Incoherent coherence? Using systemic functional linguistics to improve oral language assessment literacy

Abstract This paper discusses the challenges of defining coherence in the context of oral language assessment literacy and proposes that better understanding of the construct can be achieved through a systemic-functional linguistic lens. Coherence is taken to be a foundational quality of written and spoken discourse and is a standard feature in the assessment rubrics of most large-scale English-language oral proficiency tests such as IELTS, TOEFL, and Cambridge. However, the precise meaning of c