Deviation: Parameter Setting

Academic writing characteristically has long and complex sentences, and the view of the markers is that it can sometimes be demanding to follow the argument. The configuration of the ‘freer’ clause and phrase order, indicative of nativized linguistic practices, influences grammatical discrepancies that creep into written communication. In a sentence structure of dependent and independent clauses, the linear configuration of clauses as main-to-subordinate does not necessarily provide the semantic value necessary for outlining the essay writer’s viewpoint. Applying the experiential model described in this chapter, it is possible to work out the semantic value of the clauses and phrases and their meaning potential, which often structurally deviate from a hierarchical linear norm in a complex sentence. From a functional perspective, the freer word orders in ‘reverse instantiations’ of a linear structural order at the clausal level inform the essay writer about deviations and provide scope for improved structure and coherence at the micro level in a text.