Language in Science Classrooms: An Analysis of Physics Teachers' Use of and Beliefs about Language

Autor/in	Oyoo, Samuel Ouma
Titel	Language in Science Classrooms: An Analysis of Physics Teachers' Use of and Beliefs about Language
Quelle	In: Research in Science Education, 42 (2012) 5, S.849-873 (25 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0157-244X
DOI	10.1007/s11165-011-9228-3
Schlagwörter	Evidence; Teacher Effectiveness; Discussion; Classroom Communication; Language of Instruction; Physics; Classrooms; Science Education; Teaching Methods; Secondary School Science; Secondary Education; Scientific Concepts; Science Instruction; Oral Language; Instructional Effectiveness + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Evidenz; Effectiveness of teaching; Instructional effectiveness; Lehrerleistung; Unterrichtserfolg; Diskussion; Klassengespräch; Teaching language; Unterrichtssprache; Physik; Classroom; Klassenraum; Naturwissenschaftliche Bildung; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Sekundarbereich; Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht; Oral interpretation; Mündlicher Sprachgebrauch
Abstract	The world over, secondary school science is viewed mainly as a practical subject. This may be one reason why effectiveness of teaching approaches in science education has often been judged on the kinds of practical activity with which teachers and students engage. In addition to practical work, language--often written (as in science texts) or oral (as in the form of teacher and student talk)--is unavoidable in effective teaching and learning of science. Generally however, the role of (instructional) language in quality of learning of school science has remained out of focus in science education research. This has been in spite of findings in empirical research on difficulties science students encounter with words of the instructional language used in science. The findings have suggested that use of (instructional) language in science texts and classrooms can be a major influence on the level of students' understandings and retention of science concepts. This article reports and discusses findings in an investigation of physics teachers' approaches to use of and their beliefs about classroom instructional language. Direct classroom observations of, interviews with, as well as content analyses of the participant teachers' verbatim classroom talk, were used as the methods of data collection. Evidence is presented of participant physics teachers' lack of explicit awareness of the difficulty, nature, and functional value of different categories of words in the instructional language. In conclusion, the implications of this lack of explicit awareness on the general education (initial and in-service) of school physics teachers are considered. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10