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Type: Article
Published: 2011-12-21
Page range: 42–64
Abstract views: 187
PDF downloaded: 0

The language of evolution: sources of misconception in descriptions of evolutionary processes in non-specialised scientific discourse

Direction de l’Enseignement, de la Pédagogie et des Formations, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, 47 rue Cuvier, 75005 Paris, France
Metaphor randomness passivity plurality specialised and non-specialised scientific corpora natural

Abstract

Non-specialised discourse describing the theory of evolution by natural selection can be misleading. To investigate this problem, descriptions illustrating how the environment affects biological entities and how these entities change over time have been extracted from specialised and non-specialised texts. The noun and verb phrases employed in these descriptions serve as units of analysis to uncover sources of misconception. These lexical items are analysed focusing on the semantic (especially metaphoric) and syntactic notions of "randomness", "passivity" and "plurality". Purposefulness, the antonym of randomness, dominates descriptions of evolutionary processes. Passivity is reflected semantically; however, the passive voice occurs at low frequencies. Descriptions of evolution remain essentially Darwinian and may imply that active agents are involved in this process. The use of plurality to denote taxonomic groupings can also lead to misunderstandings.