Exploring content: building knowledge in school discourse

J R MartinDepartment of Linguistics, University of Sydney

Madrid TeL4ELE Dissemination Conference 17-19 October 2013

1. Explaining (semantic waves)

2. Power words and grammar in biology

3. Power words and grammar in history

4. Power composition

5. Semantic waves and R2L

6. Building knowledge

- Informing theories…

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Ideas arising from a joint research project informed by linguistics and sociology…

specifically Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) and Legitimation Code Theory (LCT)…

focusing on knowledge building in junior secondary biology and history.

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- more specifically a dialogue between SFL (systemic functional linguistics)…

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…in relation to one application of this model, in language education (the so-called ‘Sydney School’)…

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…in dialogue with Karl Maton’s LCT (Legitimation Code Theory)…

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- from 2002…

+ K Maton, S Hood & S Shay [Eds.] Knowledge-building: educational studies in legitimation code theory. London: Routledge. in preparation.

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- the project can be seen as an elaboration of Sydney School genre-based literacy programs (such as Reading to Learn), with a focus on field (alongside genre)…

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17

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- today I’ll be exploring field… the nature of the knowledge that R2L programs help students learn…

…in particular the nature of ‘explanation’ in lessons and units of work that build knowledge, with students accumulating understandings of the field

1. Explaining…

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- we’ll start with an example from biology (junior secondary school)

T: Okay B… what are the‘cilia’. What was it? No? A… do you know what cilia is? No? D…? Someone must know what they are...

S: Hairs.

S: The little hairs?

T: The little hairs.

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[a little later the teacher writes on the board:]

cilia Hair-like projections from cells lining the air passages

Move with a wavelike motion to move pathogens from the lungs until it can be swallowed into the acid of the stomach

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SG-,SD+

Time

cilia

little hairs

hair-like projections from cells lining the air passages

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conceptual term

unpacking of term into everyday language

repacking of descriptions into table of terms

SG-,SD+

a semantic wave

Time

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- here’s an comparable example from ancient history

(junior secondary school)

T So, there would be massive amounts of trade going on, and umm,

you know people visiting their diplomats you know or their, their, ambassadors… like their envoys and things like that all going back and forth across the countries.

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T So, there would be massive amounts of trade going on, and umm,

you know people visiting their diplomats you know or their, their, ambassadors… like their envoys and things like that all going back and forth across the countries.

So, ideas. When you get trade in ideas - you wouldn’t have heard this word before –

we call it ‘aesthetic trade’.

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SG-,SD+

Time

massive amounts of trade

people visiting,envoys going back & forth

trade in ideas

aesthetic trade

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abstract concept

unpacking of term into more familiar language about events

repacking of activity into technical term

SG-,SD+

a semantic wave

Time

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- how does language do it?

2. Exploring semantic waves:

power words and power grammar in biology

T: Okay B (student’s name) what are the‘cilia’. What was it? No? A (student’s name) do you know what cilia is? No? D? Someone must know what they are...

Sf:Hairs

Sm:The little hairs?

T: The little hairs. And basically, they beat in an upward motion from inside your body out through to your nose. [Teacher is waving arms up]. So, they beat up and they take the pathogens away with them. And, guys, I don’t know if I’ve ever told you this but when you smoke cigarettes, the tar actually causes your cilia to, because its so heavy, to drop, and so your cilia don’t work probably after that because they’re too heavy they’ve dropped, so they can’t beat the pathogens out of your body! So that’s the one of reason that smoking’s [bad] as well. Okay! Alright write this down under description!

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[Teacher writes on the board:]

cilia Hair-like projections from cells lining the air passages

Move with a wavelike motion to move pathogens from the lungs until it can be swallowed into the acid of the stomach

- consolidating table of definitions and functions...

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conceptual term

unpacking of term into previously learned terms and everyday language, including example from everyday life

repacking of descriptions into table of terms

SG-,SD+

a semantic wave

Time

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‘power words’...

i.e. technical terms (semantic condensation)...

e.g. cilia, pathogens

- but there is more to an understanding of cilia than the ‘definition’of the word...

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- there is also composition (part/whole structure)...

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- location in body (physiology)

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- ‘decomposing’ under the microscope...

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- internal structure...

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decomposing

composing

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- we also need to consider classification (class/sub-class structure)...

