A scaffolded reading and writing course for foundation level science students

Acquisition of academic literacy is often a difficult process for students, and in South Africa this is compounded by the fact that education for most secondary school pupils takes place in a second language at under-resourced schools. This article describes the scaffolding of an academic literacy course designed for South African students from such schools, who enter science study through alternative access routes. An approach to selecting and rewriting texts as well as scaffolding methods for reading and writing are described and illustrated with examples. Since our entrants have had limited prior exposure to text and academic writing, an academic literacy course is needed in which texts are level-appropriate, and reading instruction is scaffolded. Writing instruction, in which students are supported by means of extensive tutor response to drafts, focuses on pedagogically important genres in science, particularly the laboratory report and essay.