and
Vietnamese business letters. The results show that while Vietnamese writers

regard lexical devices as the most useful tools in their letters, English ones
highly appreciate the effectiveness of reference.
The findings of this study can, to some extent, be usedas a
referential material for Vietnamese learners and teachers in writing and
teaching writing effective letters in English, especially business letters.

iii


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
Adj: Adjective
Adv: Adverb
CDs: Cohesive Devices
N: Noun
Prep: Preposition
V: Verb
SFL: Systemic Functional Grammar

iv


LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES
Table 01 : Types of Cohesion
Table 02: Grammatical and Lexical Cohesion
Table 03 : The use of reference devices of business letter
Table 04 : The use of personal reference of business letter
Table 05: The use of demonstrative reference of business letter
Table 06: The use of substitution of business letter
Table 07 : The use of nominal substitution of business letter
Table 08 : The use of clausal substitution of business letter

Table 09 : The use of verbal substitution of business letter
Table 10: The use of ellipsis of business letter
Table 11: The use of substitution of business letter
Table 12: The use of additive cohesive devices of business letter
Table 13: The use of adversative cohesive devices of business letter
Table 14: The use of causal cohesive devices of business letter
Table 15: The use of temporal cohesive devices of business letter
Table 16: The class of “General Nouns” in English business letters
Table 17 : The frequency of grammatical collocations of business letter

v


Table 18: English and Vietnamese business letters in comparison in terms of
grammatical cohesion
Table 19: English and Vietnamese business letters in comparison in terms of
lexical cohesion
Figure 01: The frequency of reiteration of business letter
Figure 02: The frequency of repetition of business letter
Figure 03: The frequency of synonyms of business letter
Figure 04: The frequency of near – synonyms of business letter
Figure 05 : The frequency of grammatical collocations of business letter

vi


TABLE OF CONTENTS
CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY ........................................................................ i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT ...........................................................................................................iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................. iv
LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES ....................................................................... v
TABLE OF CONTENTS ....................................................................................... vii
Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 1
1.1. Rationale for the research ................................................................................................ 1
1.2. Aims of the research ......................................................................................................... 2
1.3. Objectives of the research ............................................................................................... 3
1.4. Scope of the research ........................................................................................................ 3
1.5. Significance of the research ............................................................................................ 4
1.6. Structural organization of the thesis ............................................................................. 4
Chapter 2. LITERATURE REVIEW....................................................................... 6
2.1. Review of previous studies ............................................................................................. 6
2.2. Review of theoretical background................................................................................. 8
2.2.1. Theoretical Framework .................................................................................. 8
2.2.1.1. Overview of business letter ...................................................................... 10
2.2.2. Theoretical background ............................................................................... 15
2.2.2.1. Concept of cohesive devices ..................................................................... 17
2.2.2.2. Classification of cohesive devices ............................................................ 18
2.2.2.3. Function of cohesive devices .................................................................... 28
2.2.2.4. Discourse and Discourse Analysis............................................................ 29
2.3. Summary ............................................................................................................................ 34
Chapter 3. METHODOLOGY .............................................................................. 35
3.1. Research - governing orientations ............................................................................... 35
3.1.1. Research questions ....................................................................................... 35
3.1.2. Research setting ........................................................................................... 35
3.1.3. Research approach ....................................................................................... 36
3.2. Research methods ............................................................................................................ 36
3.2.1. Major methods and supporting methods . .................................................... 36

vii

3.2.2. Data collection techniques ........................................................................... 37
3.2.3. Data analysis techniques .............................................................................. 37
3.3. Summary. ........................................................................................................................... 38
Chapter 4. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ......................................................... 39
4.1. Grammatical and Lexical cohesive devices used in English business letters.....
............................................................................................................................. 39

