How to Improve your IELTS 'Coherence and Cohesion' Score with Referencing
25% of your overall IELTS writing score is graded on ‘Coherence and Cohesion’, which is a large percentage of your overall grade. To score well, your essay has to flow and be easily understood by the examiner.
When you use referencing by using referent pronouns this makes you avoid awkward repetition. Have a look at these two example sentences to understand how you can reference:
The pronoun ‘this’ refers back to noun phrase previously stated, so you do not have to repeat yourself.
Look at this next example using ‘it’:
You can avoid repetition by using pronouns in this way. Notice that there are two other referent pronouns in this sentence.
‘many’ ➡️people ‘they’ ➡️ people.
Referent pronouns can also be very useful if you do not know accurate synonyms and want to avoid repeating the noun again and again. Practise the exercises below to have more of an understanding of how you can use referencing in your own essays.
Referencing Exercises
What is being referenced in these exercises?
👆 To see the answers, click or touch on the highlighted words
Exercise 1
Many people believe that as roads are a part of the general infrastructure of a country, (1) they are the responsibility of the government. (2) Those who hold this point of view think that as taxpayers, they have already made their contribution towards the upkeep of the roads. (3) They feel that it is up to the government to plan (4) their expenditure and then manage (5) it effectively so that the money can be allocated where (6) it is needed.
Exercise 2
Gap years are common in countries such as the UK or Australia, although (1) they are still relatively rare in other parts of the world. (1) many who are in favour of gap years believe that (1) they can have a positive impact on students’ lives. For (4) some, taking a year off before starting university can be an opportunity to wind down after their final exams, as (1) these can cause a lot of stress. Other students travel, and it is important to note that (1) this doesn’t have to involve a round-the-world trip to be beneficial.
Exercise 3
Governments need to focus on improving the quality of public transport if (1) they want to make (2) it a viable option for most city dwellers. While it is true that the cost is important to (3) many, affordability is not the only consideration. People need to be confident that (4) theywill be able to get to work on time, which means that public transport needs to be efficient. (5) It needs to be reliable, and (6) this is perhaps the greatest challenge for most governments.
