The ability to manage specific forms of disciplinary expression - Languages of Schooling - is regarded as a factor of academic success (Council of Europe recommendations - Council of Europe CM/Rec. [2014]. "Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers to Member States on the Importance of Competences in the Language(s) of Schooling for Equity…

Background: The need to meet the demands of education in the 21st century has seen Namibia move, after democracy in 1990, from a segregationist educational system to an inclusive one in a bid to develop students' capacities to think critically, particularly in science. Research indicates that cultural taboos can impact on how science knowledge is…

One of the most recent developments in the field of L2 motivation is the construct of Directed Motivational Currents (DMCs). This novel motivational conceptualisation is characterised by its energising capacity to promote and sustain action in a multitude of contexts whenever an individual is determined to attain a goal/vision he or she regards as…

The dominant role of English as the global language of science entails a requirement for science teachers to equip their non-native English-speaking students with receptive and productive language skills for communication in scientific contexts. Although science courses with English elements are part of some schools' bilingual programmes, they are…

As a result of recent developments in digital technologies, new genres as well as new contexts for communication are emerging. In view of these developments, this article argues that the scope of English language teaching be expanded beyond the traditional focus on speech and writing to the production of multimodal ensembles, drawing on a range of…

The globalized nature of modern society has generated a number of pressures that impact internationally on countries' policies and practices of science education. Among these pressures are key issues of health and environment confronting global science, global economic control through multi-national capitalism, comparative and competitive…

Students with learning disabilities have significantly lower achievement in math and science than students from the general population. If these students with learning disabilities also are English Learners, the challenges for success in math and science are even more difficult. Teachers need to infuse best practices into their classrooms to…

In this paper, we employ cultural sociology and Braj Kachru's model of World Englishes as theoretical and analytical tools for considering English as a form of capital necessary for widely disseminating research findings from local networks of practice to the greater science education research community. We present a brief analysis of recent…

Over the centuries, first Latin and then French, German, and Russian have receded in perceived importance as languages of science. Other powerful languages with extensive internal scientific discourse, such as Japanese and Chinese, have always been largely excluded. The dominance of English has elevated the reputation of English-language…

Argues that English is the major international language at least in part because it is the dominant world language of science and technology, and suggests that no country can afford to ignore the important role English plays in information access and technology transfer and still expect to compete professionally and economically. (Author/CB)

A discussion of the dominant role of English in international science and technology looks at the interplay of several factors occurring during the post-World War II period: (1) imposition of English on the post-war world by the English-speaking victors (Britain, United States, Australia, New Zealand); (2) development of the first international…

An English scientific language course developed for the professional communications engineering program at the University of Technology of Papua New Guinea was designed to incorporate some of the principles of language across the curriculum and to accompany an introductory electronics course. The language and subject area courses are taught in…

While the need to strengthen the transfer of language skills across disciplines and to integrate language instruction with other components of the curriculum is recognized, it must also be recognized that the language of science has a set of symbols that are different from those that are learned for daily life, and the structures of the two…

Describes a self-instruction procedure designed to provide students of science and technology at the tertiary level with a basic vocabulary in a foreign language of around 1,000 items. The technique represents an efficient method for bridging the gap between the vocabulary that beginning L2 students possess and that required to read L2 scientific…

A survey of 376 first-year Arab university students at Sultan Qaboos University (Oman) investigated attitudes about the use of English as a medium for instruction in science and technology. Questionnaires elicited information about student language background, reasons for studying English, patterns of present and future use of English, and…