4.1.1. Grammatical cohesive devices used in English business letters ................. 39
4.1.1.1. Reference .................................................................................................. 39
4.1.1.2. Substitution ............................................................................................... 42
4.1.1.3. Ellipsis 44
4.1.1.4. Conjunction ............................................................................................... 45
4.1.2. Lexical cohesive devices used in English business letters .......................... 51
4.1.2.1. The class of „General Nouns..................................................................... 51
4.2. Similarities and differences of cohesive devices used in English and
Vietnamese business letters. ................................................................................................. 64
4.2.1. Similarities ................................................................................................... 64
4.2.1.1. Grammatical cohesive devices ................................................................. 64
4.2.1.2. Lexical Cohesive devices ......................................................................... 67
4.2.2. Differences ................................................................................................... 68
4.2.2.1. Grammatical cohesive devices ................................................................. 68
4.2.2.2. Lexical cohesive devices .......................................................................... 69
4.3. Implications for teachers............................................................................................... 70
4.4. Summary ............................................................................................................................ 72
Chapter 5. CONCLUSION .................................................................................... 73
5.1. Recapitulation ................................................................................................................... 73
5.2. Concluding remarks ........................................................................................................ 74
5.3. Limitations of the current research ............................................................................. 77

5.4. Suggestions for a further research ............................................................................... 77
REFERENCES
APPENDICES

viii


Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1.

Rationale for the research
It cannot be denied that in the last few decades of the 20th century,

there has been a great source of research on language; however, their
attentions were only paid to the form of the language systems, which are
studied and explained apart from their functions in relation to social
situations. Besides, their concern was basically with structural theories,
which show that small units were arranged and combined into larger ones.
The recent research, on the other hand, has fallen into the tendency toward
discourse analysis, which focuses on factors affecting the communication
and also the functioning of syntactic, pragmatic and social aspects. Unlike
the former studies, these ones pay attention to the meaning of not only the
sentences but also utterances and discourses.
Today, the theory of Systemic Functional Grammar has been widely
accepted as an essential tool in language comprehension in communication,
from which inspired me to do a research on this topic. Halliday used the
functional model of grammar to interpret how people use language and how
language is structured for use. According to Eggins(1994), “Systemic
Functional Linguistics is increasingly being recognized as providing a very

useful descriptive and interpretive framework for viewing language as a
strategic, meaning-making resource”.
There have been a great number of studies in the field of discourse
analysis these days in Viet Nam. However, There are not so many of those
researches on Systemic Functional Perspectives reflecting the potential
variety. Furthermore, in the recent time, Viet Nam has been joining in the
1


common business climate around the world. English language as an
international language, therefore, has been widely used in every field,
especially in business communication in general and business transaction in
particular.
It has been generally said that business correspondence puts a great
impress on business communication. Besides, it is a fact that defects seem to
be unavoidable in carrying out business transactions, even for the bestmanaged organizations this seems to be in the same case. Business letters ,
therefore, can be understood as inevitable reaction of the business doers. For
the other side, gaining how to write a business letter effectively is a
challenge for many people.
With the hope of pinpointing out some solutions to support
Vietnamese business doers as well as Vietnamese students, to some extent,
to overcome these drawbacks in writing business letters, the study is
concerned to analyze the discourse features of business letters and work on
the grammatical and lexical cohesive devices from Systemic Functional
Perspectives. Also, the author will work out on the most common
equivalents in Vietnamese and from this, to find out some useful
suggestions to improve learning and teaching writing business letters in
English.
1.2.

Aims of the research

This research is conducted to aim at finding the grammatical and lexical
cohesive devices in the English and Vietnamese business letters, thus
suggesting some possible implication for teaching the cohesive device used
in English business letters to Vietnamese learners of English as a foreign
language.
2


1.3.

Objectives of the research
To achieve the mentioned above aims, some following objectives are
put forward:

(i)

Finding out the grammatical and lexical cohesive devices used in
English business letters.

(ii)

Identifying the similarities and differences of grammatical and
lexical cohesive devices uses in English and Vietnamese business
letters.

