COHERENCE PROBLEMS IN EFL ACADEMIC WRITING

Coherence is one of the fundamental characteristics of effective academic writing because it enables readers to understand how individual ideas are logically connected and how an argument develops throughout a text. However, many English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners experience considerable difficulties in producing coherent academic texts. These difficulties may arise from limited linguistic competence, insufficient knowledge of discourse organization, inappropriate use of cohesive devices, weak paragraph development, ineffective topic selection, and differences between learners’ first-language rhetorical conventions and English academic writing practices. This article examines the major coherence problems encountered by EFL learners in academic writing and discusses their linguistic, cognitive, rhetorical, and pedagogical causes. The study employs a qualitative review-based methodology drawing on research in academic writing, discourse analysis, second language acquisition, and EFL pedagogy. The findings indicate that coherence problems are not limited to grammatical errors but are strongly associated with the organization and development of ideas. Common problems include unclear thesis statements, weak topic sentences, abrupt transitions, excessive or inappropriate use of linking expressions, repetition of ideas, insufficient explanation of arguments, and lack of logical progression between paragraphs. The article argues that coherence should be taught explicitly through genre-based instruction, paragraph-level analysis, outlining, model-text analysis, peer review, and process-oriented writing practices. Developing learners’ awareness of discourse structure can significantly improve the clarity, readability, and argumentative strength of EFL academic writing.