Understanding the Complexity of Life: Molecular Biology Explained

1. Two ‘howevers’ and ‘moreovers’ do not a cohesive text make Edward de Chazal e.dechazal@ucl.ac.uk UCL Language Centre

2. Cohesion is... ... an essential element of a text, holding it together through the expression of meaning through language ... related to coherence (logic and meaning) ...a reliable, broad-based, deeply-rooted system

3. Cohesion is not... ... a peripheral element of a text ... a free-standing tick-the-box sprinkling of ‘howevers’ and ‘moreovers’ ...a formulaic, surface-based phenomenon added on at the end of the writing process

4. Cohesion ‘in other words’... ‘...part of the system of a language...lies in the relation between two [items]...a semantic relation expressed through language / the lexicogrammatical system / and intonation (Halliday and Hasan, 1976: 5 – 6) ‘…the integration which is achieved between different parts of a text by various types of semantic and referential linkages’ (Biber et al. 1999: 42)

5. A description of cohesion 1 – 3 Identifiers these state what something is, or what quality it has, and typically involve noun phrases 4 Contextualisers 5 Focusers 6 Interactors 7 Macro-organisers

7. 1 Lexis What? achieving cohesion using lexical means, i.e. by using words How? by using synonyms, repetition, substitution, parallel expression, and rephrasing

8. To understand life on Earth, we need to know how animals (including humans), plants, and microbes work, ultimately in terms of the molecular processes that underlie their functioning. This is the 'how' question of biology; an enormous amount of research during the last century has produced spectacular progress towards answering this question. This effort has shown that even the simplest organism capable of independent existence,a bacterial cell, is a machine of great complexity, with thousands of different protein molecules that act in a coordinated fashion to fulfil the functions necessary for the cellto survive, and to divide to produce two daughter cells(see Chapter 3). This complexity is even greater in higher organisms such as a fly or human being. These start life as a single cell, formed by the fusion of an egg and a sperm. There is thena delicately controlled series of cell divisions, accompanied by the differentiation of the resulting cellsinto many distinct types. The process of development eventually produces the adult organism, with its highly organized structure made up of different tissues and organs, and its capacity for elaborate behaviour. Our understanding of the molecular mechanisms that underlie this complexity of structure and function is rapidly expanding. Although there are still many unsolved problems, biologists are convinced that even the most complicated features of living creatures, such as human consciousness, reflect the operation of chemical and physical processes that are accessible to scientific analysis.

9. To understand life on Earth, we need to know how animals (including humans), plants, and microbes work, ultimately in terms of the molecular processes that underlie their functioning. This is the 'how' question of biology; an enormous amount of research during the last century has produced spectacular progress towards answering this question. This effort has shown that even the simplest organism capable of independent existence,a bacterial cell, is a machine of great complexity, with thousands of different protein molecules that act in a coordinated fashion to fulfil the functions necessary for the cellto survive, and to divide to produce two daughter cells(see Chapter 3). This complexity is even greater in higher organisms such as a fly or human being. These start life as a single cell, formed by the fusion of an egg and a sperm. There is thena delicately controlled series of cell divisions, accompanied by the differentiation of the resulting cellsinto many distinct types. The process of development eventually produces the adult organism, with its highly organized structure made up of different tissues and organs, and its capacity for elaborate behaviour. Our understanding of the molecular mechanisms that underlie this complexity of structure and function is rapidly expanding. Although there are still many unsolved problems, biologists are convinced that even the most complicated features of living creatures, such as human consciousness, reflect the operation of chemical and physical processes that are accessible to scientific analysis.

11. 2 Cohesive noun phrases What? carefully creating language to coherently link text, by: encoding (summarising, labelling, evaluating) a previous stretch of discourse; and moving the text forward (de Chazal 2010) How? by using a short noun phrase: typically determiner + noun (e.g. cognitive, stance, category, class, process noun)

12. To understand life on Earth, we need to know how animals (including humans), plants, and microbes work, ultimately in terms of the molecular processes that underlie their functioning. This is the 'how' question of biology; an enormous amount of research during the last century has produced spectacular progress towards answering this question. This efforthas shown that even the simplest organism capable of independent existence, a bacterial cell, is a machine of great complexity, with thousands of different protein molecules that act in a coordinated fashion to fulfil the functions necessary for the cell to survive, and to divide to produce two daughter cells (see Chapter 3). This complexityis even greater in higher organisms such as a fly or human being. These start life as a single cell, formed by the fusion of an egg and a sperm. There is thena delicately controlled series of cell divisions, accompanied by the differentiation of the resulting cells into many distinct types. The process of developmenteventually produces the adult organism, with its highly organized structure made up of different tissues and organs, and its capacity for elaborate behaviour. Our understandingof the molecular mechanisms that underlie this complexity of structure and functionis rapidly expanding. Although there are still many unsolved problems, biologists are convinced that even the most complicated features of living creatures, such as human consciousness, reflect the operation of chemical and physical processes that are accessible to scientific analysis.