(iii)

Suggesting some possible implications for teaching the cohesive

devices used in English to Vietnamese students of English as a
foreign language.

1.4.

Scope of the research

(i) Academic scope:
Business letters are the primary and useful tools of exchanging ideas,
facts, recommendations, proposals and so on within a business or between a
business and other businesses and individuals, which give opportunities to
businesses to operate efficiently and productively. Effective letter writing
involves the use of grammar and vocabulary, cohesive devices and the
communicative strategies. As mentioned above, this study cannot cover all
the aspects of business letter but only concentrate on the grammatical and
lexical cohesive devices in English business letters in contrast with
Vietnamese to identify the similarities and differences between the two
languages.
(ii) Social scope:
The analysis is based on the data collected from authentic sources which I
believe is the sufficient data to support this thesis. In the study, the
3


investigation will be conducted in 15 business letters written by native
English speakers for which is picked up from “ 500 Selected English
Letters and Reports in Business” and 15 Vietnamese business letters
collected from Vietnam International Chamber of Commerce ( VCCI)
1.5.

Significance of the research

This study contributes to verifying the correctness and significance related
to linguistic theories in discourse analysis by working on a certain kind of
discourse (Business letters).
In addition to this, the author also hopes to help Vietnamese business doers
and students gain a better insight in writing an effective business letter.
1.6.

Structural organization of the thesis
This study is comprised of five chapters:
Chapter 1: An introduction presents some background information

and the rationale of the study. The aims, the scope and method of the study
are also dealt with in this chapter.
Chapter 2 : Literature Review is aimed at presenting the theoretical
background of the work. Some essential concepts closely related to the
study are carefully discussed one by one. Firstly, some theories of discourse
including the concept of discourse, functions of language, and discourse
context. Next, in terms of Systemic Functional Grammar, some concepts
such as transitivity, mood, theme- rheme, and cohesion consisting of
reference, substitution, ellipsis, lexical cohesion, and conjunctive cohesion
are presented. Finally, the definition, purpose, three contextual parameters
and structure of business complaint letters are also discussed in the chapter.

4


Chapter 3 : Methodology is work on the methods and techniques
which is used to conduct the study including the research method , data

collection techniques and data analysis techniques.
Chapter 4 : Findings and Discussion attempts to pinpoint out the
style and the type of a business letter through the 30 collected letters and
analyzes business letters in English in the light of Systemic Functional
Grammar. In this chapter, the four chosen terms of transitivity, mood,
theme-rheme and cohesion which consists of reference, substitution, ellipsis,
lexical cohesion and conjunctive cohesion are carefully analyzed to help
figure out the discourse features business

letters in the

languages of

English then generalizes the most common Vietnamese equivalents.
Chapter 5 : Conclusion is set up to summarize the whole research.
Some useful implications for studying and teaching writing effective
business complaint letters are also drawn out in this part.

5


Chapter 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1.

Review of previous studies

Businesses use different modes in doing their work. For examples;
letters,

telephone, and emails which work

on facilitating business

communication. Our concern in this study is the medium of business
letters which are “still very often the main means of establishing
business relations with other organizations” (Taylor, 2005). In this respect,
Bly (2004) points out that business letter is considered as a means of
communication which draws a picture about the identity of its writer.
Galko (2001) also states that business letters are usually used between
people who work in different companies, but they can be sometimes
used within the same company in order to communicate between its
divisions.
Since a letter lets an impression about its writer, researchers
work on finding the best ways for writing effective letters. Carey (2002)
is one of those who states how to produce an effective business letter. He
presents which called “The Seven “C‟s” of style”. They are ordered as
follows: conversational, clear, concise, complete, concrete, constructive
and correct. “Conversational” means to write as the way to speak, for
example, it is better to say “because” instead of “due to the fact that”. To be
“clear” is to show the clarity in your letters .That is to say, the receiver
should understand what you are writing. To be “concise” is to avoid
all unnecessary words and repetition. It is meant by “complete”, you
make sure that your letter provides the reader with the needed
information. Business letter also should be “concrete” by using specific
terms

and

identifying

names

and

numbers.

