language and literacy levels module 1.2 c: nominalisation

Language and Literacy LevelsModule 1.2 C:Nominalisation

Faculty of Edit this on the Slide Master The University of Adelaide

Instructions• If after reading the glossary, indicators and

examples about this language item in the Levels you still need to learn more, it is

anticipated that you will work through this PowerPoint at your own pace and without

the need to be supported by a trainer. However, depending upon your school's implementation plan, you may be able to

email or post any questions to your trainer or discuss them with your Professional

Learning Community or similar group.


Nominalisation

• Nominalisation are formed by changing words that are not things (nouns) into a certain type of thing (noun). For example:

from verbs: reaction from react or departure from depart

adjectives: length from long; eagerness from eager conjunctions: cause or reason from because; in

addition from and


Purposes of Nominalisation

• Nominalisation helps achieve a higher degree of abstraction and technicality.

• Nominalisation is significant in constructing a distant and abstract world that can be reflected on.

• Nominalisation is one of the language choices that enables movement towards highly written-like texts.


What is the “thing”?

• The clown amused us for a while.

What “thing” is this sentence about?

• The amusement provided by the clown faded.

What “thing” is this sentence about? Is it the clown or the amusement?


What is the “thing”?

• The clown amused us for a while.

Clown is the “thing”.

• The amusement provided by the clown faded.

Amusement is the “thing”.


Nominalisation

• The circus arrived in town with much noise.

What “thing” is this sentence about?

• The arrival of the circus was noisy. What “thing” is this sentence about?


Nominalisation• The circus arrived in town with

much noise. Circus is the “thing”.

• The arrival of the circus was noisy.

Arrival is the “thing”.


Checkpoint

• If clown, amusement, circus and arrival are all “things”, we can call them nouns (names of things).


Nominalisation

• Let’s now consider two of these nouns: clown and circus.

• You can detect these nouns with your five senses.


Nominalisation• Reflect for a moment about whether detecting

“things” with all your five senses can truly be said about nouns like amusement and arrival. You’ll probably agree that amusement and arrival are a different sort of noun compared to clown and circus. The first two are names of concepts, ideas or phenomenon so there is more to nominalisation than simply changing a non-noun to a noun.

• Now let’s look at some nominalisations in school.


Nominalisation in Schooling

Nominalisations are only included in the Levels because students are expected to understand them in written and multimodal texts, including teacher talk, from a young age. Students are expected to start using them with ever increasing complexity from about year 3.

- Across curriculum (e.g. attention, assessment, co-operation, intelligence, behaviour)

- Mathematics (e.g. width, division) - Science (e.g. sight, reproduction) - Society & Environment (e.g. relief, invasion)


Nominalisation in Science• “Steam is coming off the hot water.”

The first sentence might be typical language of a child in year 2 observing some water being heated.

• The water is evaporating. The second sentence

might be the language produced by a child in year 4 who has begun using the topic words “evaporating” instead everyday words to explain the same phenomenon.

• Evaporation is occurring. The third sentence is

what a child at year 7/8 would be expected to write. It includes the nominalisation “evaporation” which has come form the verb “evaporating”.


Nominalisation in History• “People coming here set up towns

along the coast.” This is very spoken-like language.

• The coast was settled by people migrating to Australia. This sentence uses topic words like

“coast”, “settled” and “migrating”.

• Migration to Australia resulted in coastal settlement. The verb “migrating” has been changed

into the nominalisation “migration” and the verb “settled” changed into “settlement”. This help the text more written-like.


Nominalisation in the Levels

• Locate ‘Nominalisation’ in the left hand column in Levels 7-14.

• Read the examples across the Levels to see how they progress.

• At higher levels of schooling children are expected to reflect on their own and others’ viewpoints and ideas and may use nominalisations formed from thinking verbs (eg to consider>consideration, to reflect>reflection, to recall>recollection).


Fancy a challenge?• In the first sentence below “settlement” is a

nominalisation but not in the second. Why?

• Migration to Australia resulted in coastal settlement.

• Adelaide is a coastal settlement..


Fancy a challenge?

• In the second sentence it is not the name of a process but the name of a concrete thing. It could be replaced by other nouns like “city” or “site”.


Checkpoint• Nominalisations name concepts, ideas or

phenomenon so there is more to nominalisation than simply changing a non-noun to a noun.

• Students are required to comprehend simple nominalisations in R-2 and begin composing them from year 3 across different learning areas.

• The use of nominalisations make texts, even spoken ones, more written-like.


Advantages of Nominalisation• Once a verb or other type of word is changed

into a nominalisation all sorts of grammatical possibilities open up.

• It becomes less cumbersome to discuss or reflect upon the nominalisation.

• Compare “It was unfair when the settlers colonised.” with “The unfair colonisation …”

• Nominalisations as well as concrete nouns can start doing things.

• Compare “The researchers discovered the cause and then developed a cure” with “The discovery lead to a cure.”


Purposes of Nominalisation• You saw this slide early in the

PowerPoint. Hopefully the purposes are even clearer now.

• Nominalisation helps achieve a higher degree of abstraction and technicality.

• Nominalisation is significant in constructing a distant and abstract world that can be reflected on.

• Nominalisation is one of the language choices that enables movement towards highly written-like texts.


Optional Extension Activities

The remaining slides extend this

module by providing opportunities to change isolated words and words within sentences into nominalisations.


Creating Nominalisations• Nominalisations are most often formed from

verbs (e.g. discover > discovery, achieve > achievement, present > presentation, permit > permission)

• but they can also be formed from adjectives/ describers (e.g. brave > bravery, wide > width, tense > tension)

• and from conjunctions (e.g. because > cause, whereas > difference, if > possibility)

• and from prepositions (e.g. during > duration).


Creating Nominalisations

• The next few slides allow you to change words that are either verbs or adjectives/describers into nominalisations from a couple of learning areas. areas


Complete the table of some common nominalisations in Maths

Word Nominalisation

deep

addition

distance

multiply

estimation


Some common nominalisations in Maths

Word Nominalisation

deep depth

add addition

distant distance

multiply multiplication

estimate estimation


Complete the table of some common nominalisations in the Arts

Word Nominalisation

perform

movement

originality

exhibition

surrealism


Some common nominalisations in the Arts

Word Nominalisation

perform performance

move movement

original originality

exhibit exhibition

surreal surrealism


Understanding Nominalisation

Original Version Nominalised Versions

They were impressed by how brave she was.

She made an impression because she was brave.

They were impressed by her bravery.

She made an impression with her bravery.


Write a version of the sentence using nominalisations made from the underlined words


Jill placed the flowers perfectly on the table.

The coach was amazed by Nina’s brilliant effort.


Some possible versions


Jill placed the flowers perfectly on the table.

Her placement of the flowers on the table was perfect.Jill’s perfect placement of the flowers on the table delighted everyone.

The coach was amazed by Nina’s brilliant effort.

Nina’s brilliance amazed the coach.The coach’s amazement was due to Nina’s brilliance.NB It may not be appropriate to nominalise every possibility

language and literacy levels module 1.2 c: nominalisation

Documents

nominalisation slide

certain type of thing

names of things

language item

language choices

different sort of noun

names of concepts

literacy levels module