Biology, Chemistry, Physics...
Recently I ordered A-level Biology and Chemistry textbooks. A-level in England is equivalent to upper level of Japanese high school standard, I think.
Since I can rarely see actual text books in normal bookshops around, the only way to get them is just ordering online. I choose the books after reading the descriptions and book reviews. I found one science series of popular textbooks and I bought older edition of them intentionally. They were published in 1990's. Of course they are used ones. But there are no marks or notes in the books, good enough for studying.
The latest edition cost about 30 pounds, whereas the older edition costs 1 pence.
Of course that was one reason I choose the older ones.
But it is not just about the price.
I found the older textbooks are often better than newer ones. Since exam standards lowered significantly, older books cover more academic contents, which are more interesting for learners. On top of it, older textbooks were written in more formal, nicer, better language. Newer textbooks or revision books use quite casual language. Often they use speaking language, I found even slangs in the revision books.
I see the author's intension. The authors aimed to provide more FRIENDLY books for students so that the students get interested in the materials.
But the students are not studying only the subjects but language through the subject. If these textbooks don't offer the good language for students to read, they would lose the best opportunities to learn good language.
When I was teaching in Japan, I often found students making mistakes because they don't have good language skill. They just couldn't understand sciences/mathematics because they couldn't use the language as a communication tool very well.
What teachers do to deal with those students is to lower the teachers language standard, using everyday speaking language so that the students can understand more.
By doing so, the students lose the chance to listen/read proper vocabularies/terminologies. That affects their academic development so badly whatever they study....
So...what I wanted to say was "good language is important."
And... If you want to get textbooks or reference books, older ones are often worth to buy more than newer ones... generally speaking. That proposition would apply for finding English study materials as well, I believe.
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2 comments:
Today I happen to find your diary and I enjoyed reading your diary. I have a daughter, 21years old and she is going to US next January to study human relations or something at UC San Diego. I read your diary, I understand how tough we study abroad. She will join regular classes so now study English very hard. She expects her new life and also she is getting nervous. Maybe she has a lot of worries. I would like to give her some advice through your diary. I really look forward to your diary! Thank you!
hello, anonymous,
Thanks for you comment.
The situation your daughter is in now reminds me myself when I was preparing for studying abroad for the first time. I attended a college in California for two years, and I was very nervous at first. Especially since I had some kind of confidence with my English when I was in Japan, it was truely shocking to listen to the lectures among native English speaker classmates without understanding much of the contents... No way of joining their class discussion. I felt so bitter about it, because I really really wanted to study and understand the classes.
But it was no doubt that I had a gread experience there. And that experience built a foundation of present myself....
I hope your daughter will have a great experience in San Diego,and learn a lot.
thanks for visiting this blog.
See you.
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