Towards equity for multilingual learners (original) (raw)
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In this chapter, we discuss the specialized language that has evolved over centuries to communicate scientific ideas, and the role that this language plays in modern science education. Scientific language can be seen as a code that is used to unlock scientific thinking and communicating, but that can also appear mysterious and inaccessible to those who are first trying to make sense of it. Scientific language can also be viewed as an exclusive discourse that may (intentionally or unintentionally) alienate many people who then come to believe that they cannot or do not wish to engage with science. Whichever the case, it has been an ongoing national concern that too many students leave school and live their lives without basic scientific literacy; it is clear that the language of science is both part of this problem and must also be part of any solution. In this chapter, we set out to explore the nature of the language of science, its role in science education, and strategies that we might use as science educators to prevent the language of science from being a barrier to students learning (and wishing to learn) science. We begin the chapter with a discussion of how and why the language of science evolved to function the way it does. Second, we discuss the language of science in the science classroom and some ideas about how students encounter and begin to make sense of this language, or else fail to do so, deciding that science is " not for them. " Third, we consider the role that everyday language can play in understanding and explaining science concepts and how it may (or may not) serve as a bridge to adopting the academic language of science. Fourth, we consider the unique aspects of students learning science in a second (or additional) language and the roles that home language, school language, and various combinations (translanguaging) can play in supporting science learning. Fifth, we consider several practical strategies for supporting all students in learning to use the language of science by providing examples from our current research. We conclude the chapter by summarizing recommendations for language use in the science classroom and we raise some additional questions that must be answered to more fully understand how language affects and is affected by the science education process. Evolution of the language of science: Why does science sound that way? The language of science has evolved over time in specific ways to accomplish certain purposes. It is a language that is used to construct theories, to posit explanations,
English language learners in science education (2014)
A focus on high academic standards and achievement for all students has been at the heart of sweeping educational reforms since the publication of A Nation at Risk (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983). In recent years, this push for high achievement in science education has grown in both urgency and complexity as a result of four primary factors: (a) the growing cultural and linguistic diversity of the U.S. student population; (b) the persistence of testing gaps across demographic subgroups coupled with the increased accountability demands for all students following the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 and the Race To The Top (RT 3 ) initiatives that began in 2010; (c) an increase in both cognitive and linguistic demands inherent in A Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council [NRC], 848 2011) and the Next Generation Science Standards (Achieve, 2013); and (d) a combination of evolving personal and social reasons for why all students need to learn challenging science, such as to make informed decisions about technologically driven problems and solutions, for career and college readiness, and as a robust context for learning valuable academic English.
2014
Despite extensive research and national reports that call for students’ engagement in scientific practices, these strategies continue to be virtually absent in classrooms throughout the U.S. Thus, the question of how students who are learning English as a second language fare in these environments is virtually unanswered. This study presents results from an investigation on 3 rd grade emerging bilingual students’ participation in a physics lesson on sound production. We focus on the changes in participation as such changes pertain to scientific practices of argumentation, modeling, and experiential, imaginative, and mechanistic reasoning strategies. Drawing from students’ discourse and gestures, conjectures are made about scientific practices being particularly well suited for fostering productive disciplinary engagement for emerging bilingual students.
Young students’ diverse resources for meaning making in science: learning from multilingual contexts
International Journal of Science Education, 2019
This manuscript elaborates the value of looking beyond the written and spoken word in science education research and practice at the early childhood level. We examine one plurilingual child's descriptions of a science activity to explore the diversity of resources that she used while expressing her understandings of a sound investigation. We demonstrate the ways in which she made her understandings evident via multiple modalities, including gesture, facial expression, and drawing, in two different classroom contexts; a whole-class discussion and a small group interaction. Foregrounding the resources she engaged serves to illustrate how different classroom structures mediated the complexities of her explanations. The findings of this research underscore our central argument regarding the value of considering the range of resources that facilitate children's expressing understandings in science education so they can be successful, especially within multilingual contexts. We draw implications for research and teaching praxis for positioning science as more than what is spoken and written, but as a complex, embodied enactment deeply embedded in multimodal, multilingual, interactions.
Science education with English language learners: Synthesis and research agenda
Review of Educational Research, 2005
This review analyzes and synthesizes current research on science education with ELLs. Science learning outcomes with ELLs are considered in the context of equitable learning opportunities. Then, theoretical perspectives guiding the research studies reviewed here are explained, and the methodological and other criteria for inclusion of these research studies are described. Next, the literature on science education with ELLs is discussed with regard to science learning, science curriculum (including computer technology), science instruction, science assessment, and science teacher education. Science education initiatives, interventions, or programs that have been successful with ELLs are highlighted. The article summarizes the key features (e.g., theoretical perspectives and methodological orientations) and key findings in the literature, and concludes with a proposed research agenda and implications for educational practice.
