DISCOURSE FEATURES, PATTERNS AND COHESION IN PRAYER: A Study of John 17
Charisa Dada, Ph.D
Abstract
This paper examines the discourse features, patterns and cohesion of a text; namely, the biblical prayer in John chapter 17. The text is analyzed structurally. Discourse categories and strategies instantiated in the text are identified as well as the cohesive devices which aid in its overall comprehension. The descriptive categories were adapted from Coulthard and Montgomery (1981), Adedun and Mekiliuwa (2010) and Halliday and Matthiessen (2014). The findings show that the text is a conversational event consisting of three classes of transactions: informing, declaring, and directing. It also consists of main and subsidiary discourses, and thirteen Acts which…