In much of science education research, the content of talk tends to be attributed to the persons who produce the sound-words in a speech situation. A radically different, sociological perspective on language-in-use grounded in Marxism derives from the work of L. S. Vygotsky and the members of the circle around M. M. Bakhtin. Accordingly, each word…

Explores a common assumption that learning standard English as a second language corresponds to acquiring a new code. Draws on various types of literature and the authors' experiences. Demonstrates how acquiring a new language leads to changing experiences of the Self and Other. (CMK)

Argues that there are some fundamental, heretofore neglected, ways in which newcomers come to perceive and talk about natural phenomena. Explores the connection between worldmaking and how a hands-on science approach to science education facilitates the emerging communicative patterns. (Contains 60 references.) (Author/YDS)

Explores evolutionary changes in students' (n=46) motion-related language mediated by computer-based Newtonian microworlds. Documents how ways of talking emerge and how the convergence of meaning arises from the affordances provided by the interpretive flexibility of the microworld, conversations with the teacher, and the microworld which assures…