Mohammad Al Towaim

MA Applied Linguistics

Grammatical and Lexical Features of

Scientific and Technical Language
Contents
Introduction

Section 1: Scientific/Technical Language

Section 2: Some of the Grammatical and Lexical Features of

Scientific and Technical Language

2.1 Noun compound

2.1.1 Examples of given extract

2.2 The use of the passive

4
4

2.2.1 Examples of given extract

2.3 Nominalisation

7
8

2.3.1 Examples of given extract

Section 3: Lexical features of scientific/technical language
3.1 Semi-technical vocabulary

8
9
10

3.1.1 Examples of given extract

10

Section 4: Some Implications for Teaching Grammar and Vocabulary in

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ESP
Conclusion

13

References

14

Appendix

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Introduction

Many scholars and researchers have discussed the idea that scientific writings differ
from everyday writing both in grammatical and lexical features. This paper will
consider this issue and try to clarify the differences between these writings. In section
one, we will briefly look into some of literature review about this topic. Then we will
discuss the grammatical and lexical features of the scientific writings, as we will refer
to the given text (see Appendix) and point out its scientific or technical register,
starting with the grammatical features and its distinguishing style that might differ
from general English. Afterwards, we will clarify the lexical features of scientific
writings. In section four, we will discuss some pedagogical implications for teaching
grammar and vocabulary in ESP. In the conclusion I will sum up what has been said
in this paper and refer to the importance of corpora in ESP.

Section 1:
The scientific/technical language

Is the language of scientific and technical text different from general language? In
order to answer this question, we should look at scientific/technical language to know
to what extent it is distinguished from general language.
A text is counted as 'scientific English' when there are generally considerable
differences between any particular genres, especially, according to Parkinson (2000),
in vocabulary, grammar and discourse structures. If we focus on scientific language, it
can be said, according to Hutchinson & Waters (1987), that there are important
differences between scientific/technical language and general language, in vocabulary
and the higher frequently of some grammatical styles. So, to sum up the answer, it can
be declared that there are important distinctions between scientific and general
language.
Halliday (1993), cited in Parkinson (2000), point out that a text is considered as
'scientific' because of the special features relating together throughout the text. These
features will be considered in section 2

Section 2:

Some of The grammatical and lexical features of scientific and technical

language
In this section, I am going to focus on some features of scientific/technical language,
which are noun compound, use of passive and nominalisation. Each features will be
concluded with references to the given extract (see Appendix).
2.1 Noun compound:
A noun involves two or more nouns relating together as a new concept. In general,
there is a chain of nouns where some nouns modify the head noun (Ferguson
(2004:1).
Modifying noun
nuclear submarine refit
beginner level francophone ESL

Head noun
centre
learners

A noun compound, as Master (2003) indicates, is common in scientific writing. It is

important, Ferguson (2004) says, because its function is as a means to represent
information in a compact and dense form. The noun compound has many other
functions making it suitable for scientific writing. Ferguson (2004:1) has illustrated
some of them as follows:
i.

Noun compounds are sometimes used as technical terms. They can be used in
this sense for the first mention/introduction of a technical concept.

ii.

Equally commonly, noun compounds may be used for the 2nd and 3rd mentions
of a cluster of concepts. Very often the noun compound is the final stage in the
compression of a set of concept. Thus, when the idea/concept is introduced for
the first time, it may be mentioned in a full form. When the concept/idea is
mentioned again, it may be more economical for the writer to refer to its
compressed form: i.e. as a noun compound. This process is illustrated in the
example below:

e.g. The study of how quickly cracks in the glass grow has made significant
progress recently. Glass crack growth rate was found to be related to ..
iii.

One advantage for the writer of a noun compound is that they are more easily
shifted within the clause than their corresponding fuller form. Thus, noun
compounds are useful for presenting given information at the beginning of the
sentence in subject or theme position. It is also customary to present given
information in as short and compressed a form as possible, and this a noun
compound allows in the example above.