However,

to

be
6


“constructive” in your writing means to use positive words such as
success and proud. The last “C” is “correct” which indicates to
produce a correct business letter, in other words, to avoid errors by
reviewing and revising.
Thanks to the open-door policy renovation process, Vietnam is now
expanding its relationship with the other nations in economic, scientific and
technical field. English has been widely used in almost every field,
particularly in business. As a popular means of communication, English is
considered a key to success in international business ventures.
Regarding a variety of tasks facing the Vietnamese in business area, we
cannot help mentioning business letters writing. Business letters are
becoming more and more popular in the country today. Therefore, the
question “how to write effective business letters” has become a challenging
issue for both experienced businessmen, i.e. the people who are actually
involving in the business activities, and inexperienced people, i.e. those who

are learning business correspondence writing. Considerable researches have
been carried out in an attempt to satisfactorily answer the above-stated
issues by looking inside various aspects of business letters.
The first researched was an M.A. thesis named “A Contrastive Analysis of
English and Vietnamese Sales Letters” by Tran ThiThanhHai (2001). In her
work , she pointed out the frequency of occurrence of lexical devices in
English sales letters. The second study is also an M.A. thesis written by Le
Thi Mai Hien which is “An Analysis of Cohesive Devices in English
Application Letter” (2004). The process of researching on twenty English
application letters has enabled her to reach the frequency of occurrence of
reiteration in English application letters. The next study we would like to
review is another M.A. thesis by Phuong To Tam (2003) “An analysis of
7


Coherence and Cohesion and a Contrastive Analysis of Lexical Cohesive
Devices in English and Vietnamese”. Unlike the two other mentioned
papers, the data for this study is not from business correspondence but from
a chapter (chapter 5) on International Trade in the textbook “International
Business – An Integrated Approach” by John J. Wild, Kenneth L. Wild, and
Jerry C. Y. Han (1998). The attention of the study is paid to considering
contrastive analysis of lexical cohesive devices (including reiteration and
collocation) in English (source language) in the original textbook and their
equivalents in Vietnamese (target language) in the translation version.
2.2.

Review of theoretical background

2.2.1. Theoretical framework
Systemic Functional Grammar or Linguistics, first introduced by

Michael Halliday (1985), refers to a new approach to the study of grammar
that is radically different from the traditional view in which language is a set
of rules for specifying grammatical structures. In this view, language is a
resource for making meanings and hence grammar is a resource for creating
meaning by means of wording.
Unlike the „grammar as rule‟ type of theory, SFL takes the resource
perspective rather than the rule perspective, and it is designed to display the
overall system of grammar rather than only fragments. That‟s why it has
come to be known as a Systemic Functional Grammar.
In Systemic Functional Linguistics, „clause‟ rather than „sentence‟ is
the unit of analysis. In Systemic theory, a clause is a unit in which meanings
of three different kinds are combined. Three distinct structures, each
expressing one kind of semantic organization, are mapped onto one another
to produce a single wording. These semantic structures are referred to as
8


Meta-functions:The interpersonal meta-function, the ideational metafunction and the textual meta-function.
The interpersonal meta-function is concerned with the interaction
between speaker and addressee, the grammatical resources for enacting
social roles in general, and speech roles in particular, in dialogic interaction,
i.e. for establishing, changing, and maintaining interpersonal relations. The
building blocks of this semantic function configure as Subject, Finite,
Predicator, and Complement.
The

