Module 2 - Genres in Science Text
Textbook orientation...is it really necessary for you to do with your students?
In the classroom study of the science, the textbook can serve as an anchor point in as far as it is a constant point of reference for the students. In the extremes, the book is used as the only focus or it is put on the shelf for examination if needed during a hands-on activity or project. The book should be looked at as a major resource – a source that allows for informational checks and concept formation. Unfortunately, many have assumed that the text is too difficult and should be put away and be replaced by other things. However, this action does not fully prepare students for their future with informational text. Understanding that many science books work together as a series over the years, with a spiraling of science topics into age appropriate material building on each other, is a good place to base your introduction of the text to your students. Working with your students to understand the organization and nature of the text will help them to become familiar and comfortable with this tool.
First, every textbook has a purpose and the understanding of that purpose and the books’ subject matter will at some point enter into the students’ wider cultural discourse outside of the school. This purpose can be the engagement piece that starts the conversation at the beginning of the year. Posing questions about the purpose of the book by looking at its’ cover and how the topics within it might fit into the broad topic of science, establishes a grounding within the broad study of science. Are there other books within the classroom that relate to this book, and if so, how? These questions lay out for the student the connections that the book offers in life outside of the classroom and to what you will do inside your classroom.
This discussion naturally opens up the next topic about what this particular book has to offer and how the inside textual environment appears. Secondary students need to understand how the textbook functions in itself and how it will function in the way you teach the course. A brief walk through of the book and it’s “parts” are necessary for not only lower skilled readers, but also to orientate all of the readers to the features that the book offers. Students should then be taken to the Table of Contents to view the Units that comprise the subject matter. It should be pointed out that often in science, there are a number of chapters that cluster around the units and that the ongoing understanding about a particular topic, is generally developed throughout the units’ chapters. Since science texts are informational in nature, it is somewhat not advisable to read a chapter in seclusion, without interfacing with the material in the order that is presented in the unit. Typically, informational text builds in complexity, establishing and building on itself in the way the chapters are ordered. In this manner the units are built.
Students then should be introduced to the structure of the chapters. In the next module, we will look at textual structures that affect how the text should be read. Here we will discuss the different “genres” that a student may run into in the particular text. For this discussion, genres will be defined as text that is used for a particular purpose and that has its own characteristic language in addition to structural features (Derewianka in Scott, 1992). The eight types of genre that are typically utilized in science text will be treated separately in the section that follows.
First, every textbook has a purpose and the understanding of that purpose and the books’ subject matter will at some point enter into the students’ wider cultural discourse outside of the school. This purpose can be the engagement piece that starts the conversation at the beginning of the year. Posing questions about the purpose of the book by looking at its’ cover and how the topics within it might fit into the broad topic of science, establishes a grounding within the broad study of science. Are there other books within the classroom that relate to this book, and if so, how? These questions lay out for the student the connections that the book offers in life outside of the classroom and to what you will do inside your classroom.
This discussion naturally opens up the next topic about what this particular book has to offer and how the inside textual environment appears. Secondary students need to understand how the textbook functions in itself and how it will function in the way you teach the course. A brief walk through of the book and it’s “parts” are necessary for not only lower skilled readers, but also to orientate all of the readers to the features that the book offers. Students should then be taken to the Table of Contents to view the Units that comprise the subject matter. It should be pointed out that often in science, there are a number of chapters that cluster around the units and that the ongoing understanding about a particular topic, is generally developed throughout the units’ chapters. Since science texts are informational in nature, it is somewhat not advisable to read a chapter in seclusion, without interfacing with the material in the order that is presented in the unit. Typically, informational text builds in complexity, establishing and building on itself in the way the chapters are ordered. In this manner the units are built.
Students then should be introduced to the structure of the chapters. In the next module, we will look at textual structures that affect how the text should be read. Here we will discuss the different “genres” that a student may run into in the particular text. For this discussion, genres will be defined as text that is used for a particular purpose and that has its own characteristic language in addition to structural features (Derewianka in Scott, 1992). The eight types of genre that are typically utilized in science text will be treated separately in the section that follows.
