On the journey to ITACA: textual coherence as a goal of academic writing. Proposal for an evaluation grid

Abstract

Coherence and cohesion are often seen as fundamental elements of learners’ textual competences, and their correct realisation is just as often required by teachers. While text linguistics has long been confronted with the constructs of coherence and cohesion and has developed convincing theoretical models, it is much rarer to see these theories transformed into easy-to-use evaluation grids. In this paper, we present the process of constructing a grid tailored to the evaluation of coherence and cohesion, as defined by the Basel Model of textuality. The production of the scale is carried out within the broader framework of the project ITACA – Coherence in Academic ITAlian, a research project devoted to the analysis of high school students' argumentative texts written in L1 Italian.