In fact, the usage of noun compounds involves some difficulty. Master (2003) points
out that it is not easy to understand the noun compound, even if readers can decode
the individual words.
2.1.2 Examples of given extract: (see Appendix):
- We report a double blind
- crossover trial of an angiostensin converting enzyme inhibitor

2.2 The use of the passive:

It has been commonly accepted that the one of the most frequent grammatical features
of scientific/technical writing is the use of the passive. For instance, Royds-Irmak
(1975:7) cited in Master (1991:16) declares that "In science, a sentence is often
written in a passive form because the important idea is not who did something, but
what was done ". Moreover, Quirk et al. (1972:808), cited in Master (1991:16), states
that:
The passive has been found to be as much as ten times more frequent in one
text than in another. The major stylistic factor determining its frequency
seems to be related to the distinction between informative and imaginative
prose rather than to a difference of subject matter or of spoken and written
English. The passive is generally more commonly used in formative than in
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imaginative writing, notably in the objective, impersonal style of scientific

articles and news items.
On the other hand, Blicq (1981:319), cited in Master (1991:16), says "
unfortunately, many scientists and engineers in industry still believe that everything
should be written in the passive voice with the passage of time, this outdated
belief is slowly being eroded". Furthermore, Eisenberg (1982:151) cited in Master
(1991:16) points out that " the use of the passive verb slows down the pace,
requires more words, and tends to make the going difficult for your readers."
In fact, all the remarks mentioned above are, according to Ferguson (2006), unable
to illustrate why, and in which situations, the passive is to be preferred over the
active, and vice-versa. However, the table below, Master (1991:22), shows that the
passive voice has a greater use in scientific writing, but the active still has
dominance.
Comparison of Active/Passive Ratios (in Percents) in Several Studies
Author
Barber (1962)
Rumszewicz (?)
White (1974)

Wingard (1981)

Text

Mid-brow

Textbook
Scientific text
General textbooks
Laboratory report
Scientific textbook

High-brow

72/28
72/26
75/25
37/63
78/22

Medical journal
Medical text

65/35
76/24

Tranoe (1981)

Astrophysics journal
89/12
Astrophysics journal
81/19
One of the researches examining the actual use of the passive is a study, mentioned in
the table above, produced by Tarone et al. (1981). This study has used corpus to
analysis two astrophysics journal papers. The result shows that the active voice is
used much more frequently than the passive and, more importantly, that the active
first person plural we verb form seems to be regularly used at strategic[points]..
Tranoe et al (1981:201). This result appears in the table below:

Overall frequently of active and passive verbs in the Stoeger and Lightman papers
Stoeger
Lightman
Total number of verbs
244
370
Active verbs
217 (88.5%)
301 (81.4%)
Active we verbs
58 (23%)
40 (10.8%)
Passive verbs
27 (11.5%)
69 (18.6%)
Total verbs, existential

137

248

omitted.
Active verbs
Active we verbs
Passive verbs

110 (80%)
52 (37%)
27 (20%)

179 (72.2%)
40 (16.1%)
69 (27.8%)
Tranoe et al. (1981:194)

Moreover, the corpus suggests the following generalizations:

i.

Writers of astrophysics journal papers have a tendency to use the active weform voice to show points in the logical development of the argument where
they have made a distinctive procedural choice; the passive voice is used when
the writers are following established or standard procedures.

ii.

When a comparison is being made between a writers work and that of other
researchers, writers use the active voice for their own work and the passive
voice for the research that is being contrasted.

iii.

When the writers just cite other researchers work, they use the active form of
the verb.

iv.

When writers refer to their future work, they use the passive verb.

v.

The usage of the passive or active voice in these papers is conditioned by the
discoursal functions of focus or by the length of certain sentence elements.

Tranoe et al. (1981:201) conclude these generalizations by saying: "it should be

noticed that we only claim that these generalizations hold for professional
journals".

As the tables above indicate, both the active and passive are used in
scientific/technical writing. Thus, we could conclude the debate by saying that the
choice of either active or passive voice is dependent on the function that the writer
prefers Dudey-Evans & John (1998:76) state that:
The idea that scientificwriting uses the passive voice more frequently
than the active is a myth; what is true is that such writing uses the passive
voice more frequently than some other types of writing.The choice of
active or passive is constrained by functional considerations...
2.2.2 Examples of given extract: (see Appendix)
i.

Active voice:
- We report a double blind
- We used a crossover study and carried out

ii.

