Representing actions with nouns
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Examples from a variety of text types | page 5 of 10 |
School textbooks: science
Here is an excerpt from a Secondary 4 biology book:
Vitamin C is needed for the synthesis and repair of connective tissue. It helps to heal wounds and is important for healthy gums and teeth ... Vitamin D increases the absorption of calcium and phosphorus. It is also needed for proper formation of bones and teeth, especially among children who are actively growing.
Pang, C.K. (1993) Certificate Biology: Mastering Basic Concepts, Book 1. Oxford University Press, pp 108-109.
The author of this particular textbook has obviously made a great effort to write
clearly, and this book is perhaps not typical in that overuse of nominalisation
has been avoided. However, it is difficult to
write without using any nominalisation, and the above passage reveals a
total of five instances in only four lines. In the original text, the only word to be
glossed (in Chinese) was synthesis.
Some comments concerning scientific language
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Scientific language reflects science's concern with categorising,
labelling, and describing phenomena. In order to do this effectively, it is often
necessary to treat processes as if they were things, through nominalisation. |
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Many of the phenomena dealt with in scientific texts involve extremely
complex processes, and so nominalisation provides a shorthand label for the phenomena in
question. For example, in the above extract, each noun sums up a whole chain of
events. |
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Normally, the writer of scientific texts is able to assume that the
reader will understand the background of the subject and so makes frequent use of
nominalised processes. However, this can have the effect of creating very dense and
inaccessible texts for students. Teachers must be able to help students unpack heavily
nominalised science texts. |
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Equally, students who are studying science subjects will be expected to produce writing containing appropriate nominalisations. |
For information about some of the problems that students have with nominalisation in
scientific writing, see 
Representing actions with nouns:
Students' problems (p 2).
For some of the teaching implications related to nominalisation, see 
Representing actions with nouns: Teaching implications.
Introduction
School textbooks: science
