A Study on the Expression of Degree and Quantity in Science Textbooks for Japanese Elementary School Pupils

Abstract

"This paper describes the results of an investigation on the usage of words expressing degree and quantity of things in science textbooks for Japanese elementary school pupils. The followings have been found about the variety and the frequency of usage of words in science textbooks: (1) Degree and quantity of things are dominantly expressed by words like ookii-chiisai (big-small, large-little, etc.) and ookisa (size, magnitude, dimention, etc.) in Japanese. (2) All kinds of words expressing degree and quantity of things come out on textbooks for the third graders, and are very often used on textbooks over the fourth graders. (3) The frequency of usage of ookii, chiisai or ookisa concerned with non-spatial meaning increases considerably on textbooks for the higher graders. (4) These words are most often used in the sentences on physics in school science. It has also been found that degree or quantity of a certain scientific concept is described in three ways, that is: (1) by only one kind of words, (2) by two kinds of words or more than two with different meaning, or (3) by two kinds of words or more than two with same or very similar meaning. Based on the above findings, the author has pointed out the problems to be solved for usage of these words in science textbooks, and proposed to standardize their usage.