ABSTRACT

Chapter 2 covers the aspects of language to develop topic within the clause. To develop the topic, students need to acquire knowledge about the topic and the language to express it. Knowledge of the language involves more than vocabulary, although vocabulary is essential. Writing activities in school often involve learning and understanding technical vocabulary. However, to make meaning, students need to know how to combine vocabulary in different chunks of language: verb groups, noun groups, and adverbials.

This chapter describes these three aspects of language, their function in various genres, illustrates the challenges students have, and suggests lessons to address these challenges.