Significance of limited English proficiency and cultural capital to the performance in science of Chinese-Australians

JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING VOL. 33, NO. 3, PP. 265-282 (1996)

Significance of Limited English Proficiency and Cultural Capital to the Performance in Science of Chinese-Australians

Kenneth Tobin

Department of Instruction, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306-3032

Campbell J. McRobbie

Centre for Mathematics and Science Education, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia 4059

Abstract

This investigation of Chinese-Australian students and their learning of chemistry indicates that despite students’ efforts to learn chemistry with understanding, difficulties in speaking and writing English were factors that limited performance. An hegemony based on the use of English to learn chemistry and assess performance placed students with limited English proficiency (LEP) in a position of potential failure. However, as might be expected of voluntary minorities, LEP Chinese students endeavored to use English to make sense of what happened in class and to demonstrate the extent to which they had learned chemistry. At the same time, they employed Cantonese in their oral and written discourse and exhibited high levels of commitment to learn, effort, and task orientation in and out of school. These practices were consistent with those expected by the teacher and that typically occurred in schools in their native Hong Kong. The study supports the assertions that learning chemistry can be facilitated when LEP students are provided opportunities to fully employ their native langauge tools and when the microculture of the classroom fits the macroculture of life outside the classroom.

There is hardly a more important issue in science education than the participation and learning of minorities (Hodson, 1993). In the United States, for example, three significant minority groups, African Americans, Hispanics from numerous Latin American countries, and Native Americans are underrepresented and underachieving in science education. The challenges of educating minorities are ubiquitous and are not confined to the United States, nor are they applicable only to students whose achievement is low. For example, Asian immigrants and refugees, most of whom have limited English proficiency (LEP), comprise a minority group in many western countries where English is a native language and compared to their English- speaking indigenous counterparts, they often are successful in science (Biggs, 1994). However, these success stories might mask a trend of hardship and failure associated with language and cultural barriers faced by LEP students endeavoring to learn and be assessed in English.

A framework proposed by Ogbu (1992) enabled us to consider the education of minorities in a differentiated way, in terms of sociocultural factors relating to their presence in a dominant

0 1996 by the National Association for Research in Science Teaching Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. CCC OO22-4308/96/030265- 18

266 TOBIN AND McROBBlE

culture. Voluntary minorities are those who have migrated to a country, more or less voluntarily, and desire more economic well-being and, in many cases, greater political freedom. They usually experience initial difficulties due to language and culture as well as a lack of understanding of how the educational system works. However, unlike other minority groups, voluntary minorities gradually adapt to the mainstream culture and usually succeed academically. This group, which is the focus of this study, includes migrants from Asia to western countries such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Another of Ogbu’s categories involuntary minorities includes people who are in the mainstream culture against their will, as a result of historic factors such as slavery, conquest, colonization, and forced labor. Involuntary minorities often experience difficulties with school leaming , in part because of cultural inversion, a tendency to regard certain forms of behavior, events, symbols, and meanings as inap- propriate because of their association with the mainstream culture. Refugees are not included in either of Ogbu’s categories and are not the focus of this article, although in the past several decades, refugees from political upheaval and repression have contributed to significant in- creases in the populations of many western countries and have challenged extant approaches to education.

Cultural inversion does not appear to be a problem for most voluntary minorities. Accord- ing to Ogbu (1992, p. 9):

. . . Voluntary minorities did not come to the United States expecting the schools to teach them in their own culture and language, although they are grateful if the schools do. Usually, they go to the school expecting and willing to learn the culture and language of the schools, and they also expect at least some initial difficulty in doing so.

Consequently, it is anticipated that students who are voluntary minorities will be, for the most part, committed to learning and generally prepared to make extra efforts to become acculturated. According to Ogbu (1992), among the voluntary minorities, there appears to be a collective orientation, or cultural capital (Bordieu, 1977a, 1977b), toward making good grades in school and social pressures, including peer pressures, that encourage success. In addition, community pressures promote quests for high grades and avoidance of ridicule, criticism, and isolation. Accordingly, voluntary minority students might be expected to support their learning by fully using information and resources available in their schools as well as their cultural capital, which includes their native language.

The study described here focused on LEP Chinese students, a minority group that has grown to the extent that its presence in Australian schools has created significant challenges for students, teachers, and policy makers. For example, a study in Western Australia (Education Department of Western Australia, 1994) reported that the science achievement of LEP students in Grade 10 was statistically lower than that of students who were proficient in English (EP) in all of the five content areas assessed (working scientifically, earth and beyond, energy and change, life and living, and natural and processed materials). In a sixth area, attitudes toward science, the LEP students had scores that were statistically higher than those obtained by EP students.

To most Australian science teachers, the problems of teaching students for whom English is not a native language are below a threshold of consciousness. For decades, the ethnic distribution in Australia, measured in terms of the country of birth and mother tongue of students’ parents, reflected those born in Australia, England, Greece, and Italy. However, since the 1960s, the proportion of Chinese students (i.e., voluntary minorities) in Australian schools has become significant because of more liberal policies governing migration to Australia and the

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acceptance of foreign students studying in Australian high schools. Our interest in this issue was stimulated by the relatively high proportion of Chinese students in the physics and chemistry classes we were studying. Their presence focused our attention on the apparent paradox that even though LEP students were achieving in science at a lower level than EP students, to avoid having to use English, they frequently elected to study chemistry, physics, and biology in Grades 11 and 12. Furthermore, some LEP students from Asia were highly successful, with the valedictorians of many high schools being Chinese or Vietnamese.

Theoretical Rationale

Our research on LEP Chinese students studying chemistry in Australian schools was framed by three complementary theoretical perspectives. Ogbu’s framework enabled us to see learning environments as potentially different for voluntary and involuntary minorities (Ogbu, 1992). Consistent with Ogbu’s descriptions of voluntary minorities, the Chinese students we observed were trying hard to overcome linguistic and cultural bamers and succeed in circumstances that usually were not conducive to their learning.

