Download EAL and Science - Practical Pedagogies

Science and EAL
Graham Smith, November 2016
Workshop Outline
• Summarise the specific needs of pupils
learning science in an additional language
• Introduce the essential features of the
language of scientific enquiry and
communication
• Explore some interactive teaching and
learning strategies for EAL friendly science
lessons
Different ways of saying the
same thing
B Talking while doing
This …no, it doesn’t go…it doesn’t move…try that …yes, it does a bit…that won’t
…won’t work, it’s not metal…these are the best…going really fast.
D Reporting back
We tried a pin…a pencil sharpener…some iron filings and a piece of plastic…the
magnet didn’t attract the pin.
A Pupil Recount
Our experiment was to find out what the magnet attracted. We discovered that a
magnet attracts some kinds of metal. It attracted the iron filings, but not the pin.
E Text book recount
A magnet is able to pick up or attract a piece of steel or iron because its magnetic
field flows into the magnet, turning it into a temporary magnet. Magnetic attraction
occurs only between ferrous metals.
C Academic Description
A magnetic field is a vector field that permeates space and which can exert a
magnetic force on magnetic dipoles. When placed in a magnetic field, magnetic
dipoles tend to align their axes to be parallel with the magnetic field, as can be
seen when iron filings are in the presence of a magnet.
The Register Continuum
Everyday
What (Field)
Highly technical
Intimate
Who (Tenor)
Impersonal
Informal, face to face
How (Mode)
Very formal
Most spoken like
Most written like
The register continuum
most written like
_____________________________
(adapted from Martin 1984)
6
Language functions in Science
Heavy rainfall led
to widespread
flooding
When acid was
added to the test
tube, bubbles
arose
describing
It has a three part
body and three
pairs of legs
expressing cause
and effect
The greater the
mass, the longer
the stretch
comparing
recounting
I think weight will
increase with height
hypothesising
generalising
Mammals give birth
to live young and
feed them on milk.
A planet is a body
that orbits the sun
defining
Example from Year 2
• Learning Objective: Recognise and identify a
range of common animals, describe their
features.
• Thinking skills/Language function:
Classifying and Describing
• Present tense: A fox is a mammal
Mammals have fur
• Vocabulary: fox, fur, mammal
Science vocabulary
• Everyday words: put, make, has, book
• Subject technical words: photosynthesis, atom
• Subject specialised words (with an everyday
meaning as well as a specific meaning:
average, conductor, function, table
• Semantic fields: electricity → cell, switch and
resistor
• Symbols and formulae
Types of key word
• Concrete Nouns
Names of things
Bone, skull, tendon, ligament
• Abstract Nouns
Concepts and processes
May be invisible, need to be learnt in context
Evaporation, condensation, pressure
Verbs, nouns and adjectives
•
•
•
•
wear away (acid wears away metal)
corrode (acid corrodes metal)
corrosion (corrosion is caused by…)
corrosive (the corrosive power of acid rain
causes problems for the car industry)
Nominalisation activity
spoken verb
written verb
noun
work out
solve
solution
calculation
investigation
conclude
clarify
wear away
produce
From describing events to
explaining processes
•
•
•
•
•
ARE Y3
It was raining heavily. The rivers flooded.
It rained heavily so the rivers flooded.
The rivers flooded because of heavy rainfall.
Heavy rainfall caused widespread flooding.
Intense precipitation in surrounding hills caused
widespread flooding over low-lying ground.
ARE Y5
KS3 ?
Grade 9
Dictogloss
Newton knew that the force that caused the apple's
acceleration (gravity) must be dependent upon the
mass of the apple. And since the force acting to
cause the apple's downward acceleration also
causes the earth's upward acceleration (Newton's
third law), that force must also depend upon the
mass of the earth. So for Newton, the force of gravity
acting between the earth and any other object is
directly proportional to the mass of the earth, directly
proportional to the mass of the object, and inversely
proportional to the square of the distance that
separates the centres of the earth and the object.
Procedure for Dictogloss
Before the activity
• Select your text. Keep it short the first time
• Provide an image to set the scene
• Brainstorm related vocabulary, if you wish
During the Activity
• Read the text once – everybody just listens
• Read the text again – listeners take notes (grid could
be provided)
• In groups, try to reproduce the text, aiming for the
same content and the same tone
What if…
Contact details
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