In our latest blog post on language skills for science, English as an additional language specialist Sally Burbeary, offers some free activity ideas for improving language skills in a differentiated science classroom. The activities are based on Cambridge IGCSE™ science series content. You can find out about our series on our science hub page.
Improving language skills in a differentiated science classroom
In any subject or classroom, we can expect to work with students who have a variety of strengths and areas that require support and development. Learning science through a language that is not your first language brings extra challenges that we as teachers need to be aware of and have strategies to support all our learners to achieve their full potential. Students need extra support to use English to communicate their understanding of science. In science, learners are required to use English to make predictions or hypotheses, reflect on outcomes, draw conclusions and many other functions.
To start with, the language of instruction must be clear, and the content has to be comprehensible. There is a need for high quality language and content instruction. So, the teachers role involves teaching science in addition to supporting students with the necessary English language skills. The science learning develops students’ English skills and English develops science.
Some of the key areas to consider are vocabulary, language structures and using all four language skills (reading, writing, speaking and listening). Challenges for learners are that previously learned everyday vocabulary may have a different meaning in science, for example, plate (dinner plate) and plate (tectonic).
Students may have good English skills to chat socially with friends, but do they have the language structures to draw conclusions or make a prediction in science?
Here are some strategies to support learners with their different needs in both science and English.
Vocabulary
When you are planning, consider the key vocabulary for that lesson. Look out for words that have a specific meaning in the context of science. You can use realia (real objects), pictures and questioning to check learners’ understanding. Having knowledge about prefixes and suffixes helps learners decode words for better understanding. For example, ‘photo’ means ‘light’ as in photosynthesis, ‘tele’ means ‘far’ or ‘distant’ as in telescope, ‘bi’ can mean ‘two’ or ‘life’, as in binoculars or biology. ‘Osteo’ means ‘bone,’ as in ‘osteology’, ‘therm’ means ‘heat’ and so on. Learners should read the wider context, and if learners read a word they don’t know, look at the context it’s in and try to work out what it could mean.
Structure
Think about what language functions learners will need to use in the lesson. Students may need adjectives to describe things, comparative and superlative structures to compare serials, properties or reactions, or they may need structures to predict what they think will happen in an experiment.
The four skills
English is not a phonetic language, which makes reading and understanding what you read challenging. If a student sees the word ‘larvae, gauge or debris’ – if they mispronounce the word, it is unlikely that they will recognise the meaning of a previously heard word. Asking learners to speak about science is a good way of checking the accuracy of their pronunciation, and therefore their understanding.
The following sections show some ideas of how to help learners in a differentiated science classroom.
Biology Lesson Ideas
Chemistry Lesson Ideas
Physics Lesson Ideas
Answers
To conclude, students who learn science in English as an additional language have a variety of needs. As teachers, we can help them by using clear language to give instructions and when we ask learners questions. As we plan, we need to be aware of vocabulary and structures that some students may find challenging and provide scaffolding so that all learners can access the science being covered.
I wish you all well with your teaching and hope that these ideas and strategies are helpful.
