Mediating Hybrid Spaces in the Bilingual Science Class by Learning to Cultivate Children's Metaphors

• In Event: 56.045 - Mathematics and Science Classrooms for Bilingual Learners

Abstract

The use of figurative language in science teaching has recently been explored toward understanding how teachers can scaffold scientific advancement without excluding children’s cultural conceptualizations. By deeming metaphorical language as a mediational tool that agentively encodes culturally relevant aspects of experience (Gibbs & Cameron, 2008), this study analyzed how bilingual children’s metaphorical expressions were followed up by teacher candidates to mediate hybrid spaces. Preliminary findings show different patterns of how teachers react to bilingual children’s metaphors during a science lesson using a model. This study highlights the significance of figurative expressions used by bilingual children to facilitate zones of proximal development to convey knowledge. Additionally, the study shows how different ways teachers respond might facilitate or hinder children’s scientific understandings.

Authors

• Patricia Martínez-Álvarez, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Natalia Saez, Teachers College, Columbia University

• Maria Paula Ghiso, Teachers College, Columbia University