scholarly journals The role of language in scaffolding content & language integration in CLIL science classrooms

Keyword(s):  
2012 ◽  
Vol 114 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Emdin ◽  
Okhee Lee

Background/Context With the ever increasing diversity of schools, and the persistent need to develop teaching strategies for the students who attend today's urban schools, hip-hop culture has been proposed to be a means through which urban youth can find success in school. As a result, studies of the role of hip-hop in urban education have grown in visibility. Research targeted toward understanding the involvement of urban youth in hip-hop and finding ways to connect them to school often rest primarily on the role of rap lyrics and focus exclusively on language arts and social studies classes. Purpose of the Study The purpose of this article is to move beyond the existing research on science education by utilizing an ongoing study to interrogate hip-hop culture, its relation to the “Obama effect,” and the role of hip-hop culture in creating new possibilities for urban youth in science. The discussion of hip-hop in urban schooling is grounded in the concept of social capital to explain what makes hip-hop youth who they are and how this knowledge can become a tool for supporting their academic success. Specifically, the discussion is based on theoretical constructs related to hip-hop in urban settings, including social networks, identity, and realness and emotional energy. Research Design To explore the complexities of hip-hop and the impact of the artifacts it generates on urban science education, we examined qualitative data illustrating the enactment of hip-hopness or a hip-hop identity in urban science classrooms. Specifically, we examined the “Obama effect” and its connection to hip-hop and science education. Findings The findings indicate that when teachers bring hip-hop into their science instruction, certain markers of interest and involvement that were previously absent from science classrooms become visible. Especially, the examples of the Obama effect in urban high school science classrooms in this article illustrate that science educators can strengthen hip-hop youth's connections to school and science by consistently using the science-related decisions President Obama is making as opportunities to teach science. Conclusions By engaging in a concerted focus on hip-hop culture, science educators can connect urban youth to science in ways that generate a genuine recognition of who they are, an appreciation of their motivation for academic success, and an understanding of how to capitalize on hip-hop culture for their identities as science learners. Such efforts can eventually lead urban youth to become “the best and brightest” in the science classroom and pursue careers in science-related fields.


1993 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clark A. Chinn ◽  
William F. Brewer

Understanding how science students respond to anomalous data is essential to understanding knowledge acquisition in science classrooms. This article presents a detailed analysis of the ways in which scientists and science students respond to such data. We postulate that there are seven distinct forms of response to anomalous data, only one of which is to accept the data and change theories. The other six responses involve discounting the data in various ways in order to protect the preinstructional theory. We analyze the factors that influence which of these seven forms of response a scientist or student will choose, giving special attention to the factors that make theory change more likely. Finally, we discuss the implications of our framework for science instruction.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 315-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kok-Sing Tang

Abstract This commentary to the special issue “Teaching, Learning and Scaffolding in CLIL Science Classrooms” synthesizes the contributions from the authors by addressing two overarching questions. First, what is the role of language in mediating science teaching and learning in a CLIL science classroom? Second, to what extent can content and language be integrated or separated in CLIL instruction and assessment? In addressing the first question, I distil three major perspectives of how the authors conceive the role of language as a scaffolding tool. These roles are: (a) providing the discursive means and structure for classroom interaction to occur, (b) enabling students’ construction of knowledge through cognitive and/or linguistic processes, and (c) providing the semantic relationships for science meaning-making. These three perspectives roughly correspond to the discursive, cognitive-linguistic, and semiotic roles of language respectively. In addition, two other roles – epistemic and affective, though not emphasized in this issue, are also discussed. In addressing the second question, I raise a dilemma concerning the integration of content and language. While there are clear political and theoretical arguments calling for an inseparable integration, there is also a common practice to separate content and language as distinct entities for various pedagogical and analytical purposes. In revolving this conundrum, I suggest a way forward is to consider the differences in the various roles of language (discursive/cognitive/linguistic vs. semiotic/epistemic/affective) or the levels of language involved (lexicogrammar vs. text/genre).


Author(s):  
Vesna Ferk Savec

The article examines the opportunities and challenges for the use of ICT in science education in the light of science teachers’ Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). Some of the variables that have been studied with regard to TPACK framework in science classrooms (such as teachers' self-efficacy, gender, teaching experience, teachers’ believes, etc.) are reviewed, also variations of TPACK framework specific for science education are elaborated. In conclusion some of the aspects of TPACK in science education that need to be addressed in future are indicated, e.g. the development of subject specific ICT-based resources and e-learning platforms; training to develop science teachers’ integrated skills for the implementation of ICT in their subject teaching; the importance of continuous encouraging of science teachers’ for their participation in in-service training related to the use of ICT; and the examination of the role of science teachers’ TPACK in developing of students’ 21st century trans-disciplinary skills.


2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 268-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gard Ove Sørvik ◽  
Sonja M. Mork

This article provides an introduction to what it means to adopt a view of literacy as social practice for science education. This view of literacy builds on the idea that reading and writing are best regarded as situated social practices involving text, not as a set of decontextualised and universally applicable skills. First, we draw on sociocultural perspectives on literacy to show how these perspectives inform our understanding of literacy when the context is science. Second, we use related research literature, mainly concerning the role of text in science education, to present a framework for approaching literacy in science classrooms from a sociocultural perspective. Finally, we discuss how a social view of literacy enables us to consider how literacy occurs in contexts relevant to a transcending science subject for scientific literacy.


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