This study describes multilingual students' authentic use of their first and second languages in a "translanguaging science classroom," from a sociocultural perspective. The study is ethnographic, and has followed some lessons each month in a translanguaging science classroom at a primary school for three years. The observed lessons were…

In South Africa, foundation programmes are a well-established alternative access route to tertiary science study for educationally disadvantaged students. Student access to, and performance in, one such foundation programme has been researched by the authors seeking opportunities to improve student retention. The biology module in particular has…

Reports on the assessment of student background knowledge along a continuum of language dependency using a set of three probes. Examines improved student performance in each of the respective assessments on the extent to which a sound natural history background facilitated meaningful learning relative to English as Second Language (ESL)…