The discipline of science provides rich opportunities for language development as students engage collaboratively to investigate and make sense of compelling phenomena. Drawing from a design research study conducted in fifth grade classrooms, we describe how teachers can support emergent multilingual students' participation in science discourse.…

Taking a sociocultural perspective, this qualitative case study aims to contribute, investigate, and understand how young Mexican American emergent bilingual learners engage in early science experiences. Furthermore, the study focuses on how the students manifested their knowledge, understanding, and perceptions about science and its…

With the goal of achieving bilingualism and biculturalism, dual language education (DL) has a social justice orientation. As the program option with the best track record of closing the achievement gap between Latinx and White students, DL programs can potentially create environments in which learners can develop knowledge of science, technology,…

This study examines interactions of fourth graders and their parents during informal science activities to understand the parental influence on children's science interests, attitudes, and participation. Sixteen Latino/a parent-child dyads and 16 Non-Latino/a parent-child dyads, matched on socioeconomic status (SES), participated in this…

This study describes how in-service teachers in the pre-vocational sector in Mauritius adopted specific strategies to overcome the language barrier in the learning of science (Van Driel, Verloop & de Vos, 1998). Students of form III were taught few basic ideas related to "Earth & Space" through the use of role play and ICT. The…

Learning science for bilingual students involves much more than mastering concepts and science process skills. Although classroom investigations and hands-on activities promote comprehension, bilingual learners still experience specific language difficulties related to unfamiliar discourse structures and grammatical forms that must be used while…

Vocabulary knowledge is a salient factor influencing success both in and out of school. The specialized vocabulary knowledge in science represents the concept-laden hooks on which learning is hung and enables students to build prior knowledge through the expansion of these conceptual hooks. We have identified four levels of learners--struggling…

This article presents the results of a study testing the efficacy of an instructional model that attends to the science, literacy, and language learning needs of English Learners (ELs) through a curriculum development project. The model is based on the premise that reading, writing, and discourse are better served when these important language…

This paper describes one aspect of an ESL teacher's journey, in which her voluntary involvement in a series of science-based professional learning events inspired her to use language-based objectives to develop and teach an integrated unit of work with ESL students. Her willingness to modify her usual pedagogical practice and the inspiration she…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a hands-on science curriculum, which integrates mathematics and supports English language development, on third-grade students' mathematics achievement--specifically the measurement subscale of the statewide assessment. The data drew from a larger five-year research and development project…

A college course in English as a second language for the sciences that combines field experience with language learning is outlined. The proposed course includes two components: (1) a core course of both relevant scientific content and language, including grammar, vocabulary, reading, and writing presented topically; and (2) visits to sites and…

This paper examines the special challenges that English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students face in succeeding in science classrooms in U.S. schools. Particular focus is on how students in one experimental classroom (a Grade 2 and Grade 3 two-way bilingual English-Spanish class in a small western city) learned to apprehend scientific meaning with…