Effective Communication in Management and Business: Seminar 11

Effective Communication in Management and Business: Seminar 11

John Morgan

Language and Learning Centre, University of Wales, Aberystwyth

Topic/theme:Transition and flow between paragraphs

Language/topic focus:Uses of signposting and transition techniques to enhance cohesion and coherence.

Flow of writing: signposting

Among the difficulties that writers face is the issue of linking ideas together through the text to make a coherent flow (understandable) in a cohesive way (sticking together as a single unit). This depends significantly on the logical sequencing and grouping of ideas for coherence (see the argument of fact from seminar 7) and on the signposting and transition of ideas for cohesion. If a writer can achieve a high level of each of these it will help with the ability to skim, scan and read in-depth without the need to reread significant amounts of the writing; which in effect is how students with spelling and grammatical errors can still get good grades.

Signposting includes the type of statement that you make at the end of an introduction:

e.g. “In this essay I will firstly review the theories related to creating brand identity, then I will give some examples of successful brand names that have emerged over the past ten years. After this I will…”

This example indicates that there will be three main sections to the body of the paper. This does not include the introduction and conclusion and as a result of a statement like this, you have the ability to structure three independent sections with three subheadings.

Check what you have written in the introduction again at the end of a paper. Edit it according to the body to very clearly indicate the structure.

Signposting can also take place within each section and also within and across paragraphs. It commonly happens when we enumerate ideas such as:

Prose paragraph format(this is better when you need to discuss; a list can precede or follow a discussion as a summary of items, but should not replace it).

e.g.It can be seen that the creation of brand identity includes a number of different issues. Firstly… Secondly… Finally.

Numbered format (preferable if you know exactly how many things you are referring to)

e.g.It can be seen that the creation of brand identity includes a number of different issues.

Bullet format (better with random numbers of items or where enumeration is not important)

e.g.It can be seen that the creation of brand identity includes a number of different issues.

Flow of writing: interparagraph transitions

Note first how I have structured items 1 and 2 in this handout “flow of writing: subcategory”. This identifies the two sections as being strategically linked. It identifies that both sections must be read in order to gain a full understanding of that particular section of the work.

Transitions link paragraphs together and if we connect this idea back to seminar 7 again (the argument of fact), we can see that relatively short paragraphs with a clear logical development are an ideal way to proceed with an informative style of writing. Four particular types of transition are identified by Kane (1988: 54-56): the examples used here are taken from Kohli, et al. (2005), “Creating Brand Identity: A Study of Evaluation of New Brand Names”.

Repetitive: repetition of a keyword or phrase, or of part of a phrase. This works well in sequential flow of ideas and should always put known information before new information:

Opening sentences from paragraph 1 and 2 (1506-1507):

1) The brand name is regarded as an essential part of the brand and the foundation for marketing communication (Aaker, 1992).

2)“Building strong brandsis becoming more difficult.

Grammatically correct negative example:

2)It is becoming more difficult to build strong brands. (This puts the new before the known)

Question and answer: using a question technique to query or challenge and assumption that has already been made, or indicate that you are going to answer it in the following text. This is not favoured by many academic writers and is more common in media writing.

No examples appear in the published text, but a hypothetical question and answer sequence borrowing from the first set of examples would be:

1) The brand name is regarded as an essential part of the brand and the foundation for marketing communication (Aaker, 1992).

2)Why is Building strong brandsbecoming more difficult? There are several reasons…

2)Why is it becoming more difficultto build strong brands? There are several reasons…

This is not favoured in academic writing. Academic style prefers statements which sound more informed (just compare the two style to see which looks better). Also, the verb clause (“becoming more difficult”) is usually placed first in a question causing new information to appear before known information in the better structured of the two number 2 examples.

Summarizing: a sentence or clause which reviews the previous paragraph, or section. This is done as a paraphrase rather than a direct repetition and usually develops again to include new information.

P 1507, column 2, line 4

1)According to this hierarchy, generic names cannot be registered while coined names are likely to get the strongest trademark protection. […] (followed by descriptions of generic and coined names)

Paragraph 2, line 1

2)If trademark protection was the only concern, marketing practitioners would prefer to use arbitrary or coined names…, allowing brand name meaning and brand value to accrue over time, based on consumers associations with the name.

Paragraph 2, line 5

3)This approachhas been referred to as the “Juliet Principle,” after Shakespeare’s line “that which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet” (Collins, 1977).

Logical: this includes the common use of connective language like however, furthermore, moreover, etc., where the reader must deduce the connections in relation to what has already been said.

P1507, column 1, line 10

1)Marketing practice, as well as theoretical and empirical research, has suggested that meaningful brand names are easier to remember and recall than non-meaningful brand names, and also that meaningful brand names are generally preferred over non-meaningful brand names (Klink, 2001; Kohli and Suri, 2000)

P1507, column 1, paragraph 2

2)The dilemma faced by marketers, however, is that meaningful names are inherently limited to the products and product categories for which they have meaning…

In many cases connectives are overused as they often appear in conjunction with other types of transition, making them redundant.Before deleting them however, consider the weight that the connective adds to the argument.

Consider the last pair of sentences without “however”: it would work, but the “however” does add emphasis on the transition where paired and polarised concepts can mislead the unwary reader.

Your own chosen papers and your own reports

Look through any published papers you have brought with you to see how signposting and transitions are used.

Look at the plans you create last week for the Zara and IKEA reports. What does the flow between the sections you identified suggest in terms of your own choices for signposting and transition?

Bibliography

Kane, T.S. (1988).The New Oxford Guide to Writing.Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press.

Kohli, C. S., Harich, K.R. & Leuthesser, L. (2005). “Creating Brand Identity: A Study of Evaluation of New Brand Names”.Journal of Business Research, 58, 1506-1515.