Showing Causal Relationships

Getting Beyond

Because, So and Therefore

Margi Wald

UC Berkeley

mwald@berkeley.edu

What students tend to do

• Fossil fuels are harmful to our environment because they increase global warming and they are not renewable.

• Fossil fuels are harmful to our environment, so scientists are working to find and develop alternative energy sources.

• Eventually, supplies of fossil fuels will be depleted. Therefore, scientists are working to find and develop alternative energy sources.

Not surprising

Most textbooks cover the following items: Sometimes ‘because of’ / ‘due to’ + NP

but little practice crafting the NP.

What corpus research suggestsHinkel, 2004:

Cause-clauses (because + S + V) not as common in professional academic writing as clauses of condition, time and concession

Relatively frequent in student academic writing Possibly because they are common in

conversational registers(p. 246, citing Leach et al., 2001)

What corpus research suggests 2Flowerdew (1998) uncovered the following distinctions (among

others) between expert and learner texts for cause/reason and result/effect relations:

• Frequent use of logical connectors (because, therefore) in learner corpus (LC) compared to use in expert text.

• Smaller number of verbs in LC used to express cause, and always in the finite form (lead to, cause), whereas the expert texts used a wider range of verbs and used –ing result phrases (resulting in X).

• Expert texts included a large number of nominalizations, especially with verbs that show cause/effect: ‘Other major impacts are occurring from ozone layer depletion.’

What we learn from systemic functional linguistics

Christie (2002), Schleppegrell (2004) among others list abstraction as a feature of advanced academic literacy, which often emerges during secondary schooling.

• Students move from process clauses (often used in speech):

The cilia can move together like whips...

• to abstract phrases: The whiplike movement of the cilia...

(example based on Fang & Schleppegrell, 2008)

What we learn from systemic functional linguistics 2

• Processes:

The soldiers attacked the town.They removed the town treasures.

• Condensing two SV clauses into one:

The soldiers’ attack on the town led to the removal of the treasures.

(Christie, 2002, p. 46-7)

Aside #1

OK, already I see some eye-rolling.

Caveat: Too much packing of information into sentences can lead to heavy, hard-to-decode sentences.

In class, I always discuss the need to balance this density with clarity.

What students want

Vocabulary development ‘Cheat sheets’: lists of words, phrases,

structures

An instructor’s conclusion

Many resident and international ESL students do not necessarily engage in enough reading, noticing, and production tasks to have control of or even access to the structures and vocabulary needed to craft abstractions and causal relations.

Action

A subset of exercises on cause/effect or reason/result that focus on prepositional connectors, verbs, and abstractions.

Aside #2 Exercises decontextualized

Building blocks Followed up with exercises that help students

choose among different structures to achieve specific purposes in longer passages of text

Sequencing

Before working on these exercises: Resources for investigating ‘what it means to

know a word’ (Nation, 1990) Known-New Contract

After working on these exercises: other relationships cohesion balancing density and clarity

Getting Ready1. Think about a problem, issue, or debate in your field of study or in any

class you are currently taking. For example, perhaps one issue might be current policies and debates around immigration. Or about creating greener buildings or cars. Or finding the most efficient or effective model for a company or a product for a company. Or about health problems in particular locations or for particular populations.

Write at least two pages of text, but please don’t take more than one hour to plan and write. We will revise this piece together.

Establish the problem, issue, or debate and its context. Discuss the problem/issue/debate and reasons for it. What causes the

debate or problem? Discuss possible solutions or the most optimal solution. Focus on the

justification for and effects of the solution. 2. Find a published text in your field: problem, issue, debate.

SampleThere is much debate surrounding the use of nuclear energy. Nuclear power plants emit relatively low amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2). Given the low emissions of green house gases, the creation of nuclear power contributes very little to global warming. Also, one power plant can generate a high amount of electrical energy. As a result of this high yield, nuclear energy is considered efficient and profitable. However, any people reject nuclear energy as an option because of safety concerns. First, nuclear waste can be extremely dangerous and must be carefully stored over many years, resulting in high costs. Also, accidents in nuclear power plants can lead to serious consequences for human and natural life. On account of these potentially devastating outcomes, many people question the viability of nuclear energy as an alternative to fossil fuels.

Sample: HighlightedThere is much debate surrounding the use of nuclear energy. Nuclear power plants emit relatively low amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2). Given the low emissions of green house gases, the creation of nuclear power contributes very little to global warming. Also, one power plant can generate a high amount of electrical energy. As a result of this high yield, nuclear energy is considered efficient and profitable. However, any people reject nuclear energy as an option because of safety concerns. First, nuclear waste can be extremely dangerous and must be carefully stored over many years, resulting in high costs. Also, accidents in nuclear power plants can lead to serious consequences for human and natural life. On account of these potentially devastating outcomes, many people question the viability of nuclear energy as an alternative to fossil fuels.

