Language and literacy in science

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Language and literacy in science

• Intended Learning Outcomes
• 1. An awareness of why science teachers need to
  appreciate the role of language in the science
  classroom.
• 2. An awareness of how language is important in
  developing meaning, and that language can be a
  barrier to developing understanding.
• 3. Begin thinking about how this work relates to
  your own developing practice.

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• Why is language important in the classroom?

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National Literacy Strategy

• Introduced in primary schools in 2001
• Secondary schools have drawn on this work
  advice in the KS3 Strategy to build literacy into
  schemes of work.

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• Key Stage 3 National Strategy
• - Literacy Across the Curriculum
• http//www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/keystage3/respub/
  

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Why is language and literacy important?

• As a tool for thinking and learning
• ? Raising standards
• Poor literacy means poor performance.
• Language is the main medium we use in school for
  teaching and learning, and the way we develop
  thinking in our subject.

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Why is language and literacy important?

• Pupils need strong language skills to explain,
  for example, how a science experiment works, or
  how an historical event came about.
• The strategy does not argue that subject teachers
  should take on extra English teaching, but shows
  how literacy skills can be fostered as an
  everyday part of the subject.
• There have always been subject teachers who have
  given attention to literacy. To make it work, all
  teachers need to make a contribution, and focus
  on agreed priorities.

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What should we be doing?
Consistency in teaching

• Our challenge is to ensure
• we are all capable of dealing with literacy
  issues as they impinge on the subject
• we are systematic about it
• the skills are transferred from one lesson to
  another
• we all have similar and shared expectations

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• What should we be doing?
• Explicit, shared expectations
• use the same strategies, e.g. writing frames
• mark in a similar way, to the same standard
• remind pupils to apply skills that someone else
  has taught them
• use the same terminology
•  

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• Science NC (page 69)
• Use of language across the curriculum
• Pupils should be taught in all subjects to
  express themselves correctly and appropriately
  and to read accurately and with understanding.

READING
WRITING
LISTENING
SPEAKING
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• READING
• Pupils should be taught
• Strategies to help them read with understanding,
  to locate and use information, to follow a
  process or argument and summarise, and to
  synthesise and adapt what they learn from their
  reading.
• Technical and specialist vocabulary and how to
  use and spell these words.
• The patterns of language vital to understanding
  and expressionthese include the construction of
  sentences, paragraphs and texts that are often
  used in a subject.
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• FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE-
• SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIF-
• IC STUDY COMBINED WITH
• THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS
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• READING
• WRITING
• Pupils should be taught
• To use correct spelling and punctuation and
  follow grammatical conventions.
• To organise their writing in logical and
  coherent forms.
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• READING
• WRITING
• LISTENING
• Pupils should be taught
• To listen to others, and to respond and build on
  their ideas and views constructively.
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• Whatever the teacher believes himself to teach,
  we can be sure that every pupil takes away
  something different.
• (Barnes, D. (1973), Language in the Classroom, OU
  study unit, course E262)

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•  
•  

READING WRITING LISTENING
SPEAKING Pupils should be taught to use
language precisely and cogently.
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• Flanders, N. (1970) Analysing Teacher Behaviour,
  Addison-Wesley
• 2/3 of each lesson is taken up with talk
• 2/3 of that is teacher talk
• the remainder of a 45 min. lesson shared among 30
  pupils
• 20
  seconds/pupil

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• Some pupils views on the meaning of words
• (from Cassels Johnstone (1985), Words that
  matter in Science, Royal Society of Chemistry)
• Abundant scarce, shortage, poor supply
• Complex natural, simple, clever
• Contract get larger, become longer, slacken
• Immerse float, coat, wipe with oil
• Negligible a lot, most important, less than
  nothing
• Omit put in, repeat, finish off, collect in
• Random well ordered
• Stimulate end, slow down, smother, stop,
  deactivate

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Words that have different everyday meanings
cell
base
salt

• work energy force
• power stress insect
• food

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• The sun provides light for the plants to
  photosynthesise.
• the aluminium atoms want to combine with the
  oxygen atoms
• Bacteria have learnt to become resistant to
  modern antibiotics.

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• The Cockcroft Report (DES, 1982)
• a x b
• x3
• 4.01 x (6y 9)3

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Pupil Talk
Pupils need opportunities and time to express
themselves verbally

• to organise their thoughts
• to convey information/ideas to a variety of
  audiences
• to pool ideas
• for productive discussion
• to encourage collaboration

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• Examples of opportunities for speaking
• planning investigations
• snowballing
• discussing results
• pro-con workshops
• games e.g. just a minute
• role-plays (putting points of view)
• plays/ small sketches
• (e.g. movement of particles as a solid changes to
  a liquid to a gas)

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• Staples, R. and Heselden, R. (2001) Science
  teaching and literacy, part 1 Writing. School
  Science Review, 83 (303), 35-46
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• Heselden, R. and Staples, R. (2002) Science
  teaching and literacy, part 2 Reading. School
  Science Review, 83 (304), 51-62
•  
• Staples, R. and Heselden, R. (2002) Science
  teaching and literacy, part 3 Speaking and
  listening, spelling and vocabulary. School
  Science Review, 84(306), 83-95

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Language and literacy in science

• Intended Learning Outcomes
• 1. An awareness of why science teachers need to
  appreciate the role of language in the science
  classroom.
• 2. An awareness of how language is important in
  developing meaning, and that language can be a
  barrier to developing understanding.
• 3. Begin thinking about how this work relates to
  your own developing practice.