Attaining coherence in writing remains a huge challenge for English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners. This study investigated how EFL college students structured their expository essays and attained coherence in a content-based language learning course by comparing the effects of the cognitive and linguistic approaches. Three classes participated, each of which was introduced to a scaffold: linguistic Theme–Rheme (TR), an approach to examine text structure, cognitive concept mapping (CM), tools to structure content knowledge, and a traditional approach for the control group. Pre- and post-knowledge tests and post-intervention essays were collected. The results showed that prior knowledge and different organization strategies played different roles in predicting overall writing scores and, specifically, the organization scores. Generally, a wider range of organization features predicted CM group’s essays. Among the organization features, linear thematic progression, often contributing to effective flow, consistently predicted both overall writing and organization scores in the combined samples, and had the strongest predictive power in the TR group. By contrast, none of the organization features was found to significantly predict the control group’s writing performance. The results suggest that the two experimental approaches have different potentials in developing different organization strategies in attaining coherence in writing.

中文翻译：

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基于内容的语言学习课程中的EFL说明文的组织策略

对于英语作为外语（EFL）的学习者来说，保持写作的连贯性仍然是一项巨大的挑战。这项研究通过比较认知方法和语言方法的效果，研究了EFL大学生如何构建说明性论文并在基于内容的语言学习课程中获得连贯性。参加了三个班级，每个班级都介绍了一个支架：语言主题-韵律（TR），检查文本结构的方法，认知概念映射（CM），构造内容知识的工具以及对照组的传统方法。收集知识前和知识后测验以及干预后文章。结果表明，先验知识和不同的组织策略在预测总体写作成绩（尤其是组织成绩）方面扮演着不同的角色。通常，广泛的组织特征预示着CM小组的论文。在组织特征中，线性主题进展（通常有助于有效流程）在组合样本中始终预测整体写作和组织得分，并且在TR组中具有最强的预测能力。相比之下，没有发现任何组织功能可以显着预测对照组的写作表现。结果表明，这两种实验方法在发展不同的组织策略以实现写作连贯性方面具有不同的潜力。并且在TR组中具有最强的预测能力。相比之下，没有发现任何组织功能可以显着预测对照组的写作表现。结果表明，这两种实验方法在发展不同的组织策略以实现写作连贯性方面具有不同的潜力。并且在TR组中具有最强的预测能力。相比之下，没有发现任何组织功能可以显着预测对照组的写作表现。结果表明，这两种实验方法在发展不同的组织策略以实现写作连贯性方面具有不同的潜力。