The Language Demands of Science Reading in Middle School

Abstract

The language used to construct knowledge, beliefs, and worldviews in school science is distinct from the social language that students use in their everyday ordinary life. This difference is a major source of reading difficulty for many students, especially struggling readers and English‐language learners. This article identifies some of the linguistic challenges involved in reading middle‐school science texts and suggests several teaching strategies to help students cope with these challenges. It is argued that explicit attention to the unique language of school science should be an integral part of science literacy pedagogy.

Acknowledgements

The preparation of this paper was supported in part by a Multi‐University Reading, Mathematics and Science Initiative grant funded by the United States Department of Education and coordinated through Florida State University’s Learning Systems Institute (USA). The views expressed in the paper are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the funding agency.