Lesson video

Hi, everyone, my name is Ms. Clark.

Welcome to today's lesson on analysing the features of an explanation text.

I'm really looking forward to teaching you today's lesson where we will find out what the key features are of an explanation text so you can begin writing your own explanation text all about the human digestive system.

So let's get started.

The learning outcome for today's lesson is I can identify important features of an explanation text.

Here are our key words for today's lesson, my turn, your turn, explanation text, subject-specific vocabulary, fronted adverbial, subordinating conjunction, adverbial clause.

Lots of grammar features in today's lesson, so let's have a look at what all of these keywords mean.

An explanation text is a text providing information about how or why something works.

So it's a non-fiction text that provides real facts and information.

It explains a process.

Subject-specific vocabulary is vocabulary used when writing about a particular subject.

So crucial in nonfiction texts.

A fronted adverbial is a sentence starter that is followed by a comma, for example, First, or, As a result,.

A subordinating conjunction is a word that starts an adverbial clause.

An adverbial clause is a type of subordinate clause that starts with a subordinating conjunction.

So, hopefully, you know some of these words from your grammar lessons, and if not, don't worry as I will explain them as we move through today's lesson.

Here is our lesson outline for today.

We are going to start by thinking about the purpose and the subject of an explanation text.

Then we will analyse the structural features.

And lastly, we will analyse the linguistic features, the type of language that is needed.

The purpose is the aim of the text.

So the purpose of an explanation text is to provide information about how or why something works.

So I might read an explanation text if I want to know how something works, something that is true and factual.

Now, explanation text use subject-specific vocabulary.

So subject-specific vocabulary is related to the topic of the text.

So if I am reading or writing an explanation text about the human digestive system, I'm going to need to use some very specific vocabulary related to that topic.

It's factual.

That means it is true, it is real.

And it is often found in nonfiction texts.

Because nonfiction texts, as you know, are texts that provide real facts and information.

So the vocabulary used has got to be specific to that topic.

Let's check your understanding.

True or false? The purpose of an explanation text is to explain how or why something works.

Is that true or is that false? Have a think, pause the video, and make your choice.

Okay, let's have a look.

Well done if you said that was true.

You are absolutely right.

That is the purpose of an explanation text.

Let's justify our answer.

Which is the best justification? An explanation text uses subject-specific and factual vocabulary to explain processes, or B, an explanation text is a non-fiction text.

Which of those, A or B, justifies that answer really clearly? Have a think, pause the video, and make your choice.

Let's see.

Well done if you said A.

Absolutely, that's a really clear justification.

An explanation text uses subject-specific and factual vocabulary to explain processes.

So we are going to be analysing and writing an explanation text about the human digestive process, the system in the human body that digests food.

Digestion is the process of taking our food and eating it and how it travels through the body and is used or expelled from our body.

So this is an illustration of the human body showing the parts of the body that are crucial for digestion.

Have a look at this image.

I am now going to give you some of the subject-specific vocabulary that you will use and you will need when writing your explanation text.

So let's have a look.

I can see this long tube going down here from the throat all the way down to the stomach.

That is called the oesophagus.

My turn, your turn.

Oesophagus.

Oesophagus.

And we'll learn more about it as we move through this lesson.

The next arrow is pointing to the stomach.

My turn, your turn.

Stomach.

Stomach.

That's a really important part in human digestion.

And the last arrow is pointing to these tubes down at the bottom there.

And these are called the intestines.

My turn, your turn.

Intestines.

And we have a large intestine and a small intestine, and both are crucial in the human digestive process.

Let's check your understanding.

What is subject-specific vocabulary? We've just had a look at it.

Oesophagus, intestines, and stomach.

Are they, A, words that describe a noun, B, words related to a specific topic or subject, or C, a general word used in the English language.

Pause the video and make your choice.

Okay, let's have a look.

Absolutely right.

If you said B, well done.

It is words related to a specific topic or subject.

It's time for a task.

Thinking about the human digestive process, I would like you to circle the five words from the list below that are specific to the topic of human digestion.

We have stomach, heart, hair, intestines, food, digest, animals, oesophagus, and nails.

Five of these words we will need when writing an explanation text because they're specific to the topic of human digestion.

Can you choose those five words now? Pause the video.

Off you go.

Well done for having a go at that task.

Let's have a look.

Well done if you said stomach.

Yes, we looked at that word earlier, a crucial part in human digestion.

Well done if you said intestines, absolutely.

The tubes that take the food from the stomach.

Food, absolutely, is crucial in digestion.

It's the whole process of how we digest and use or expel our food.

Oesophagus, well done.

The long tube that takes our food from the throat down to the stomach.

And digest, that's certainly a word that is specific to the topic of human digestion.

Our heart, our hair, our nails, and animals are not involved in that process.

Well done.

Okay, time to move on to our second part of today's lesson.

This is where we are going to be looking at the structural features of an explanation text.

So let's have a look.

Explanation texts often follow the same structure.

They have a title at the top so you know, that tells the reader what the text is all about.

There's often an introduction.

