TOPIC 2: English through the integrated scientific method (A fantastic teaching strategy that you will keep on using)

In the school where I have done my practicum they are giving special emphasis to the learning of English. Apart from the English subject, they do CLIL in science. In the case of the students of third grade, they do not have the English subject; they do more hours of Science, covering in this subject all the English content. This is the first year they have eliminated English. In contrast, in the fifth and sixth grade they do science in English, covering some of the English content. The rest is covered in the English subject.

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In the upper cycle, when learning science in English, they use the integrated scientific model. Students are divided into groups that change from unit to unit. When they go to the lab, they adopt a role. With every unit, the teacher poses a topic, next to a problem or a question. Hereunder, the groups create a hypothesis and try to confirm whether it is valid or not. The teacher has prepared all the possible materials that students may need so as to prove their hypothesis. Then, they write the procedure, the results and the conclusions. Through each of the contents, new vocabulary is introduced. Children try to do readings so as to work on it and English structures as well.  

 

From my point of view, this is a fantastic strategy that I would want to use not only in science but also when teaching science in English. Students are able to understand scientific content in a much easier way because they understand why they are in the right or in the wrong by experimenting and seeing with their own eyes. It is not about learning theories by heart; it is verifying the content, it is hands-on. In addition, they can feel like a real scientist. Chaille & Britain and Kilmer & Hofman (quoted by Wilson, 2008) explain it with the following words: “Children should be engaged both physically and mentally in investigating and manipulating elements in their environment.”

 

They learn as scientists in the sense that they understand and construct their knowledge on what they know, carrying out investigations, having to change their questions or hypotheses depending on their findings, among others. Wilson (2008) highlights that with this model there are some changes with regards to the traditional approach. These are as follows:

• “Science is viewed as active exploration

• Teacher viewed as facilitator

• Areas of study set by child interest

• Individual and small group investigations

• Evaluation based on multiple criteria

• Content connected to children’s experiences

• Content of study open-ended

• Multiple ways to collect and record data

• Science integrated with other curricular areas”

 

Therefore, students learn to pose real questions and to reflect and think more critically, apart from learning to observe to understand what they do. Students can construct their own knowledge and build their own theories. They are more able to understand what surrounds them.

The teacher also helps them move forward by making them reflect with questions. With this method students ask many questions and you can awaken their interest in science.

With this teaching strategy students can learn English in a meaningful and interesting way. It has been proved that children learn a language best not with the traditional approach, but with the communicative approach. One of the definitions that  Hosseini Breshneh, A., & Riasati, M. J (2014) suggest about what the communicative approach is that this approach is “ designed to engage learners in the pragmatic, authentic, functional use of language for meaningful purposes. Language forms are not the central focus but rather aspects of language that enable the learner to accomplish those purposes.” Therefore, when doing science students learn English in a meaningful way and for real purposes which is the best way because students are able to understand how the language function by trying and by finding themselves in different situations, but all of them real, not notional. Hence, this is a teaching strategy that I will apply in my science class in the future.

 

WEBGRAPHY

Wilson, R. (2008). Promoting the development of scientific thinking. Retrieved from http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_view.aspx?ArticleID=409

Hosseini Breshneh, A., & Riasati, M. J. (2014). Communicative Language Teaching: Characteristics and principles. Retrieved from http://www.ijllalw.org/finalversion6435.pdf

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