Types of genres that may be found in a science text
Biography – This genre is typically used in science text to draw the students’ attention to a personal story that helps give background to the science concept that is being introduced. The person whom the biography centers around normally has something to do with the generation of the concept or has spent their life in the pursuit of the use of that concept in their professional life. For example, it is not uncommon to find biographies about persons who contribute to the science topic at hand via their work life in a scientific field. This type of biography kills two birds with one stone by demonstrating how ones career can build scientific data by working in the science field. Additionally, it is common to find biographies about the person who discovered and built the concept into scientific acceptance.
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Explanations - This genre generally does what its’ name implies – it is used to explain a process or explore the progressions involved in an action, event, behavior, or process. These explanations can involve natural events or social phenomena and typically involve a logical progression in order to achieve the explanation. Graphical descriptors may help organize thought processes as the reader moves from the minutiae to whole picture when traversing this genre.
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Exposition – This genre is used when someone wants to present an argument and/or wishes to influence the reader to his or her side of that argument. A biology book may use this to present the sides that groups may take when looking at issues in conjunction with vaccines or the use of genetically modified foods. A physics book may use it to present the sides and issues that accompany the discussion of the cost of a particle accelerator complex. A chemistry book may use this genre to investigate the purpose of man-made elements and substances. This type of genre is usually set aside in its’ own readily identifiable page like several other genres mentioned here.
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Historical recount – This genre is useful to add historical depth and importance to a topic by tracing the events that led to a finding or the expansion of a scientific idea in historical context. These genres are typically set aside in an identifiable space and may include topics like the historical recounting of evolutionary thought, the expansion of genetics and genome theory, the various ways that disease has been controlled or eradicated, or the impact of telescopes on human thought and understanding. It is important to use this genre to broaden student understanding of scientific expansion within the historical context of the time.
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Procedural – This genre many times will begin with the goal of the procedure highlighted. This statement may be more in the format of a short paragraph or introductory paragraph that describes the background of the goal to be undertaken in the procedure. Typically following the goal is a series of procedural steps that are to be followed along with prompts to guide student observation. These are very often in the form of questions that draw the students’ attention to things they may miss. Additionally, this genre may also add other elements such as diagrams that assist the student with the procedure or cautions to direct attention to dangers.
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Reports – Report type genres typically begin with opening generalizations that are often characterized by vocabulary, definitions, and descriptions that outline the scientific phenomena that is being explored (Derewianka in Scott, 1992). Reports are by nature very systematic in the way they relay information to the reader and rely on descriptions and classifications to make up the commentary. In this manner, the report is nothing more than a factual rendering of events and information that surrounds a certain topic. Much of our science books encompass this type of writing.
Revision questions – This is a common genre found in most science texts. Its purpose is to guide the reflection and revision of the material that was presented in the section that is being revisited. These questions typically revolve around the facts and details that were presented in the reading and seek to force the reader into a reexamination of their importance. The goal is to jog the students’ memory and perhaps put into place a better understanding of the information and concepts that was constructed in the students mind. |
Student objectives - This genre lays out in a general format what it is that the student is expected to accomplish. These objectives are generally written in terms of a relationship to the learning outcome – that is, what it is that the student will be able to do or is expected to know as a result of the lesson that is dispensed. These objectives typically are introduced at the beginning of another genre such as the report, procedural, or explanatory genres. |
Activity 2.1: Find a science book that you use or may use in a science subject that you teach. Identify the genres that are typical in each chapter and those that might be interspersed throughout the text in a somewhat random fashion. Pay attention to how you might approach and read each genre differently. Do you find yourself preparing yourself to read each one differently? Please discuss these differences and how you might draw attention to these genre differences when introducing the text to your students. Additionally, find at least one example of some kind of taxonomy in a report genre and think about that in terms of making that information packed feature visible to your students.
This module was written by Carmen Woodhall, Ph.D., East Carolina University, 2014.