Explanation Text

1.      Definition of Explanation Text

The explanation text type tells how or why something occurs. It looks at the steps rather than the things. The purpose of an explanation is to tell each step of the process (the how) and to give reasons (the why). (Mark Anderson and Kathy Anderson, 1997:81) Explanation is a text which tells processes relating to forming of natural, social, scientific, and cultural phenomena.

According to Mark Anderson and Kathy Anderson (1997: 82) says that the explanation text type is often used to tell how and why thing (phenomena) occur in nature. Some examples of explanations are: How something occurs, why something happened, why things are a like or different, how to solve a problem, etc.

Explanation is a text which tells processes relating to forming of natural, social, scientific and cultural phenomena. Explanation text is to say ‘why’ and ‘how’ of the forming of the phenomena. It is often found in science, geography and history text books. 

2.    Generic structure of Explanation

·         General statement           ; stating the phenomenon issues which are to be explained.

·         Sequenced explanation    ; stating a series of steps which explain the phenomena.

Taken on Saturday 17 ^th 2012

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According to Mark Anderson and Kathy Anderson (1997: 82) features of an explanation consists of

a.      Constructing a written explanation

The steps for constructing a written explanation are:

·         A general statements about the event or thing

·         A series of paragraphs that tell the how’s or why’s

·         A concluding paragraph

b.      Language features in an explanation

The language features usually found in an explanation are:

·         Technical language

·         Words that show cause and effect

·         Use of the timeless present tense

Explanation is a text which tells processes relating to forming of natural, social, scientific, and culture phenomena.

Generic structure of explanation:

General statement       : stating the phenomenon issues which are to be explained

Sequenced explanation: stating the series of steps which explain the phenomena.

(Source: http//www.english.com.what-is-explanation.html)

Social Function: To explain the processes involved in the formation or working of natural or sociocultural phenomena.

Generic Structure Analysis

·         General statement       ; stating the phenomenon whic daylight in summer is longer than in winter.

·         Explanation                 ; it is the tilt of the earth that determines the amount of daylight not the distance of the earth from the sun.

Language Feature Analysis

·         Focusing generic participant               ; daylight.

·         Using chronological connection          ; then, so, but.

·         Using pasive voice                              ; you would be forgiven.

·         Using present tense                             ; the earth is actually closer to the sun.
Focus on generic, non-human Participants

·         Use mainly of Material Processes and Relational Processes

·         Use mainly of Temporal and causal Circumstances and Conjunctions

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Read more: http://khairul-anas.blogspot.com/2012/09/explanation-text.html#ixzz2CZ9Zhm27

Types of Explanation

There are two basic types of explanation which focus on:

• "How" (How does a pump work? How does a computer work? How are mountains formed? How does a spider spin a web?)
• "Why" (Why do some things float or sink? Why is the ozone layer getting thinner? Why does iron go rusty? Why do living things need food?)

Features

• often have a logical sequence
• use cause/effect relationships (then, as a consequence, so, if)
• use time relationships (first, then, following, finally)
• written in the 'timeless' present tense (are, turns, happens)
• use of action verbs (falls, rises, changes)
• use of non-human participants (the sea, the mountains, the computers, the engine)
• conjunctions (when, then, first, after this so)
• some passives (is saturated, are changed)
• use of nouns tends to be general rather than specific (cars, boats, spiders, schools)
• use of pronouns (their, they, them)

Taken on Saturday 17 ^th 2012

http://englishonline.tki.org.nz/English-Online/Teacher-needs/Reviewed-resources/Reading/Features-of-text-forms/Explanations

Present Tense

Explanation texts are usually written in the present tense because they are explaining how or why something happens. To do this they explain it as if it is happening now.

Connectives

Explanation texts usually use words called connectives that explain things in order, one after another.

Some of the connectives you might find are:

• Firstly
• Next
• Then
• After that
• Meanwhile
• Eventually
• Later
• Finally

Other connectives explain how things work or why things happen, such as:Because, So,  This means.

Examples and structures of the text

Making Paper from Woodchips
A general statement	Woodchipping is a process used to obtain pulp and paper products from forest trees.
	The woodchipping process begins when the trees are cut down in a selected area of the forest called a coupe.
A sequenced explanation of	Next the tops and branches of the trees are cut out and then the logs are taken to the mill.
why or how something occurs	At the mill the bark of the logs is removed and the logs are taken to a chipper which cuts them into small pieces called woodchips.
	The woodchips are then screened to remove dirt and other impurities.At this stage they are either exported in this form or changed into pulp by chemicals and heat.
	The pulp is then bleached and the water content is removed.
Closing	Finally the pulp is rolled out to make paper.

·          

EXAMPLE :

Why Eiffel Tower was Built

If we talk about the Wonders of the World buildings, then we will see Eiffel Tower as one of them. However many of us do not know the tower’s past history on why it was build. Everything has the reasonable background, especially for the tower which is to be one of the most recognized buildings in the world.

Primarily, the Eiffel Tower was built for the World Exhibition. It was called Paris Exposition in 1889. The exhibition was organized to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. The purpose of building Eiffel Tower in such structure was to show to the world France’s advancement of technology and beauty. The Eiffel Tower was designed by Gustave Eiffel. It seemed that then the name of the tower was derived from the designer’s last name, “Eiffel”

Another reason on why the tower was built was for scientific progress. Although few realized it, the Eiffel Tower would become the prominent structure in terms of science and technology. Many experiment with temperature, pressure and pendulums were performed atop the unique famous building. Additionally the Eiffel Tower was used for radio transmission tower. Many experiments were conducted atop the Eiffel Tower for radio transmission advancement. Once the Eiffel Tower was proposed to be demolished but it was spared because the tower had the promising future as a radio tower.

Taken on Saturday 17 ^th 2012

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How do car engines work?

            For over 100 years, people have been getting about using cars.  Prior to the invention of the motor car, all but the adventurous stayed within a few miles of where they were born but once the car had become common place, people felt empowered to travel to far flung places and explore the world.  This would never have happened without the invention of the motor car so how does it work?

How Chocolate is Made

Have we wondered how we get chocolate from? Well this time we will enter the amazing world of chocolate so we can understand exactly we are eating.

Chocolate starts a tree called cacao tree. This tree grows in equatorial regions, especially in place such as South America, Africa, and Indonesia. The cacao tree produces a fruit about the size of a small pine apple. In side the fruits are the tree's seeds. They are also known as coco beans.

Next, the beans are fermented for about a week, dried in the sun. After that they are shipped to the chocolate maker. The chocolate maker starts by roasting the beans to bring out the flavour. Different beans from different places have different qualities and flavour. So they are often shorted and blended to produce a distinctive mix.

The next process is winnowing. The roasted beans are winnowed to remove the meat nib of the cacao bean from its shell. Then the nibs are blended. The blended nibs are ground to make it a liquid. The liquid is called chocolate liquor. It tastes bitter.

All seeds contain some amount of fat and cacao beans are not different. However, cacao beans are half fat, which is why the ground nibs from liquid. It is pure bitter chocolate.

Taken on Saturday 17 ^th 2012
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How does Rain Happen?

Rain is the primary source of fresh water for most areas of the world, providing suitable conditions for diverse ecosystems, as well as water for hydroelectric power plants and crop irrigation.

The phenomenon of rain is actually a water circle. The concept of the water cycle involves the sun heating the Earth's surface water and causing the surface water to evaporate. The water vapor rises into the Earth's atmosphere. The water in the atmosphere cools and condenses into liquid droplets. The droplets grow until they are heavy and fall to the earth as precipitation which can be in the form of rain or snow.

However, not all rain reaches the surface. Some evaporates while falling through dry air. This is called virga, a phenomenon which is often seen in hot, dry desert regions.

Taken Taken on Saturday 17 ^th 2012  :

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HOW TO KEEP THE BODY HEALTHY

The body healthy is very important life. You know, why? Because if the body healthy, we can do all activity happily. But, can you tell me what the body healthy is? Well, let’s me explain. The body healthy is the condition of body that can protect from the virus attack. To keep the body healthy, we can do many actions.

Physical exercise. Physical exercise is one of way to keep the body healthy. You know, why? Because physical exercise can increase the immune system and it makes the virus cannot attack us. We can begin the physical exercise with the little action. For example jogging. Jogging is an instant sport. We can do this every morning. If we do this regularly, our body always health. Besides jogging, we can do the other way. Fitness. Fitness is physical exercise that many benefit. Beside give us the high immune system, fitness also give us right body shape. Jogging and fitness are the example of physical exercise. Both of them have same function. Actually, there are many sports that can make our body healthy, such as playing football and swimming.

Beside physical exercise, we must manage our food. I suggest, you must apply food diet. Beside food diet, to keep our body healthy is eat the high nutrient food. The high nutrient food is foods that consist of carbohydrate, protein and fat balance. Carbohydrate and fat give us energy to do all activity. Protein has the function to repair the broken cells. So, they are very important parts of food. Besides that, to make our food perfect, we must eat the foods that consist of vitamin and calcium. The example of this is eat the side-dish, and don’t forget the vegetables. To make it perfect, we can drink the milk and the last eat the fruits. Milk contains the calcium. The calcium is very good for our bone to grow. Fruits contain many vitamin, like vitamin A and C. Vitamin C can increase our immune system and it make our body difficult to be attacked by virus. Well, now we know the important of food diet.

Oh, I almost forgot. The most important that we must do is take enough rest. Enough rest makes our body fresh. Because in that time, all of body parts are not working hardly. Otherwise, our body become relaxes and it makes our energy increase again. If you do this activity regularly, your body becomes fit every time.

Well guys, let’s do all this action regularly to make our body always healthy. This is a little action that has many benefits for us. If our body is healthy, it will make our soul to be healthy too.
Taken on Sunday 18^th 2012 at 22 : 30 pm
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