1. Introduction

The ability to explain how something is done is vital in technical fields. Imagine you want to describe a manufacturing process. The way you will choose to do that depends on who your listener will be. A senior worker instructing his junior colleague will probably use the imperative mood. A representative of a company showing a potential business partner round their factory will probably use the present simple active, describing what the line operators normally do in each step of the manufacturing process.  Processes and procedures, however, can also be described more formally in writing. This is what Units 2b and 2c focus on first within the context of shaping plastics and later while talking about the production of solar panels and central processing units. These two production processes share the first few stages, in which silicon is extracted from sand and purified, making it ready for the production of a big mono-crystal called an ingot. This seems to be one of the most important processes in both electrical engineering and computer science, because without it, neither photovoltaic panels not computer processors would exist.

 

Contents:

Describing a process using a passive voice

  • After silicon is extracted from sand, it must be purified.

Sequencers: First, then, next, after that, consequently, finally.

Referring to a visual while describing a process:

  • As Figure 2 illustrates, the two halves of the mould close.

Changing the word class – noun-to-verb conversions: movement – move