The introduction explains what the text is about and encourages the reader to read on.

You want to entice your reader to read your explanation text.

So tell 'em something interesting about the topic that is going to be explained.

You then would have section 1 and section 1.

The sections following the introduction contain paragraphs explaining the process in chronological order.

That means the order of time that it happens.

So you might have a couple of paragraphs in section 1 and a couple of paragraphs in section 2.

And that really clearly, and in lots of detail, explains the process of human digestion.

And then lastly, you would have a conclusion.

The conclusion is the last paragraph, and that summarises the key information from the text.

You don't say the whole thing again.

You just summarise, pick out the important parts to kind of sum up and conclude the text.

Let's look at the structure of an explanation text about human digestion.

In your introduction, it would introduce and define human digestion.

So explain what that is, and may give a brief overview of the body parts involved because that will be a way to introduce the key vocabulary.

So you're not going into lots and lots of detail about how it all works, but you would inform the reader about the key body parts involved in the process.

Section 1, this is where we will explain what happens when food enters the mouth and how it travels from the oesophagus to the stomach.

Section 2 is about how the food is digested from the stomach and expelled as waste through the intestines.

Both of these sections need to be written in chronological order.

What's chronological order? Absolutely, the order of time.

The order in which it happens.

And then lastly, your conclusion will be a summary of what has been learned, covering the key information again.

Okay, let's check your understanding.

Can you order the following sections from one to four to show the order that they would appear in an explanation text on human digestion.

So we've got a paragraph explaining how the food is digested and expelled as waste through the intestines.

Introduce and define human digestion.

C, a summary of what has been learned.

And D, a paragraph explaining how food travels from the oesophagus to the stomach.

Think about the chronological order and what comes at the first and what comes at the end.

Can you label them now one to four? Pause the video and off you go.

Okay, well done, everyone, for having a go at that task.

Let's have a look.

One, absolutely, is your introduction.

You introduce and define human digestion.

The second part would be a paragraph explaining how food travels from the oesophagus to the stomach.

We wouldn't start with how it's expelled as waste through the intestines because we've got to do these parts in chronological order.

Three is the paragraph explaining how the food is digested and expelled his waist through the intestines.

And four is a summary of what has been learned, the conclusion.

Well done.

So time for another task, thinking about the structural features.

Can you match the sentences on the right to the section that you would find them in? So these are sentences that have been taken from an explanation text on human digestion.

I want you to think about where these sentences have come from.

Have they come from the introduction? The first part of the process? The second part of the process? Or would they be from a conclusion? So read each sentence and match it to the section you would find it in.

Pause the video and have a go at that task now.

Okay, well done.

Let's have a look.

In the introduction, absolutely, you would explain about what the process of digestion is.

So digestion is the process of breaking down food into smaller particles in the body.

That's a nice introductory sentence to the whole process.

The first section is about how the food travels from the mouth down to the stomach.

So something about the oesophagus is key here.

As the walls of the oesophagus relax and contract, that means tighten and release, the food is pushed downwards, brilliant.

In section 2, we would talk about the intestines.

The food that cannot be digested easily is passed into the large intestine, brilliant.

And the conclusion sums up what the explanation text has been about.

So this explanation text has informed you about the complex process of digestion.

Well done.

So the last part of our lesson today is looking at the linguistic features of an explanation text.

So looking at the types of words and sentence structures that we're going to be using.

Explanation texts have specific linguistic features.

They are written in the present tense.

So unlike a story or narrative where you would write in the past tense of something that has happened, an explanation text explains the process in the present tense.

They will contain subject-specific vocabulary.

We've already looked at that today.

They will be factual and formal in tone.

We will use fronted adverbials of cause, we're going to look at that.

Ordering fronted adverbials to tell everybody the order that the process happens.

A range of conjunctions to ensure cohesion.

Ordering fronted adverbials and fronted adverbials of cause add more detail to a sentence.

So they're really, really good things to try and use.

Ordering fronted adverbials are used to clearly show the chronological order of the process being explained.

So you might start with, first, food enters the body through the mouth.

That tells us it's the first thing that happens.

Or, finally, anything that cannot be absorbed is passed outta the body as faeces.

And you might use then or next.

Fronted adverbials of cause are used to tell the reader the cause and effect of something.

Let's look at an example.

The muscular walls of the oesophagus contract and relax.

As a result, that's your fronted adverbial of cause, the food is pushed downwards to the stomach.

So it tells us the effect of the oesophagus contracting and relaxing, and what happens next.

These are really great features to try and use in an explanation text.

Let's check your understanding.

Select the two sentences that use either an ordering fronted adverbial or a fronted adverbial of cause.

We've got three options here.

Two of them use one of those fronted adverbials.

A, next, the food is chewed by the teeth and mixed with saliva.

B, the oesophagus is a long muscular tube that connects the throat to the stomach.

C, as a result of this, the food is broken down into small enough pieces to swallow.

Can you select the sentences that use an ordering fronted adverbial or a fronted adverbial of cause? And also, put a circle around those adverbials.