Sample: AnalyzedConnector + NPGiven the low emissions of green house gases, As a result of this high yield, On account of these potentially devastating outcomes,because of safety concerns

Verbscontributes can lead to can generate

NounsConsequences outcomes

-ing phraseresulting in high costs.

Repackaging UsingConnector + NP Look at the sets of sentences below. For each pair of sentences, [bracket] the connector that

creates a relationship. Underline the structure that follows the connector. Be ready to discuss the difference between the structures

used after the connectors in each set.

First one is done as a group:1. A. Scientists are working to find and develop alternative

energy sources [because] supplies of fossil fuels will eventually be depleted.B. Scientists are working to find and develop alternative energy sources [because of] the eventual depletion of fossil fuels.

Connector + NP: Task 12. A. Class was canceled yesterday since the instructor was ill. B. Class was canceled yesterday due to instructor illness.

3. A. As they had a close relationship with the arrested man, they were asked to testify in court.

B. On account of their close relationship with the arrested man, they were asked to testify in court.

4. A. The CEO supported the failed initiative. Therefore, he lost support of the board. B. The CEO lost support of the board on account of his support for the failed

initiative.

5. A. Given that there are many reasons to support the use of nuclear energy, many people believe we should increase funding in this area.

B. Given the many reasons to support the use of nuclear energy, many people believe we should increase funding in this area.

Task 1 Follow-up As we see in the examples above, all the

connectors in Sentence As are followed by subjects and verbs.

In contrast, the connectors in Sentence Bs are followed by abstract noun phrases:

noun forms of verbs (deplete depletion) or adjectives (ill illness) plus additional information.

Connector Chart w/ Examplesas a result of Low-income families are struggling to put food on the table as

result of sharp increases in food prices.

because of Because of recent concerns about food safety, the Food and Drug Administration is considering new guidelines for meat-packing plants.

due to / owing to

The company was able to hire additional employees due to phenomenal sales during the first quarter.

given Given the need for professional nurses, Jenna decided to attend a nursing program after college.

on account of The recent college graduate got a relatively high-paying job on account of his strong educational and research experience.

thanks to (often positive)

Thanks to declines in unemployment, consumer confidence has increased.

How & why writers make these transformationsUsing abstract nouns allows writers to reduce the

number of TO BE forms by changing adjectives into nouns.

A. Class was canceled yesterday [because] the instructor was ill. conn Subj V

B. Class was canceled yesterday [due to] instructor illness. conn N

How & why writers make these transformations 2

Another way to reduce TO BE forms is to cut there is / there are.

A. [Given that] there are many reasons to conn Subj V

support the use of nuclear energy, many people believe we should increase funding in this area.

B. [Given] the many reasons to support the use conn N of nuclear energy, many people believe we should increase funding in this area.

How & why writers make these transformations 3Using connectors with abstract noun phrases can also

reduce the number of weaker verbs like TO HAVE needed to form a clause.

A. [As] they had a close relationship with the arrested conn Subj V man, they were asked to testify in court.

B. [On account of] their close relationship with the conn N

arrested man, they were asked to testify in court.

Possessives in NPsA. As they had a close relationship with the arrested man, they were asked to testify in court.B. On account of their close relationship with the arrested man, they were asked to testify in court.

The subject in the as-clause in sentence A (they) becomes a possessive (their) in sentence B.

Why? In the second sentence, the word is working together with a noun (relationship), not a verb (had).

Thus, we need an adjective form (they --> their). If the subject is a noun form (governor), it would

change to a possessive (governor’s).

Connectors + NP: Task 2In the sentences provided, you will find logical connectors followed

by clauses (subjects + verbs). Transform the information in the clause into an abstract noun phrase. Be sure to make any other necessary transformations. A connector has been provided.

1 A. Because he was so talented in music, he received a scholarship for college.

B. Thanks to

2 A. Given that the organization has a strong track record, their proposal for additional funding was viewed positively.

B. Given

How & why writers make these transformations 4 Using connectors with abstract nouns also allows writers to pack

sentences with information: to take an entire sentence, reduce it to a noun phrase and place the reduced form inside another sentence.

This reduction often involves changing a verb form into a noun form: deplete --> depletion

A. Scientists are working to find and develop alternative energy sources. Supplies of fossil fuels will eventually be depleted.