ideational

meta-function

is

concerned

with

„ideation‟,

grammatical resources for construing our experience of the world around
and inside us. This meta-function is analyzed in terms of Transitivity
system, i.e. a choice between the six processes and the participants and
circumstances associated with those processes. A clause in its ideational
function is a means of representing patterns of experience, i.e. to build a
mental picture of reality. This is what people employ to make sense of their
experience of what goes on around them and inside them: these goings-on
(processes) are sorted out in the semantic system of the language and
expressed through the grammar of the clause. The system that works out the
types of process and hence participants in the process and circumstances
associated with the process is known as the Transitivity system. In English,
the processes are of the following types (Halliday, 1985, 1994):Material
Process, Mental process, Relational process, Behavioral Processes, Verbal
Processes and Existential Processes.
The textual meta-function is concerned with the creation of text with
the presentation of ideational and interpersonal meanings as information that
can be shared by speaker and listener in text unfolding in context. This
meta-function consists of two sub-functions, Theme and Rheme.
9


2.2.1.1. Overview of business letter

a. Definition
Business correspondence is one of the principle means used by the
enterprises to keep in touch with its customers; and customers form their
impressions of the enterprise from the tone and the quality of the letter it
sends out. It, therefore is often believed to be the “ambassador” of an
enterprise. A great deal of business in the world is conducted by this means.
Thus, it is extremely important to be able to write good business letters that
represent one‟s self and one‟s firm to take the best advantages.
No intelligent, forward-thinking businessman would tolerate a rude, careless
or untidy salesman or representatives. Yet thousands of letters go out
everyday that reflect discredit upon the firm they represent, letters that
antagonize as surely as anoffensive or bad-mannered individuals. Such
letters could do more harm than good, for often they destroy the very
confidence and goodwill they seek to establish and maintain. Therefore, the
form of the letter with good quality paper and attractive letterhead plays its
significant role, but what is more important to decide its success or failure is
the message it carries. The business correspondence requires the writer to
express himself or herself accurately in a language that is plain, clear,
courteous and readily understood. The entire success of good business letter
writing is to write simply and in an easy and natural style.
b. The reasons of using business letters
When comparing oral and written communication, a variety of
reasons for putting things in writing are found out as follows:
- Written documents serve as permanent records. Clearly, while talks
and memories can fade away, written documents allow people to store data.
10


- Written channels are more effective than oral ones for presenting
numerical data and complex information.

- Written channels are more convenient for the recipient than oral
ones. This remark seems more obvious in international business as talking
on the phone requires immediate comprehension while a fax or a letter
enables the receiver to process the information more accurately.
- Written channels may enable the sender to convey his/her message
more effectively. Writers can present their ideas in the most efficient way,
even in difficult situations.
- Written channels are less expensive than oral ones for reaching large
group of people or transmitting information over long distances.
Among written means of correspondence, business letters nowadays
seem not as convenient as some other electronic ones like e-mails, telexes,
faxes, cables, which can be transmitted in just a few seconds. Letters;
however, may be the best means of communication in many cases – when
the corresponding context is highly formal or when an important, reliable
document with signs and stamps is needed.
c. The style of business letters
A business letter is usually a letter from one company to another, or
between such organizations and their customers, clients and other external
parties. The overall style of letter depends on the relationship between the
parties concerned. Business letters can have many types of contents, for
example to request direct information or action from another party, to order
supplies from a supplier, to point out a mistake by the letter's recipient, to
reply directly to a request, to apologize for a wrong, or to convey goodwill.
11


A business letter is sometimes useful because it produces a permanent
written record, and may be taken more seriously by the recipient than other
forms of communication
The business letter is the principal means used by a business firm to

keep in touch with customers; it is often the only companies or
organizations and customers forming

their impression of the firm or

negotiation from the tone and quality of the letters they send out.
Good quality paper and an attractive letter play their important part in
this, but they are less important than the message they carry. Business does
not call for the elegant language of the poet, but it requires the writer to
express himself accurately in a plain language that is clear, concise,
courteous and readily understood.
In term of grammatical correctness, gaining an attractive business
style may be the biggest problem for the writer of business letters. For
example:
As per your request, find my enclosed herewith a check in the amount of
2000 USD.
The expression “ As per” and “ herewith” contribute nothing to the
message while making the letter sound stilted and stiff. Within the limit of
using standard English, you should try in a regular way:
As your request, I have enclosed a check for 2000 USD.

