Analysis of Borrowed Terminologies in Science Textbooks: The Mongolian Case

Munkhtsetseg Namsrai, Institute of Language and Literature, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Mongolia, ID LLCE2018-357;    Abstract: A school textbook is the main means of education to provide students with scientific knowledge. Thus its language must be clear, precise, accurate and rational for students. Especially, one of the most important things that textbook authors should focus on is terminology in the textbooks. Since a term is the smallest unit of scientific knowledge which refers a concept, each new term should have a short, accurate, precise definition either within the text or in a margin note or footnote in textbooks. In particular, foreign terms must be in good forms and have no variables or doublets and understandable with clear description and explanation for students. The present paper analyzes loanwords and terms in the IX grade biology textbook of Mongolian secondary schools in terms of their form (transcription and transliteration), variables and conceptual definitions. The most of borrowed words and terms in the textbook are the names of chemical elements and biological processes and phenomena. Findings show that the forms and definitions of the loanterms are written in different ways and there are some important issues to be solved in order to improve the quality of the texbook regarding to the terms, in particular loanterms. We conclude that the best way to solve the terminology related issues of a textbook is that glossaries or dictionaries with short and precise definitions should be attached to it or separately published if it has a large amount of terms.

Key words: Texbook. Terminology. Loanterm. Definition. Concept. Scientific knowledge.