Problems of poor performance in science and mathematics education have been related to language deficiencies, including writing skills. Writing to learn science is an important skill but is not easy to acquire, especially when children learn in a second language. In order to investigate possibilities for developing writing in South African and Swedish science classrooms a multiple case study design was employed using classroom observations, teacher interviews and samples of learners work produced in science second-language classrooms in both countries over a period of 6 months. The research questions were 'what text types do learners in a grade 6 Science classroom produce, and how are they assisted to produce such text types?' Four major themes emerged, namely, the use of pre-determined text types; evidence of a spoken text-type discourse; teachers' lack of knowledge about text types; and lack of support in assisting learners in producing written text. These themes have implications in terms of understanding the current situation and providing a point of departure for assisting teachers and children to develop the skill of writing to learn science, an implicit aim of the curricula in both countries.