A Lexico-Grammatical Perspective on Indigenous Student Science Learning Difficulties

• In Event: Roundtable Session 54
  In Roundtable Session: Decolonizing Science Education: What Roles Do Indigenous Knowledge, Languages, Practices, and Values Play in Teaching, Learning, and Professional Development?

Abstract

Science and scientific thinking are highly related to language (Norris & Phillips, 2003). Studies of linguistics, philosophy of science, and conceptual change indicate lexicogrammar of language plays central role in shaping scientific way of knowing, scientific revolution, and restructuring individuals’ representations of natural phenomenon (Fang, 2006; Nersessian, 1989; Darian, 2003). Based upon this rationale and Functional Language (Halliday, 2004), this paper explored semogenesis (process of creating meaning) in indigenous language by examining the linguistic nature of difficulties encountered by indigenous students learning science.

Author

• Wen-Gin Yang, National Taiwan Normal University