The LEP Chinese students endeavored to use English in their conversations with the teacher and EP students, and to make sense of the text and notes presented by the teacher on an overhead projector. In addition, the LEP Chinese students frequently acted in ways that were consistent with their Confucian heritage, such as being task oriented in the classroom, speaking to one another in Cantonese to clarify and elaborate ideas, and writing notes in Cantonese. Their actions in the chemistry classroom were consistent with those actions that enabled them to succeed in their own culture, a cultural capital (Bordieu, 1977a, 1977b; Lareau, 1989) that enabled LEP Chinese students partially to offset some of the barriers to making sense of chemistry.

The efforts of voluntary minorities, many of whom were LEP, to learn science occurred within a context of schools that used English for learning and assessing achievement and appeared to devalue language resources other than English. The actions of all participants, including LEP students, teachers, and administrators were consistent with a hegemony (Gram- sci, 1973) that since Australia is an English-speaking country, success in science must be achieved and demonstrated in English. Accordingly, we considered this use of English to be a form of cultural (Galtung, 1980) and linguistic imperialism (Phillipson, 1992).

Research Methods

The study employed interpretive procedures (Erickson, 1986) that followed a hermeneutic cycle whereby what was learned was informed by what was already known from our own research (McRobbie & Tobin, 1995; Tobin & LaMaster, 1995; Tobin, Tippins, & Hook, 1994), reading of the literature (Biggs, 1994; Nakanishi & Hirano-Nakanishi, 1983; Trueba, Cheng, & Ima, 1993), experience in the field, and continuous data framing, analyses, and interpretations. Interpretive research is described by Erickson as focusing on “the immediate and local meanings of actions, as defined from the actors’ points of view” (p. 119). Accordingly, we endeavored to ascertain the goals of participants, the behaviors they exhibited, the beliefs associated with those behaviors, and the manner in which actors constructed the contexts for their actions.

This study incorporates two broad views of social phenomena, actor oriented and structure oriented (Galtung, 1980). Whereas both perspectives focus on human action and interaction, the actor-oriented perspective perceives action as related to the intentions and capabilities of actors; the structure-oriented view regards action as a function of the position of the actor in a social

268 TOBIN AND McROBBIE

setting. Thus, the actor-oriented perspective focuses on actions in terms of actors’ goals, beliefs, behaviors, and constructions of context, and the structural perspective examines factors such as diversity, growth, equality, and social justice, enabling us to explore the hegemony of Austra- lian schools and investigate the phenomena of linguistic imperialism and cultural capital. The actor-oriented and structural perspectives are conceptualized as existing in a dialectic relation- ship to one another. Neither view is regarded as privileged and each contributes to the description of what is happening and why it is happening, the two fundamental foci of interpretive inquiry.

The setting for the study was a government high school in Brisbane, Australia, located in an urban neighborhood, and having an enrollment of about 1,000 students. The study commenced in July 1993 with 4 weeks of daily observations of teaching and learning in a Grade 1 1 chemistry class. After that period of intensive observation, we visited the school periodically for 2 years as part of an ongoing investigation of professional development undertaken in collabora- tion with the school. During that time, we obtained a variety of data from administrators, teachers, and students, and they reviewed the interpretive accounts prepared for this study, including drafts of this article.

Setting and Participants

The participants in the study were Mr. Jacobs, a 20-year veteran teacher, who also was chair of the science department, and his Grade 11 chemistry class, consisting of 9 boys and 6 girls. Because science in Grades 11 and 12 is elective, the students were highly committed to learning and had a background of success in prior science studies. However, because of student absences, the maximum number of students we observed in class at any one time was 12. Apart from illness, most absences related to extracurricular activities such as excursions and participation in sports teams. Although native Australians took advantage of the school’s sporting and recreational programs, the Chinese students did not participate to the same extent, preferring instead to pursue their goal of attaining the highest possible grade in chemistry. Accordingly, during the observation period, the attendance of Chinese students in the chemistry class was exemplary.

Students in this school reported more than 20 different native languages. English was spoken in the homes of 83% of the students; 77% of the students had English as their native language; and about 10% of the students indicated that they could speak and write English only to a limited extent or hardly at all. In the chemistry class, four of the students were from Hong Kong or Taiwan. These students informed us that they elected to study science and mathematics because they felt that proficiency in English would be less of a barrier to their success in these subjects.

Although we did not measure chemistry achievement specifically for this study, we an- alyzed performance data used by Mr. Jacobs and other teachers of Grade 11 chemistry in the school to assess chemistry achievement. The assessments for the year were based on a summa- tion of performance in four areas: chemistry content, simple application, complex application, and scientific process. We compared the performance in these four areas of 8 LEP Chinese students with 37 EP students in the Grade 1 I chemistry cohort.

Chao (a pseudonym), who migrated voluntarily to Australia from Hong Kong, was the highest achieving LEP Chinese student in the class. She was selected as the first of two participants in the study because she was older than her peers and, despite her limitations with the English language, was easy to talk to and willing to speak with us about her experiences here and in Hong Kong. Fortunately for Chao, several of her peers at school were native speakers of


Cantonese and when necessary, she was able to use Cantonese to clarify and elaborate her chemistry concepts. Chao was successful in Grade 11 but did not complete Grade 12 and returned to Hong Kong for personal reasons. In the following year, she returned to Australia to complete Grade 12 at a different school in which relatively large numbers of Cantonese speakers and adults were enrolled.

