Talking to Learn, Learning to Talk: Integrating Science and Language for English Learners Through Dialogic Teaching

• In Event: Fostering Learning, Agency, and Empowered Identities Through Dialogic and Multimodal Language Pedagogies

Abstract

Research shows dialogic teaching enhances engagement and learning. This case study examines one high school biology teacher’s knowledge, beliefs and enactment of dialogic teaching in integrating science and language instruction for English learners (ELs). Data include the teacher’s lesson plans, teaching videos, stimulated recalls on lesson design and implementation, and interviews. Our analyses suggest that although he did not explicitly evoke the term dialogic teaching in interviews, he articulated and enacted a dialogic stance. He purposefully created opportunities for students to interact for content understanding, language learning, and relation building. He utilized translanguaging and multimodality as resources for sustaining dialogic interactions with ELs. This study illustrates that dialogic teaching can be effectively used in designing language-integrated content instruction for ELs.

Authors

• Lorena Llosa, New York University

• Kongji Qin, New York University