12


d. Parts of business letters
According to Dudley-Evans and St John, business letters have certain
features of discourse that are common to their types, they differ only in
purpose. That is to say, business letters can be classified according to their
communicative purpose. Thus, the writer should establish his/her purpose
for writing as well as focus his/her audience, such as application letter,

letters of complaint, letters of requesting permission, order letter and
response letters. They therefore share the same steps of writing and number
of paragraphs (opening and closing moves).

There are many parts to

business letter, some are required and others are optional. According to
Asheley (2003), Shevtin (2005), Naterop et al (1977), Carey (2002), and
Mosenfelder (1998) agree about eight essential elements which should be
used in writing a formal business letter. These parts are as the following:
- Sender’s address: it should be written on the top right corner, if the
letter is sent by an individual, but it should be in the middle, and is called
letterhead, if it is written by a firm. The sender‟s address should include
information about the city and postcode, the street, and the country if the
letter is to be sent to a different country.
- Date: no abbreviations can be used in writing the date, that is to say,
months should be fully spelled out and years should be written with all four
digits. In English, the date can be written in different ways.
- Inside address: the sender should give the address of the receiver
after his/her own address (the name preceded by the titles such as Mr, Miss,
Mrs, etc, company, address and postal code, if the name of the receiver is
not known, the sender should write the name of the department and the

13


address). Of course, one should try to spell people‟s names and addresses
correctly.
- Salutation: The type of salutation or greeting depends on the
writer‟s relationship with the reader. It has three parts. The first part usually

begins with the word “Dear”. The second part includes a title such as Mr,
Mrs, etc. The final part always includes the person‟s last name. The writer
should use every resource possible to address his/her letter to an actual
person. If he/she does not know the name or the sex of the reader, s/he
addresses it to Dear Madam/Sir (or Dear Sales Manager or Dear Human
Resources Director). As a general rule the greeting in a business letter ends
in a colon (US style). It is also acceptable to use a comma (UK style).
- Body of the letter: It is the main part of the business letter where
the sender explains why he/she is writing. It consists of three sections which
should be brief and concise.
- Complimentary closing: It is a sign to the end of the business
letter. The writer should capitalize the first letter in the closing which is
followed by a comma. Formal closing should be used such as the following:
Sincerely,
Yours truly,
Sincerely yours,
-Signature: The sender writes his/her full name at the bottom of the
letter. If the business letter is typed, the signature is written just above the
typed name.
e. The layout of business letters

14


The horizontal placement of letter parts is flexible within the limits of
three basic styles:
LETTER LAYOUT 1: All letter parts begin at the left margin. It is
therefore the fastest traditional arrangement style to type. ( See Appendix 1)
LETTER LAYOUT 2: All letter parts begin at the left margin, except
the dateline, complimentary closing, company signature and writer‟

identification, which start at the horizontal center of the page. ( See
Appendix 1).
LETTER LAYOUT 3: This is the same as letter layout 2 with one
change : the beginning of each paragraph is indented five or ten spaces.
2.2.2. Theoretical background
2.2.2.1. Theory of cohesion
a. The concept of cohesion
The concept of cohesion is closely connected with text. It is defined
as the grammatical and lexical relationship between different elements of a
text. According to Yule (1996), a text is usually considered to have a certain
structure which depends on factors quite different from those required in the
structure of a single sentence. Some among those factors are described in
terms of cohesion, or the ties and connections which exist within a text.
Halliday and Hasan (1976) also define cohesion in a similar way: “The
concept of cohesion is a semantic one; it refers to relations of meaning that
exist within the text, and that define it as a text.” They also point out that
cohesion often occurs where the interpretation of some elements in the
discourse is dependent on that of another.

15