A research report submitted to the Faculty of Science, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Science Education, University of the Witwatersrand. November 5, 2016. / A debate in South Africa on learner performance in Physical Science inevitably leads to the
issue of proficiency in the language of learning and teaching (LoLT). The researcher is of the
opinion that general understanding of the meaning of proficiency in LoLT usually refers to
the ability to read and write well in that language which happens to be English in the majority
of South African high schools. As low as 7% of the South African school going population
regard themselves as English speaking (Department of Basic Education, 2010). The status of
English as lingua franca has caused parents and teachers to believe that it is in the interest of
learners to be taught in English (Wildsmith-Cromarty & Gordon, 2009). This view resulted
that the debate on proficiency includes amongst others, opinions of those who propagate
home language teaching and those who call for English as the preferred medium of
instruction.
This research contributes to the debate on proficiency by pointing to the important contribution
that the science teacher can make to enculturate learners into the language of school science. The
fact that both English First Additional Language learners (EFALs) as well as English Home
Language learners (EHLs) struggle to understand Physical Science (Probyn, 2015) is indicative of
the important role that the science teacher can play in assisting learners to understand Physical
Science. In lieu of this, teachers are encouraged to focus on vocabulary building as well as the
manner in which LoLT is employed to construe science knowledge. This is a functional view
of language, namely, that language is used to convey a particular meaning hence the language
differs across registers. Michael Halliday (1993) is credited for the development of a systemic
functional linguistic view on language.
This study analysed two teachers’ classroom languages from a Systemic Functional
Linguistic (SFL) perspective with specific emphasis on the register variables field and mode.
Results show that LoLT was perceived as transparent when learners are EHLs and considered
a barrier to learning Physical Science if learners are EFALs. In both cases, teachers seemed
unable to enculturate learners into the language of school science when used to convey
science meaning. An absence of that focus is what Bernstein called an “invisible pedagogy / TG2017
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/21653 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | White, Regina |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | Online resource (xii, 116 leaves), application/pdf |
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