To obtain insights into the differences within the group of LEP Chinese students, we decided to include Poon (a pseudonym) as a participant in the study. Poon was selected because he was quite different from Chao, sat next to and often worked with her, and was a native speaker of Cantonese. Unlike Chao, he was not achieving at a high level, appeared uncertain, and did not often participate in whole-class verbal interactions, because he lacked confidence in speaking English. Poon failed Grade 11 and repeated all subjects the following year, when he passed all subjects except chemistry. At the time Poon commenced Grade 12, there were only 2 Chinese students in Grades 11 and 12, Poon and a male student from Taiwan. As the only speaker of Cantonese, Poon felt isolated and lonely. He rarely spoke to other students, and although he found them friendly, they did not often speak to him. Thus, his limited proficiency in English minimized his opportunities to learn from peers.

Procedures

A number of procedures were undertaken to ensure that the study had what Guba and Lincoln (1989) referred to as confirmability. Two researchers visited the chemistry classroom each day of the week for 4 weeks to observe a unit that explored titrations and electrochemistry. Each lesson was videotaped to facilitate analyses of classroom transactions. Since we were in the field for a prolonged time, the tendency of participants to exhibit contrived behaviors for the benefit of researchers was minimized, and we were able to see whether given behaviors were typical or atypical, We maximized the probability that the emergent assertions were consistent with a variety of data through the use of the following sources: field notes and analytic mem- oranda based on observations of teaching; interviews with Mr. Jacobs; interviews with six students, colleague teachers, and administrators; and videotaped lesson segments.

Mr Jacobs was interviewed on five occasions, each of about 1.5 hr duration, and six students were each interviewed for approximately an hour. The students selected for interview were those identified by the researchers and Mr. Jacobs as interesting, in the sense that they represented the diversity of the classroom. We felt that by interviewing these students, and observing them intensively, we would come to understand the boundaries of this classroom as well as the central tendencies. Numerous interviews were conducted with other faculty, students, and administrators; however, these data sources were not employed directly in this study, although their use in other studies provide in-depth insights into the context in which this study in embedded (e.g., McRobbie & Tobin, in press).

Mr. Jacobs and the students completed a 25-item questionnaire Classroom Environment Survey (CES) (Tobin, 1993) that surveyed perceptions of five dimensions of the learning environment (preferred and experienced): involvement of students in discussion; autonomy of students in making decisions about learning; relevance of the chemistry studied; commitment of students to learning; and inhibitors to learning. The responses on the survey served as focal points for interviews. Initially, Mr. Jacobs and selected students were asked to describe their science classroom in general terms, making reference to the roles of the teacher and students. Questions were then asked in relation to each of the five dimensions on the CES. Respondents were asked to discuss what was happening, why it was happening, what they would prefer to happen, and why they would prefer that to happen. When respondents had been given an


opportunity to respond in terms of the five dimensions (e.g., involvement, autonomy, relevance, commitment, and inhibitors to learning) they were handed their completed survey forms and asked to “walk me through your responses and provide a brief rationale for each.” This proce- dure resulted in thick description at three levels: at the very general, unstructured level of what the learning environment was like in this class, at the more structured level whereby descriptions were given in terms of five dimensions, and then at the very specific level whereby respondents described the learning environment in terms of the 25 items of the CES. These interview data provided rich accounts of life in science classrooms in terms of what was experienced and what was preferred. Detailed analyses and interpretations of the learning environment data are reported elsewhere (McRobbie & Tobin, 1995).

Mr. Jacobs and the students, including Chao and Poon, also were asked to comment on the manner in which LEP Chinese students engaged in tasks, asked and received assistance from the teacher and peers, used resources to assist their learning of chemistry, and interacted with one another and EP students in the school. Chao and Poon were both interviewed 2 years after the initial observations to check on their educational progress and provide them with opportunities to review those parts of this study that related to them. Although both were still limited in their use of English, they had improved in competence. As was the case during the classroom observations, compared to Poon, Chao was more competent and confident in her use of English.

Throughout the study, the two researchers met regularly to discuss and analyze data and formulate assertions that provided foci for subsequent field activities, in the sense that efforts were made to obtain data that supported and refuted them. Any evidence that was counter to an assertion was explored in detail, and care was taken to build an understanding of the discrepan- cy. In this process, assertions were elaborated to take account of all data. Serious attempts to refute assertions added to the credibility of the findings of the study. Data and assertions were shared with participants so that they could check our interpretations, identify errors that might have been made by either the participants or the researchers, and elaborate, summarize, agree or disagree, and offer suggestions to improve the authenticity of the research. For example, Mr. Jacobs was provided with copies of all field notes, in which we often wrote questions to which he responded, and written transcripts of interviews. The students also were provided with transcripts of their interviews.

Rather than present what we learned about the beliefs of the teacher and students as a set of assertions, these outcomes are presented as narratives (Gough, 1994) written by the researchers for Mr. Jacobs and two students, Elizabeth and Chao. The narrative for Mr. Jacobs is an aggregate of discourse segments, from interviews with him, that were pertinent to the performance of LEP Chinese students. The narrative for Elizabeth is a composite of interviews of several Australian-born students in the chemistry class. Chao’s narrative also is a composite from transcripts of interviews with her, selected to provide insights into the world of an LEP Chinese student studying chemistry in an Australian school where English is the language for teaching, most learning activities, and assessment.

Narrative was also used to communicate what was learned about the involvement of LEP Chinese students in the chemistry class. The section of the paper entitled “Task orientation and peer support” is a vignette from one of the lessons; however, the assertions embedded in the narrative are consistent with analyses of all the data for the study.

Over a 2-year period, we continued our involvement with the participants in the study by asking them to read our interpretations and suggest changes to improve the authenticity of our accounts. In addition, in 1995 we also shared our interpretations with other students and teachers such as those who participated in the study. For example, the narratives of Mr. Jacobs, Elizabeth, and Chao were printed and distributed to another Grade 11 chemistry class taught by

PERFORMANCE IN SCIENCE OF CHINESE-AUSTRALIANS 27 1

Mr. Jacobs. Students in these classes were asked to read the narratives and identify the parts with which they agreed and those with which they disagreed. They also were invited to write comments about the narratives. This peer debriefing session with high school students provided evidence of the authenticity of the narratives and assertions contained in this article (Guba & Lincoln, 1989).

An earlier version of this report was distributed to 15 colleagues who had expertise in the areas related to this study (i.e., science education, ESL, language, and literacy). All provided critical comments on the article, and 10 attended a peer debriefing session that critiqued our theoretical rationale, procedures, and interpretations. Criticisms raised in the peer debriefing session were used as a basis for numerous changes to the manuscript.

Relative Achievement of LEP Chinese Students in Science

The mean achievement of the 8 LEP Chinese students was significantly lower statistically (p < .05) than the mean achievement of the 37 EP students on all but the complex application achievement scores (Table 1). Although the mean on the complex application for LEP Chinese

Table 1 Relative Achievement in Chemistry of LEP Chinese Students (n = 8) and EP Students ( n = 37) Studying Grade I1 Chemistry

Student scores (8)

Performance type Description

EP LEP Mean SD Mean SD Chao Poon

Content Recall of facts (list, define, state, de- 67.6' 18.3 46.6 15.1 68.3 35.9 scribe, select, identify, recognize, translate) facts and formulae, procedures, terminology, theories and principles, sequences of events, shapes, patterns and diagrams . . .

Simple Apply knowledge in simple situations 61.8" 21.0 43.0 18.9 74.8 32.9 Application (i.e., reconstruct, calculate, de-

duce, explain, solve, exemplify) facts and formulae, procedures, terminology, theories and principles, sequences of events, shapes, patterns and diagrams . . .

ing situations (i.e., solve challeng- ing problems, make logical decisions, use creative and critical thinking).

Complex Use complex reasoning in challeng- 34.0 23.5 23.6 17.6 57.8 12.5 Application

Scientific Collect and organize data, process in- 66.2' 22.2 32.5 21.2 60.0 10.0 Process formation, make simple judements,

communicate information in vari- ous contexts, devise and design simple and/or single step investigations.

* p < .05 for difference between EP and LEP means.


students was 10 percentage points lower than that for the EP students, the differences were not statistically significant, possibly because the distribution was skewed to the low achievement end, with the mode for complex application being 8%.

These trends in the achievement data suggest that despite their efforts to achieve understandings of chemistry, limitations in speaking, writing, and understanding English were a disadvantage to most Chinese students. The intensive investigations of the participation of the students in Mr. Jacobs’ chemistry class provide some insights into the roles of language and other cultural tools as they relate to the learning of chemistry.

Chao was generally in the top 30% of the achievers in the class we observed; her percentile ranking ranged from 87 for complex application to 60 for chemistry content. Poon’s ranking was in the lower 30% of the achievers in the class. His percentile ranking ranged from 27 for complex application to 7 for scientific processes.

Participation of LEP Chinese Students in Science

This section, which contains narratives prepared for Elizabeth, Chao, and Mr. Jacobs, provides insights into the students’ and teacher’s beliefs about the participation and performance of LEP Chinese students in science.

Elizabeth’s Narrative

Some teachers I know don’t like talking to Chinese people and they don’t feel much like it, but with Mr. Jacobs, he sees it as part of his job. As if we all are just the same color. There is no racism in the class or anything like that. Chinese students get the same treatment in the classroom as other people. He’s very fair. He is not the type of teacher who goes around telling other people that they are rubbish. He is not the type of teacher who likes the idea of favoritism, and he tries to make every student equal, which he does pretty successfully. I think he treats the Chinese people very well. He talks to them nicely and respects their ideas. If anyone can’t understand anything he just talks to them, but then he wouldn’t stay with them the whole lesson while everyone else wanted to ask questions.

Most of them have trouble with English, and maybe they think they need to put in a lot more extra time into understanding it. Because they are putting in that much extra time they end up benefiting from it, because they are just absorbing it all the time. I think people whose native language is English take it for granted, and they don’t really spend as much time reading it and making sure they understand it all. We think we’ll just understand it anyway. And 1 think the Chinese people do spend a lot more time studying. They go to the library in the lunch hour and things like that a lot more than English speaking people do. I find they usually are more ready to study and they’re more committed than us.

They all hang around in groups together. I think maybe because it’s easier to talk to other Chinese-speaking people, because English is hard for them, so they don’t have to speak English if they hang around together. But they can speak a little English to us. It’s not like we don’t want to interact; it’s more like they just like to sit by themselves and we sit by ourselves.

Chao‘s Narrative

Maybe there are just two students this semester in this class that take English as a second language. Mr. Jacobs will ask us whether we understand or not. I think i can cope with it and, because 1 am good at math, and chemistry has many calculations, I think 1 have no problems


with chemistry. 1 couldn’t doing the subject using too much English. That will be hard for me, so I have to do those subjects like mathematics, physics, and chemistry. They will be easy for me.

Sometimes it is a bit difficult for me, because I cannot understand some of the things. I am not good at English. I used Cantonese as my language for 19 years and it’s very hard for me to change to speak English. I write a little better. We talk in Cantonese at home and there is still a need for me to practice my English. 1 have learned English but didn’t use it that much in Hong Kong. Sometimes I have some feelings of words that can’t work it up. I can’t write exactly to get it in my mind. I still think in Cantonese first and then change it to English, because I have few chances to talk in English.

My daily life is really busy, and I only live with my brother. My parents left Australia to go back to Hong Kong and earn a living. Because I just live with my younger brother, 1 must take care of myself, take care of my brother, do housework, and all the things at home. Every day I’m back home. I get tired. We’ve got six lessons each day, and at night I would do all the revision on every subject and so that 1 make sure I understand what the teacher is talking about that day. If I don’t understand anything, I will ask my classmates or ask the teacher as well.

In Chemistry I work with Poon so that I talk with him in Cantonese. Poon will work with me and we spend many hours with Cantonese. Why would 1 talk to a Chinese in English? I like working in groups, because we can help each other and copy each other. Talking about science helps, especially in English. Talking about it in Cantonese is much easier. If we are doing the questions and I don’t understand it I ask him, and if he does not understand it he asks me to explain it in Cantonese.

I appreciate that English is better than Cantonese. I have to use English to understand and express my knowledge. Translate it in English sometimes and sometimes English back to Cantonese. Even in Hong Kong we can choose Cantonese to answer the exam papers in [an] open exam, but very few people do that, because some terms in chemistry are more difficult in Cantonese. It may be easier to remember in English and so I think English is easier to remember, but as for expression, of course Cantonese for me is easier. We find [it] very difficult to answer the question in English. English is not our first language, so that [it] is really difficult to translate Cantonese ideas in English, and, written in on an exam paper. But I try hard all the time.

I have studied [a] basic knowledge of physics, chemistry, and biology in Hong Kong, and so sometimes what I know is [it] in Cantonese. The teaching technique is different. When we do [an] exam paper in Hong Kong, it is in English, but the teacher always teaches in Cantonese. I think here is more deeply, and the concept and idea was been taught, not like Hong Kong just really briefly. And maybe the difference is, here I’m a senior student and in Hong Kong I’m a primary student.

Mr. Jacobs’ Narrative

I believe 1 consciously attempt to help every person. Students for whom English is not a native language receive special assistance from me. I do make a special effort to give personal attention to the Chinese students. It’s not much more than the ordinary student gets, but it’s a bit more. I can empathize with the situation they’re in. They’re bright enough kids in general and they’re well motivated. They deserve to do well, but the biggest impediment to their progress is their lack of understanding of the English language. I give them some help where I can. I try to spend a bit of extra time with those kids to make sure that they’re not being too badly handicapped, and I do what I can to keep them apace;


Most of the ethnic students in this school are Chinese, and they seem to have just as much opportunity to learn science as our students. I have the feeling that the education systems in the Asian countries are very highly structured, very teacher centered. The students have that sense of discipline in the classroom instilled into them through their culture. They come out here to Australia as immigrants in a hostile environment. They’re determined to rebuild their lives. I doubt whether that same behavior that is instilled into the kids in Chinese classes is present in the European or the Pacific Island students.

Task Orientation and Peer Support

The following vignette regarding a laboratory activity provides insights into the involvement of Chao and Poon in chemistry. Their actions in the vignette are typical of their actions in other chemistry lessons we observed.

The laboratory activity today is to build and test a variety of electrochemical cells using different metals as electrodes. Mr. Jacobs asks the students to commence the activity, and Chao immediately moves to the front to collect the equipment while Poon looks through the relevant pages of the book. Chao returns to her group of two students and sets out the materials so that they are ready to begin. There is a brief interchange in Cantonese between Poon and Chao, and while Poon cleans some copper wire Chao hustles off to get more metal electrodes. When Chao returns she pours an electrolyte into a beaker and Poon immerses the electrodes. Possibly because she is older, Chao seems to be in charge, but Poon is actively involved. As Chao connects the cell to the voltmeter, Poon records the results in his notebook.

Having completed the first part of the activity, Chao runs off to get some additional materials and prepare a salt bridge for the next part of the activity. She dips filter paper into a liquid and returns to the laboratory station. Mr. Jacobs is with Poon, and he indicates that they have connected the voltmeter the wrong way. They will have to repeat the first part of the experiment. The teacher also requests that they make a prediction before connecting the voltmeter to the cell. As Mr. Jacobs leaves, they spring into action. Once again, Chao does the connecting and manipulating and Poon assists as needed. Soon they have completed the tasks for which they have materials. At that time Poon leaves to get more materials, while Chao washes out the beakers with tap water. Poon returns with new electrodes just as Chao scurries off to get a paper towel. There is a sense of urgency in everything these students do. Chao examines a table in her book and uses information to predict the voltage of the final pair of electrodes and determine how to connect the voltmeter. She then prepares the salt bridge, and together Chao and Poon connect the cell to the voltmeter.

The activity was conducted at a rapid pace with the teacher continually urging all students to complete the tasks quickly. Chao and Poon completed the tasks in an orderly and efficient manner such that each of them participated and developed an understanding of what was done and what the results represented. At times they worked independently, but on such occasions, the tasks they undertook were complementary. The two students worked cooperatively to complete the assigned tasks, and in the process recorded what they had done in sufficient detail to create inscriptions which, at a later time, could be used as a basis for meaningful learning activities. In contrast to the collaborative work of Chao and Poon, several other groups in the class were distracted by social agendas, and in one case, the four individuals in a group worked independently without assisting one another.

Consistent with his beliefs that he ought to control the pace of activities, Mr. Jacobs kept the students on task and, on occasions, assisted them in setting up the materials and equipment so that they could obtain the correct results. In this sense, the experiment was stage managed


and students were not free to learn from mistakes or alternative routes that might have been pursued.

What was interesting about the interactions between Chao and Poon was that although there was no doubt that Chao was dominant, each student was able to exercise leadership at different times in the activity. However, Chao’s leadership was facilitative, and she did not use her dominance to suppress Poon’s opportunities to learn. Chao and Poon had brief discussions in Cantonese to ascertain what needed to be done, and then they participated decisively to complete their assignments. Neither student was reliant on the other to get the work done, but by cooperating, each facilitated the learning of the other.

