Studying in the English Medium
The subject is not the hard part. Saying it in English is. This is the English that Science and Maths answers need, whichever of the two you are sitting.
Choose your subject
English Medium Mathematics
The official Maths courses in English, Teachers' Guides, past papers, and the English a maths answer needs.
English Medium Science
The official Science courses in English, Teachers' Guides, past papers, and how to write up an experiment.
What this section is, and is not
RCF English is an English site, so this section is deliberately small. We do not teach Science or Maths, and we copy nobody's material. We point you to the official English medium resources, and then teach the part that is genuinely an English problem: understanding what a question asks, and writing an answer that earns the mark.
Every link was opened and checked. They sit on other people's websites and can change without notice. If one stops working, tell us and we will fix it.
Why English medium is difficult, and what actually fixes it
A pupil who could explain photosynthesis perfectly in Sinhala or Tamil can lose the mark in English for three reasons, and none of them is Science.
The question word is misread. Describe and explain are not the same instruction, and a pupil who describes when the paper says explain has answered a different question. The sentence collapses under the technical words. The vocabulary is known, but the grammar holding it together is not. The answer is right but unreadable. No units, no labels, no order.
All three are language problems with language solutions, and they are the fastest marks a teacher can win back.
Sentences that carry an answer
Most answers in either subject use a handful of sentence shapes. Give pupils these and they stop translating sentence by sentence from their first language.
| When you need to | Use this shape | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Give a reason | ... because ... | The bulb lights because the circuit is complete. |
| Give a result | so / therefore / as a result | The pressure falls, so the volume increases. |
| Say what something does | is used to / allows / prevents | The fuse prevents the wire from overheating. |
| Say what a thing is made of | consists of / is made up of | An atom consists of a nucleus and electrons. |
| Describe a change | increases / decreases / remains constant | As the temperature rises, the resistance increases. |
| Describe a sequence | first ... then ... finally | First the seed absorbs water, then the root appears. |
| State a condition | if ... then ... | If the triangle is equilateral, then all angles are 60°. |
| Compare two things | whereas / while / than | Iron rusts, whereas gold does not. |
| Conclude | Therefore / Hence | Therefore x = 7. |
Mistakes that cost marks in English medium answers
Writing the unit only at the end, or not at all
A number without a unit is not an answer in Science or Maths. Write the unit every time it appears, including in the working, and use the standard form: 12 cm², 5 m/s, 250 g. Teach pupils to check the units before they check the arithmetic.
Using the everyday word instead of the technical one
Melt, dissolve and evaporate are three different things, and pupils use them for each other because in conversation they feel the same. The same happens with weight and mass, heat and temperature, speed and velocity. Put the pair on the board together and make pupils say a sentence with each.
Answering in the first language and translating word by word
This produces sentences that are grammatically strange and often lose the point. It is faster to teach the sentence shapes above than to correct translated sentences one at a time.
Describing when the question says explain
The most expensive mistake on the paper. If the word because does not appear in an answer to an explain question, the answer is very likely incomplete.
Diagram labels in the first language, or no labels
Labels are marks. Pupils should practise labelling the same standard diagrams in English until it is automatic: the digestive system, a plant cell, a circuit, the parts of a flower, a ray diagram, a triangle with its vertices named.
Long sentences where three short ones were wanted
Science and maths English is short and plain. One idea, one sentence. A pupil who writes three short correct sentences scores better than one who writes a long sentence that falls apart in the middle.
For the teacher: five minutes at the start of a lesson
Word pair of the day. Put up two words pupils confuse (mass and weight) and make each pupil say one sentence with each.
Read the question aloud. Before pupils answer, ask what the instruction word is and what shape of answer it wants. Half the class will have been about to answer the wrong question.
Label it in English. Keep one diagram on the board through the week and have a different pupil label it each day.
Say the number with its unit. Insist that every answer spoken aloud includes the unit. It transfers to the written paper faster than any correction.
English that helps in every subject
O/L English
The English paper itself, question type by question type.
Speaking Practice
Say it aloud and hear how you sound. Useful for oral work in any subject.
Writing Practice
Guided writing with a model answer to compare against.