Term
Fall 11-24-2015
Capstone
Thesis
Degree Name
MAESL
Primary Advisor/Dissertation Chair
Bonnie Swierzbin
Secondary Advisor/Reader One
Feride Erku
Peer-Reviewer/Reader Two
Nicole Tuchscherer
Abstract
The research in this capstone examines the existence and implications of nominalizations through a text analysis of first through fifth grade and middle school science textbooks. This study utilizes various tools based on Systemic Functional Linguistics to determine the quantity and types of nominalizations found in various text levels, to reveal how frequently nominalizations are modified by a prepositional phrase that shows agency or force, to uncover how nominalization might affect the syntax and semantics of a text, and to deduce how nominalization might contribute to lexical density. The author also compares the results to address what nominalizations look like across grade levels. Results indicate that nominalizations may contribute to sentence and noun phrase complexity.
Research Methodology
Text Analyses
Keywords
Curriculum, ESL/ ELLs, Reading, Science
Recommended Citation
Mueller, Breanna Marie, "Analysis of Nominalization in Elementary and Middle School Science Textbooks" (2015). School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations. 247.
https://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/hse_all/247