30 Questions
What are the four levels of scientific exposition identified by Cloître and Shinn's 1985 model?
intra-specialist, inter-specialist, didactic, and popular
Which of the following authors is NOT mentioned as having researched popular works of Hawking?
Chomsky
What is the primary focus of ESP (English for Specific Purposes) and genre analysis research?
Features of intra- and inter-specialist level scientific texts
What is the primary characteristic of popular exposition?
Intended for the largest audience possible
Which of the following is NOT a feature of intra- and inter-specialist level scientific texts?
Simple sentence structures
What is the primary purpose of Cloître and Shinn's 1985 model?
To describe, classify, and distinguish popular texts
Who is the author of the paper 'Is popularization of science possible?' presented at the Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy in 1998?
The author's name is not specified
What is the title of the book written by Feldman B. published in 2000?
The Nobel Prize: A History of Genius, Controversy, and Prestige
Who is the author of the book 'Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research' published in 2003?
Norman Fairclough
What is the title of the book written by Grego K. published in 2010?
Specialized Translation
Who is the author of the paper 'On the grammar of scientific English' published in 1997?
Halliday M.A.K.
Who wrote the chapter 'Tumbling toast, Murphy’s Law and the fundamental constants' published in the European Journal of Physics in 1995?
Matthews R.A.J.
What is the title of the book written by W. Nash in 1985?
The Language of Humour
What is the name of the department where Professor Stephen Hawking is affiliated?
The Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics
What is the title of the article written by Paris N. in 2007?
Hawking to experience zero gravity
Who is the author of the book 'A History of Murphy's Law'?
Spark N.T.
What is the title of the book written by White M. and J.R. Gribbin in 2002?
Stephen Hawking: a life in science
What is the title of the journal where Mellor F. published an article in 2003?
Social Studies of Science
What is the term 'superlative magnitudes' referring to in the context of science writing?
Extremely big numbers
What strategy is frequently employed by Hawking in his books?
Overexplanation
What is the purpose of the excerpts reported in the subcategory 'superlative magnitudes'?
To illustrate the strategy of overexplanation
What is the term used to describe the style of science writing employed by Hawking in his books?
Popular science writing
What is the main focus of the passages from the Acknowledgments and Foreword sections?
To provide a brief introduction to the author's work
What is the purpose of using the strategy of overexplanation in science writing?
To make the text more engaging and accessible to a general audience
What is the fundamental idea behind Einstein's famous equation E=mc2?
Mass and energy are equivalent
What is the term used to describe the hybridization of genres in scientific exposition, as seen in Brief?
Genre granularity
What is the primary goal of Einstein's postulate in the theory of relativity?
To establish that the laws of science are the same for all observers regardless of their speed
What is the significance of Maxwell's theory in the context of Einstein's theory of relativity?
It dictactes that the speed of light has a given value
What is the characteristic of the chunks of text containing specialized discourse in Brief?
They are large, prevalent, and regularly spaced by popular discourse
What is the purpose of the popular discourse in Brief?
To serve as a short 'bridge' between specialized discourse
Study Notes
Popularization of Science
- The concept of popularization of science refers to the communication of scientific knowledge to a broad audience.
- Cloître and Shinn's 1985 model identifies four levels of scientific exposition:
- Intra-specialist exposition (from specialist to specialist in the same field)
- Inter-specialist exposition (from specialist to specialist across fields)
- Didactic/pedagogical exposition (from specialist to non-specialist)
- Popular exposition (intended for the largest audience possible)
Features of Scientific Texts
- Lexical level:
- High word formation
- Borrowings
- Noun strings
- Abbreviations
- Latinization
- Syntactic level:
- Nominalization
- High modality
- Passive voice
- Depersonalization
- Textual level:
- Thematization
- Schematization
- Cohesive conjunctions
- Hedging
- Omissions
- Crypticity (exclusiveness)
Genre Granularity
- Genre granularity refers to a hybridization phenomenon where two or more mixed genres can be distinguished.
- In the context of scientific texts, this can occur when intra-specialist and popular levels of scientific exposition are mixed.
Strategies for Popularizing Science
- (Over)explanation
- (Over)exemplification
- (Over)simplification
- Superlative magnitudes (using extremely large numbers to illustrate complex concepts)
Notable Researchers and Their Contributions
- Stephen Hawking: a renowned physicist and popularizer of science
- Jenkins (1992), Rodger (1992), White and Gribbin (2002), Mellor (2003): researchers who have studied Hawking's popular works
- Swales (1971), Gotti (1991, 1996), Halliday and Martin (1993), Halliday (1997, 2006): researchers who have studied the features of scientific texts
- Fairclough (1995, 2003, 2006): a researcher who has worked on critical discourse analysis and language and globalization.
This quiz explores the framework for describing and classifying popular science texts, including models like Cloître and Shinn's 1985 model, and previous research on popular science works.
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