Introduction.
When teaching science, instructors use a specialized language that has many dissimilarities from the language that students generally use throughout the day (O’Toole, 2003). Each different occasion for language has a set of intrinsic purposes, values and characteristics, and the purpose of these different traits is to demonstrate the unique properties of that category of language. For example, in scientific language, there is an emphasis on precision in diction, as well as conciseness and clarity. No matter what the language is, writers hope to achieve a style that is comprehensible to its readers while remaining true to the aims of the piece. This paper will analyse several different samples of scientific text, focusing on syntax at the word, sentence and paragraph levels. When looking at words, the use of technical vocabulary will be under analysis; at the sentence level, the use of passive voice, the density of the sentences, different reference points, the vocabulary level of the words (in terms of technical status) and other strategies will be under analysis. At the paragraph level, the analysis will consider the number of sentences per paragraph, the overall organization of the page, and the way that the writer chooses to include information on that page. These samples come from the Physical Science Activity Manual, written and compiled by a group of high school and university instructors in 1995 for use in Tennessee public schools (within the U.S.). These activities are not as heavy in text as a main textbook would be; however, as ancillary materials they rely on student knowledge of existing technical vocabulary and explain how to carry out specific activities in order to buttress the learning that has already taken place in the classroom. They will be analysed according to the three levels listed above.
The first sample comes from the “Pop the Popcorn” activity. At the word level, a number of technical words appear in the activity that would require explanation before students could undertake the activity. Examples of these words include: chemistry, organic, variable, vaporize, Erlenmeyer flask, and mass. While it should not take students much time to gain an understanding of these words, they will need to know what they mean before undertaking the activity. Semi technical words, which simply have a slightly altered meaning in the context of this experiment, do not really appear in this experiment. The activity involves popping popcorn, which is an activity that most high school students either have done themselves, or at least have a basic understanding of the process, and so there is not a lot of terminology that is shifted from their conventional understanding. There are some word families, though, that appear in the activity, which refers to words that all come from a shared root (O’Toole, 2011). They include: heat – heating, vapour – vaporising, pop – popping, and soak-soaking.
At the sentence level, the average length of the sentences is 11 words, with sentences ranging from six to 19 words in length. Because there are not many technical words, and because the sentence structure is fairly simple, the sentence structure is not something that should cause confusion for ESL students who have reached an Advanced or Advanced High level. Those students would likely need scaffolding if they were at an Intermediate or Beginning level of acquiring familiarity with English. Because this is an ancillary activity instead of a primary text, students will not find definitions of words here. It is assumed that, for the basic vocabulary in place, students will either already know the words or receive an explanation from the teacher about the meanings of those words.
At the paragraph level, because this text includes instructions for an activity, rather than denser sections of content, it does not have the “referral words” that often appear at the beginning of paragraphs, sending students back into the prior paragraph in order to understand meaning. This is helpful for students who are struggling readers or who are learning English as a Second Language, because it keeps the context of each step, or each chunk of information, within that particular chunk. There are some pronouns in use, but the antecedent for each pronoun is in the same paragraph or instruction step.
Conjunctions are in use throughout the activity. However, because the writers did not use long sentences, but instead used short sentences designed to make the instructions easier to read, the conjunctions are not designed to string together lengthy compound or complex sentence ideas.
The passive voice occurs sparingly in this activity. For example, under item “B” on the first page, the first sentence reads “Popcorn, for example is made of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and other organic material, which are all studied in a branch of chemistry that we call organic chemistry.” Here, the first use is not confusing, as the construction “is made of” is rarely turned around into the active voice for the purpose of simplicity. The second instance is an awkward instance, and would be better as “which all chemistry students encounter in organic chemistry classes” or the like.
The sequence of this example moves from a general presentation of the activity, including setup instructions and equipment needed, and then into specific instructions for the activity, followed by questions for concept extension, so that students can apply this experiment’s results to other scenarios.
The second sample comes from the “Conservation of Mass” activity. At the word level, there are also quite a few technical terms that students may not understand, and so they will need clarification before they can start the activity. Examples of these words include: graduate cylinder, conservation of mass, Erlenmeyer flask, reactant, product, proportions, and magnesium sulphate heptahydrate. While students will not likely need very much time to gain a sense of familiarity with these words, they will need to have them in their vocabulary before getting underway with the activity. As with the first activity, there are no semi technical words associated with this experiment. The activity consists of a list of small experiments that will familiarise the student with the idea of the conservation of mass, each of which has easy instructions and uses common materials, and so there is not a lot of terminology that is shifted from their conventional understanding. The activity does feature some word families that appear in the activity, which refers to words share a common root (O’Toole, 2011). They include: heat – heating, vapour – vaporising, magnify - magnifying, and soak-soaking.
