A functional approach to evaluating content knowledge and language development in ESL students’ science classification texts

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Abstract
This article investigates the use of a functional approach to discourse analysis – knowledge structure analysis, which focuses on meaning, form, and function simultaneously – to evaluate both writing development and content learning. The study examined written texts in science, produced by 35 ESL students in Canada in grades 8 to 10 with limited to intermediate English language proficiency, in which they constructed scientific classifications. By examining and comparing two pieces of writing produced by the same students on the same topic at different learning stages, the study reveals the progress they made in integrating language and content at the discourse level. It also raises new questions about the integration of language and content teaching in all subject areas.