Cacoepy (bad pronunciation or mispronunciation) of scientific terms and their effect on learning of secondary level science students

Abstract

This research investigates cacoepy of science terminology encountered by the secondary level school students of Kohat district. The problem of cacoepy of scientific terms needs investigation due to the assumption that mispronunciations if learned in secondary level were still frequently performed by the advanced level students or may be throughout their life. The current research was designed in order to identify the cacoepy of common science terminologies by secondary school students and to study the science teachers’ views on secondary level science textbooks produced by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Textbook board. It was found that majority of the students like science subjects and find the terminologies difficult in which most of the terms contain more than 7 alphabets and were considered as complex terms. Due to this complexity, students feel difficulty in learning of scientific terms. Most of science terms were derived from Greek, Latin and other ancient languages, so students cannot understand their meanings. Almost every chapter of secondary school biology, chemistry and physics is overloaded with difficult terms and students felt difficulty in preparation of those subjects in which mostly difficult terms were found in biology. Usually, science teachers prioritize goals for school science that are solely focused on preparing students for the next academic level (for future formal study of science) and completing his course within the sessions while disregarding the students' pronunciation of scientific terms. It is advised that authors use basic phrases and limit terminology with more than seven alphabets. It is critical to expose secondary pupils to workload that is appropriate for their learning requirements rather than annual book revision and insertion of heavy workload. Teachers should insert few terms into science lessons for practicing daily, and it is enough to devote a minute or two to some pronunciation issue so that fluency during lecture is not interrupted a lot. Pointing out a pronunciation problem when it has just arisen in the course is a good way of introducing correct pronunciation into the class. English plays an important part in the development of students because of its present and future as an international language. Real life activities or examples should be associated with important topics. Textbooks should be altered for language of explanation to match the level of students in secondary schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and some outdated themes should be replaced with new themes to meet the needs of the 21st century. It is suggested that the textbook board in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should include the Urdu phonology and meaning of the found terminologies at the start of each chapter.