Language and Text

Structure Across
Disciplines
 Mathematics Text
- Is easily recognizable because of its unique
language features.
- It often uses letters with special meanings.
- Notations, numbers, and formulas are
typical of math texts.
- Nouns = numbers or expressions with
numbers
- Verb = is the equal sign.
- To make sense of a math sentence, you have to
understand the special meanings that the
discipline of math has assigned to these
symbols and expressions.
- It uses ordinary language but BEWARE!
Examples:
a.3 is the square root of 9.
b.10 is less than 15.
c.5 is a prime number.
Keep in mind:
- Math is an exact, precise language.

Dominant Structure:
- Problem- solution
- Comparison and Contrast
 Business Texts
- Like mathematics, business has a special
vocabulary.
Examples: remit, obligate, loan, collateral,
interest, stocks, etc.
- Some compound nouns are standard
expressions in business.
Examples: tax collection system, company car,
price list, bulk buying.
Keep in mind:
- Learn the conventions, or established
practices, of business writing.
Example: Business uses a lot of form letters
- It is important to remember that business
requires cordiality to sustain it, to keep the
customer.
- There is careful use of modal expressions and
adverbs.
Polite expressions such as the following are
part of the ritual of politeness in business:
Could you please…
We are extremely sorry…
May I suggest…
Thank you for your inquiry on…
Please let us know…
 Text Structure in Business
Communication:
- Problem-solution
- Description
 Social Science Texts
- Social Sciences requires knowledge of the jargon of
its specific disciplines.
Example:
- Political Science (communism, monarchy, and
executive branch)
- Economics (market, profit, equity, and trade
relations)
- Sociology (migration, social class, and discrimination)
- Psychology (depression, suicidal, personality, and
motivation)
 Text Structures in Social
Science:
- Definition and example
- Recount of an event (history)
- Cause and effect
- Comparison and contrast
 Natural Science Texts
- Physics, chemistry, and biology.
- Common words: power, pressure, force, work,
and impulse.
- To help us understand technical words:
 prefixes (uni, semi, and multi)
Root words (bio, geo, vis, and derma)
suffixes
- The typical sentences in science texts
are dense.
Example:
Each nucleus is packed with information coded
in the form of a chemical called
Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) and organized
into groups called genes which are arranged on
thread-like structures, the chromosomes.
 Literature and the Arts
- Literature and the arts have their content-
specific terms.
Examples: gothic, mood, symbol, balance,
mosaic, hue, etc.
- What makes it different from other
disciplines?
- Vivid language is used to create images and
impressions.
- The importance given to language and structure
is due to the value attached to a work’s ‘style’.
- In literature, texts may not have a one to one
correspondence between the situation it
depicts and reality as you know it.
- To represent a particular situation or world, a
literary text might even violate language rules.
- To make sense of a literary text, the trick is to
“suspend disbelief”

Common structures in literature and the arts

are:
- Definition
- Description and example
- Cause and effect, which may be in the form
of a recount (fiction)
The Main
Idea or
Example:
There are several ways for college
students to improve their study
habits.
These are a few ideas of how
college students can improve their
study:
1. Study in a quiet environment.
2. Pay attention in class.
3. Manage their time well.
 Thesis Statement (big idea)
^
3 Topic Sentences explain the thesis statement. Each
begins a new paragraph and tells the
reader what the paragraph will be about. (smaller
reasons)
^
The sentences after the topic sentence in each
paragraph explain the topic sentence. (small
details that support the smaller reasons)
Remember:
The thesis is the main idea of your paper written in
one sentence at the beginning of your
paper.
The topic sentences begin each paragraph in the
body of the paper and explain why the
thesis statement is true.
There is only one thesis statement. There is one
topic sentence for each body paragraph you
write.
Read carefully the following
paragraphs and either copy or
express in your own words the
main idea of each paragraph. What
is/ are your basis/ bases for your
answer?
1.During the period when Mao Tse Tung was chairman of the
Communist party that ruled the country, China had to endure
food and water shortages because of its very large population.
At that time, on the average, four children were being born in
each family. Prompted by this urgent problem, the Communist
party was forced to control family size in order to stabilize food
and water supply and to improve opportunity for family
prosperity. Thus, in September 1980, the Communist party
declared that each couple should have only one child. The target
of the One-Child Policy: by the end of the 20th century, a
population below 1.2 billion.
Main Idea:
Textual evidence for your answer: