LOODUSTEADUSTE ÕPIKUTE KEELEST
About the language of natural science textbooks

Summary/Abstract: The paper provides an analysis of the language of natural science textbooks based on the chemistry textbook by M. Karelson and A. Tõldsepp and the geography textbook by L.-K. Pihlak and A. Tõnisson. The texts were analysed by methods of text linguistics. The analysis shows that the main actors in the text are substances and abstract concepts. Humans and their activities have a minimal role in the text. The processes described in the textbook are mostly existential, passive, and static, which can be explained by the specific qualities of school texts as a genre. The activity level of the reader is low, except for the introductions and exercises. In the main narrative component, the reader performs the role of a passive recipient who has no doubts, does not ask any questions, or argue with the text. The writing in the textbooks is mostly cohesive; there are a few cases where the information is not presented in the logical order. Although sentences in the textbooks are of average length, they reveal a high rate of long words and difficult terms. In natural science textbooks, the prevalence of terms is so high that it interferes with readability. In addition, almost half of the terms are used only once or twice, which makes it more difficult to acquire the meaning of the terms. The language of natural science textbooks is complex. Such language use does not promote mastering the subject.

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