Coherence and cohesion have been two confusing terms for many writing teachers. But these two terms have been used to identify the strengths and weaknesses in student writing. This paper will first clarify the confusion between coherence and cohesion and the relationships between these two. In terms of linguistic property, cohesion concerns semantic relations contributing to coherence. Whereas coherence in written text is a complex concept. It involves a feature internal to text. Secondly, elements that constitute a coherent text will be discussed. These include the grammar of coherence, given-new contract, and others. Finally, various suggestions regarding what and how writing teachers can teach coherence and cohesion to student writers are provided.