Subj V

B. Scientists are working to find and develop alternative energy sources [because of] the eventual depletion of fossil fuels.

conn N

Adverb --> Adjective in NPs A. Supplies of fossil fuels will eventually be depleted. B. because of the eventual depletion of fossil fuels.

The adverb (eventually) in the second sentence of part A becomes an adjective (eventual) in sentence B. Why?

In the second sentence, the word is working together with a noun (depletion), not a verb (deplete).

Thus, we need an adjective form (eventually --> eventual).

How & why writers make these transformations 5Writers must sometimes make changes to the word order

when combining two sentences into one using abstract noun phrases.

In sentence B, notice how the writer has changed the order of information from the order in the first clause in A.

A. Because the percentage of jobs that require a college degree has increased dramatically, the number of students who attend college in the US has also increased.

B. Given the dramatic increase in the percentage of jobs that require a college degree, the number of students who attend college in the US has also increased.

Connector + NP: Task 3 In the sentences provided, you will find logical connectors followed

by clauses (subjects + verbs). Transform the information in the clause into an abstract noun phrase. Be sure to make any other necessary transformations. A connector has been provided

1 A. Because programs serving poor families have succeeded, people have better access to heath care, affordable housing, and job training programs.

B. Due to

2 A. Because the governor opposed the initiative, it could not garner enough public support to pass.

B. Because of

Noun + Preposition combosMany verbs and nouns collocate with prepositions:I am interested in X / My interest in X

Sometimes, while the verb does not take a preposition, the noun does.

X affects Y• X has an effect on Y

We discussed X• Our discussion of/about X

X influences Y• X has an influence on Y

I lack money• My lack of money

I oppose the legislation• My opposition to the legislation.

More vocabulary development

Word forms / families Synonyms of nouns created from

adjectives and verbs

Repackaging Using Verbs Because the telephone was invented, there

were many new opportunities for enhanced communication.

Invent --> invention There were --> deleted

The invention of the telephone created new opportunities for enhanced communication.

(Schleppegrell, 2004)

Verbs: Task 1With a partner, you have 15 minutes to amass a list of

verbs that show cause and effect – use the reading and writing you brought to class, online resources and each other for help. Be sure to check for prepositions, etc.

Cause: • This problem is caused by ____.• This problem originates (in/from/with) ____.

Effect: • This factor causes the problem.• This factor produces the problem.

Verbs: Task 1 Resultsaccount for

affect

arouse

attribute X to

block

bring about

cause

contribute to

create

derive from

develop

enable

evoke

follow from

force

form

generate

give rise to

hamper

impede

increase [T]

induce

influence

interfere with

lead to

leave

make

motivate

occur

originate in/with/from

prevent

perpetuate

play a role in

produce

promote

prompt

provoke

raise

reduce

render

restrain

results in (result)

results from (reason)

slow

spark

stimulate

stem from

trigger

yield

is attributed to

is blamed for

is responsible for

Verbs: Task 2 Put a ‘+’ in the blank next to all of the verbs in the list

whose meanings you are familiar with and which you use in your own writing.

Put a ‘√’ next to those words whose meanings you are familiar with but which you may only rarely use.

Put a ‘-’ in the blank next to words you are less familiar with.

The words with a √ or - will represent those whose meanings you should look up in online concordancers and learner and collocations dictionaries.

Resources: Dictionaries Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionaryhttp://dictionary.cambridge.org/

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishhttp://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/

Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionaryhttp://www.oup.com/elt/catalogue/teachersites/oald7/lookup?cc=global

Resources: Collocations Oxford Collocations Dictionary

LTP Dictionary of Selected Collocations (Heinle/Cengage)

BBI Dictionary of English Word Combinations (John Benjamins, new edition due out 12/09)

Building Academic Vocabulary (U. Michigan Press)

Resources: Concordancers Corpus of Contemporary American English

http://www.americancorpus.org/

Collins Concordancer

http://www.collins.co.uk/Corpus/CorpusSearch.aspx

Compleat Lexical Tutor Concordancerhttp://www.lextutor.ca/concordancers/concord_e.html

Verbs: Task 2 Sample ResultsRender

Cambridge: verb [T] FORMAL [+ adjective] to cause someone or something to be in a particular

state:• His rudeness rendered me speechless.• New technology has rendered my old computer

obsolete.

COCA He learned that it was a fast-acting sedative that would

render a person unconscious within seconds.

Verbs: More Task 2 Results

Trigger Cambridge

verb [T] (means + noun) to cause something bad to start:

• Some people find that certain foods trigger their headaches.