Pause the video and have a go.

Well done.

Let's have a look.

Fantastic if you said A, I can see they're an ordering fronted adverbial, next.

Well done.

And C, I can see a fronted adverbial of cause, as a result of this.

Excellent.

Great job, everyone.

Conjunctions are also an important part of explanation texts.

Conjunctions are joining words.

They ensure cohesion, and that means that all of the different pieces of information are linked together clearly to give the text clarity and a clearer meaning.

So we have coordinating conjunctions.

My turn, your turn.

Coordinating conjunctions.

Here's an example of and, a coordinating conjunction.

The food is chewed by the teeth and mixed with a fluid called saliva.

So the and joins the two main clauses together.

And then we've got subordinating conjunctions.

My turn, your turn.

Subordinating conjunction.

Well done.

Here is the subordinating conjunction.

It's a word that starts an adverbial clause.

When the food is ready to be swallowed, it moves to the back of the mouth.

True or false? Conjunctions are an important part of explanation texts.

Is that true or is that false? Pause the video and have a go.

Well done if you said that's true, you are absolutely right.

We should definitely be trying to use conjunctions, those joining words, in our explanation text.

Let's justify our answer.

Which one justifies it well? A, a range of conjunctions help us to link the information in the text together, ensuring cohesion.

B, conjunctions of time help us to sequence and order the process that is being explained.

Which one justifies our answer really clearly? Pause the video and make your choice.

Well done if you said A, absolutely.

A range of conjunctions help us to link the information in the text and ensure that cohesion and clarity.

Great job.

The subordinating conjunction allows us to join the adverbial clause to a main clause to make adverbials complex sentence, one of our key words there.

Let's have a look at a bit more detail.

Here we go.

We've got main and we've got subordinate.

So we've got our main clause.

The food is pushed down towards the stomach.

And then if we add our subordinate clause with a subordinating conjunction as, as the walls of the oesophagus contract and relaxed, main and subordinate.

And I can see they're joined there by the subordinating conjunction as.

Or you can have the subordinate first.

So we have subordinate and then main.

And if we do have that, we need a comma to separate them.

So we've got here the same sentence, just the other way around.

As the walls of the oesophagus contract and relax, with our subordinating conjunction as, the food is pushed down towards the stomach.

The adverbial clause relies on the main clause to make sense.

Let's check your understanding.

Tick the examples of adverbial clauses that contain a subordinating conjunction.

A, as the food is being chewed, B, the food moves to the back of the throat, C, while the food is in the stomach, D, the oesophagus contracts and relaxes.

Which ones are adverbial clauses that contain a subordinating conjunction? Pause the video, talk to a partner, and have a go.

Okay, let's have a look.

Well done.

I can see A, as the food is being chewed.

That's adverbial clause and it starts with as, the subordinating conjunction.

It would not make sense by itself.

And C, while the food is in the stomach.

While is our subordinating conjunction, that would not make sense by itself.

It relies on the main clause that comes before or after.

Well done.

So time for your final task in today's lesson.

Can you select an appropriate subordinating conjunction to complete and write the following verbal complex sentences? One, hm, the food is being chewed by the teeth, it is mixed together with a watery fluid called saliva.

Two, hm, some food has been absorbed through the lining of the small intestine, the food that cannot be digested easily passes into the large intestine.

I've put some words there and you need to choose the appropriate one, as, before, after, while, or when.

There might be more than one that fits in each sentence.

So have a think really carefully.

Pause the video and make your choice to complete those sentences.

Off you go.

Okay, well done.

Let's have a look.

So for question 1, we could have said as.

As the food is being chewed by the teeth, it is mixed together with a watery fluid called saliva.

Or you might have also put in while.

While the food is being chewed by the teeth, it is mixed together with a watery fluid called saliva.

Both work really well.

And these subordinating conjunctions, as and while, are used to show that the actions in the subordinate and the main clause are taking place at the same time.

For question 2, after would fit really nicely here.

After some food has been absorbed through the lining of the small intestine, the food that cannot be digested easily passes into the large intestine.

Or you might have said when.

When some food has been absorbed through the lining of the small intestine, the food that cannot be digested easily passes into the large intestine.

Either of those work really well here.

And these subordinating conjunctions, after and when, are used to show that the action in the main clause takes place after the one in the subordinate clause.

So it's after something else has happened.

Great job.

And I hope you will be able to use some of these when you come to write an explanation text on the human digestive process.

So what a lot of learning we've done today.

Great job, everybody.

Let's see a summary of what we have learnt.

We've learnt the purpose of an explanation text is to provide information about how or why something works.

The structure of an explanation text is an introduction, sections split into subheadings in chronological order and a conclusion.

We've learnt that an explanation text uses subject-specific vocabulary and has a formal and factual tone.

We've learnt conjunctions are an important linguistic feature within explanation texts in order to ensure cohesion.

And we've learnt that subordinating conjunctions are used to form verbal complex sentences.

Some really exciting and useful learning in today's lesson.

So well done, and I really hope to see you again soon.