Extended Nominal Groups and Academic Writing

In this section so far you have only seen sentences that include one or two nominal groups. In academic writing, it is common for a sentence to include many nominal groups with a large range in the complexity of the nominal groups (the amount of contextual information each nominal group includes). Complex nominal groups are a significant feature of academic writing, and the ability to construct complex nominal groups is intrinsic to becoming a sophisticated writer at university.

Read the passage below; the nominal groups (which include contextual information before and after the head-noun) are colour coded. Reflect on how many nominal groups there are in this text.

(The nominal groups are colour coded. Blue represents the first nominal group in each sentence, purple the second, red the third, teal the forth and green the fifth). The head noun of each nominal group has been underlined.

The social benefits of modern technology include the increased provision of goods, services and employment. While this technology has many negative side-effects on the environment, particularly in regards to pollution, modern society is dependent on the benefits that this technology provides. In recent years, increasing public awareness of the extent of environmental destruction as a result of this technology has spurred scientific investigation into technologies which provide a more sustainable outcome for the environment.

It is surprising how many large nominal groups exist in even this small amount of academic text. This is why you have to learn to extend the nominal groups in your own academic writing.