Representing actions with nouns
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Examples from a variety of text types | page 4 of 10 |
School textbooks: geography
Here is an excerpt from a Secondary 4 geography book:
Adjustment to erosion and deposition
The increase in load results in a decrease in erosion in the lower part of the reach because more energy has to be used to transport the increased load. This means that the gradient becomes less steep which results in a decrease in the river's velocity. Eventually, the velocity of the river in that reach enables erosion to balance deposition.
Bunnett, R.B. and Massingham, B. (1987) New Geography. Manhattan Press (HK) Ltd., p 103.
Some comments concerning this passage
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Each of the nominalisations  in the above excerpt is not in itself all that difficult to understand.
However, when there are so many, in almost every single sentence of the textbook, the
effect can be quite overwhelming for a student who is struggling with English as a second
language. Teachers must be able to help students unpack heavily nominalised texts, in all subjects. |
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Many of the areas which are covered in descriptions of physical geography involve quite complex processes, and so nominalisation provides a shorthand label for both teachers and students. However, if students encounter seemingly "new" words such as deposition they may panic and reach for the dictionary, instead of realising that it is simply a nominalisation of the familiar verb "to deposit". |
For some of the teaching implications related to nominalisation, see 
Representing actions with nouns: Teaching implications.
Introduction
School textbooks: geography