COCA• Long-term stress responses exacerbate asthma, and

hyperventilation can trigger a panic attack.

Verbs: Task 3 More pair or group work:

Which verbs introduce reasons / causes and which introduce results / effects?

Which verbs fit under these categories? • block or minimize a possible effect• indicate the cause of a negative effect• make someone have a particular feeling• be one of the causes of something

Verbs: Task 4Paraphrase the ideas in sentence (a) by choosing one of the three verbs given to fill in the blank. Use

the correct verb tense.

1. a. The mudslides in the Malibu hills happened because of the heavy rains. b. The heavy rains _______________ mudslides in the Malibu hills.

impede produce occur

2. a. The continued heavy rains made it harder for the rescue crews to help people. b. The continued heavy rains ____________________ the efforts of the rescue crews.

cause develop hamper

3. a. The state senate criticized the governor’s proposal. The result of the criticism was that the governor got angry.

b. The criticism ________________________ an angry response from the governor.follow from increase provoke

4. a. My grandmother’s frugality is the result of having grown up during the Great Depression. b. My grandmother’s frugality ___________________ having grown up during the Great Depression.

induce lead to stem from

Verbs: Task 5In using reason/result verbs, you need to pay attention to the grammar of the verbs.Some verbs cannot be followed directly by a noun object: they need a preposition after them.

You also need to be careful that you don’t ‘flipflop’ an idea by using a reason verb instead of a result verb. For example: The rains caused the mudslides; not the rains resulted from the mudslides. Also, be careful to use an active verb not a passive be + verb form when needed and vice versa. Correct the errors in each of the following sentences, adding prepositions or word endings, changing from passive form to active, correcting word forms or rewriting the sentence as needed.

1. A desire for change played a big role the voting decisions of many Americans.2. The candidacy of Barack Obama was generated much interest around the world.3. A great deal of interest generated around the world by the candidacy of of Barack Obama.4. Patricia’s success derived a lot of hard work and a little bit of luck.5. The heavy rains were responsible the mudslides.6. My interest in ancient history really sparked the history course I took.7. His severe headache interfered his ability to do well on the exam.8. His rather poor performance can partly be attribute his severe headache.

Student Samples Several months ago, the price of oil skyrocketed to nearly 150

dollars/barrel, triggering the discussion of renewable energy. public outcries for renewable energy.

The combustion of these traditional resources emits a great deal of carbon monoxide, leading to a serious problem -- the greenhouse effect.

Owing to the lower price of raw material stemming from the recession of the world economy, we must immediately start to create an infrastructure to generate power.

As a result of people’s increased concerns about environmentalism, we have seen a sharp increase in the installation of wind turbines.

Due to inefficiency in both energy production and cost, some economists doubt whether this boom will eventually be found economically sound.

That’s it for now.

More coming soon.

References Biber, D., Johansson, S., Leech, G., Conrad, S., & Finegan, E. (1999). Longman grammar of spoken and written English. London: Longman.

Center for Independent Language Learning. Cause and effect. Howloon, HK: The English Language Centre of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Available at http://elc.polyu.edu.hk/CILL/exercises/cause&effect.htm

Christie, F. (2002). The development of abstraction in adolescence in subject English. In M. C. Colombi & M. Schleppegrell (Eds.) Developing advanced literacy in first and second languages: Meaning with power. Mahwah, NJ: LEA.

Flowerdew, L. (1998). Integrating ‘expert’ and ‘interlanguage’ computer corpora findings on causality: Discoveries for teachers and students. English for Specific Purposes, 17, 4. 329-345.

Gillett, A. (2009). Rhetorical functions in academic writing: Cause and effect. Using English for academic purposes: A guide for students in higher education. Available at http://www.uefap.com/writing/function/causeff.htm.

Hinkel , E. (2004). Teaching academic ESL writing: Practical techniques in vocabulary and grammar. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Leech, G., Rayson, P. & Wilson, A. (2001). Word frequencies in written and spoken English. London: Longman.

Schleppegrell, M. J. (2004). The language of schooling. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Schleppegrell, M.J. & Colombi, M.C. (Eds.). (2002). Developing advanced literacy in first and second languages: Meaning with power. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Swales, J.M. & Feak, C.B. (2004). Academic writing for graduate students: Essential tasks and skills. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

Zwier, L.J. (2002). Building academic vocabulary. Ann Arbor. MI: University of Michigan Press.

Zwier, L.J. & Bennett, G. (2006). Teaching a Lexis-Based Academic Writing Course. Ann Arbor. MI: University of Michigan Press.