Elementary Students' Academic Ability in Science and Cognitive Language Ability According to Gender, and their Correlation

성별에 따른 초등학생의 과학 학력과 인지적 언어 능력 및 그 상관

The purpose of this study was to investigate the elementary students' academic ability in science and cognitive language ability according to gender, and their correlation. To this study, above two tests were conducted to 600 elementary students, and 496 students of them were analyzed. The test of academic ability in science was classified for lower students (1$\~$3 grades) and upper students (4$\~$6 grades), which consisted of scientific knowledge, process skill, and inquiry context. The reliability (Cronbach $\alpha$) of each test showed 0.7581 in lower students and 0.7831 in upper students. Also the reliability of cognitive language ability test was 0.7788. The results of this study were as follows: First, there were no significant differences in academic ability in science according to gender except 3rd grade. Second, there were significant differences in cognitive language ability according to gender. Third, in the correlation between academic ability in science and cognitive language ability, it showed low coefficient in lower students and high coefficient in upper students.