Reforming Primary Science Through Literacy: The Pacific Science Reading series

Language, indigenous alternative frameworks, and cogitive development were cited by Swift (1992) as the interrelated issues at the core of science educational relevance in developing societies. Language is at the crux of these, providing as it does the "controlling image context" (Ogunniyi, 1988, p. 2) in which people's conceptualization of the world operates. Language functions as an intellectual technology for the acquisition of scientific knowledge and understanding .(Martin, 1990, p. 113). A mutually reinforcing relationship between language proficiency and science educational prowess was discussed by Kulkarni (1988) in the Indian context: While the importance of improving language skills for better science education is being appreciated, the role science can play in improving language skills is not fully realised .... What is needed is a boot-strap approach using science to introduce pupils to higher language skills which in turn could be used for better science education. (1988, p.166)