الفهرس 
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Abstract
Background of the Study
The focus of the present study has been on the concept of cohesion and how textual cohesive relations in a given text can tie the sentences in that text together and eventually lead to texture and unity. It is cohesion which makes a collection of sentences appear as a unified whole rather than a collection of unconnected sentences. To examine how a text can have texture, the present study applies the Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) which is an approach developed by Michael Halliday to explore what grammar reveals about meaning. The concept of cohesion falls under the SFG approach to grammar. Michael Halliday and Ruqaiya Hasan have proposed a model of cohesion in 1976 according to which ”the INTERPRETATION of some element in the discourse is dependent on that of another, the one PRESUPOSES the other, in the sense that it cannot be effectively decoded except by recourse to it” (Halliday & Hasan, 1976, p. 4). Halliday and Hasan’s model of cohesion (1976) has been widely accepted and applied by many linguists and scholars of linguistics all over the world thanks to its comprehensiveness and applicability to different contexts. However, only few studies – such as Feng Ting (2003) – have questioned the 1976 model’s validity. The present study admits the importance of the 1976 model of cohesion; yet, it has attempted to test its applicability to legalese (which is the language in which legal documents are written).
Statement of the Problem
The present study has sought to find solutions to THREE major problems: The first problem has emerged as a result of discovering a number of unbridged gaps in the previously-conducted studies on cohesion which were found to lack focus on legalese. Thus, a formal, well-written, legal text (namely the United Nations Convention Against Corruption) has been selected to be the data under analysis in the present study with the aim to examine the reasons why it is judged as a cohesive text. The stylistic, textual, syntactic, and lexical distinctiveness of the texts written in legalese has been taken into consideration. The second problem has emerged as a result of the desire to test the applicability and validity of Halliday and Hasan’s model of cohesion (1976) to the legal discourse and then proposing a number of modifications to refine the model to make it more applicable to the analysis of cohesion in legalese. In light of the suggested modifications, the present study has proposed what can be called “an INTEGRATED model of cohesion” comprising the elements of cohesion in the 1976 model which are applicable to legalese in addition to the proposed amendments. The third problem has emerged as a result of discovering a number of unbridged gaps in the existing literature on the translation of cohesive devices from English into Arabic; the most important gap of which has resulted from the shortage of crystal-clear techniques to help legal translators translate these devices most properly in their translations. The present study has solved this problem by proposing a number of translation mechanisms to help translators translate cohesive devices in legal texts from English into Arabic.
Objectives and Purposes of the Study
The present study has sought to find answers to TWO research questions: a) Is Halliday and Hasan’s model of cohesion (1976) FULLY applicable to the United Nations documents being legal texts? And if not, what amendments can be suggested to make it fully applicable? b) What are the mechanisms of translating cohesive items in legal UN documents from English into Arabic? Throughout the journey to answer these two questions, the present study has attempted to achieve FIVE purposes: 1) examining the relationship between jurisprudence and linguistics; 2) investigating how cohesion can make legal texts cohesive by giving them texture and textual unity; 3) discovering what gaps exist in the existing literature on cohesion and proposing some recommendations to bridge these gaps; 4) assessing the validity of Halliday and Hasan’s model of cohesion (1976) to the analysis of cohesion in legal texts and proposing a number of amendments to refine it and eventually proposing an integrated model of cohesion; and finally 5) proposing a number of translation techniques to translate cohesive devices in legal texts from English into Arabic; and thus enriching both cohesion analysis studies and translation studies. Based on these five contributions, the significance of the present study lies in the support it can hopefully give to legal writers and legal translators alike by enabling them to understand the distinctiveness of legalese and the way legal texts can be cohesive and therefore ensure their translations are natural and smooth.
Methodology of the Present Study
The present study has adopted a qualitative analysis to examine the grammatical and lexical cohesive devices existing in the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (2004) and to deduce how cohesion contributes to the convention’s texture and unity. Analysis has been carried out of only five excerpts from the UNCAC and their corresponding parts in the Arabic translated version of the convention; namely the Itifaqiyt al-Umam al-Muttaẖida li-Mukafaẖt al-Fasad (2004). What is distinctive about the methodology of the present study is that it is unique and was not replicated from any other previous study; and this aimed at ensuring that rich new results and findings would be reached instead of only some results that are similar to others reached by other formerly-conducted studies on cohesion. This is not meant to deny that some similarity can be felt between the present study and other previous studies when it comes to some analysis procedures. Halliday and Hasan’s model of cohesion (1976) has been selected, in particular, to be applied to the data because it falls under the Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) which seeks to study texts by understanding how some elements in a text contribute to the interpretation of other elements in the same text. After the 1976 model has been applied to the data, five modifications to refine the model have been reached and an INTEGRATED model of cohesion has been proposed by the present study.
Summary of the Results Reached by the Present Study
The study has reached several findings and the following THREE results are the most important ones: First, the application of Halliday and Hasan’s model of cohesion (1976) to the data under analysis (i.e., the UNCAC) has revealed that five modifications can be proposed to refine the 1976 model to make it more applicable to the analysis of cohesion in legal texts, without any intention to underestimate, attack, or criticise the 1976 model in its current formula. Second, the present study has proposed an INTEGRATED model of cohesion comprising the elements of cohesion in the 1976 model which are applicable to legalese plus the proposed amendments. Third, the present study has proposed a number of translation techniques to translate cohesive devices in legal texts from English into Arabic.