13. this these the our such [a/an] | question phenomenon | issue standpoint | problem endeavour | complexity stance | challenge opportunity | achievement work | failure research | observation solution | discussion condition | process eventuality | explanation development | difficulty pattern | argument trend | controversy uncertainty | analysis ø

15. 3 Pronouns & determiners What? avoiding repetition of recurring nouns and showing backward and forward (anaphoric and cataphoric) chains of reference in a text How? by mechanically (not creatively) selecting the correct grammatical device: pronoun (including relative pronoun); or determiner + ‘uncontroversial’ noun phrase

16. To understand life on Earth, we need to know how animals (including humans), plants, and microbes work, ultimately in terms of the molecular processes that underlie their functioning. This is the 'how' question of biology; an enormous amount of research during the last century has produced spectacular progress towards answering this question. This effort has shown that even the simplest organism capable of independent existence, a bacterial cell, is a machine of great complexity, with thousands of different protein molecules that act in a coordinated fashion to fulfil the functions necessary for the cell to survive, and to divide to produce two daughter cells (see Chapter 3). This complexity is even greater in higher organisms such as a fly or human being. Thesestart life as a single cell, formed by the fusion of an egg and a sperm. There is thena delicately controlled series of cell divisions, accompanied by the differentiation of the resulting cells into many distinct types. The process of development eventually produces the adult organism, withitshighly organized structure made up of different tissues and organs, and its capacity for elaborate behaviour. Our understanding of the molecular mechanisms that underlie this complexity of structure and function is rapidly expanding. Although there are still many unsolved problems, biologists are convinced that even the most complicated features of living creatures, such as human consciousness, reflect the operation of chemical and physical processes thatare accessible to scientific analysis.

18. 4 Contextualisers What? contextualising by adding: circumstantial information (where, when, why, how [...], to/for whom...); linking material; and offering freestanding stance and perspective elements How? by using adverbials (mainly realised as prepositional phrases, adverbs, subordinate clauses) in initial, medial or final position

19. To understand life on Earth, we need to know how animals (including humans), plants, and microbes work, ultimately in terms of the molecular processes that underlie their functioning. This is the 'how' question of biology; an enormous amount of research during the last century has produced spectacular progress towards answering this question. This effort has shown that even the simplest organism capable of independent existence, a bacterial cell, is a machine of great complexity, with thousands of different protein molecules that act in a coordinated fashion to fulfil the functions necessary for the cell to survive, and to divide to produce two daughter cells (see Chapter 3). This complexity is even greater in higher organisms such as a fly or human being. These start life as a single cell, formed by the fusion of an egg and a sperm. There is thena delicately controlled series of cell divisions, accompanied by the differentiation of the resulting cells into many distinct types. The process of development eventually produces the adult organism, with its highly organized structure made up of different tissues and organs, and its capacity for elaborate behaviour. Our understanding of the molecular mechanisms that underlie this complexity of structure and function is rapidly expanding. Although there are still many unsolved problems, biologists are convinced that even the most complicated features of living creatures, such as human consciousness, reflect the operation of chemical and physical processes that are accessible to scientific analysis.

20. To understand life on Earth, we need to know how animals (including humans), plants, and microbes work, ultimately in terms of the molecular processes that underlie their functioning. This is the 'how' question of biology; an enormous amount of research during the last century has produced spectacular progress towards answering this question. This effort has shown that even the simplest organism capable of independent existence, a bacterial cell, is a machine of great complexity, with thousands of different protein molecules that act in a coordinated fashion to fulfil the functions necessary for the cell to survive, and to divide to produce two daughter cells (see Chapter 3). This complexity is even greater in higher organisms such as a fly or human being. These start life as a single cell, formed by the fusion of an egg and a sperm. There is thena delicately controlled series of cell divisions, accompanied by the differentiation of the resulting cells into many distinct types. The process of development eventually produces the adult organism, with its highly organized structure made up of different tissues and organs, and its capacity for elaborate behaviour. Our understanding of the molecular mechanisms that underlie this complexity of structure and function is rapidly expanding. Although there are still many unsolved problems, biologists are convinced that even the most complicated features of living creatures, such as human consciousness, reflect the operation of chemical and physical processes that are accessible to scientific analysis.

