The spontaneous use of connectors and vocabulary in written argumentation: contributions to science literacy

Abstract

This research assumes written argumentation as a cognitive-linguistic ability that promotes scientific literacy. The proper use of connectors and scientific data is essential for written communication in science education. This exploration concerns about the spontaneous use (without instructional intervention) of connectors and vocabulary of four students (9 to 16 years old) when they write a short story including science. The results indicate that in all four cases, students lack a varied use of words to connect ideas, which affects the writing comprehension. In addition, all four cases spontaneously use scientific terms to make a writing task. Nonetheless, a limited use of scientific data was identified. Finally, results confirm the necessity of more research in order to determine how to use spontaneous connectors and vocabulary to enrich students’ scientific literacy through written argumentation.