Abstract
One of the fundamental goals of science education globally has been to develop citizens who are scientifically
literate and capable of making informed decisions on Socio‐Scientific Issues (SSI). This study investigated the
relationship between scientific literacy and grade eleven science learners’ attitudes towards SSIs, with a specific
reference to the use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in society. One hundred and four (104) grade
eleven science learners from two Johannesburg township schools participated in the study. The study employed a
quantitative approach using a survey design for data collection, in assessing the relationship between scientific
literacy and learners’ attitudes towards GMOs. Findings from the survey revealed a significant correlation between
scientific literacy and leaners’ attitudes towards the use of GMOs, with spearman’s rho, r (102) = .726, p < .001.
80.7% of the learners indicated that they had little or no understanding about GMOs; another 84.6% had no
understandings of the processes of gene modification while 77.9% of the learners had negative concerns about the
use of GMOs. Independent sample t‐tests were further used to compare groups. Results of independent sample ttest
indicated no significant differences in the attitudes of the male and female learners towards GMOs t (102) =‐
2.289 p>.05= .743. However, a significant difference was noted in learners’ attitude towards GMOs between school
A and B t (102) = 7.840 p<.001. The implications of these findings are associated with low scientific literacy levels,
the abstract nature of concepts related to genes, genetic inheritance, and the popular misconceptions, which
learners hold about the use of GMOs. The knowledge gaps within the curriculum, which exist in the specific grade
level, also account for some of the negative attitudes learners’ showed towards GMOs. Higher GMO literacy, noted
at school A, was associated with a science club at the school in which learners had regular debates about several
SSIs, including cloning and gene modification. Recommendations for practice and future research are also
proposed in this study.