Pla per a la Llengua i la Cohesió Social (LIC) 2004/11

effects of the historical phenomenon

A third consequence of the war was in relation to Australian society.

In this area the impact of World War II was considerable. The main reason for this was the Australian Government’s decision to develop an immigration program that responded to the situation in Europe where thousands of families had been displaced. As a result many young immigrants came to Australia and began their own families.

This wave of immigration greatly increased the countries population as well as contributing to the broadening of the average Australian’s outlook.

In conclusion it is clear that the second world war benefited Australia by promoting industrial and economic change. Other important changes that occurred as a result of the war were social, particularly the size and nature of the population, and political, namely Australia’s relations with America.

than concrete field. Unlike in recounts, where time predominates, explan-ations foreground cause-and-effect. In factorial explanexplan-ations, causes and reasons are the focus. In consequential explanations, consequences are the concern. Specialized lexis to refer to historical, political and legal processes is also common. In the sample texts, for example, there are political terms e.g. revolutionary socialism, capitalists, alliance and legal references, e.g. the War Precautions Act, the ANZUS treaty.

Tenor

Although reasons or consequences are selected and often evaluated by the writer they are presented as categorical, objective ‘facts’ rather than a set of propositions that have to be argued for. Solidarity between writer and reader is therefore assumed and the process of interpretation is not made explicit, with evaluation often being buried within the nominal group. In the follow-ing extracts, the epithets (or describers) main and important serve to evaluate and weigh up reasons, but attention is not drawn to the human source of the assessment:

The main reason was the rejection . . . (as opposed to Many historians argue that the main reason . . .)

Other important reasons were opposition to the power of the state . . . (as opposed to Some historians think that other important reasons included . . .)

Mode

In contrast to historical accounts, in which causal connections are con-strained by temporal sequence, explanation genres are able to integrate long-term, structural causes with short-term precipitating events. The increase in the complexity of the explanation influences how texts are struc-tured. Causes and consequences are no longer organized along a single external temporal thread. Instead, the explanation unfolds in ‘text time’ by means of a logical scaffold in which there is an elaboration of causes or consequences. Causes or consequences are thus frequently placed in Theme position, with numeratives (e.g. One, second ) and connectors, or in SFL terms

‘conjunctive Adjuncts’ (e.g. finally), staging and structuring the explanation:

One (numerative) reason for so much opposition to the war was the number of different groups of people concerned.

A second (numerative) reason was fear of increasing government power.

Finally (conjunctive Adjunct), there were economic factors behind the opposition to conscription.

The example above illustrates how the notion of Theme can be extended above clause rank to take account of how meanings are bound together across an unfolding text. Following Martin (1992, pp. 437–9), a

macro-Theme is the opening generalization in a text and serves to predict its overall development. Hyper-Themes, on the other hand, function as the opening generalization in a paragraph and serve to predict the pattern of clause Themes. Typically, they also link back to the macro-Theme, as illustrated in Figure 4.2.

Finally, in explanation genres, the structure of the nominal group is rela-tively complex compared to the earlier recording genres. Dense nominal groups are frequently placed in relationship with each other:

One reason for so much opposition to the war was the number of different groups of people concerned.

The role of the explaining genres in history textbooks

As with the recording genres, the different field, tenor and mode configur-ations that occur in history textbooks leads to variation in lexical and gram-matical choices within the explanation genres. In particular, the increasing trend of using visual and diagrammatic modes can substantially alter the use of lexis and grammar. For example, some textbook writers may present explanations of past events in the form of flow charts, bullet points or dia-grams. In Text 4.3, the factors leading to Hitler’s rise to power are presented in a list. In a text such as this, the reasons are not elaborated and the causal links between them are left implicit, thus requiring the reader to fill in the gaps for themselves. Texts 4.4 and 4.5 are further examples of implicit causal links, this time using the medium of diagrams to map the reasons for young recruits wanting to fight in the First World War (4.4) and the causes of Chartism (4.5). Where causal links are not made explicit through language, it may be useful for teachers to show students how to read graphically repre-sented causal relationships. Such texts may also serve as useful scaffolds for students to construct fully elaborated explanations.

Finally, another point to note is the adoption of the voice of ‘a young working-class recruit’ in Text 4.4, which results in rather different tenor relations and language use. For example, there is the use of the authorial I, contractions (don’t, can’t), exclamation marks (It’s about pride!) and everyday lexis (such as the phrasal verbs miss out on, let everyone down). This use of language contrasts strongly with that in the sample essays we looked at earlier.

Figure 4.2 Macro-Theme, hyper-Theme, elaboration