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- classification (type/subtype organisation)

‘taxonomy’

classify

subclassify

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- organ type...

organelle (eurkaryotic cells)

cilia (proturbence from cell)

motile (undulipodia)flagella (whip action for propulsion)cilia (wave motion)

non-motile (primary - sensory antennae)

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- there may be different principles for classification…

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- alternative classification for immunology(lines of defence)...

non-specific

specific

1st 2nd 3rd

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- technical terms can also refer to processes (in activity sequences)...

e.g.

inflammation…

phagocytosis

engulfment

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- board notes...

Inflammatory Response

Fever helps reduce the reproduction of pathogen cells in localised areas. There is increased blood flow to the infected area due to VASO-DILATION (widening of capillaries). This means more phagocytes and macrophages can quickly travel to the infection site.

- the problem of logocentrism (focus on terms, possibly loosely connected with ‘mind map’ images) in lieu of the structure of knowledge (i.e. composition, classification, sequencing and more)

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Grammar

nouns

morpheme

pronouns

abstract nouns

- grammar as a ‘bag of words’…

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- in summary, knowledge is not a ‘word salad’;

rather, words encode specific relations of composition, classification and sequencing among the entities proposed by a discipline.

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decomposing

composing

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organelle (eurkaryotic cells)

cilia (proturbence from cell)

motile (undulipodia)flagella (whip action for propulsion)cilia (wave motion)

non-motile (primary - sensory antennae)

subclassifying

classifying

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- this brings us to ‘power grammar’:

i. ‘nominalisation’ (aka experiential metaphor = anti-gravity machine)

the reproduction of pathogen cells

increased blood flow

VASO-DILATION (widening of capillaries)

the infection site

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- examples unpacked into more spoken language...

the reproduction of pathogen cells≈ “reproducing pathogen cells”

increased blood flow≈ “blood flow increases”≈ “blood flows (more quickly/voluminously?)

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- examples unpacked into more spoken language...

VASO-DILATION (widening of capillaries)≈ “the capillaries dilate/widen”

the infection site≈ “the site/spot that was infected”

...noting that we cannot always get quite the same meaning!!!

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- and ii. explanation (‘cause in the clause’)(aka logical metaphor)...

Fever helps reduce the reproduction of pathogen cells in localised areas.

There is increased blood flow to the infected area due to VASO-DILATION (widening of capillaries).

This means more phagocytes and macrophages can quickly travel to the infection site.

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- cause related to effect (in 1 clause)

Fever

helps reduce

the reproduction of pathogen cells in localised areas.

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There is increased blood flow to the infected area

due to

VASO-DILATION (widening of capillaries).

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[[There is increased blood flow to the infected area due to VASO-DILATION (widening of capillaries).]]

This

means

more phagocytes and macrophages can quickly travel to the infection site.

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[[There is increased blood flow to the infected area due to VASO-DILATION (widening of capillaries).]]

This

means

more phagocytes and macrophages can quickly travel to the infection site.

≈

This

means

more efficient phagocyte and macrophage movement to the infection site.

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Fever helps reduce the reproduction of pathogen cells in localised areas.

≈

Body temperature risesand sopathogen cells reproduce more slowly in localised areas

- unpacking‘cause in the clause’...

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There is increased blood flow to the infected area due to VASO-DILATION (widening of capillaries).

≈

Blood flows more voluminously to the infected areabecausethe capillaries widen/dilate

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Fever helps reduce the reproduction of pathogen cells in localised areas. [There is increased blood flow to the infected area due to VASO-DILATION (widening of capillaries)]. = [This] means more phagocytes and macrophages can quickly travel to the infection site.

≈

Body temperature rises and so pathogen cells reproduce more slowly in localised areas and so blood flows more voluminously to the infected area because the capillaries widen/dilate and so more phagocytes and macrophages can quickly travel to the infected area.

3. Exploring semantic waves:

power words and power grammar

in history

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- historians also make use of power words (specialised and technical terms)…

Mycenaean society

New Kingdom Egypt

The Augustan Age

garum

forum

Gaul

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- in relation to composition, history is comparably technical (compared to science) in the division of time and cultures (into periods and societies)...

e.g. ancient societies:

Society in Old Kingdom Egypt; Persian Society at the time of Darius and Xerxes; Mycenaean society

e.g. historical periods:

New Kingdom Egypt to the death of Thutmose IV; The Greek world 446-399 BC; Rome: The Augustan Age 44BC-AD 14

- and also in relation to maps (archaeology); e.g. sites...