At the sentence level, the average length of the sentences is 10 words, with sentences ranging from six to 22 words in length. As with the first activity, students at the Advanced or Advanced High levels of ESL acquisition should not need very much help at all, although students who are still classified as Beginning or Intermediate may indeed need an inclusion teacher or other forms of assistance. There are no vocabulary definitions in this passage, because it is an instructional activity instead of a new chapter. It is assumed that, for the basic vocabulary in place, the teacher will explain the meaning of the words in preparing students for the activity, or there will be some other form of pre-teaching to ensure that students know the words.
At the paragraph level, this is a set of instructions, as with the first activity. As a result, the sentences are also short, for the most part, and the antecedents are found in the same paragraph or step as the associated pronoun. This would work well for ESL students, who would need a lot of help accessing chunks of information.. There are some pronouns in use, but the antecedent for each pronoun appears there as well.
Conjunctions appear at many different points throughout the activity. However, the sentences are short in structure, as the writers want to make an activity that is accessible for students, and so the use of the conjunctions does not add to any sort of confusion within the activity.
The passive voice occurs only a few times in this activity. For example, under item “B” on the first page, the first sentence reads “Because some of the exploration activities carried out by the groups may not have utilized the balance to its fullest benefit, a few more activities where the Law of Conservation of Mass can be experienced may needed to reinforce the concept.” Here, the first use is not confusing, as the construction “carried out by” is rarely turned around into the active voice for the purpose of simplicity. The second and third instances get a bit awkward instance, and would be better as “are available for teachers to use to reinforce the concept.”
The sequence of this example starts with an overall summary of the activity and then transitions into specific instructions for the activity, followed by questions that allow concept extension, so that students can apply this experiment’s results to other scenarios.
The third sample is from an activity entitled “Friction.” At the word level, the technical words that would require additional elaboration include: friction, force, velocity, acceleration, spring balance, and inclined plane. Students will definitely need to know the meanings of these words before undertaking the activity. There are no examples of semi technical words in this activity. The activity involves testing friction of wooden blocks in a variety of situations, to understand the working of frictional forces. There are some word families, though, that appear in the activity, which refers to words that all come from a shared root (O’Toole, 2011). They include: slide – sliding, increase – increased, force – forcing, and friction -- frictional.
At the sentence level, the average length of the sentences is 14 words, with sentences ranging from six to 24 words in length. Because there are not many technical words, and because the sentence structure is fairly simple, the sentence structure is not something that should cause confusion for ESL students who have reached an Advanced or Advanced High level. Those students would likely need scaffolding if they were at an Intermediate or Beginning level of acquiring familiarity with English. Because this is an ancillary activity instead of a primary text, students will not find definitions of words here. It is assumed that, for the basic vocabulary in place, students will either already know the words or receive an explanation from the teacher about the meanings of those words.
At the paragraph level, because this text includes a set of instructions, instead of instructional text, it does not have those opening pronouns that confuse students, making them read prior parts of the passage to find out the subject of the paragraph. This means that each unit of information is self-contained, which will be helpful for ESL readers in particular. The pronouns that are used appear very close to their antecedents. However, the sentences in this activity are somewhat longer than in the other two activities, and ESL learners might need an inclusion teacher in the classroom with them to help them catch up, or they might need to be paired with a lab partner who excels in the class and can help them with the vocabulary while setting up the experiment.
Conjunctions appear at several points in the activity. This activity has sentences that are longer than those in the other two activities, and so it is important to follow the logical relationships that the conjunctions confer.
The passive voice does not appear in this activity in a context that would be confusing to students, whether ESL, special education, or general education.
The sequence of this example moves from an overview of the activity of the activity, including setup instructions and equipment needed to a set of detailed instructions for the activity, followed by questions that allow students to move on to concepts that are related to the activity, so that students can use this lesson going forward.
In general, the language used in these different samples is designed for independent use as students work in a laboratory environment. It would work well for home school students with access to a laboratory with equipment, or for laboratory days for a high school physical science class (Lemke, 1990). While there are some hurdles that would affect ESL learners, those hurdles are not insurmountable. Special education students, depending on their level of challenge, might need assistance from inclusion teachers in order to carry out the experiments successfully.
Works Cited
“Conservation of Mass.” (1995). Physical Science Activity Manual. Web. http://www.utm.edu/departments/cece/cesme/PSAM/PSAM.shtml
“Friction.” (1995). Physical Science Activity Manual. Web. http://www.utm.edu/departments/cece/cesme/PSAM/PSAM.shtml
Lemke, J. (1990). Talking science: Language, learning and values. New York: Greenwood Publishing Group.
O'Toole, J. M., Laugesen, R. (2011).Developing Specialist Language Styles: Research and application. NSW. Australia :Boraga Academic.
O’Toole, J.M. (2003). Literacy across the secondary curriculum: Different games have different rules. Sydney: Five Senses Education.
“Pop the Popcorn.” (1995). Physical Science Activity Manual. Web. http://www.utm.edu/departments/cece/cesme/PSAM/PSAM.shtml
The following three samples of text from Heineman science 2 text book secondary school.
