Syntactic Complexity and Cohesion Errors in Secondary Students' English Writing Output

Overview of the Study: Syntactic Complexity and Cohesion Errors

• The study, titled "Syntactic Complexity and Cohesion Errors in Secondary Students' English Writing Output," addresses the persistent difficulties secondary students face in producing clear, coherent, and well-organized English written works.
• Issues identified in student writing include disjointed ideas, grammatical inconsistencies, and weak logical transitions.
• A core problem in English language education is the classroom emphasis on surface-level grammatical accuracy and basic skills, which neglects the critical aspects of syntactic complexity and cohesion.
• Effective communication is required for students in both academic environments and real-life contexts, directly relating to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal $4$, which promotes inclusive and equitable quality education.
• The research aims to explore the relationship between syntactic complexity and cohesion errors specifically within the local context of secondary education, an area where previous research is perceived as limited.
• Analysis focus: the nature and frequency of cohesion errors and the level of syntactic complexity in student compositions.
• Planned Outcome: The study will serve as the foundation for a proposed intervention program entitled "WRITE" (Writing Reinforcement Intervention for Technical and Expressive English). This program is designed to improve sentence construction, grammatical accuracy, and cohesive device usage through:
  • Guided writing activities.
  • Collaborative learning tasks.
  • Peer editing.
  • Contextualized writing exercises.
  • Teacher-led workshops.
  • Supplementary instructional materials.

Theoretical Framework: Linguistic and Cognitive Foundations

• Systemic Functional Linguistics Theory ($1994$) by Suzanne Eggins:
  • Views language as a social semiotic system used to negotiate meaning within specific contexts.
  • Differs from traditional grammar by focusing on three metafunctions:
  1. Ideational Function: Concerns the expression of ideas and experiences.
  2. Interpersonal Function: Focuses on the relationship between the writer and reader.
  3. Textual Function: Emphasizes the organization and coherence of messages. Cohesion is a key mechanism here, using references, substitutions, conjunctions, and lexical ties to establish logical connections.
  • Application: Used to systematically analyze sentence structures and identify patterns of incoherence caused by inappropriate or insufficient use of cohesive devices.
• Cognitive Complexity Theory ($2002$) by Graeme Halford and Glenda Andrews:
  • Explains human cognitive development as the ability to process and integrate increasingly complex relationships.
  • Processing capacity influences language performance; high cognitive demands can lead to difficulties in constructing complex linguistic structures.
  • Application: Explains why some learners rely on simpler grammatical forms or commit cohesion errors when they cannot manage multiple grammatical relationships (e.g., reference tracking or linking ideas) simultaneously.

Conceptual Framework and Variables

• The conceptual framework integrates the aforementioned theories to view writing as a meaning-making process constrained by cognitive processing and language knowledge.
• Key Indicators of Writing Performance:
  • Variety of sentence structures.
  • Grammatical correctness.
  • Usage of cohesive devices.
  • Presence of cohesion errors.
• The framework recognizes that syntactic complexity and cohesion are dependent on the learner's language ability and the cognitive load of organizing information.
• The goal is to analyze patterns of difficulty to provide a basis for teaching strategies that strengthen students' ability to produce syntactically complex and coherent English compositions.

Statement of the Problem and Research Objectives

The study utilizes a rubric-based assessment to answer the following specific questions:

• Question $1$: What is the level of syntactic complexity in students' English writing outputs in terms of:
  • $1.1$ Sentence structure variety.
  • $1.2$ Use of complex and compound sentences.
  • $1.3$ Clause construction and expansion.
• Question $2$: What is the level of cohesion in terms of:
  • $2.1$ Use of reference (pronouns, demonstratives).
  • $2.2$ Use of conjunctions and transitional devices.
  • $2.3$ Lexical cohesion (repetition, synonyms, word choice).
• Question $3$: What specific cohesion errors are commonly observed in the students' writing based on the rubric indicators?

Significance and Scope of the Study

• Stakeholder Benefits:
  • School Administrators: Data to create and strengthen language programs and academic policies.
  • Teachers: Insights into specific student difficulties to help design effective instructional materials and interventions.
  • Learners: Increased awareness of sentence construction and cohesion errors to improve personal writing clarity.
  • Future Researchers: Baseline data and reference material for studies on syntactic and cohesion skills.
• Scope and Delimitation:
  • Respondents: Selected secondary students (first-year to third-year) during School Year $2026-2027$.
  • Data Source: Essays/written outputs gathered through assigned writing activities.
  • Included Aspects: Sentence structures, connectors, references, substitutions, and lexical cohesion.
  • Excluded Aspects: Creativity, content quality, handwriting, and spelling.

