Teachers’ View of Language(S) in (Clil) Science Education: A Case Study in Portugal (original) (raw)
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Can “Integrated Learning” with English support science education? A case study in Portugal
Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education
Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) is an approach used in different countries for learning foreign languages (FL) during non-language classes. Studies suggest that teaching methodologies aware of (verbal) language-such as CLIL-and other science modes (operational, symbolic, visual, etc.) can be beneficial for learning science. Within this PhD research, we aimed to understand science education practices and the influence of English (as a FL) on CLIL science teaching/learning. We designed a qualitative case study in a Portuguese school and gathered information through different methods. We found that, because English is present, a science teacher may become more open to the students' (language) learning difficulties and to changing strategies/resources. Besides promoting FL proficiency, CLIL could represent a language-aware approach for enhancing science teaching/learning. This contributes to studies on CLIL and science education with a language focus and opens a reflection on teacher practices/education for the learning of science.
The language focus of Science education integrated with English learning
2017
Global education demands being directed to scientific literacy and language proficiency, research on the school integration of Science and English and on the language focus for Science education is highly relevant. One educational approach is CLIL, aiming both at learners’ Content and Language acquisition. The main objective of our work – framed in the socio-constructivism and designed as a case study – is to understand what teaching strategies and classroom interactions have been developed and can be promoted in the “English Plus” project in one Portuguese school to support students, when Science education is integrated with English use. Context characterization shows the importance of developing a language-aware teaching approach to improve the subject education and student learning. To foster that, an instrument has been constructed and is presented here.
Processing Science Through Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL): A Teacher's Practicum
In the last 40 years , the Italian education system has been swept by a deep reforming process aimed at innovating curricuiar requirements and in-service teacher training provision. In compliance with the latest reform of the upper-secondary school sectori, the Italian national curriculum for high school students now includes dualfocused education that goes by the name of CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) aimed at improving the acquisition of subject content through a foreign language. Among the CLIL subjects chosen by the schools the most popular is Science. This is easily explained as many upper secondary schools with a longstanding tradition in Italy are science-based and go by the name of Liceo Scientifico, and those who teach Science in the senior year are required to attend a training course in order to obtain CLIL teaching qualifications.
Experimental teaching of Sciences in the English language (CLIL
The implementation of experimental and creative practices and teaching methods in education, and in Foreign Language Teaching (FLT) in particular, is rendered significant due to the changes made in Curricula, the decisions taken by the Council of Europe, the emergence of the need for language learning and the development of multilingualism and multi-literacy, and finally, in the case of Greece, the decisions taken by the Ministry of Education (Law 3966) for the Model and Experimental Schools. In this context, Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) was implemented at the 2nd Experimental Senior High School of Thessaloniki by the teachers of English, Chemistry and Physics, in the units of chemical compounds and reactions for Chemistry and Newton's Laws for Physics during the school year 2015-2016. The summative assessment and the questionnaire, structured on the 4 Cs of CLIL, show that the language does not hinder the understanding of the content; on the contrary it develops students' language skills.
Journal of Innovation in Educational and Cultural Research
The study aims to reveal the implementation CLIL approach in improving students’ English language use and learning in the science classroom. A descriptive study was employed where data were collected using observation and interview to two classes at of Private Islamic Boarding in West Sumatera. The students for CLIL Strategy are the first grade of junior high school at science classrooms. The result of the research revealed that the use of the CLIL strategy across the curriculum is an effective strategy to develop English language use and learning. The pedagogical implications of the study for the EFL students in science classrooms include the need for teachers to consider underlying theories of teaching English in EFL context taking into account students’ constraints; a focus on the various types of students’ English ability and consider students’ interest in topic selection; teachers to be aware of the significance of the relationship between their attitude and background in clas...