...or buildings.

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- a range of specialised terms are also used, referring to unfamiliar but concrete entities; these also have to be ‘unpacked’...

garum

Gaul

inn/tavern

peddler

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garum = a type of fermented fish sauce condiment that was an essential flavour in Ancient Roman cooking...

Garum was prepared from the intestines of small fishes, macerated in salt and cured in the sun for one to three months, where the mixture fermented and liquified in the dry warmth, the salt inhibiting the common agents of decay.

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- but specialised terms like garum tend not to be composed and decomposed, or classified and subclassified as thoroughly or tightly as in biology...

... we don’t for example learn precisely how garum fits into an exhaustive account of the diet in Pompeii...

... rather garum is important because of the evidence (e.g. artefacts, frescoes, written evidence) reflecting its significance in the economy of Pompeii

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- e.g. garum and trade…

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- Technical terms like trade, relating to society and culture, are also less thoroughly composed and decomposed, classified and subclassified (flexi-tech)…

Society

economy, culture, social structure, politics, religion... etc.?

Economy

TradeCommercial trade[Aesthetic trade?]

Commerce

Industries

… etc.?

T This is a little bit hard, H. THE INFLUENCE OF GREEK AND EGYPTIAN CULTURES. What does that mean. What would the influence of Greek and Egyptian cultures mean, okay? No idea, right. What it means is, if we started to, look at all the things in Pompeii and Herculaneum, what objects may be showing Greek design? Or Egyptian design? Or Greek mythology? Or Egyptian mythology? Or what building techniques, like columns? Are there Greek columns? Do, you know, are the themes of their artwork reflecting it? …

T …So, it’s saying …remember when we started, we said that Pompeii had originally been settled by Greeks? Okay? … It looks hard, but all you’ve gotta do is have a look and think what things are there. Let me give you a big clue some of them are massive. Laah-la-lah-la- la-la-la-la-lahh, la-lah

S TheatresS La-lahhT Theatres. Okay theatres are a Greek design. The

Greeks invented the theatre, and then the Romans take the idea because they like it too. So, some of them are very obvious.

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- What exactly is culture?

culturedesign

theatresmythologybuilding techniques

columnsartwork

themes

‘evidence of’

T So, there would be massive amounts of trade going on, and umm, you know people visiting their diplomats you know or their, their, ambassa… like their envoys and things like that all going back and forth across the countries. Sooo, ideas. When you get trade in ideas - you wouldn’t have heard this word before - we call it ‘aesthetic trade’. Have you heard of it? Yeah

S You told us beforeT Ohh! Told you before great, excellent! You

remember aesthetic trade! ‘Trade in ideas’. So, of course, when you’ve got contact with the country you’re gonna get the trade in ideas coming as well.

SG-,SD+

Time

question unpacking with examples and grounding in context of period

repacking into ‘aesthetic trade’

new examples

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tradecommercial tradeaesthetic trade (trade in ideas)

people visitingdiplomats… going back and forth

- Kinds of trade…

- there is in fact more technicality to history than we originally recognised...

capitalismcommunism (Marxism)socialismdemocracydespotism (oligarchy, autocracy, monarchy, fascism)imperialism (colonialism)nationalism internationalismmilitarismracism...

- some history -isms (+)...

...some -isms defined

Capitalism is as economic and social system under which most of the means of production are controlled by private individuals or companies. [195]

Imperialism is the rule of one country or a group of countries by another, more powerful, country. [475]

Nationalism is a fierce loyalty to your country above all others. [196]

[Dennett, B & S Dixon 2003 Key Features of Modern History. Second Edition. Melbourne: Oxford University Press]

-isms as ‘flexi-tech’ (flexible technicality):

- weakly classified concepts applicable to a wide range of situations (e.g Cold War, Indo-China, Palestine); cf. ‘floating signifiers’

- some entering into oppositions (as informed by related disciplines; e.g. capitalism/communism)

T (teacher lets out a big breath) Where are we David you’re sitting there by yourself you can tell us

about COMMUNISM OK.

S (David) Don’t make me do that. That’s against my Christian beliefs.

Ss (laugh)

- and axiologically charged with values...

- turning from the relatively sparse (and often weakly classified) technicality of history to abstraction, we encounter discourse that is relies even more on power grammar than science...

