English Second Language Students in a Grade 11 Biology Class: Relationships between Language and Learning.

Autor/in	Jaipal, Kamini
Titel	English Second Language Students in a Grade 11 Biology Class: Relationships between Language and Learning.
Quelle	(2001), (14 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Biology; English for Science and Technology; English (Second Language); Foreign Countries; Grade 11; High School Students; High Schools; Second Language Instruction; Second Language Learning; Teacher Role; Teaching Methods; Canada (Vancouver) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Biologie; Technisches Englisch; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Ausland; School year 11; 11. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 11; High school; High schools; Student; Students; Oberschule; Schüler; Schülerin; Studentin; Fremdsprachenunterricht; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Lehrerrolle; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode
Abstract	For English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students learning academic content is complex. The purpose of this study is to explore and gain an understanding of ESL students' participation and learning in grade 11 biology classes in a secondary school in Vancouver, British Columbia. The paper reports on one aspect of the study--the mediational role of language in learning biology terms and concepts. The main question guiding this aspect of the study was: what are the relationships between language and the ESL students' learning of biology terms and concepts? This question was explored by focusing on the following: teaching, how the teacher explains terms and concepts; and learning, how students' interpret terms and concepts in the teacher's oral explanations and written questions. The significance of this study lies in the provision of insights into particular language and content-related issues associated with both the learning and teaching of science in a mainstream secondary science classroom. Results suggest the following: (1) talking about language is integral to biology teaching and learning; (2) teaching involves more than showing and describing concepts in isolation; (3) English words in science worksheets often elicit functional explanations that support the construction of discourses of reasoning; and (4) new labels in second language may refer to a different set of features associated with the concept. (Contains 34 references, 4 figures, and 1 table.) (KFT)
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC