Current Issues and Perspectives on Second Language Learning of Science

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Current Issues and Perspectiveson Second Language Learningof ScienceMarissa Rollnick aa University of the Witwatersrand , South AfricaPublished online: 28 Mar 2008.

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Studies in Science Education, 35 (2000) 93-122 93

Current Issues and Perspectives on Second Language Learning of Science

MARISSA ROLLNICK University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

INTRODUCTION

The importance of language to the learning of science has long been recognised, but recent theoretical work on learning in science has foregrounded language even more than it has been in the past (e.g. Scott, 1998). To attempt to survey all the literature related to language in the learning of science, to do the field justice, would require several reviews such as the present one. A recent article in this journal (O'Toole, 1996) examined the classroom interface between science and language in general. This article looks specifically at the challenges faced by second language learners in the learning of science, though some of the work cited has been done with first language learners.

Unfortunately, decisions concerning the use of language in the classroom are frequently not based on findings related to best practice in education. In an earlier article (Rollnick, 1998), I make the point that such decisions are often made on political rather than educational grounds. Further, the implications of these decisions may reach far beyond the classroom. It would not be too far fetched to say that the 1976 riots in Soweto, sparked off by a dispute about medium of instruction, proved to be a turning point in the battle against apartheid in South Africa.

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I pointed out that second language (L2) learners of science fall into two broad categories:

• Category one: those who have come to a country having received part or all of their schooling in another language.

• Category two: those who are citizens of a multilingual country where the language of official communication and the economy is a former colonial language appropriated for social use and who are 'officially' taught at school through the medium of that language.

Category one learners are usually minorities in developed countries such as the United States. They are frequently immersed in English in the school situation and to some extent in their everyday lives. The increasing percentage of these L2 learners in the education system in the USA is highlighted by Rosenthal (1996). TESOL (Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages) practitioners usually refer to this category as learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL).

Category two learners are usually majorities in developing countries that are former colonies. For former British colonies this language would be English. Learners encounter English for the first time at school and are expected within four or five years to learn through the medium of English. English will thus be the official language of instruction from then onwards, although there are signs that home language instruction takes place well into secondary school (Watson and Bashe, 1996). TESOL practitioners tend to refer to this category as English as a Second Language (ESL).

For both EFL and ESL learners the problems of learning through a second language are often compounded by other factors contributing to disadvantage, such as poverty and poor education.

This paper examines some recent findings related to the learning of science through a second language. Firstly, it examines some theoretical perspectives on language and learning in science. Next, some perspectives on the place of culture in relation to language are provided. Starting from this background, an update is provided on the medium of instruction debate. This is followed by a look at reading and writing. Finally research on language and teaching approaches is appraised, followed by that on language and learning.

First it is necessary to examine the theoretical perspectives which assist in understanding the role of language in learning, especially in science learning.

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Second Language Learning in Science 95

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES

Early language theorists and constructivists, have had an influence on thinking about the relationship between language and learning. In recent years the socially orientated theories of Vygotsky (1978) and the school of situated cognition (e.g. Lemke, 1997 and Brown et al., 1989) have had a growing influence on research in the area of language and learning.

Scott (1998) traces the gradual development of interest of science educationists from the later writings of Wittgenstein (1953) and Vygotsky (1978). He characterises this as a shift away from a cognitivist approach to learning towards a 'social' approach to the way meanings are constructed in a classroom, in contrast to a 'basic skills approach' to learning (Duran et al., 1998). Social constructivists consider meaning to be constructed through social practices. So Vygotsky considers learning to be a type of enculturation which occurs through the adoption of social practices. The concept of mediation of shared discourse through language lies at the basis of Vygotsky's work. This view of necessity integrates theories about language and learning.

Vygotsky is best known for his development of the notion of Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), which supports a theory of assisted learning. The ZPD refers to a level of development which can only be reached by a learner with the assistance of a 'more capable peer'. The strength of the theory is seen as the important role it gives to the 'more capable peer', or the teacher, with whom meaning is developed through shared discourse. The mediator of this shared discourse is language, which Vygotsky regards as inseparable from thought. Hence Sutton (1996) refers to science learning as 'learning to talk in new ways' and Lemke (1990) says, 'Learning science involves learning to talk science'. Thus, according to Sutton and Lemke, language is an essential tool for learning science. Vygotsky sees language as the mediator of thought (in this case, scientific thought) and the concept of the ZPD establishes a vital role for the teacher. Language is thus the link between the learner who is learning to talk science and the teacher who mediates scientific thought within the ZPD.

The ideas of Vygotsky began to gain recognition in mathematics education during the 1990s, in a swing away from Piaget's and von Glasersfeld's radical constructivist theories (Ellerton, 1999). They contribute also to the work of Lave and Wenger (1991), who also propose a theory which considers learning as an integral part of a social practice. They contrast this to views which consider cognitive processes to be primary in learning. In a later work Lave (1997) contrasts what she calls the 'culture of acquisition' to 'understanding in practice'. For Lave and Wenger (1991) learners are initially apprentices engaging in 'legitimate peripheral participation' which describes

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the relationship between newcomers and old timers. The newcomers' move from legitimate peripheral participation to full participation describes how they become part of the community of practice.

Both Lemke (1997) and Gee (1997) have used ideas of situated cognition in the context of learning through language, Lemke coming from a science education perspective and Gee from a language perspective. Both were considering situations where learning was taking place through a learner's home language. However it is possible to extrapolate much of their work to second language learning situations, together with other work done in the area.

Swales (1990) identifies two separate movements in applied linguistics, one called the writing across the curriculum, or WAC movement and the other called the English for Academic Purposes, or EAP movement. The WAC movement is largely concerned with the use of various subjects studied as a vehicle for improving writing. This is in contrast to the 'writing to learn' movement, described later in this paper.

Swales' characterisation of the EAP movement, on the other hand, can be best linked to a general movement, referred to as ESP (English for Specific purposes) which subsumes EAP and EST (English for Science and Technology). In an earlier work, Swales (1985) provides an overview of the growth of ESP which includes EST, the main concern of this paper. EST is concerned with helping learners to become sufficiently proficient in English to work with Science and Technology. While most attention in this area has been focused on the undergraduate level in tertiary education, the present paper will span the entire formal schooling range, from the beginning of primary school into tertiary education in science.

Within the ESP movement, the concept of 'communicative competence', evolved by sociolinguists (e.g. Hymes, 1974) has become very significant. It rests on the premise that language is not just a set of grammatical structures but a communication system (Munby, 1978). This realisation endorsed a sociolinguistic and socio-cultural view of language, in which the meaning carried by the language used in a particular situation or context is associated with its function in that context (Halliday, 1973; Hymes, 1974; Widdowson, 1979). These functions often have academic or professional relevance. For example, Halliday and Martin (1993) suggest that even first language English speakers recognise scientific discourse as a type of English, but not like the one they commonly use, and are alienated by it. Lemke (1997) identifies this issue as one of situated context. He says,

The tradition of social semiotics on which I principally draw .... began from an analysis of how we make meaning with the lexical

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and grammatical resources of language in particular situated contexts. In this model [his model] , however, it is not only the context of situation that is relevant, but also the context of culture. (p.49)

Communicative competence in real life situations comes from first understanding what it means to communicate and through extensive practice in doing so (Savignon, 1983). In other words, the way a person uses language has something to do with the way s/he conceives of its role. So Hymes (1974) argues that one must take into account not only knowledge of language but also its appropriateness, feasibility and correctness in a given context.

Linked to Hymes' idea is the concept of genre. Swales (1990) developed this concept to analyse different types of writing at academic and tertiary level. In another approach, the Australian school of genre analysis (Martin, 1985; Christie, 1997) has focused on the significance of genres at school level. Children's success at school depends on their ability to master different genres of both writing and speech. Christie defines a genre as 'a staged purposive activity where certain goals are achieved'. Genres are built through changing sets of register choices. According to Martin (1985) there is an intimate relationship of register to social context. So every genre is a type of text which is socially situated and has an identifiable purpose. Those familiar with particular genres belong to a discourse community, which can be related to community of practice as defined by Lave (1997). Becoming a member of a discourse community implies a mastery of the genres particular to that discourse community.

Gee (1997) maintains that without reference to community of practice, even genres of writing have no meaning. So 'an essay review', 'a theoretical piece' or a 'laboratory report' has situated meanings in certain academic fields. It is easier for a first language speaker to master a genre like a laboratory report as they are better able to identify the appropriate register to use.

Hence, effective communication requires extensive experience of and familiarity with the activities of a particular discourse community. Learners are certainly familiar with the home social situations. However, unless they are familiar with the task environment of the classroom or laboratory and the activities that take place within it, even high linguistic competence will not significantly affect the effectiveness of what they communicate, i.e. their communicative competence. The ability to communicate is not exclusively dependent on linguistic competence but may rely extensively on other external factors and conceptions such as students' understanding of concepts, procedures and the social dynamics of the laboratory. This view of

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communicative competence does not regard language use as being separate from the activity which is being described.

Thus second language learners in a formal schooling situation are doubly challenged, in their need to learn both the social practice of the language and its place in the new social practice they are attempting to join, in this case, science.

The question of culture is inseparable from language issues. Learners learning science through a second language more visibly originate from a non-western culture and hence the role of culture is central.

THE PLACE OF CULTURE

Two distinct threads on the idea of culture have developed in mathematics and science education. In science education, cognitive ideas have held sway, supported by the 'world view' theory of Cobern (1996), who maintains that traditional theories of conceptual change are flawed, because a concept or belief will only have force in a learner's belief system if it fits in with his or her world view. Jegede (1995) also provides a cognitivist theory which he calls 'collateral learning'. This type of learning results, in Jegede's view, when duality in thought and actions are created in the schema of learners, within a resilient prior or indigenous knowledge framework. Aikenhead (1996) develops Jegede's ideas further with the concept of border crossing, which he maintains is managed with various degrees of ease depending on culture and preparedness of the learner. Very little is said about language in the exposition of these theories.

The view from mathematics educators is quite different. According to Ellerton (1999), theories have tended to be based on social constructivist ideas emanating from Vygotsky and into situated cognition. This has resulted in a holistic view of culture that encompasses language. This view of the all-encompassing nature of culture is illustrated in a definition of culture by Mousley and Clements (1990) which clearly defines it as the over riding concept embracing language:

The term culture generally refers to a social heritage - those characteristic behaviours which are transmitted from one generation to the next. While the notion of culture includes collective mental artifacts such as symbols, ideas, beliefs and aesthetic perceptions .... it also embodies the distinctive forms of discourse ... (p.398)

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As discussed in the previous section, the view of learning as situated cognition considers language to be integral to the social practice, or to the culture in which the learner engages as a legitimate peripheral participant. Attempts such as that of Lynch and Jones (1996) to separate the variables of language and culture are thus flawed when viewed from this perspective.

There is, however some evidence of a shift in the views of science educationists on the issue of culture and science learning. A recent special edition of the Journal of Research in Science Teaching still contained three articles which could be said to subscribe to the 'world view theory' (Aikenhead and Jegede, 1999; Waldrip and Taylor, 1999; Shumba, 1999). The findings of these studies mostly relate to conditions under which learners of different cultures are able to 'cross borders' into the scientific world. In these studies the concept of culture appears to encompass language, as it is not dealt with separately. However Akatugba and Wallace (1999) in the same issue show some leanings towards Vygotsky's ideas, elucidated above, while Dzama and Osborne (1999) provide a critique of the 'world view' hypothesis and argue that in all cultures there is a gap between the culture of science and of society. Their critique is, however, based on a small quantitative study, which provides weak support for their arguments when compared to the rich ethnographic data used as a basis for the arguments of Cobern, Aikenhead and Jegede. Elsewhere in the literature there are signs of a growing following of the 'situated cognition' paradigm, as evidenced by Scott (1998), Duran et al. (1998) and Kelly and Chen (1999). A more coherent view of culture would thus be one where a learner of science needs to become a participant in the social practice of science - essentially joining a new culture. This would apply to all learners of science, irrespective of culture - a view more consonant with those of Dzama and Osborne (1999) and Ellerton (1999) above. More work would need to be done to establish a firmer base for these ideas.

If language is indeed the expression of culture, then it is particularly important and necessary to look at the strategies which have been used by teachers and learners where there is a need to use more than one language in the classroom.

THE MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION DEBATE - AN UPDATE

English as a 'scientific language'

The ambivalent status of English referred to in the introduction has made the decision about medium of instruction in schools a thorny one. On the one

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hand, English is regarded as indispensable for communication of science internationally and for explaining clearly the concepts of science. Many languages, it is argued, do not possess the vocabulary needed for scientific concepts and produce inappropriate associations when coined words are used (Isa and Maskill, 1982). Furthermore, Strevens (1980) stresses the importance of non science-specific words, such as logico-grammatical items. He claims that those who cannot handle such items in English, will not be able to handle science in English. On the other hand it is acknowledged that expecting students to learn a new and difficult subject through the medium of a second language is unreasonable, giving them a double task of mastering both science content and language. As has been seen above, it is frequently the most disadvantaged students who are given this double task.

Although much of the above argument suggests that being a second language speaker is necessarily a disadvantage, it is important to realise that bilingualism can be an advantage in concept acquisition, as it helps the learner to see different representations of the same ideas (Swain and Cummins, 1979; Opoku, 1983). Despite this finding, little research has been done on the methods of exploiting bilingualism for concept acquisition.

It should also be borne in mind that language problems in science are not confined to second language learners. Garraway (1994) points out that the difference between everyday language and science or mathematics terminology also leads to first language speakers learning a new language when learning science. This view is echoed by situated cognition theorists such as Lemke (1997), who maintain that learning science is learning to participate in a new social practice. The learning of a new language is itself part of another social practice, so a learner learning science through a second language is trying to become initiated into two social practices at once. World view theorists, too would argue for the use of home language to facilitate the 'border crossing' between the learners own culture and that of the culture of science (Aikenhead and jegede, 1999).

Views about first language instruction in science

There is overwhelming support in the literature for either home language instruction or bilingual programmes with strong home language support extending for a substantial number of years into schooling. Cummins (1999) makes a strong case against all-English programmes. He attacks what he calls a dominant view that only 'methodologically acceptable studies' can serve as evidence of the success or failure of bilingual programmes. 'Methodologically acceptable studies' are referred to as those which had a statistically acceptable

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design with control groups and a high degree of statistical rigour. Cummins points out that even the few studies considered methodologically acceptable suffer from the flaw of neglecting theoretical issues around the effectiveness of different language approaches. The tendency is to try and link research issues directly to policy without viewing them through the lens of sound theory. When research was considered in the light of established theory in bilingual research, Cummins and Corson (1997) found that the major theoretical argument underlying the push for all English programmes with second language learners was without merit. People who believe that 'time on task', in this case exposure to their second language, is effective have been refuted by the outcomes of countless bilingual programmes (Cummins and Corson, 1997). Cummins (1999) quotes reviews from Corson (1993) and Cummins (1996) who claim that in many evaluations of these programmes around the world students were judged to have suffered no adverse effects in their mastery of the official language (e.g. English in the United States) as a result of spending significant instructional time using the home language.

In South Africa Heugh (1999) shows that the pass rate of school leavers has actually dropped since 1976 when there was a major change of language policy, largely as a result of political uprisings. Before 1976, black children in South Africa were taught in their home language throughout primary school. In secondary school they switched to English and Afrikaans. The issue sparking off the riots was in fact the so-called 50:50 policy in the secondary schools, where pupils were compelled to learn half their subjects through the medium of Afrikaans and half through the medium of English. This unpopular policy was dropped after 1976, but so was the policy of 'home language only' in primary school, which Heugh maintains was beneficial. The policy which replaced this, similar to several Anglophone countries in Africa and Asia, is one of home language instruction for four years and a switch to English in the fifth year. Heugh claims that by the end of four years of home language medium instruction, accompanied by English as a subject, learners have acquired a vocabulary of about 800 English words, far short of the 5000 she considers to be necessary to cope with English as a medium of instruction.

Bunyi (1999) argues strongly for home language instruction. She produces data from Kenya to show how the use of English leads to inequalities in education. She maintains that when science is taught through the medium of English, learners are not able to apply what they have learnt in science to everyday life. She argues that all languages have the capacity to develop and meet all communication needs of the users. In another Kenyan study at the primary level, Cleghorn (1992) found that important ideas were conveyed more easily when the teacher did not adhere to the policy of English-only instruction.

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Prophet and Dow (1994), working in Botswana, found that variations in the language of instruction affect concept attainment for students emerging from primary school, but not as greatly for children who are two years older. This indirectly provides evidence that home language is unofficially in use to the end of primary school. These findings are confirmed by a study on chemistry teaching at senior secondary level in Malawi. Reinhard (1996) found no significant difference in achievement scores between an experimental and control group using English and Chichewa as the medium of instruction. However she did report qualitative evidence which suggested that there had been positive effects resulting from the novel use of Chichewa.

Research by McNaught (1991) suggests that there are considerable problems around constructing meaning at the interface between Zulu and English. Despite this, Dlodlo (1999) argues strongly for the development of Nguni (Zulu, Xhosa and related languages) scientific words in order to enable the learning of science through the medium of those languages.

Code Switching

Code switching or code mixing refers to switching between two languages where the speaker has some measure of competence (Rollnick, 1998). This phenomenon has been observed at all levels of education, from early primary school to the teacher training level.

An example at the primary level is provided by Martin (1999) who considers the learner's home language to be potentially the most valuable resource in the classroom. He reports on code switching in an extensive ethnographic study in two grade four classrooms in Brunei, where pupils are beginning to learn science through the medium of English, having spent their early years of primary education learning through the medium of Bahasia Malaysia. In the study he saw how the two languages were used to provide contexts for meaning in the two classrooms. Switches between languages were very clearly indexed by the teacher and were used to explain difficult concepts, on one end of the spectrum, and chorus-type gap filling answers, referred to as 'oral cloze', on the other. Much of the code switching takes place within IRF sequences (initiation, response, feedback sequences: Sinclair and Coulthard, 1975). This common type of code switching which has been described as a 'label quest' has been noted in other classrooms, for example in Burundi (Ndiyapfukamiye, 1993). Martin criticises detractors of code switching and considers the effectiveness of code switching in classrooms to be under-researched.

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One particular strategy noted by Martin is the use of pupils to read aloud an English text, with code switching by the teacher to mediate the text. A particularly interesting issue missed by Martin in his analysis is the selective translation by the teacher of a portion of the text. The relevant portion of the text was: 'Carbohydrates give us energy to work and play. Too little of them makes us weak and tired'. The teacher spent considerable time translating and explaining the phrases 'to work and play' and 'too little of them will make us weak and tired'. The most conceptually difficult part of the sentence, 'carbohydrates give us energy' remained untranslated. This is the part of the sentence that may be described as 'the language of science'. A simple translation here would not by itself enlighten the class any further, as the teacher would have been required to explain the abstract concept of energy as well. This is the kind of concept which is only appreciated as it is used in context, as the learner participates in the social practice which is science.

At the secondary level, Adendorff (1993 and 1996) looks at switches between Zulu and English in South African classrooms. He views these switches as 'guiding the participants' interpretations of academic goals and intentions as well as their interpretations of social relationships in the classroom.' In the biology lesson, the switches to Zulu provide contextualisation cues which are semantically empty but alert pupils to the fact that a key term is about to be introduced for the first time.

Among teachers Rutherford and I have obtained some interesting insights into code switching through the taping of groups of Swazi pre-service teachers engaged in experimental work (Rollnick and Rutherford, 1996). Transcripts of mainly SiSwati group discussion were examined in an attempt to determine why changes to English occurred. In some cases it was clear why a change of language had taken place, but at other times, even the speaker could not explain the change of language. Language changes occurred

• when a quotation was made from the materials. This is an obvious reason for a change of language, as the materials were in English.

• when a word describing a scientific concept was needed or the English form was more compact than the SiSwati.

• to repeat the explanation of something explained in English.

In addition, a switch to English will often happen because a group is preparing to record something in writing.

Use of home language can often bring to the surface alternative conceptions which would otherwise not have been detected. SiSwati was also

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the preferred language for communicating procedural matters, such as counting collisions of marbles when operating a kinetic theory model. However, the names of the numbers themselves were expressed in English. Another way in which SiSwati was most useful was when one student wished to clarify concepts for another in a group situation.

Some interventions to support first language learning

In New Zealand, concern about poor educational participation of Maoris has led to the development of a curriculum employing the medium of Maori languages which takes account of Maori culture (McKinley et al., 1992; Barker, 1999). The commission developing the curriculum has taken care to coin new words in Maori language for science concepts, as it believes that mere transliteration will not allow the meaning of the word to be conveyed in context. However Garraway (1994) cites evidence that efforts to enrich national languages with scientific terms have not met with success. On the other hand, Seddon and Waweru (1987), working with Kenyan students, found that scientific concepts were effectively transferred from one language to another.

In another South African study at the secondary level, Nkopodi and Rutherford (1993) experimented with teaching materials in English, but specially designed for second language learners. These worksheets still required a translation of the instructions by the teacher for their successful operation. This approach has been dubbed 'translation with discretion'.

Conflict between educational and social issues

The above discussion indicates that for the most part, current educational theories suggest that the use of the home language or a bilingual approach to learning science would be preferable. The question then arises as to why so many countries have adopted an approach of second language instruction. Necessary conditions for second language instruction cited by Vijnevold (1999) are as follows:

• teachers' language proficiency in the target language; • teachers' competence as second language teachers with an understanding

of problems of learning in a second language and how to overcome these; • exposure of a learner to the target language outside the classroom; • the provision of graded language textbooks, especially in the content

subjects in the early phases of learning.

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After years of unpopular official language policies, South Africa has finally adopted a constitution which endorses eleven official languages and passed an Education Act which approves multilingual classrooms. Langhan (1996) in an influential position paper provides a fresh perspective on this view. He claims that any language can be developed to take the conceptual, cognitive and linguistic load of science, mathematics and technology, providing adequate resources and official commitment are allocated to its development. He considers the use of home language or primary language appropriate if

• the learners' primary language has not developed to the level where they have the conceptual and linguistic prerequisites for the acquisition of literacy skills in an additional language, e.g. English;

• teachers are not well trained or competent in the use of the additional language;

• learners are not regularly exposed to the use of the additional language outside the classroom;

• there is pressure in the home or the community for literacy or language maintenance in the primary language;

• the wider community views the primary language to be of lower status than the additional language, leading to low self esteem on the part of the learners.

As can be seen, two of Langhan's points closely match Vijnevold's conditions cited above, though Vijnevold's points highlight purely educational issues. However the conflict arises when contradictory social conditions prevail, for example when teachers are not well trained in the use of English, but there is pressure from the community for use of English in the classroom. Another issue highlighted by both Vijnevold and Langhan is the issue of the teacher's own mastery of the second language, particularly at the primary level. Peacock (1995) alludes to this when discussing teachers' use of text: see below. I have discussed elsewhere the problem of implementing innovations where the teacher's mastery of English is limited (Rollnick et al., 1998a).

The current policy operating in South African schools is official support for a bilingual model with an affirmation of the right of an individual to receive home language instruction as much as practicable. School governing bodies are required to determine the school's language policy (Vijnevold, 1999). However a series of research projects funded by the President's Education Initiative have established that few schools have developed formal language policies. This is attributed to 'the result of tensions between a humanistic ideology, the actualities of schools and classrooms, and a society in which values are increasingly those of the market place' (Vijnevold, 1999, p.224).

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However in the end, the decision is usually political rather than educational or economic. As alluded to in the introduction, South Africa's history is full of disputes over language of instruction policies that were taken to entrench various generations of political aspirations, from the British supremacy policies of the 1930s where Afrikaners were forced to speak English to the policies leading up to the Soweto riots in 1976. Peacock (1995) cites the case of Namibia where, after independence, English was chosen as the medium of instruction for schools, even though Afrikaans was the lingua franca for 98% of Namibians. It would have been difficult for the newly independent government to adopt Afrikaans after its lengthy struggle against apartheid.

In Malaysia, Bahasia Malaysia was adopted as the medium of instruction in order to promote the national aspirations of Malaysian people. On the other hand, in neighbouring Brunei, where Bahasia Malaysia is also the dominant home language, after an initial three years of Bahasia Malaysia instruction, the policy is one of English medium instruction. In a recent conference held in Brunei on Cultural and Language Aspects of Science, Mathematics and Technical Education (Clements and Pak, 1999), Bruneian contributions contained much evidence of the problems of second language instruction. However current research shows no evidence of difficulties arising from the use of Bahasia Malaysia instruction in Malaysia. Once the difficult step of deciding to use home language as a medium of instruction has been taken, many of the problems such as those described in Brunei seem to be avoided.

Texts are one of the key issues in learning science irrespective of language background, but their use becomes a key issue when the medium of instruction is not the learner's home language. The section below will focus on texts, and will restrict itself to second language contexts, though it is clear that some of the points made may well apply to first language speakers as well.

TEXT IN SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING OF SCIENCE

In a study of ESL learners at the primary school level Peacock (1995) found that in most developing countries, particularly in Africa, teachers are poorly qualified, both in terms of their science content knowledge and in their command of the English language. The text book, if it is present, is frequently the only resource available to teachers. However they find it difficult to mediate the text owing to their own lack of background.

Their problem is compounded when, as MacDonald (1990) found, there is a marked disparity in the demands of the English language reading books and the English medium science texts for the year of transition from home

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language instruction to English medium. The science texts were judged to be more difficult in terms of vocabulary, sentence structure and style. A similar finding was reported by Ryf and Cleghorn (1997) in Zimbabwe. The difficulties in vocabulary are supported by Tendencia (1999) who looked at words in textbooks found difficult by Grade 4 and 5 Bruneian children. The words 'describe' and 'observe' were universally mentioned. Peacock(1995) found that the expository nature of science text made it particularly inaccessible to second language learners and that illustrations did not necessarily help, unless well mediated by teachers. He regards the advent of comic forms particularly welcome, and they have proved accessible and enjoyable to learners at this level. One such example is the Handspring project in South Africa (Rollnick et al., 1998a).

At the secondary level, Kearsey and Turner (1999) show how subjecting textbooks to genre analysis can assist in judging their accessibility. Again, their expository nature makes texts inaccessible to school pupils, leaving teachers to mediate what Lemke (1982) refers to as 'the ponderous style of text book science'. O'Toole (1996) explains that it is no accident that scientific prose is so compact. Scientists consider it necessary in order to communicate accurately with their peers. However, pupils in schools are not the peers of scientists. Nor are they even apprentice scientists - in Lave and Wenger's (1991) terms, legitimate peripheral participants. They are more often than not future citizens aspiring to be scientifically literate.

In our own study, we found that in many cases secondary school pupils in Swaziland actually had text books but they did not appear to utilise them (Rollnick et al., 1998b). Like some mother birds, the teacher pre-digests the text book and delivers it to the pupils in the form of notes to copy from the board. Doidge (1997) looked at the readability of South African biology textbooks and found that most were not very accessible. At best they could be read with extensive mediation from the teacher. A similar set studied by Linkonyane and Sanders (1997) revealed errors in the books on the topic of respiration in biology. In another study, Clark (1997) describes an attempt to write accessible materials for grade 9 learners in South Africa. He makes the point that the most difficult words for the learners were non-technical words. At the secondary school level similar findings were reported by Prophet and Towse (1999) in both Botswana and Britain: they found that familiar words in a science context presented great difficulty to second language learners. The concern was greatest for the second language learners in Britain whose learning was further hampered by socio-economic disadvantage.

At the tertiary level, Chen and Donin (1997) studied how Chinese speaking postgraduates processed biology texts in their home language and in

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English. They found that domain-specific knowledge was a far more important factor in their comprehension of text than language proficiency. There was no difference in the recall ability of the subjects in relation to the use of English or Chinese, and more language-proficient students could read faster than those who were less proficient. The authors do caution that the general English proficiency of all subjects in the study was not particularly low, though some were better than others. Nevertheless, the findings of this study can be supported by Gee (1997) who states

Learning to read situated texts of certain types is like learning the meanings of words. It is a matter of having lots of experiences that allow one to become familiar with patterns and sub patterns, that is, what I have called situated meanings ... guided by cultural models that explicate and evaluate these situated meanings, and are, in turn, ultimately formed by them. (p.255)

The subjects in Chen and Donin's study would be EFL learners of science, as they can generally be assumed to have a reasonable schooling background in general.

WRITING, & WRITING FOR LEARNING

One of the recent thrusts in the field of writing in science is the 'writing to learn' initiative (Rivard, 1994) which has primarily been used with first language speakers. Major proponents of this approach are Prain and Hand (1999) who looked at secondary school students' perceptions of creative writing tasks in science, including brochures, rap songs and poetry. They found that writing for a purpose in diversified ways did develop student knowledge and metacognitive skills and strategies, but many students were unable to give a broader account of why these skills may be useful. Keys( 1999a), on the other hand, feels that the traditional genres of scientific writing should be explicitly taught. She contends that creative writing competes for time and energy with thinking about science concepts. In another study on writing investigations, Keys( 1999b) found that while some students were able to generate new meaning through their writing, most were not able to do so.

Two South African studies in the 'writing to learn' tradition were carried out in a second language learning context. Campbell et al. (in press) and Allie et al. (1997) looked at writing intensive laboratory reports. The students' involved in the study were enrolled in a university access course for

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underprepared students. Although firmly rooted in the scientific genre, the writing task was one of writing for an audience and with a purpose, rather than producing a traditional, closed ended laboratory report. Like Keys (1999a), the authors conclude that it is important to teach science specific writing skills explicitly. They also identify coherence as a key issue in the assessment of the laboratory reports. Davidowitz et al. (1997) and Davidowitz and Churms (1999) describe a contextualised writing project for a group of second year undergraduate students in chemistry. The majority of this group were also second language learners, mostly ESL, as defined in the introduction to this paper. The assessment of this task targeted both writing skills and conceptual understanding in the chemistry topic, and involved a process approach to writing which allowed for consultation over drafts between student and tutor. The authors point out the importance of the consultation process used, especially in improving the performance of the second language students. The response of the students to the task was also largely positive.

Rosenthal (1996) claims that adult learners of a second language often find learning to write the new language easier than learning to speak it. She attributes this to the presence of a 'monitor' which these learners use to check themselves. She makes the point that learners engaged in the monitoring process frequently gain proficiency quicker in writing tasks, as there is more time for the monitoring to take place. This would be the case for EFL learners as defined in the early part of this paper. Coming from a more advantaged educational background, EFL learners are able to apply learning techniques which have worked for them in the past. Zeegers and Giles (1996) evaluated a series of first year university biology essay tasks in Australia. 12.5% of the students in their sample were EFL students. There was no significant difference between the essay scores of these and first language speakers, but they spent on an average twice as much time reading for and writing the essays.

However for ESL learners, verbal facility comes far more easily and the battle is usually to improve academic writing, especially at the tertiary level. Three studies with which I have been associated (Rollnick et al., 1992, Rollnick et al., 1993 and Rollnick, 1994) provide examples of initiatives where the teaching of writing skills is integrated into the teaching of the science content, in this case chemistry.

The first study (Rollnick et al., 1992) describes a process approach to essay writing including a stage of peer review of drafts which was successful. As it involves repeated drafting and consulting, the process approach is time consuming for instructors, but the use of peer review helps to reduce dependence on staff time, a problem highlighted in Churms et al. (1995). The challenge is to teach the learners to analyse writing critically when reviewing colleagues' work.

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The second study (Rollnick et al., 1993) was a development from the essay writing exercise described above. Groups of students were required to produce posters on a topic of chemistry and make an oral presentation, so this was an exercise both in writing and oral presentation. This was thought to be a better preparation for the type of writing called for in examinations. The type of condensation of information required for presentation on a poster requires a far higher level of comprehension than that required when space is less limited for presentation. This assumption was borne out by the high performance of the students in the examination question which was subsequently set to test this task.

The third study (Rollnick, 1994) found that the use of e-mail in communicating chemistry content motivates students to express their chemistry ideas in writing. This medium also provided a good means of promoting metacognitive awareness. The language of the messages suggested that the students were writing with readers in mind. This is generally regarded as a major step forward in teaching learner writers to express themselves. It was also obvious from both their style and way in which they exposed their ideas that they felt themselves to be in a non-threatening situation. It is possible that the use of this medium approximates more closely oral interaction.

The main message is that the learner must have a need to communicate content to readers. This point has also been highlighted by Raimes (1991) when she says that writing should be for a purpose and not a mere exercise. This message is connected to communication overall and links to the teaching of all language skills in science. The approach suggested by Raimes falls short of direct teaching of genres and initiating ESL learners as members of a discourse community. Johns (1997) argues strongly for such an approach as the only way forward for them to write texts which are appropriate to the community of practice of their discipline. She strongly rejects views that writing tasks aimed at ESL learners in an academic context should not involve initiation into disciplines, but should be limited to straightforward instruction on English composition.

The final issue to be discussed in this paper is the key relationship between language and learning.

LANGUAGE & TEACHING APPROACHES

Evidence and beliefs about best practice in science teaching methods are often developed in first world and first language teaching situations and then simply transferred to economically disadvantaged, developing country and second language contexts. Current wisdom about inquiry based methods of teaching

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science recommends that the teacher's role to be that of a facilitator, and manager of the teaching situation, rather than the centre and transmitter of all knowledge.

Fradd and Lee (1999) looked at Hispanic and Haitian teachers in inner city primary schools in the United States as they taught inquiry based lessons. They suggest that approaches for enabling students to become independent learners may be different for students from diverse language and culture backgrounds. They found that Hispanic and Haitian students can successfully learn to appropriate the language and culture of science. They support the view of Rosebery et al. (1992) that with teachers' encouragement, students learning English can learn to pose questions, devise plans, test hypotheses and engage in scientific discourse. Throughout the process teachers assist, support and guide the students without offering answers.

Fradd and Lee found that the teachers who share the languages and cultures of the students often bring to the teaching situation styles of teaching which are more appropriate to the students' needs. For example, learners with more authoritarian cultures may benefit from a more direct explicit approach which would be deemed to be teacher-centred by outsiders. They found that the Haitian teachers adopted a didactic style and often conducted inquiry lessons like a 'conducting an orchestra', while the Hispanic teachers frequently talked simultaneously with the students. Fradd and Lee assert that teachers do require knowledge of the nature of science which may at times be in conflict with local cultural values. They also noted that

language proficiency and literacy were closely related to science learning. Students with little science knowledge and vocabulary produced the least amount of language and were least aware of how to use cognitive strategies. Students with moderate science knowledge and vocabulary frequently produced the largest amount of language, often talking in circular and repetitive ways. These students frequently used a variety of science strategies. Students with comprehensive science knowledge and vocabulary often used a moderate amount of language, spoke precisely using specific vocabulary and used strategies related to the tasks. (p. 17)

The pattern observed by Fradd and Lee with these EFL learners is far more complex than the dependence on domain specific knowledge observed with the EFL learners by Chen and Donin (1997) above. Unlike many EFL learners, these are more similar to the ESL learners where learning science through the medium of English is accompanied by social disadvantage.

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In another study at the upper primary level Christie (1998) employed genre analysis to follow the extent to which learners are 'apprenticed' to the social practice of science. He describes an identifiable series of genres through which they take ownership of idea about mechanical advantage over a period of two weeks. He identifies two registers, the regulative and the instructional, operating in the discourse, and traces how the regulative (relating to teachers goals in activity) predominates in the early stages and is later superseded by the instructional (related to the content). However in the later stages the regulative register continues to operate tacitly. Ultimately he says,

A successful operation of the pedagogic discourse in school will produce particular pedagogic subject positions, such that persons are apprenticed into ways of reasoning and valuing deemed of importance in a culture. (p. 174)

The texts, both written and oral produced by the learners at the end of the period of instruction, had resulted in a new subjectivity which could prepare them for future learning in the same domain.

At the secondary level, Duran et al. (1998) used a Vygotskian framework to study the behaviour of second language biology students as they were exposed to a specially designed instructional activity. Early in the instructional process the students tended to copy down as much as they could of the teacher talk and blackboard work, as they struggled to appropriate the scientific discourse. When the teacher used some of the scientific knowledge in application to everyday life, the students stopped taking notes and listened, as they considered this to be 'story telling' and not connected to the discourse of science. The designed instructional activities which made use of various semiotic tools, such as diagrams, were particularly useful for second language learners, as they created intersubjectivity and promoted discussion, allowing internalisation of science concepts through language. As the students became proficient with these, the teacher was able to withdraw and students increasingly assumed responsibility for their own learning. This is consistent with Vygotsky's mediated approach to learning.