Passive voice:
- Each patient was given either enalapril or placebo
- in which treatment given was randomised
- Randomisation was carried out

2.3 Nominalisation:
Nominalisation is a word derived from a verb or an adjective (e.g. applicability from
applicable). It is usually ended by suffixes such as ation, -ity, or -ment.
Nominalisation, according to Dudey-Evans & John (1998) is a kind of abstract or
economical language. Thus, as we will see in the given extract (see Appendix),
nominalisation is used to make the phrases more simple. Dudey-Evans & John
(1998:78) cited the text below indicating that nominalisation "enables complex
information to be packaged into a phrase that is simple from a grammatical point of
view and that can be picked up in the theme of the following sentence :

"A high primary productivity is almost invariably related to a high

crop yield. High productivity can be achieved by ensuring that all the
light which falls on the field is intercepted by the leaves. Greater
efficiency in photosynthesis could perhaps be achieved by selecting
against photorespiration".
Adapted from Dudey-Evans & John (1998:78)

2.3.2 Example of given extract: (see Appendix)

- Randomisation was carried out by the suppliers of the drug.

Section 3:
Lexical features of scientific/technical language
Notion (2001:198) has divided technical vocabulary into four categories, ordered
from the most technical in category 1 to the least in category 4:
i.

Category 1: The vocabularies are restricted to the following fields.

Law: jactitation, per curiam, closture
Applied Linguistics: morpheme, hapax legomena, lemma
Electronics: anode, impedance, galvanometer, dielectric
Computing: wysiwyg, rom, pixel

ii.

Category 2: The vocabulary can be found in different fields, but with different
meanings.
Law: cite (to appear), caution (vb)
Applied Linguistics: sense, reference, type, token
Electronics: induced, flux, terminal, earth

iii.

Category 3: The vocabulary is found in and outside this field, but the majority
of its uses with a particular meaning are in this field.
Law: accused, offer, reconstruction (of a crime)
Applied Linguistics: range, frequency
Electronics: coil, energy, positive, gate, resistance
Computing: memory, drag, window

iv.

Category 4: the vocabulary is more common in this field, but there is little or
even no specialisation of meaning. However, a learner with knowledge of the
field will know the meaning better.
Law: judge, mortgage, trespass
Applied Linguistics: word, meaning
Electronics: drain, filament, load, plate
Computing: print, program, icon

It is obvious from the categories above that there is a degree of 'technicalness" in

which, as Notion (2001) states, this degree is governed by a word's restriction to a
specific field. Thus, category 1 involves clearly technical words, since they are
exclusive to a specific area in both form and meaning. In contrast, words in category 4
are capable of being used in more than one field, and, therefore, can be considered as
less technical.
3.1 Semi-technical vocabulary:
There are some words which could be related to all specialised disciplines. Such
words, according to Dudely-Evans & John (1998), are counted as semi-technical
words. We will see examples of it below.
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3.1 Example of given extract: (see Appendix)

i.

Technical lexis:
- ...crossover trail of an angiotensin...
- Each patient was given either enalapril or placebo
- ...fluid overload receiving dialysis...

ii.

Semi-technical vocabulary:
- ... an angiotensin converting enzyme...
-... patients with chronic fluid...
-...of the ethics committee of this hospital...

Section 4:
Some Implications for Teaching Grammar and Vocabulary in ESP
In the light of sections 2 and 3, we could answer the question raised at the beginning:
Is the language of scientific and technical text different from general language? The
short answer is Yes. We have seen that scientific/technical language is different from
general language. Therefore, it is worth focusing on the grammatical and lexical
features of a area being considered, in order to improve the methods of ESP and its
implications, following the statement by Ewer & Davies (1988) that the work done to
identify the features of scientific language and its differences with general language
has a positive impact. In this section, we will attempt to point out the role of grammar

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and vocabulary in the context of teaching ESP, and to indicate some implications for
teaching grammar and lexis in ESP.
It has been claimed that ESP teaching is not concerned with grammar. However,
Dudley-Evans & John (1998) declare that grammar teaching is one of the ESP
teachers duties. Students who have grammatical difficulties will face a lot of troubles
in language skills. Work on grammar, according to Dudley-Evans & John (1998), is
supposed to integrate with the teaching of language use.
Regarding vocabulary, some scholars (see Dudley-Evans & John (1998), and Notion
(2001)), and claim that it is not the English teachers' job to teach technical words.
However, there is some circumstance where teachers should pay an effort to help their
students in understanding the technical vocabulary. For example, Dudley-Evans &
John (1998:81) declare that "students usually need to be able to understand the
technical vocabulary in order to do the exercise". Thus, " it may be also the duty
of the ESP teacher to check that learners have understood technical vocabulary
appearing as carrier content for an exercise". Moreover, Notion (2001:204) has
determined that "considering the large number of technical words that occur in
specialized texts, language teachers need to prepare learners to deal with them.
Furthermore, Notion (2001:205) states that:
"The main purpose in isolating an academic or technical vocabulary is to
provide a sound basis for planning teaching and learning. By focusing
attention on items that have been shown to be frequent..
In terms of language courses, Parkinson (2000) states that in teaching language
through content, students are not only learning the language, but they are using the
language to learn. Therefore, Parkinson (2000:374) has suggested a theme-based
language course for science students, in which learners must be embedded in a
real topic and any reference to grammar or strategies for working out the meaning of
new vocabulary etc. is subsidiary to this major topic. The purpose of this is:

to make the materials authentic, involving, as far as possible, real scientific

activity;

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to make them relevant and interesting in themselves. Grammar exercises, for

example, if done for their own sake, are usually boring whatever the topic;

most importantly, the purpose is to make material capable for teaching

appropriate genres i.e. capable of providing the students with schemata in
terms of form as well as content, in addition to teaching grammar, vocabulary
and coherence etc.

One of the most significant implications is the use of corpora in the ESP field,
especially when the teachers and researchers have established their own corpora to
help them in specific aims. This kind of small corpus has a positive impact on
grammar and vocabulary teaching in ESP context, in a way which is more suitable
than a large corpus. Partington (1998) cites Flowerdew's example (1993), which is a
collection adapted from Biology lecture texts, used for teaching English for
undergraduate students attending classes in this particular area of science.

Conclusion

In this paper I have considered the grammatical and lexical features of scientific
writing that will help both the learners and teachers of ESP in understanding the
differences between scientific writing and general writing. I have clarified the
grammatical and lexical features of scientific writing. In each feature, I have referred
to the examples adapted from the given text. Also I have stated some pedagogical
implications that would be useful in teaching ESP. In conclusion, studying the features
of scientific writings will enable us to understand and therefore develop ESP courses
that would be useful. Furthermore, developing special corpuses for each scientific

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field will make it easier both the teachers and learners of ESP. From all this, I would
like to point out the importance and significance of corpora in ESP.

Reference
Dudley-Evans, T. and St John, M. 1998. Developments in English for Specific Purposes: A
multi-disciplinary approach. CUP.
Ewer, J. and Hughes-Davies 1987. Further Notes on Developing an English Programme for
Students of Science and Technology' In Swales, J.(ed). Episode in ESP. Prentice Hall. p.45.
Ferguson, G. 2004.

Handout: 'Lecture on The Grammar in ESP: Noun Compound'

University of Sheffield.
Ferguson, G. 2006. Handout: 'Lecture on in The Grammar in ESP: The Use of The Passive in
Scientific and Technical Writing' . University of Sheffield.

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Hutchinson, T. and Waters, A. 1987.. ESP at the Crossroads. In Swales, J.(ed). Episode in
ESP. Prentice Hall. p.174.
Master, P. 1991. Active verbs with inanimate subjects in scientific pros. English for specific
purposes. 10, 15-33.
Master, P. 2003. Noun Compounds and Compressed Definitions. Volume 41, Issue 3.
Available on line: http://exchanges.state.gov/forum/vols/vol41/no3/p02.pdf
Nation, I. 2001. Learning Vocabulary in Another Language. Cambridge: CUP.
Parkinson, J. 2000. Acquiring scientific literacy through content and genre: a theme-based
language course for science students. English for Specific Purposes. 19 369-387
Partington, A. 1998. Patterns and meaning. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Tarone, E., Dwyer, S., Gillette, S., Icke, V. 1987. On the use of the passive in two astrophysics
papers. In Swales, J. (ed.). Episode in ESP. Prentice Hall. p.188.
Wood, A. 2001. International Scientific English: The language of research scientists around
the world. In Flowerdew, J. and Peacock, M. 2001. Research Perspective on English for
Academic Purposes. Cambridge University Press. p71

Appendix:
The given text:
We report a double blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial of an angiostensin
converting enzyme inhibitor, enalapril, in patients with chronic fluid overload
receiving dialysis. [] We used a crossover study and carried out procedure within
the study according to the standards of the ethics committee of this hospital. Each
patient was given either enalapril or a placebo in the first period of the treatment.
What was given was randomised, with 13 patients receiving enalapril first and 12 the
placebo first. Randomisation was carried out by the suppliers of the drug.

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15