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Developing Texts that Match Readers’ Abilities in the Sciences: Seeking an Appropriate Instructional Level

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English Education in Oman

Part of the book series: English Language Education ((ELED,volume 15))

Abstract

This chapter discusses one approach to developing materials for Omani science students that seeks to bridge the gap between authentic science texts and student reading abilities by adapting texts to match those abilities and building on them in ways that are grounded in L1 and L2 research. It begins with a description of the context in which the materials have been developed and the problems encountered by learners and teachers that initially motivated their development. Next, there is a description of the process that was followed in developing the texts and their respective units of study. The third part discusses two methods used to evaluate the piloting of the units: a study into the percentage of unknown words encountered by the student population and a feedback form given to teachers who used the piloted units. The chapter concludes with a discussion about some of the most important issues of text development that arose from this project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, USA

    Richard L. Noone

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  1. Richard L. Noone
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman

    Rahma Al-Mahrooqi

  2. Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman

    Christopher Denman

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Noone, R.L. (2018). Developing Texts that Match Readers’ Abilities in the Sciences: Seeking an Appropriate Instructional Level. In: Al-Mahrooqi, R., Denman, C. (eds) English Education in Oman. English Language Education, vol 15. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0265-7_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0265-7_3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-13-0264-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-13-0265-7

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