Teaching expository writing in the natural sciences

M.Ed.The teaching of writing skills applicable to the content subjects in the English second language classroom is a recent concern. The concern is raised by the emphasis which the communicative approach places on the integration of skills (Kilfoil and Van der Walt, 1997:263), which many teachers seem to ignore. This neglect is seen in the leaners' poor essays which they write both in the English second language classroom and in their content subjects. It should be emphasised that teaching writing skills does not only mean teaching learners how to write compositions and letters, as is usually done in the language classroom, but also implies teaching them how to write expository texts in other subjects. The focus of this research is a group of learners from historically black secondary schools in this Province who had failed matric several times and were admitted to various Colleges of Education in the Northern Province to be offered a Finishing Programme. These learners seem to be `underprepared' in as far as expository writing is concerned. Miller (1989:158) defines the concept of `underpreparedness' in educational terms as the gaps that the learners have in their knowledge which require help in filling in blank spaces. The finishing learners at the Colleges in the Province constitute a small group among thousands of matric pupils who are underprepared for matric