Translanguaging in Science Education , 2022
In science classrooms, teachers face the dual responsibility of teaching science and literacy. Educators are asked to deliver content knowledge while developing students’ ability to use discipline-specific language found in the Next Generation of Science Standards. In theory, science should be part of the curriculum in US schools. However, in under-resourced schools, science often becomes the context for teaching literacy. Teachers are under pressure to focus on mathematics and English, running the risk of emphasizing language production over conceptual processing. With the challenges educators face in multilingual classrooms, translanguaging offers a lens to investigate interactions and promote scientific thinking. Proposed as a social justice theory and pedagogy, translanguaging offers the possibility to free the child from the limitations of the monolingual settings. In the chapter, we analyze a vignette from an elementary science class in which a teacher and four students engage in translanguaging when talking about an experiment to determine properties of soils. The episode provides a glimpse on translingual practices within a specific context. We discuss the significance of these acts in terms of their value for the development of scientific notions and linguistic goals. In addition, we provide recommendations for science teachers on how to facilitate opportunities for students to draw on their rich language repertoires when verbalizing their scientific thinking.
Supporting Science Learning For English Language Learners
Journal of Educational Research and Practice, 2020
This study focused on two fourth-grade science classrooms with English learners (ELs), exploring how teachers supported students’ science and language/literacy learning in different language contexts. Three a priori research-based practices recommended for supporting science learning framed our exploration: (a) negotiation, opportunities for individual and social construction and critique of knowledge; (b) embedded language, opportunities for language and literacy learning as a natural aspect of science; and (c) non-threatening learning environments, opportunities for social apprenticeship and interaction. We provide insights into how science instructional practices supported ELs’ science and language learning. One key implication is that enacting these three principles of practice in students’ first language (Spanish), when less linguistic scaffolding is required, creates more opportunities to focus on disciplinary content and exploration of students’ ideas. The second key implicat...
Integrating Language Learning Practices in First Year Science Disciplines
The international journal of learning, 2010
One of the emerging issues is the changing nature and diversity of students in science. The project, ‘A cross-disciplinary approach to language support for first year students in the physical sciences’, commenced in October, 2007 and was funded by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC), to address the language needs of a diverse student body by investigating and testing strategic approaches to learning and teaching in First Year sciences. This project was concerned with the acquisition of language specific to science (rather than for science students to write grammatically correct sentences or improve language use for ESL students) and the implicit teaching of meta-cognitive skills required in doing science. Eight strategies were employed in five universities and a number of positive outcomes have been obtained. Most noticeably, the demonstrable gains achieved by students at every university and in every discipline. Students’ perception of lecturers’ ability to tea...
Science education as a pathway to teaching language literacy
In this paper, I present a critical review of the recent book, Science Education as a Pathway to Teaching Language Literacy, edited by Alberto J. Rodriguez. This volume is a timely collection of essays in which the authors bring to attention both the successes and challenges of integrating science instruction with literacy instruction (and vice versa). Although several themes in the book merit further attention, a central unifying issue throughout all of the chapters is the task of designing instruction which (1) gives students access to the dominant Discourses in science and literacy, (2) builds on students’ lived experiences, and (3) connects new material to socially and culturally relevant contexts in both science and literacy instruction—all within the high stakes testing realities of teachers and students in public schools. In this review, I illustrate how the authors of these essays effectively address this formidable challenge through research that ‘ascends to the concrete’. I also discuss where we could build on the work of the authors to integrate literacy and science instruction with the purpose of ‘humanizing and democratizing’ science education in K-12 classrooms.
“We Don’t Teach Science”: The Impacts of a New Model for Embedding Language in Science
2018
A paradigm shift of beneficial language acquisition pedagogy for preK-12 English Language Learners (ELLs) is taking place in the United States. There has been an increase in studies that support creating an academic environment that socially develops language through context and experience as opposed to isolated instruction of specific language elements. This study examines the first year of one district’s attempt to integrate language learning within the context of science instruction. Data was obtained through surveys and interviews with teachers as well as assessments of English Language Proficiency and Science Standards. Examining the implementation process and stakeholder perspectives sheds light on the difficulties and opportunities of this model of language development for ELLs.