Operational and Conceptual Definition of Terms

• Clauses: Groups of related words containing a subject and predicate; classified as independent or dependent (Caffrey, $2022$).
• Cohesion: The logical connection among words, phrases, and sentences leading to textual unity (Al-Dulaimi & Al-Nuaimi, $2022$).
• Cohesion Errors: Ineffective use of linguistic devices (misuse of conjunctions, references, etc.) that disrupt logical flow (Bui, $2022$).
• Cohesive Devices: Elements such as ellipsis, lexical ties, conjunctions, and references used to link ideas (Bui, $2022$).
• Complex Sentence: One independent clause and at least one dependent clause used to express relationships between ideas (Lyu, Chishti, & Peng, $2022$).
• English Writing Output: Compositions, essays, and texts that reflect a learner's language proficiency and grammar (Zhang & Kang, $2022$).
• Grammar: The system of rules governing the organization of words and phrases into meaningful communication (Adejare, $2022$).
• Secondary Students: Learners in junior or senior high school levels developing academic writing skills.
• Sentence Structure: The arrangement of words/phrases into simple, compound, complex, or compound-complex forms (Savina, $2022$).
• Syntactic Complexity: The degree of sophistication and variety in sentence structures using clauses and phrases (Lyu, Chishti, & Peng, $2022$).
• Writing Proficiency: The ability to communicate ideas clearly and effectively through accurate grammar and organization (Yang, Yap, & Ali, $2022$).

Review of Related Literature (RRL) - Key Insights

• Sentence Variety:
  • Indicators of language growth and writing development (Emily Reno & Kathleen McMaster, $2024$).
  • Variety makes writing more readable and sophisticated compared to simple structures (Elena Shalevska, $2025$).
• Complex and Compound Sentences:
  • Students often struggle with compound-complex forms due to limited grammatical knowledge (Euis Kurniasih, $2022$).
  • Proficiency in these structures correlates with higher writing quality and logical organization (Kiki Suhendar, $2025$; Yang, Yap, & Ali, $2022$).
• Cohesion and References:
  • Demonstratives (this, that, these, those) help avoid repetition and connect ideas (Sadigova, $2025$; Hamdani et al., $2022$).
• Conjunctions and Transitions:
  • Essential for smooth flow; however, students often exhibit incorrect or excessive usage (Agbovoe et al., $2025$; Amayreh & Abdullah, $2022$).
  • Limited use results in weak organization and unclear relationships between ideas (Magogwe, Mokibelo, & Karabo, $2023$).
• Lexical Cohesion:
  • Involves repetition, synonyms, and word choice; essential for readability and logical development (Diep & Le, $2024$; Bobihoe, Tanipu, & Malabar, $2025$).

Research Methodology

• Design: Descriptive Qualitative research involving the identification, classification, and quantification (frequency counting) of linguistic errors in natural writing outputs (Creswell & Creswell, $2023$).
• Locale: A private Catholic Educational Institution (CEI) in Iligan City.
  • History: Founded as a catechetical school by Jesuit priests in $1914$, formally established in $1915$ by the Religious of the Virgin Mary (RVM) Sisters.
• Respondents: $50$ secondary students. Specifically, participants from the Bachelor of Secondary Education major in English were chosen for their background in grammar and writing.
• Sampling: Purposive sampling (non-probability method) to select members with specific characteristics relevant to the research goals.
• Instruments:
  • Questionnaire: Researcher-designed Likert scale ($1$ to $5$ scoring) to assess self-reported writing practices.
  • Rubric: Used to evaluate the actual level of syntactic variety and cohesion in collected essays.
• Procedure:
  1. Obtain permission from authorities.
  2. Administer writing tasks (essays) with a set time limit.
  3. Conduct evaluation using the rubric.
  4. Administer Likert scale question to gather perception data.
  5. Structure and tabulate data for analysis.

Ethical Considerations and Participant Protection

• Principles: Credibility, integrity, and quality maintained via honesty and fairness.
• Informed Consent: Participants sign a written form explaining the study purpose, risks (discomfort/stress minimization), and the right to discontinue at any time without penalty.
• Anonymity and Confidentiality:
  • No names or identifying details used.
  • Assignment of codes, pseudonyms, or numbers for data presentation.
  • Digital files are password-protected; physical documents are stored in secure locations accessible only to researchers.
• Voluntary Participation: No coercion or pressure to join.
• Well-being: Procedures are sensitive to avoid embarrassment or anxiety; participants can refuse to answer any question.
• Approval: Ethical clearance obtained from the Research Ethics Review Committee of St. Michael's College of Iligan City, Inc.

Likert Scale Measurement Items (Scales $1$ to $5$)

• $1.1$ Sentence Structure Variety Items:
  • Use of different sentence patterns.
  • Avoiding repetition of structures.
  • Combining short and long sentences.
  • Varying sentence beginnings.
  • Confidence in using diverse arrangements to improve quality.
• $1.2$ Use of Complex and Compound Sentences Items:
  • Correct writing of compound/complex sentences.
  • Effectiveness of conjunctions in connecting ideas.
  • Use of independent and dependent clauses correctly.
  • Confidence in expressing detailed ideas via longer structures.
• $2.1$ Use of Reference Items:
  • Proper use of pronouns and demonstratives (this, that, these, those).
  • Use of references to avoid noun repetition and maintain coherence.
• $2.2$ Use of Conjunctions and Transitional Devices Items:
  • Correct use of "and," "but," "because."
  • Use of transitions like "however" and "therefore."
  • Smooth transitions between paragraphs to facilitate flow.
• $2.3$ Lexical Cohesion Items:
  • Use of synonyms to avoid repetition.
  • Careful word choice and topic-related vocabulary.
  • Effective repetition for emphasis and academic coherence.