Abstract
This article reports on the readability of a Physics examination paper written by grade-12 students. A sample of 500 scripts was analysed for readability problems associated with linguistic features synonymous with scientific writing. The study revealed that where a question displayed a linguistic feature of scientific writing, this contributed to students doing an incorrect calculation, focusing on the wrong aspect of the question, repeating a segment of a question, and misinterpreting a word or a phrase. In view of these findings, the article argues that greater attention needs to be paid to the language of science in the classroom.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 110-129 |
Number of pages | 20 |
Journal | Acta Academica |
Volume | 44 |
Issue number | 2 |
Publication status | Published - 2012 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Arts and Humanities
- General Social Sciences