LANGUAGE & THE LEARNING OF SCIENCE CONCEPTS

Further support for Vygotsky's theory is provided by Inglis (1993) who worked with students bridging into tertiary education. She showed that the quality of written assignments in science produced by one student within a week can

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show vastly different language proficiency in English. She proposes that the quality of the writing is closely related to the student's conceptual understanding of the content of the assignment. Thus poorly written science assignments may be evidence either of poor language proficiency or of poor conceptual understanding. This has also been when working with bridging students (Rollnick et al., 1992). Extracts from the beginning and the end of the same student's essay showed that the concepts nearer the beginning were well understood, but those at the end caused problems. Poor language proficiency by a student cannot thus be hastily judged as a weakness in their knowledge of the language, but may be a symptom of problems due to comprehension of content.

The studies of Fradd and Lee (1999) and Duran et al. (1998) make use of sociocultural theories of learning, which are becoming more widespread in the science education literature. Other studies, cited in the section on culture above are based in the 'world view' paradigm. Further studies which look at approaches to learning science are based on the meanings of words. For example, Bird and Welford (1995) looked at the effect on second language learners of modifying or simplifying wording in public examinations, and found that such changes made a far greater difference to second language students in developing countries. Keane (1999) examined the effect of access to concept definitions in students' home language on learning of science. She reported improved scores and a positive reaction to the use of the multilingual 'dictionary'. The difficulty with studies based purely on the meanings of words is that they assume that it is only necessary to be told the meaning of a word in order to be able to comprehend its use. Another study of this kind, by Rutherford et al. (1999), looked at the language experienced by different learners in various types of South African schools. Predictably they found that the bulk of the lessons consisted of teacher talk, and hence they concentrated the study on looking at teacher talk during the lessons. Much of the analysis looks at the type of words used in the classroom and how the difficulty of the language was related to the subject being taught. They found that due to the complexity of clauses, new uses of familiar words and unfamiliar words, science frequently emerged as one of the most linguistically demanding subjects for second language learners. The studies by Keane (1999) and by Rutherford et al. (1999) both examine the language and not its situation in the context of its use. However, given the evidence of little talk by learners, it is highly likely that they are not being given the chance to 'learn to talk science' (Lemke, 1990). Nor are they provided with opportunities to 'appropriate scientific discourse' (Duran et al., 1998). Hence the discourse, complex or not, will not have meaning for the learners.

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There has been much research on general conceptual difficulties encountered in the learning of science. Research in the constructivist tradition draws on findings that all learners have existing ideas that may be contrary to those accepted by the scientific community, and that these ideas are resistant to change (Matthews, 1998 and Larochelle et al., 1998). In the main, research into prior knowledge of L2 learners has shown that their alternative conceptions correspond broadly with those found among L1 learners (Hewson and Hewson, 1983, in South Africa; Ivowi, 1984 and 1986, in Nigeria; and Thijs, 1986, in Zimbabwe), though recent research by Clerk and Rutherford (2000) shows that responses to multiple choice questions are frequently confounded by language. An important exception to this was the work of Hewson and Hamlyn (1984). They found that certain conceptions of heat held by Sotho speakers on Southern Africa favoured a kinetic, rather than a caloric concept of heat and were thus closer to the scientific conception. However a study by Lubben, Netshisaulu and Campbell (1999) does not confirm these findings at the time Sotho learners begin their university study. Their findings suggest that if there was an advantage at a younger age, it has disappeared by this time.

Moji and Grayson (1996) further found that different physics concepts such as power, force, work and energy translated into a single term in the South African languages of Sotho and Zulu, causing confusion in the learners even though they are studying science through the medium of English. Other studies have found that home language is successful in transforming alternative conceptions about air pressure, but not necessarily in replacing them with scientific conceptions (Rollnick and Rutherford, 1993).

FUTURE CHALLENGES

It is clear that the challenges of the learning of science through a second language cannot be tackled by a consideration of language issues alone. Most current theory emanating from social constructivist and situated cognition perspectives provide cogent arguments to suggest that the issue of language needs to be considered in a social context. If the discipline to be studied is science, then learners need to become participants in the social practice which is science and master the genres particular to the discourse community.

However for second language learners there are further impediments to this process. First language speakers need to learn to talk the language of science, while second language speakers have to talk the language of science through the medium of a second language, for example, English. For EFL

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learners who often have a background in science, the process of learning to talk science becomes one of adopting a different medium - a process which slows them down at first, but becomes less of a problem once the new language is mastered. These are the learners in Chen and Donin's (1997) and Zeegers and Giles's (1996) studies. ESL learners face a much larger problem. Faced often with a background of disadvantage, they have to overcome far greater hurdles. The challenge of learning science is far greater than the meanings and use of words.

There are two important pointers to a strategy to assist such learners. Firstly, they need to be given opportunities to practise science in the presence of more capable peers, and to be overtly introduced to the genres characteristic of the discipline. Secondly, overwhelming evidence from studies about medium of instruction suggests that instruction should in the first instance be undertaken in the learner's home language.

Such is the way forward as suggested by educationists. However, being central to social interaction, issues of language are also central to social, political and economic debates, and it is more frequently politics or economics which will determine the way forward.

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Documents

Current Issues and Perspectives on Second Language Learning of Science