Language and Learning

The assertions that provide a framework for the three narratives and the vignette have a high degree of coherence with respect to the characteristics and roles of LEP Chinese students and the teacher’s role in being fair and sympathetic to the needs of all, while providing assistance to LEP Chinese students. The most obvious of the trends in the narratives and the vignette are the attempts by the LEP students to become acculturated. Their participation in chemistry activities was consistent with Ogbu’s descriptions of the characteristics of voluntary minorities. However, associated with these efforts were two major patterns associated with a hegemony of linguistic imperialism and a determination of the LEP students to fully employ their cultural capital.

The problems faced by the LEP Chinese students were acknowledged by the LEP students themselves, other students, and the teacher. However, these problems were seen in terms of a deficiency in English, and there was no corresponding acknowledgement of the positive aspects of having well-developed language skills in Cantonese. Accordingly, the solutions to learning difficulties were caste in terms of overcoming the deficiencies in English rather than use of Cantonese while building corresponding skills in English. Underlying the narratives and the vignette was an acceptance of English as the primary resource for learning and demonstrating that learning has occurred.

Together, the narratives and the vignette describe a cultural capital that is composed as follows: preparedness to commit extra effort to overcome problems; effective use of potential learning resources; sound prior knowledge of chemistry in particular and science in general; a strong work ethic; willingness to ask peers and teacher, to facilitate understanding; willingness to use Cantonese to facilitate learning; prior experience of structured, teacher centered classes; a strong sense of self-discipline; determination to strive for success and become acculturated; high levels of task orientation; and ability to cooperate with others to attain learning goals.

The following subsections discuss what we learned from this study in terms of the dialecti- cal tensions between linguistic imperialism and cultural capital.

Linguistic Imperialism

The hegemony of the school can be summarized in terms of the referent that Australia is an English-speaking country, and therefore, to be successful you need to read and write English at an acceptable level. Even though many of the practices in the school benefit all learners, including LEP Chinese students such as Chao who create milieus to support their own learning, other LEP students such as Poon are isolated and destined to failure. The school structure seems to incorporate an hegemony that acknowledges the difficulties experienced by students such as Poon and provides assistance to compensate for their language deficiencies. However, it is left to individual teachers such as Mr. Jacobs to counter the hegemony and provide learning experi-


ences that enable LEP Chinese speakers to use their native language tools to make sense of science. Although Mr. Jacobs was willing to spend some time with the Chinese students to assist them in making sense of tasks, he did not spend a disproportionate time with them, because of his sense of fair play and a responsibility to teach all students. His judgment of what was fair and what was not was based on the principle of equally distributing time with the teacher. Even though he permitted Chao and Poon to use Cantonese in his classroom, he did not plan his lessons to allow them to capitalize on their native language tools and associated cultural capital.

Failure of the school to provide assistance in linking Cantonese to English is understandable given the scarcity of resources for education. The school has only one teacher with a background in English as a second language (ESL), and she is employed at the school only 1 day a week. This teacher speaks only English. The availability of one ESL teacher in a school where in excess of 20 different languages were spoken was appreciated by the students, but was scarcely adequate to address their needs. The ESL teacher had little specialized knowledge in chemistry, and could not assist students to co-relate chemistry knowledge that was accessible in English to chemistry knowledge that was accessible in Cantonese. According to Trueba et al. (1993, p. 61):

The development of primary language skills beyond a minimum threshold, not only for conversational use but also for rigorous academic work, critical thinking and cognitive restructuring is at the heart of bilingual education. Yet, in order to transfer knowledge and cognitive skills to another language, and in order to acquire proficiency in a second language for academic purposes, it is essential not only to be exposed to that language but also to receive a substantial amount of support and guidance in both languages.

The ESL teacher indicated that her role was to support learning, she had never been invited into Mr. Jacobs’ classes, and “No particular problems have raised their head. If there was a problem I would have approached him.” She described her role in the classroom in the following manner.

I do have some science background from earlier training as a home science teacher. I wouldn’t be able to help with specific questions in physics and chemistry though I could still help in those classes. . . . In the classroom I sit with the students and I prompt them with respect to their questioning, model how they should ask a question if they do not understand. I write or repeat the teacher talk into simpler talk for them and continue to interpret until they understand.

Chinese students were regarded as conscientious workers who were deficient in English. Their path to success was linked closely to their success in learning English or in avoiding having to use English. Accordingly, assistance was provided by Mr. Jacobs and the ESL teacher in terms of correcting grammar and pronunciation and suggesting additional vocabulary to extend their use of the English language. Neither Poon nor Chao sought the assistance of the ESL teacher in relation to chemistry. Accordingly, she was not invited into the chemistry classroom and could not assist them by clarifying explanations during the lesson and helping to formulate content-related questions.

There is no doubt that Chinese students would have learned more quickly, with greater understanding, and with less effort had they had greater facility with English, or if formal efforts had been made in class to adopt a bilingual approach to learning. Given the steadily increasing number of LEP students in Australian schools, the challenge of providing voluntary minorities with bilingual opportunities to learn is one that ought to be given more attention. This need is


acknowledged by the ESL teacher, and she also is concerned about the limited resources available to assist LEP students. However, we note that the challenges of assisting students to learn in their native language are formidable, particularly for students who do not have peers who share a common native language. In schools such as this one, the problem is further exacerbated by the presence of 20 languages in addition to English.

We obtained additional evidence of language difficulties being a deterrent to participation in activities while we were involved in a member check on our interpretations of the data. When he was asked to do an oral presentation to his physics class, Poon declined and later wrote the following note to his teacher.

Please excuse me for not doing the oral in front of the class, because my language is one of the problem[s]. I couldn’t get help from the ESL teacher because she is not here, and secondly; I am not friendly with the classmate[s]. Once again because of the language problem, so it i s a problem to work with a partner which I don’t know well. So could you please let me just hand the work in to you as a written assignment? 1 hope you can considerate me, sorry!

