A Case Study on the Expression of Degree and Quantity in Science Textbooks for Japanese Junior High School Students

Abstract

This paper is mainly concerned with the survey on uses of Adjectives expressing degree and quantity of things in science textbooks for Japanese junior high school students. Degree and quantity of things are expressed dominantly by adjectives like ookii-chiisai (big-small or large-little) in Japanese. In some cases, they are expressed just by ookii- chiisai, or by other adjectives such as takai-hikui (High-low) or tsuyoi-yowai (strong-weak), or the like. It seems that there are no regular rules for their uses, and that little attention is paid to these terms by authors of textbooks. It will be proposed that the uses of these terms must be re-examined with a special reference to scientific terms.