ABSTRACT
It seems to me that pupils in school quickly develop expectations about what a normal piece of writing in science is like. They sense intangible rules about what can be said, and what is allowable in the way you say it. Since such rules or conventions have been imbibed by generations of learners, they also affect us as teachers. For instance, the phrase, ‘It seems to me that…’, is rather rare in the books and papers found around a school laboratory. Some internal censor screens it out. I almost feel that I should apologize for using it, but I am going to break other rules as well, and I hope that the contrast created by doing so will sharpen our awareness of what these rules are. Then we can discuss their functions, their value and their limitations.