The physics teacher rejected Poon’s request to demonstrate his learning in an alternative mode. The teacher perceived Poon’s request as a strategy to avoid a task that all students found difficult and to substitute it with one that would give him an unfair advantage over other students.

Whereas Mr. Jacobs was empathetic to the problems of nonnative speakers of English, he did little to cater to the needs of learning chemistry and preparing for examinations of achievement in a language other than English. Mr. Jacobs’ efforts to mediate the learning of the Chinese students did little to bridge the understandings that could be re-presented in Cantonese and those that could be re-presented in English. For example, he might have placed a greater emphasis on the explanations of Chinese students, requiring them to explain in English what they understand by given concepts and the procedures they intend to follow in a laboratory activity. The linking to English of what is known in Cantonese seems appropriate and to the advantage of LEP learners. One possibility would have been to add an EP student to the group consisting of Chao and Poon, enabling them to continue to build understandings in Cantonese while having to provide English translations of what they had learned to an EP peer.

A possibility that we did not pursue in this study is that Chao and Poon both built understandings of chemistry, but that Poon in particular had difficulty in expressing what he knew in English, which was the language used to assess achievement. The use of alternatives to paper and pencil modes of assessment might have provided different insights into the extent to which the LEP students understood chemistry. In future studies, the relative achievement of native speakers of Cantonese might be assessed in their native language. In the meantime, even though Chao and Poon had prior experience in Hong Kong of responding to questions in English, it is almost certain that their understandings of chemistry were under assessed because of their inability to re-present what they knew in English. Limited English proficiency can be a particular handicap in tests and examinations where an inability to make sense of questions can make it impossible for students to make a start and show what they have learned.

The plight of the LEP students might have been reduced in several low-cost ways almost immediately. First, most of the LEP students did not interact in whole-class activities, because they were embarrassed to speak, as a result of problems with pronunciation. During the study, because we were showing an interest in their problems, they asked whether they might receive assistance with pronunciation. Because of the importance of speaking and making sense of oral discourse, it seems that the provision of opportunities for LEP students to participate in courses


to improve their speaking of English and comprehension of spoken English ought to be a

Even though there were more than 20 languages spoken in the school, we did not see textbooks, in chemistry for example, in a language other than English. The only counterexam- ples we observed were French comic books related to nuclear power. Perhaps it is because suitable books for Grades 11 and 12 science might not exist in many non-English languages. Kaplan (1993) pointed out that some languages might not be suitable for scientific terminology and that the sheer bulk of existing scientific material and knowledge growth was such that writing suitable text materials in some languages might not be feasible. The notion that Chinese might not be an ideal language for learning chemistry was suggested in the narrative by Chao, and was supported by Chinese-speaking ESL teachers during peer debriefing activities associated with this study. However, LEP Chinese students had no access to chemistry texts written in their own language and, in a context in which teachers were unable to speak their language, the provision of text resources might have been a significant learning aid. Although it is acknowledged that libraries in high schools are notoriously underfunded, it is also the case that the books in the library are predominantly written in English. The problems experienced by Poon and Chao might have been reduced if chemistry reference books written in Cantonese had been readily available. If school budgets cannot be stretched to purchase science texts written in Cantonese (and presumably in the 20 other languages spoken by students at the school and for subjects other than chemistry), the purchase of such resources might appeal as a worthwhile project for the Chinese business community. In making this suggestion, we recognize that educators might argue that because students will ultimately have to know and be assessed in English, their learning also ought to be in English. Imperialistic stipulations such as these have been referents for decisions associated with extreme learning difficulties experienced by LEP students. We believe that it is past time to allow all LEP students, in the process of building understandings about science, fully to use their native language tools.

priority.

Cultural Capital

From the beginning of this study, we expected language to be an almost insurmountable problem for LEP Chinese students; however, the work ethic of the Chinese students was such that they appeared able, to a limited extent, to offset the disadvantages of learning in a second language. Although chemistry is a conceptually dense subject that requires students to link concepts and algorithms to one another to form semantic networks, we observed few activities in class in which students were required to do this (McRobbie & Tobin, 1995). For the most part, the transmission-absorption model of teaching and learning that characterized the class did not provide opportunities in class for students to build understandings. The teacher and most students appeared to emphasize the memorization of facts with the goal of succeeding on examinations. What was important was to copy accurately what was on the chalkboard, complete tasks assigned by the teacher, and ensure that the details of assignments to be undertaken at home were accurately noted.

Samuelowicz (1987, p. 123) reported that students from Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong appear to prefer to learn by rote, and that such an approach did not help problem solving. However, Biggs (1994) cautioned us to avoid stereotypes of Chinese students, such as that they are interested only in learning by rote. He noted that the purpose of rote learning needs to be considered as well as whether rote learning occurred. Biggs noted that whereas Australian-born students appear to rote learn to be successful on tests, Chinese students '' . . . report a stronger preference for high level, meaning-based or deep learning strategies, and avoidance of rote


learning, than do Western students, both in their own culture, and overseas in Australian institutions” (p. 25).

The important point that Biggs drew to our attention is that for Chinese students, rote learning might be regarded as a means to an end of building understanding. Although we have no evidence that Chinese students were more likely then non-Chinese-Australians to have learning with understanding as a goal, both Chao and Poon made it clear that their efforts to learn were driven by a commitment to build understanding, and both regarded Mr. Jacobs’ style of teaching as facilitating learning with understanding.

A significant part of the hegemony of Chinese schools appears to be that effort is necessary to succeed. Chao and Poon agreed that compared to Australian schools, Hong Kong schools were very competitive and the expectations were higher in terms of what was to be learned and the effort required to succeed. Their recollections were supported by other Asian students we interviewed. Study outside of class was an accepted norm for Chinese students, and they used peers to support leaming as well as traditional resources such as library materials. There seem to be two plausible reasons for this. First, because they are learning in a second language, it is necessary to take more time to review and complete homework tasks. Second, because they are accustomed to doing homework and study for up to 4-5 hr a day, extra commitment is a part of the cultural capital of many LEP Chinese students.

