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Language
of science (Specialised language)
Using Language, symbols
and texts is one of the five key competencies outlined
in the New Zealand Curriculum. This document
states:
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People use languages and symbols to produce texts of all kinds: written, oral/aural, and visual; informative and imagainative; informal and formal; mathematical, scientific, and technical. (p. 12.) |
The importance of
language is also reflected in the science
curriculum which has a strand entitled Communicating
in science.
Learning the language of science
In learning the language
of science, students need to learn not only a
specialised vocabulary but how words go together and
when to use this way of communicating. The challenge is
to teach these "rules of the game" whilst still valuing
the ways of using language that the students bring to
the classroom. The role for teachers is to help students
build bridges between their known and familiar ways of
using language, and academic ways of using language.
What does the language of science look like?
(The following are
examples of language features found in traditional science
texts. However science texts, like all others, come in
many forms; the genre is diverse and constantly changing
and evolving.)
Text Organisation |
Example |
Text
structure
Information is presented in a logical order
where meaning is built up step by step. |
The gecko uses its detachable tail in two ways.
It drops its tail if a predator grabs it, and it
may also drop its tail if a predator is
approaching.
Evaporation occurs when water is heated. This
involves... |
Connectives
Connectives link ideas so that claims about
knowledge can be formed and justified. The place
of connectives within a sentence varies. |
The gecko uses its detachable tail in two ways.
It drops its tail if a predator grabs it, and it
may also drop its tail if a predator is
approaching.
Evaporation occurs when water is heated. This
involves...
Other connectives include those used to clarify, sequence ideas,
and present a condition or concession.
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Language
Feature |
Example |
Technical language
Technical words are specific to a particular topic, field, or
academic discipline. These words, i.e., their
scientific meanings, are usually uncommon
elsewhere.
General words that also have different
scientific meanings. |
Indigenous, podocarp, regeneration; endangered,
database, DNA samples, dorsal fin, habitats,
Hector's dolphin, species, run-off pollution; Co2;
solution, periodic table.
Potential, wastes, solution.
|
Academic language:
Academic words
are common to the range of academic disciplines. |
Affect, analyse, assess, concept, conclude,
consequent, define, design, estimate, formula,
identify, indicate, interpret, major, method,
process, resource, relevant, select, similar,
specific, theory, transfer, vary.
Averil Coxhead’s full list of academic words:
language.massey.ac.nz/staff/awl/awlinfo.shtml |
Condensed
language:
Information is densely packed, i.e., several ideas
are packed into just a small amount of text.
Nominalisation condenses information by removing the person and
sometimes other details such as time. It is a
process by which verbs, and sometimes adjectives,
become nouns. |
"Heavy rain causes the water to rise up high and
spill over the banks" (an example of a child’s
use of everyday language to explain a process)
is turned into "Heavy rain causes flooding" (an
example of a more condensed form of language).
("…water to rise up high and spill over
the banks" is written using mainly verb phrases
– "to rise up high" and "spill over"; "flooding"
is written as a noun).
In this example, a lengthy explanation is turned
into a single noun – "flooding".
|
Factual and objective:
The
focus is on things and processes. People's
thoughts, feelings and opinions are not usually
of interest. Personal pronouns such as "it" and
"they" are reasonably common, especially in
scientific reports, but "she", "he", "we", "I",
and "you", are not. |
Southern right
whales do not have teeth. Instead they have filters,
called baleen or whalebone, which...
|
Passive voice:
The passive voice focuses attention on the
action, not who did it.
The subject of a clause receives the action (or
state) of the verb, i.e., the subject is the target
of the action.
In contrast, the active voice is where the
subject is the agent or actor of the verb. |
Baking
soda and vinegar [subject] were mixed [verb].
I.e., the baking soda and vinegar receive the
action of the verb in that they were mixed.
We [subject] mixed the baking soda and vinegar
[verb]. I.e., "We" (the students) is the agent or actor
of the verb in that the students mixed the baking soda and vinegar. |
"Doing" and "linking"
verbs
"Doing" verbs express
the action and happenings in a text. "Linking"
verbs link pieces of information. These
types of verbs are common in science texts. The
verbs of inner consciousness such as feeling,
thinking, believing, and seeing, are not. |
"Doing"
verbs, e.g., Geckos speed away whenever an enemy
comes near. ("speed away" and "comes
near" are verb groups.)
"Linking" verbs, e.g., Hooker's sea lions are
native to New Zealand ("are" links "Hooker's sea
lions" with "native to New Zealand") and, e.g.,
Ants have six legs (“have” links “Ants” with
“legs”). |
Learning about academic ways of using language is one way of helping students participate in new ways of
learning, although this in itself, of course, will not
automatically make the subject area relevant or
meaningful to them.
References
Derewianka, B. (1994). Exploring how language works.
Newtown, NSW: PETA.
Derewianka, B. (2005). A grammar companion for
primary teachers. Newtown, NSW: PETA.
Halliday, M.A.K., & Martin, J.R. (1993). Writing
science: Literacy and discursive power.
London/Washington D.C.: Falmer.
Schleppegrell, M.J. (2004). The language of
schooling: A functional linguistics perspective.
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
ARB
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