Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Relationships Among Science Language, Concepts, and Processes: A Study of English Learners in Junior High School Science Classrooms

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Moving the Equity Agenda Forward

Part of the book series: Cultural Studies of Science Education ((CSSE,volume 5))

Abstract

English learners (ELs) encounter the multiple challenges of learning new scientific concepts and processes in the unfamiliar languages of both science and English. In this study, we examined two eighth grade teachers’ physical science classrooms to better understand how ELs, students reclassified as fluent, and students fluent in English negotiated relationships among language, concepts, and processes. More specifically, during a 5-week forces unit, we investigated (1) our teacher participants’ views of effective instruction for EL students, (2) the kinds of learning opportunities they provided and their students took up during instruction, and (3) the science language, concepts, and processes students learned as a result. Data were analyzed along two dimensions identified by teacher participants as central to effective EL instruction: science language supports and science concepts and processes. Findings highlight the complexities of teaching science to English learners: Teachers’ implementation of different kinds of science language supports was inconsistent across lectures and investigations. Findings also foreground the importance of using more than one method to assess student learning: End-of-unit tests and interviews reflected different ways of conceptualizing science as a discourse community and led to differences in students’ perceived science competence. We close with recommendations for improving the teaching and learning of science for EL students.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Bazerman, C. (1988). Shaping written knowledge: The genre and activity of the experimental article in science. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, B. A., & Ryoo, K. (2008). Teaching science as a language: A “content-first” approach to science teaching. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 45(5), 529–553. doi:10.1002/tea.20255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, B. A., & Spang, E. (2008). Double talk: Synthesizing everyday and science language in the classroom. Science Education, 92(4), 708–732. doi:10.1002/sce.20251.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calabrese Barton, A., Tan, E., & Rivet, A. (2008). Creating hybrid spaces for engaging school science among urban middle school girls. American Educational Research Journal, 45(1), 68–103. doi:10.3102/0002831207308641.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • California Department of Education. (2000). Science content standards for California public schools: Kindergarten through grade twelve. Sacramento: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • California Department of Education. (2010, August 2). Academic performance index reports. Retrieved June, 25, 2010, from http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/ap/apireports.asp

  • DeLuca, E. (2010). Unlocking academic vocabulary. The Science Teacher, 77(3), 27–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diaz-Rico, L. T., & Weed, K. Z. (1995). The crosscultural, language, and academic development handbook. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Green, J. L., & Meyer, L. A. (1991). The embeddedness of reading in classroom life: Reading as a situated process. In C. Baker & A. Luke (Eds.), Towards a critical sociology of reading pedagogy (pp. 141–160). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hammond, L. (2001). Notes from California: An anthropological approach to urban science education for language minority families. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 38(9), 983–999. doi:10.1002/tea.1043.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, O., & Fradd, S. H. (1998). Science for all, including students from non-English language backgrounds. Educational Researcher, 27(4), 12–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, O., & Luykx, A. (2006). Science education and student diversity: Synthesis and research agenda. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, O., Lewis, S., Adamson, K., Maerten-Rivera, J., & Secada, W. G. (2008a). Urban elementary school teachers’ knowledge and practices in teaching science to English language learners. Science Education, 92(4), 733–758. doi:10.1002/sce.20255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, O., Maerten-Rivera, J., Penfield, R. D., LeRoy, K., & Secada, W. G. (2008b). Science achievement of English language learners in urban elementary schools: Results of a first-year professional development intervention. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 45(1), 31–52. doi:10.1002/tea.20209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loucks-Horsely, S., Love, N., Stiles, K. E., Mundry, S., & Hewson, P. W. (2010). Designing professional development for teachers of science and mathematics (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moje, E., Collazo, T., Carrillo, R., & Marx, R. W. (2001). “Maestro, what is quality?”: Examining competing discourses in project-based science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 38(4), 469–495. doi:10.1002/tea.1014.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition. (2006). How has the English language learner population changed in recent years? Washington, DC: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Research Council. (2000). Inquiry and the national science education standards. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oakes, J. (1990). Multiplying inequalities: The effects of race, social class, and tracking on opportunities to learn mathematics and science. Santa Monica: RAND Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Snow, C. (2008). Essay: What is the vocabulary of science? In A. S. Rosebery & B. Warren (Eds.), Teaching science to English language learners (pp. 71–83). Arlington: NSTA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Warren, B., Ballenger, C., Ogonoswki, M., Rosebery, A. S., & Hudicourt-Barnes, J. (2001). Rethinking diversity in learning science: The logic of everyday sense-making. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 38(5), 529–552. doi:10.1002/tea.1017.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yerrick, R., & Roth, W.-M. (Eds.). (2005). Establishing scientific classroom discourse communities: Multiple voices of research on teaching and learning. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ruth S. Ammon School of Education, Adelphi University, One South Avenue, Garden City, NY, 11530-0701, USA

    Emily J. S. Kang

  2. Department of Education, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106-9490, USA

    Julie A. Bianchini

Authors
  1. Emily J. S. Kang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Julie A. Bianchini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Emily J. S. Kang .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    Julie A. Bianchini

  2. Curriculum and Instruction School of Education, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA

    Valarie L. Akerson

  3. Department of Teacher Education, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Angela Calabrese Barton

  4. School of Education, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA

    Okhee Lee

  5. Department of Curriculum and Instruction College of Education, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    Alberto J. Rodriguez (Mary Endres Professor of Teacher Education) (Mary Endres Professor of Teacher Education)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Kang, E.J.S., Bianchini, J.A. (2013). Relationships Among Science Language, Concepts, and Processes: A Study of English Learners in Junior High School Science Classrooms. In: Bianchini, J.A., Akerson, V.L., Barton, A.C., Lee, O., Rodriguez, A.J. (eds) Moving the Equity Agenda Forward. Cultural Studies of Science Education, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4467-7_16

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation