Explaination Text

Pernahkah kita berfikir, mengapa cahaya putih dapat terurai menjadi 7 warna berbeda? Atau bagaimana mungkin air di bumi ini tak pernah habis? Dan banyak lagi pertanyaan-pertanyaan yang menuntut penjelasan. 

Kalau di pelajaran bahasa Indonesia kita hanya mengenal 5 jenis karangan saja, dalam Bahasa Inggris, ada buanyaaaakkk jenis text. Salah satunya adalah Explanation Text, yaitu text yang berisi penjelasan mengenai proses-proses yang terjadi di alam, sosial, atau kebudayaan. Mari kita lihat uraian lengkapnya !

Definition of Explanation Text

Explanation is a text which tells processes relating to forming of natural, social, scientific and cultural phenomena. Generally the purpose of an explanation text is explaining how something forms or why the thing happens. So when we read an explanation text, the text will cover the answer of "how" or "why" relating to a thing or a phenomenon. It is often found in science, geography and history text books.

Generic structure of Explanation Text

General statement        : stating the phenomenon issues which are to be explained.
Sequenced explanation    : stating a series of steps which explain the phenomena.

Language Feature of Explanation Text

• Featuring generic participant; sun, rain, etc
• Using chronological connection; to begin with, next, etc
• Using passive voice pattern
• Using simple present tense.

Example for Explanation text : 

 Water Cycle

[statement] Rain always comes from clouds. But where do clouds come from? How does all that  water get into the sky?
[explanation] Think about your bathroom. There is hot water in your bath. Steam goes up from the hot water. The steam makes small clouds in the bathroom. These warm clouds meet the cold walls and windows, and then we see small drops of water on the walls and windows.
[explanation] The world is like your bathroom. The water in the oceans is warm when the sun shines on it. Some of this water goes up into the sky and makes clouds. The wind carries the clouds for hundreds of kilometers. Then the clouds meet cold air in the sky, and we see drops of water. The drops of water are rain.
[conclusion] The rain falls and runs into rivers. Rivers run into oceans. And the water from oceans makes clouds and more rain. So water is always moving from oceans to clouds to rain to rivers to oceans. So the rain on your head was on other heads before! The water in your garden was in other gardens in other countries.