International Journal of Language & Linguistics

Lexical Cohesive Chain in Research Article: A Case Study from Ecological Views
Jiayu Wang, Yi Zhang

Abstract
This case study investigates the significance of lexical cohesive chains (LCCs) in research articles (RAs) from ecological views. Through randomly selecting a research article from Applied Linguistics, this research analyzes what the features of LCCs are and how ecological views are reflected from the uses of LCCs. By manually coding the lexical cohesive devices, the LCCs were analyzed sentence by sentence. The results show that repetitions are the most frequently used devices and the bases of primary LCCs as well. Primary LCCs thread through the whole article and mainly carry the keywords in the research. In contrast, the secondary is more dynamic, because it helps transmit new information. Ultimately, it is projected that under the guidance of ecological views, situated view, interactive view, dynamic view, and holistic view, both writers and readers become more aware of the LCCs’ importance to the coherence of RAs.

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