Review of Science, Mathematics and ICT Education, 2018
Our article deals with a didactic analysis of the teaching of a non-linguistic subject, physics and chemistry, in English, within the framework of "Content and Language Integrated Learning" (CLIL) programs. We describe, from the case study of a science teacher, the articulation between scientific knowledge and language knowledge. From the analysis of video extracts of a lesson about Rutherford's experiment, we produce a description of the asynchronous advance of the different contents at stake. We propose at the end of the article recommendations for the training of teachers who teach in CLIL programs.
Attending to science language demands in multilingual classrooms: a case study
International Journal of Science Education, 2018
This case study examines how three science teachers in a secondary school attended to the language demands of science through oral interactions in classes of multilingual students with diverse English proficiencies. It specifically unpacks the intricate role of language in science education, where teachers must address disciplinaryspecific language demands as well as build academic language, within a policy environment that stresses English as medium-ofinstruction for science education. Thirty-nine video recordings, comprising three full sets of lessons on the topic Human Circulatory System, were analysed. Instances of whole-class discussion during which an aspect of language (e.g. form, meaning or type) was addressed were the focus of analysis. The analysis shows some common features of language support across teachers, especially in terms of teaching scientific terminology, as well as features that provided additional support from one teacher. These features included unpacking the language demands of science beyond discrete terminology and use of students' language. The article highlights interactions which can contribute to student opportunities for meaningmaking in science.
Dual Language Programme: Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices in Teaching Science Through English
Journal of Nusantara Studies (JONUS)
Background and Purpose: The recently implemented Dual Language Program (DLP) policy in Malaysian schools may require teachers involved in the initiative to make necessary changes in their teaching practices in appropriate directions. It may also challenge the beliefs that these teachers hold with regard to teaching subject matter in English as a medium of instruction. Thus, this study seeks to investigate the beliefs of primary Science teachers with regards to the teaching of Science through the English medium, and the extent to which the beliefs of teachers are consistent with their classroom practices. Methodology: The study employed a quantitative data collection and analysis approach. Science teachers’ beliefs and stated practices were obtained via a questionnaire using the Likert-scale. The respondents of the study include 44 primary Science teachers in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, Malaysia. A Pearson correlation analysis was computed to examine the association between teachers...
Research in Science Education, 2017
In this study, we examine how bilingual students in elementary school use their languages and what this means for their meaning-making in science. The class was multilingual with students bilingual in different minority languages and the teacher monolingual in Swedish. The analysis is based on a pragmatic approach and the theory of translanguaging. The science content was electricity, and the teaching involved class instruction and hands-on activities in small groups. The findings of the study are divided into two categories, students' conversations with the teacher and student's conversations with each other. Since the class was multilingual, the class instruction was carried out in Swedish. Generally, when the conversations were characterised by an initiation, response and evaluation pattern, the students made meaning of the activities without any language limitations. However, when the students, during whole class instruction, were engaged in conversations where they had to argue, discuss and explain their ideas, their language repertoire in Swedish limited their possibilities to express themselves. During hands-on activities, students with the same minority language worked together and used both of their languages as resources. In some situations, the activities proceeded without any visible language limitations. In other situations, students' language repertoire limited their possibilities to make meaning of the activities despite being able to use both their languages. What the results mean for designing and conducting science lessons in a multilingual class is discussed.
Porta Linguarum Revista Internacional De Didactica De Las Lenguas Extranjeras, 2009
This paper presents the results of a pre-experimental study into language learning in inclusive Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) classrooms at secondary school, in which Science content was taught in English. The pedagogical experience lasted four weeks. The main pedagogical approach followed was the use of learning tasks carried out by students working in dyads. Through the use different indicators extensively employed in the field, the study attempts to measure the gains that students show in fluency and lexical repertoire in a pretest / treatment / post-test research design. The post-test demonstrated significant progress in the assessed indicators. The study also showed that improvements transcend purely formal linguistic aspects and that it is necessary to find other measurement tools which may help us to capture the extent of those improvements. The limited scope of the sample does not allow us to make strong claims about the suitability of pedagogical decisions adopted; however the outcomes encourage us to continue to explore how cooperation among students influences learning in CLIL classrooms.