Mr. Jacobs’ acceptance of the use of spoken and written Cantonese in his classroom was counterhegemonic and enabled Chao and Poon to maximize the use of their cultural capital. They often spoke quietly to one another in Cantonese and sometimes wrote their notes in their native language. When Chao and Poon collaborated in groups, they cooperated and persisted in getting the tasks done and learning. After school and during lunch breaks, their inscriptions in Cantonese and English allowed them to focus on topics of importance in their interactions with Cantonese-speaking peers and in books from the library. The Chinese students created their own learning environments, and their efforts to succeed were consistent with Biggs’ report that Chinese students in Hong Kong attributed academic success to effort, interest in study, study skill, mood, and ability, whereas Australian-born students tended to rank ability as the primary factor associated with success. As has been pointed out by Biggs (1994), the culture in which most Chinese Australians are raised is not unlike that which is experienced in Australian schools. Students are expected to conform to behavioral norms and respect the teacher, who is regarded as a significant source of knowledge. Furthermore, for Chinese-Australians, the behavioral norms associated with life out of school are not unlike those expected in school.

The situation for most Australian students is in contrast to the situation experienced by Chinese-Australians. Most western students are generally raised to be assertive, independent, and curious, and to explore on their own terms (Hess & Azuma, 1991). To many, school is seen as boring, and there is an expectation that teachers will make efforts to present subject matter in ways that are appealing to learners. According to Biggs:

. . . Children are socialized one way out of school, another way in school, so they are not predisposed to do what they perceive to be pointless and boring tasks; if they are now to engage them in school, they need to be motivated to do so. (pp. 31-32)

Because Australian-born students have options, they can choose in their out-of-school lives not to participate in activities that are boring and lack personal interest and appeal. When they come to school, they are expected to participate in subjects such as chemistry, even if they find them boring and are not provided with opportunities to ask questions or to challenge the canons of the disciplines. In this study, when students were placed in groups, we observed instances of


Australian-born students not taking advantage of group work to complete tasks and facilitate the learning of others, opting instead to interact socially.

Conclusions

The paradox that framed this study is resolved. Chao, Poon, and the other Asian students we interviewed elected to study 3 courses in science and 2 courses in mathematics as 5 of the 6 required courses for Grades 11 and 12. Their selections reflected a belief that an understanding of English is not as critical to success in these subjects as it is in other subjects that might be selected. Those LEP Chinese students like Chao, who succeeded in passing Chemistry, did so because they were able to learn English relatively quickly and overcome the barriers of having limited proficiency in English in a system that is built on an hegemony of learning and being assessed in English. Not expecting assistance and being prepared to become acculturated is an important characteristic of being a voluntary minority that helps such students to stay resolved in their efforts to succeed in the face of significant obstacles. In the process of addressing these obstacles, the LEP Chinese students were helped by a cultural capital associated with a commitment to succeed and applied such effort as necessary to meet their goals. Thus, Chao and Poon were prepared to cooperate and assist one another even in a context in which their competitive tendencies might otherwise have led to individualized efforts. Competence in Cantonese, preparedness to use Cantonese even in a milieu where its use was not encouraged, high levels of task orientation, and a will to attain goals were salient features of a cultural capital that enabled Chao to be relatively successful. In contrast, despite a similar cultural capital, Poon’s inability to attain a satisfactory level of English competence was too great a barrier for him to overcome. Furthermore, a tendency for him to avoid losing face contributed to an unwillingness to use his limited English skills to seek assistance from EP resources. Poon might have been successful if he had had greater access to Cantonese speakers who understood chemistry and could have taught him, or to texts written in Cantonese. As it was, he had limited access to Chao and few English language resources to make sense of chemistry. Accordingly, it was no surprise that Poon failed Chemistry on successive occasions and was on the way to failing again in Grade 12.

We question the viability of the present linguistic imperialism that demands competence in English to learn and demonstrate achievement in science. Although teachers such as Mr. Jacobs were sincere in their efforts to provide assistance to LEP students they made their efforts within a culture that assumes that the curriculum will be enacted in English and that the standards of ethical practice also will be judged within an hegemony that is centered on the use of English. Other components of this hegemonic platform were beliefs that made sense of teaching and learning in terms of the transmission of knowledge from a teacher regarded as the principle knowledge resource, a necessity to employ efficient teaching and learning practices, a desire to maintain rigor in the enacted curriculum, a perception of time as a precious commodity that was scarce and finite, and a need to prepare students for success on examinations and tests (Tobin & McRobbie, submitted). In an era in which educators have been challenged to have a regard for the needs of all learners, it is necessary to bring to a more conscious level the hegemonic platform that supports given actions in preference to others. If the focus is brought more clearly to learning, we maintain that a new set of referents (i.e., a new hegemony) must be crafted to support practices that allow learners to apply their social and cultural capital in ways that will lead to learning with understanding. If science teachers are to do this, it seems clear that our present approaches to science teacher education will need to change so that practicing science teachers will have the necessary tools to investigate hegemony, and to reflect, create alternatives, initiate change, and evaluate progress within a variety of frames of reference. Within a

PERFORMANCE IN SCIENCE OF CHINESE-AUSTRALIANS 28 1

traditional frame of reference, the present hegemony supports students like Chao and fails to support students like Poon. The challenge for science educators is to identify an hegemony that will support Poon as well as Chao and also support the efforts of other minorities and an ever- increasing diversity among the majority.

The research reported in this article was funded by a collaborative grant from the Australian Research Council .

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Received November 28, 1994 Revised May 25, 1995 Accepted July 17, 1995

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Significance of limited English proficiency and cultural capital to the performance in science of Chinese-Australians