22. 5 Focusers What? employing grammatical transformations from default patterns (e.g. SVO) to organise text and lead audience focus How? by using fronts, clefts, inversion, ellipsis, plus certain passive and it / there structures; also (lexicogrammatically) using coordinators, especially but

24. 6 Interactors What? visibly situating the text within the writer/audience context by involving and interacting with the audience, sharing experience, and offering directives including references to items outside the text (exophoric) How? by using imperatives, inclusive language, and references to familiar agents

25. To understand life on Earth, we need to know how animals (including humans), plants, and microbes work, ultimately in terms of the molecular processes that underlie their functioning. This is the 'how' question of biology; an enormous amount of research during the last century has produced spectacular progress towards answering this question. This effort has shown that even the simplest organism capable of independent existence, a bacterial cell, is a machine of great complexity, with thousands of different protein molecules that act in a coordinated fashion to fulfil the functions necessary for the cell to survive, and to divide to produce two daughter cells (see Chapter 3). This complexity is even greater in higher organisms such as a fly or human being. These start life as a single cell, formed by the fusion of an egg and a sperm. There is thena delicately controlled series of cell divisions, accompanied by the differentiation of the resulting cells into many distinct types. The process of development eventually produces the adult organism, with its highly organized structure made up of different tissues and organs, and its capacity for elaborate behaviour. Our understanding of the molecular mechanisms that underlie this complexity of structure and function is rapidly expanding. Although there are still many unsolved problems, biologists are convinced that even the most complicated features of living creatures, such as human consciousness, reflect the operation of chemical and physical processes that are accessible to scientific analysis.

27. 7 Macro-organisers What? embedding non-linguistic, navigational and overarching devices to indicate macro-textual relations How? by using titles, headings, numbering, legends, iconic statements, and visual means

28. Chapter 2 The process of evolution To understand life on Earth, we need to know how animals (including humans), plants, and microbes work, ultimately in terms of the molecular processes that underlie their functioning. This is the 'how' question of biology; an enormous amount of research during the last century has produced spectacular progress towards answering this question. This effort has shown that even the simplest organism capable of independent existence, a bacterial cell, is a machine of great complexity, with thousands of different protein molecules that act in a coordinated fashion to fulfil the functions necessary for the cell to survive, and to divide to produce two daughter cells (see Chapter 3). This complexity is even greater in higher organisms such as a fly or human being. These start life as a single cell, formed by the fusion of an egg and a sperm. There is thena delicately controlled series of cell divisions, accompanied by the differentiation of the resulting cells into many distinct types. The process of development eventually produces the adult organism, with its highly organized structure made up of different tissues and organs, and its capacity for elaborate behaviour.

29. Chapter 2 The process of evolution To understand life on Earth, we need to know how animals (including humans), plants, and microbes work, ultimately in terms of the molecular processes that underlie their functioning. This is the 'how' question of biology; an enormous amount of research during the last century has produced spectacular progress towards answering this question. This effort has shown that even the simplest organism capable of independent existence, a bacterial cell, is a machine of great complexity, with thousands of different protein molecules that act in a coordinated fashion to fulfil the functions necessary for the cell to survive, and to divide to produce two daughter cells (see Chapter 3). This complexity is even greater in higher organisms such as a fly or human being. These start life as a single cell, formed by the fusion of an egg and a sperm. There is thena delicately controlled series of cell divisions, accompanied by the differentiation of the resulting cells into many distinct types. The process of development eventually produces the adult organism, with its highly organized structure made up of different tissues and organs, and its capacity for elaborate behaviour.

30. Activities: knowing and noticing 1 identify, and evaluate, cohesive language in text 2 rewrite text to enhance cohesion 3 put back taken-out cohesive material – ‘cold’, or from memory 4 collaboratively choose best cohesive material 5 match semantically similar items 6 correct wrong items / improve poor items / delete superfluous items – based on student text 7 construct / improve chains of reference in text

31. Practisecohesive activities Liftthe level of writing: B1→B2; B2→C1 Ask questions: ‘Is this item necessary?’ ‘Is it clear?’ Convertover-used items to more powerful, meaningful, deeper language Integrate cohesion teaching continuously Noticehow cohesion works in different texts Go beyond the ‘howevers’ and ‘moreovers’ when assessing student work

32. Bibliography Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., & Finegan, E. 1999. Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English. Harlow: Longman. Biber, D. 2006. Stance in spoken and written university registers. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 5(2) 97 – 116. Halliday, M.A.K. and Hasan, R. 1976. Cohesion in English. Harlow: Longman. Hunston, S. & Thompson, G. (Eds.). 2000. Evaluation in Text: authorial stance and the construction of discourse. Oxford: Oxford University Press Kafes, H. 2008, February 24. A corpus-based study on the use of nouns to construct stance by native and non-native academic writers of English. Paper presented at the 2008 Conference on Writing Research Across Borders, Santa Barbara, CA