Technical and Scientific Texts

1. Technical and Scientific Texts

2. Technical Texts • Only 9% circa technical vocabulary • Structural: and, this • General: dog, table • Sub-technical: engine, mouse • Technical: carbon disulphide, alveolar,

3. Special automatic crankshaft turning • Tornio automatico speciale per fornire perni di biello di alberi a gomito

4. Describing reality • The names we use, their relationships to one another, the configurations in which they occur - define what we think of as reality. • Reality is what our language says it is.

5. Describing reality 2 Children learn language using Names (flower, garden) Relationships (flowers - garden) Configurations (flowers grow in my garden)

6. Describing reality 3 • Then they learn in school another grammar: • Some animals protect themselves with bites and stings • (primary school textbook)

7. Describing reality 4 Children know mosquitoes, wasps, etc. bite and sting BUT animals? protect themselves? AND “with bites and stings”

8. Describing reality 5 • (Children’s version) • Some animals…. by biting and stinging. • Use of VERBS

9. Cf. Some animals rely on their great speed to escape from danger.

10. Scientific American • Our work on crack growth in other solids leads us to believe that the general conclusions developed for silica can explain the strength behaviour of a wide range of brittle materials. • (from ‘The Fracturing of Glass’)

11. Scientific American 2 Features of S.A. technical text: Little technical vocabulary, but other features are observable: 1) Simple structure Nominal group + verbal group + nominal group 2) Process a ‘explains, etc.? b 3) Head nouns are nominalisations conclusion/conclude; behaviour/behave

12. Examples of nomimalisation in scientific texts • The net effect of electron emission is the conversion of a neutron to a proton. • Segregation of DNA into daughter cells is a simple consequence of cell growth • Disc braking can only occur in very young stars

13. Examples of passive form in scientific texts • The inheritance of specific genes is correlated with the inheritance of a specific chromosome. • The theoretical program of devising models of atomic nuclei has been complemented by experimental investigations.

14. Nominalisation 1 • The driver was driving the bus too fast down the hill - so the brakes failed. • NG + VG + NG + Adv + Adv + conj. + NG + VG

15. Nominalisation 2 • The driver’s over rapid downhill driving of the bus caused brake failure. • NG + VG + NG

16. Nominalisation 3 • Cells grow, so DNA is segregated into daughter cells. • Segregation of DNA into daughter cells is a simple consequence of cell growth

17. Nominalisation 4 • an electron moves in an orbit • the orbital motion of an electron

18. Lexical Density 1 • The use of this method of controlunquestionably leads to safer and faster train running in the most adverse weather conditions. • Clauses - 1 • No. of lexical words - 12 • Lexical density = 12

19. Lexical Density 2 • If this method of control is used, trains will unquestionably run safer and faster even when the weatherconditions are most adverse. Clauses – 3 No. of lexical words – 11 Lexical density = 3.6

20. Lexical Density 3 • You can control the trains this way. And if you do that, you can be quite sure that they’ll be able to run safer and faster no matter how bad the weather is. Clauses – 5 No. of lexical words – 8 Lexical density = 1.6