Unit 6
The time we spend at school
The lesson is about a study on the time that students spend at school.
The study presents findings on the time that students spend at school in different countries.
Some American schools started making school years longer by:
- adding up to ten extra days to the school year.
- making each school day longer by half an hour.
The reason for making school years longer is that secondary school students in the USA and the UK were spending the least time at school.
The average school year in the UK and the USA is 187 days.
In Japan, students attend school for 243 days per year.
In South Korea, students attend school for 220 days per year.
The results of the study show that students in South Korea and Japan spend the most time studying in the world.
Students in these countries go to school for about nine hours including optional after-school lessons and activities.
They spend three hours on homework every day.
The high academic achievement of the students in these countries suggest the fact that the longer you study, the better you do in final exams.
Despite the shortness of the time pupils spend at school in Finland, they achieve top marks in subjects like Maths and Science, and can speak at least two, and often three, languages fluently.
The results of the study are contradictory and suggest that the time students spend at school is not the only factor in determining if students will succeed at school or not.
Keywords
|
Words |
Meanings in English |
|
academic |
connected with education, especially at the college or university level |
|
compulsory |
obligatory; required |
|
contradictory |
if two ideas are contradictory they are completely different and thus unable to both be true |
|
developed nation |
a rich country that has many industries, comfortable living for most people, and usually an elected governFluently |
|
ntly |
speaking a language very well, like a native speaker |
|
optional |
not compulsory/ of your choice |
|
tuition |
teaching especially in small groups |
Pronoun references
|
Pronoun Reference |
||
|
The pronoun |
The line |
The reference |
|
This |
6 |
Making school years longer in some American school |
|
this |
10 |
The average school year of 187 days. 187 days |
|
these |
11 |
The school years in the USA, the UK, and Jordan |
|
They |
19 |
Students in Japan, Indonesia and South Korea |
|
They |
20 |
Students in Japan, Indonesia and South Korea |
|
They |
21 |
Students in Japan, Indonesia and South Korea |
|
this |
22 |
The time students in Japan and South Korea spend at school/ going to school for about 9 hours |
|
they |
23 |
Students in Japan, Indonesia and South Korea |
|
which |
25 |
The time students spend on homework |
|
Their |
26 |
Students’/Students in Japan, Indonesia and South Korea |
|
they
|
31 |
Students in Finland |
|
this |
33 |
attending school for fewer and shorter days than 85% of other developed nations |
|
they |
33 |
Students in Finland |
Derivations
|
Verb |
Noun |
Adjective |
Adverb |
|
succeed |
success |
successful |
successfully |
|
educate |
education |
educated/educational |
educationally |
|
organize |
organization |
organized |
x |
|
develop |
development |
developed |
x |
|
achieve |
achievement |
achieved/ achievable |
x |