Explanation text: Pengertian, generic structure dan contoh

Berikut kami bagikan tentang explanation text: apa itu teks explanation, ciri-cirinya, struktur umumnya, dan beberapa contoh beserta penjelasan generic strucuture.

Pengertian

Teks explanation merupakan sebuah jenis text (genre) yang menjelaskan proses (how) atau alasan (why) terjadinya suatu hal, atau gabungan dari dua hal ini. Hal yang dimaksud bisa berbentuk sebuah fenomena, peristiwa, maupun konsep. Knapp dan Watkins (2005) mengatakan: "[explanation text] has two main orientations – to explain why and to explain how" (p. 126). Lebih spesifik, mereka menjelaskan bahwa: "[It] deals with the processes involved in understanding and making explicit the how and/or why of particular phenomena, events and concepts" (p. 128).

Ciri-ciri

Teks explanation memiliki beberapa ciri. Salah satunya adalah penggunaan kata kerja bentuk `present tense`, kecuali menjelaskan tentang suatu hal yang sudah tidak ada (past tense), misal tentang dinosaurus. Ciri lainnya ialah pemakain kata-kata penghubung seperti: then, first, after this, when, next, dan sejenisnya. Penggunaan kalimat pasif (passive voice) juga biasa ditemukan dalam jenis teks ini.

Generic structure

Struktur teks explanation umumnya dibagi menjadi dua (description & sequenced explanation), namun kadang ditambahkan dengan bagian penutup (concluding statement).

1. Description stage

Di bagian ini, penulis menyediakan deskripsi dari topik yang akan dijelaskan. Bagian ini bisa berbentuk kalimat atau paragraf pembuka (opening) atau perkenalan (introduction). Knapp dan Watkins (2005) menyebutkan: "explanations generally begin with an introductory paragraph that often includes a classification and description" (p. 30).

2. Explanatory sequence

Bagian ini berisakan penjelasan urutan proses (how) atau alasan (why) terjadinya fenomena yang sedang dibahas. Perlu diingat juga bahwa kadang kedua jenis informasi ini (how & why) disebutkan secara bersamaan.

3. Concluding remark

Bagian ini merupakan bagian akhir/penutup/kesimpulan setelah proses/alasan terjadinya sebuah fenomena dijelaskan. Bagian penutup ini bisa menyebutkan hasil akhir dari proses yang terjadi. Bisa juga berisi semacam evaluasi/pendapat penulis (evaluation interpretation) terkait topik yang sedang dibahas. Barwick (1998) mengatakan: "an optional concluding statement can tie up the explanation" (p. 63). Lebih sepsifik, Wood dan Stubbs (2000) menyebutkan bahwa "the conclusion is the final statement of the end result of the explanation" (P. 77). Perlu diingat bahwa bagian ini bersifat optional (boleh ada boleh tidak ada).

Contoh expalanation text dan generic structure

Contoh teks 1: How birds make their nests

Birds find lots of things to make their nests.	Description
They find twigs and leaves and straw. They weave it around a branch of a tree. Then they have their babies and find worms for them.	Explanatory sequence

Contoh teks 2: The formation of day and night

A day is the amount of time a planet takes to complete a full rotation. The Earth’s Day is 24 hours long.	Description
Day and night are formed as the Earth rotates Explaining on its axis around the Sun. When the Sun’s rays hit the area of the Earth, that is facing it, this area is experiencing day. The area that is not facing the Sun is in darkness and is experiencing night.	Explanatory sequence

Contoh teks 3: The life cycle of coral

Corals reproduce by the spawning process.	Description
Eggs and sperm join together in the water to form planulae. The planulae then drift in the ocean as plankton for about a month. However, during most of their lives they are threatened by their predator, the Whale Shark. Whale Sharks are attracted to the plankton and then eat them. When the planulae finally settle, they turn into a coral polyp.	Explanatory sequence

Contoh teks 4: The water cycle

Rain comes from clouds. It helps us to stay alive. Animals and plants need rain.	Description stage
When rain falls it goes into the ground and rivers. Then it goes into plants and animals drink it. The rivers go into the sea and the sun makes the rain go back to the clouds.	Explanatory sequence
I like the rain. Rain is good for you.	Evaluation interpretation

Contoh teks 5: The making of chocolate

Paragraf 1: Description

Have you ever wondered how people get chocolate from? In this article we'll enter the amazing world of chocolate so you can understand exactly what you're eating.

Paragraf 2 & 3: Sequenced explanation

Chocolate starts with a tree called the cacao tree. This tree grows in equatorial regions, especially in places such as South America, Africa, and Indonesia. The cacao tree produces a fruit about the size of a small pine apple. Inside the fruit are the tree's seeds, also known as cocoa beans.

The beans are fermented for about a week, dried in the sun and then shipped to the chocolate maker. The chocolate maker starts by roasting the beans to bring out the flavour. Different beans from different places have different qualities and flavor, so they are often sorted and blended to produce a distinctive mix. Next, the roasted beans are winnowed. Winnowing removes the meat nib of the cacao bean from its shell. Then, the nibs are blended. The blended nibs are ground to make it a liquid. The liquid is called chocolate liquor. It tastes bitter. All seeds contain some amount of fat, and cacao beans are not different. However, cacao beans are half fat, which is why the ground nibs form liquid. It's pure bitter chocolate.

Keyword: apa itu explanation text, ciri-ciri explanation text, generic structure, contoh teks dan pembagian struktur.

References

Barwick, J. (1998). Targeting text. Blake Education.
Knapp, P., & Watkins, M. (2005). Genre, text, grammar: Technologies for teaching and assessing writing. UNSW Press.
Wood, K., & Stubbs, S. (2000). Targeting text. Blake Education.

Muhammad Ahkam Arifin Muhammad Ahkam Arifin is a Fulbright PhD student at Washington State University, US. He earned a master`s degree in TESOL from the University of Edinburgh & Applied Linguistics from the University of Melbourne.

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