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‘spoken’

Mt Vesuvius erupting

≈

‘nominalised’

the eruption of Mt Vesuvius

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‘spoken’:

When did he excavate Pompeii?

≈

‘nominalised’:

his excavation of Pompeii

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‘spoken’

he died

≈

‘nominalised’

his death94

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- crucial for explanation (‘cause in the clause’)

Andrew Wallace states that while Pompeii is one of the most studied of the world’s archaeological sties, it is perhaps the least understood, due to past neglect, damage, and a failure to document carefully, if at all. ≈

Andrew Wallace states that while Pompeii is one of the most studied of the world’s archaeological sties, it is perhaps the least understood,

due to

past neglect, damage, and a failure to document carefully, if at all.

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- and for managing phases of historical time (‘time in the clause’)

The revolution at Pompeii in regards to archaeological methods began with Fiorelli’s stage of occupation in the 19th century… ≈

The revolution at Pompeii in regards to archaeological methods

began with

Fiorelli’s stage of occupation in the 19th century…

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- crucial for explanation (‘cause/time in the clause’)

 …Fiorelli’s stage of occupation allowed for greater documentation, more archaeological artefacts left in site and the breakthrough process of injecting liquid plaster into the body-shaped cavities made by solidified ash and the eventual decomposition of bodies.

≈

Fiorelli’s stage of occupation allowed for

greater documentation, more archaeological artefacts left in site and the breakthrough process of injecting liquid plaster into the body-shaped cavities made by solidified ash and the eventual decomposition of bodies.

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- we can unpack the nominalisations and cause/time in the clause…

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…but if we do, our ability to package up events as complex causes and effects is severely compromised…

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- e.g. multiple causes…

Andrew Wallace states that while Pompeii is one of the most studied of the world’s archaeological sties, it is perhaps the least understood, due to past neglect, damage, and a failure to document carefully, if at all. 

Andrew Wallace states that while Pompeii is one of the most studied of the world’s archaeological sties, it is perhaps the least understood,

due to

i. past neglect, ii. damage, and iii. a failure to document carefully, if at all.

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- e.g. multiple effects

 …Fiorelli’s stage of occupation allowed for greater documentation, more archaeological artefacts left in site and the breakthrough process of injecting liquid plaster into the body-shaped cavities made by solidified ash and the eventual decomposition of bodies.

Fiorelli’s stage of occupation allowed for

i. greater documentation, ii. more archaeological artefacts left in site and iii. the breakthrough process of injecting liquid plaster into the body-shaped cavities made by solidified ash and the eventual decomposition of bodies.

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- ‘cause in the clause’ also enables the kind of nuanced interpretation valued by historians…

…because many different verbs can be ‘borrowed’ to fine tune the explanation…

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Fiorelli’s stage of occupationallowed for greater documentation, more archaeological artefacts left in site and the breakthrough process of injecting liquid plaster into the body-shaped cavities made by solidified ash and the eventual decomposition of bodies.

Fiorelli’s stage of occupationencouragedgreater documentation…

Fiorelli’s stage of occupationcontributed togreater documentation…

Fiorelli’s stage of occupationprecipitatedgreater documentation…

etc.

4. Composing knowledge

- power composition

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- hierarchy of periodicity...

Method of Development Point(genre focus) (field focus)

macroThemen

hyperTheme

predict Theme … New accumulate

hyperNew

macroNewn

- to my recent surprise this texturing trope had already been discovered by McDonalds...

- Hyper-theme & Hyper-New...

- Macro-theme & Macro-new...

- e.g. conserving Pompei...

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+SD/-SG

+SD/-SG

-SD/+SG

-SD/+SG

-SD/+SG

-SD/+SG

- higher level periodicity depends on power words and power grammar (e.g. macro-Theme and hyper-Themes below)...

5. Semantic waves and R2L

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- how can we relate this kind of focus on knowledge (field) to Reading to Learn pedagogy (and curriculum)…

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- one important point to keep in mind is that genres are resources for packaging content as texts and that content is itself organised, (across genres) according to field (composition, classification, sequencing…)

