Academic Language of Science: Examining Fourth-and Fifth-Grade English Learners’ Explanations of Moon Phases

• In Event: Roundtable Session 23
  In Roundtable Session: Phases of the Moon and Student Understandings

Abstract

Fourth and fifth grade students were interviewed as part of a research project investigating pedagogical supports for English learners in the context of integrated science and literacy instruction. Eight teachers and sixteen students were selected for qualitative analysis of academic language use related to the phenomenon of lunar phases. Structured interviews conducted before and after instruction intended to capture academic language and scientific vocabulary use. Open and axial coding of student responses reveals increased use of scientific vocabulary related to space science, such as rotate and orbit, but not necessarily more scientifically accurate understandings of lunar phases. Analysis of observational records of instruction highlight the challenges associated with promoting academic language of science within a sociocultural context.

Authors

• Carrie A. Strohl, University of California - Davis

• Marco A. Bravo, Santa Clara University

• Alison Knight Billman, University of California - Berkeley