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… keeping in mind that each genre is a way of packaging aspects of a field

text

sequence of cause & effect - sequential

significant life events - autobiographical recountstages in a life - biographical recount

supporting one point of view - expositiondiscussing two or more points of view - discussion

expressing feelings about a text - personal responseevaluating a text (verbal, visual, musical) - reviewinterpreting messages of a text - interpretation

one type of thing - descriptivedifferent types of things - classifying parts of wholes - compositional

argumentspersuading

text responsescritiquing

evaluating

not time structured - news story

sequenceof events

complicating

no complication – personal recountresolved - narrative

unresolvedsharing feelings - anecdotejudging behaviour - exemplumengaging

informingexplanationscauses & effects

proceduraldirecting

chroniclesstages in time

reportsdescribing

thingshow to do an activity - procedure (recipe, experiment, algorithm)what to do and not to do - protocol (rules, warnings, laws)how an activity was done - procedural recount (experiment report)

temporal - historical recountcausal - historical account

multiple causes - factorialmultiple effects- consequentialcontingent causes (if/then) - conditional

recurrent events - generalised recount

not time structured

stages in history

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- in relation to R2L pedagogy the important resource to focus on is the scaffolding interaction cycle which creates critical opportunities for ‘powering up’ or ‘powering down’…

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power

powerpower

power

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- waves & detailed reading...

- opportunities for adjusting gravity and density…

ElaborateIdentify

Prepare• sentence meaning • where to look• meaning of the wording

• affirm• highlight

• define words• explain concepts

• discuss experience

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Cytoplasm is the part of the cell inside the cell membrane but outside the nucleus. In the cytoplasm hundreds of chemical reactions take place, transferring energy, storing food and making new substances. This activity within the cell is called its metabolism.

- challenging text…

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what happens

hundreds of chemical reactions

Prepare Identify

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- in general we can expect Elaboration moves to re-phrase in more familiar terms the power words and power grammar in challenging texts…

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transferring energy

three functions

taking energy from a chemical reaction to do other work

Prepare Identify Elaborate

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- but while unpacking power words (specialised or technical terms), power grammar (‘nominalisations’ and ‘cause in the clause’), and lexical metaphors may often be important…

… but it may also be useful to consider ‘powering up’ in relation to the breadth and/or depth of relevant taxonomies (composition or classification) and the degree of detail in implication or activity sequences.

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storing food

converting nutrients into glucose

Identify Elaborate

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making new substances

making hundreds of different chemicals

Identify Elaborate

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decomposing

composing

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- and classification (type/subtype organisation)

‘taxonomy’

classify

subclassify

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power

powerpower

power

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- R2L teaching/learning cycles offer teachers and students a rich resource for adjusting gravity and density…

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By end of a curriculum unit, how much field knowledge has been accumulated?

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…keeping in mind our goals of -

i. enabling students to learn from reading

ii. demonstrate their learning in writing

SG-,SD+

High-stakes reading

High-stakes writing

Time

...so that all our students have a chance to accumulate knowledge in the high stakes curriculum.

6. Building knowledge

SG-,SD+

High-stakes reading

High-stakes writing

Time

- high stakes (uncommon sense knowledge is stored in writing)...

- the one-way escalator (dumping into common sense)...

SG-,SD+

High-stakes reading

High-stakes writing

Time

…what is actually going on (= wipe out)...

x x

SG-,SD+

High-stakes reading

High-stakes writing

...when we could be teaching reading/teaching writing...

SG-,SD+

High-stakes reading

High-stakes writing

Time

...and discourage pointless talking...

SG-,SD+

High-stakes reading

High-stakes writing

Time

...so that all our students can accumulate knowledge in a high stakes curriculum once again.

POWER WORDSPOWER GRAMMAR

POWER COMPOSITION

POWER ON!

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Simon-Vandenbergen, A-M, M Taverniers & L.J. Ravelli [Eds] 2003. Grammatical Metaphor: systemic and functional perspectives Amsterdam: Benjamins

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+SD/-SG

+SD/-SG

-SD/+SG

-SD/+SG

-SD/+SG

-SD/+SG

+SD/-SG

+SD/-SG

-SD/+SG

-SD/+SG

-SD/+SG

-SD/+SG

- cf. LCT’s axiological density!

Semantic density (SD) refers to the degree of condensation of meaning within socio-cultural practices (symbols, terms, concepts, phrases, expressions, gestures, clothing, etc). Semantic density may be relatively stronger (+) or weaker (-) along a continuum of strengths. The stronger the semantic density (SD+), the more meaning is condensed within practices; the weaker the semantic density (SD-), the less meaning is condensed.

These meanings may be from formal definitions, empirical descriptions or feelings, political sensibilities, taste, values, morals, affiliations, and so forth.