'Beating about the Bush' on the How and Why in Elementary School Science

Autor/inn/en	Jakobson, Britt; Axelsson, Monica
Titel	'Beating about the Bush' on the How and Why in Elementary School Science
Quelle	In: Education Inquiry, 3 (2012) 4, S.495-511 (17 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	2000-4508
DOI	10.3402/edui.v3i4.22050
Schlagwörter	Elementary School Science; Science Instruction; Teaching Methods; Literacy; Hands on Science; Language Usage; Written Language; Content Area Writing; Writing Skills; Grammar; Foreign Countries; Content Area Reading; Sweden + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Alphabetisierung; Schreib- und Lesefähigkeit; Sprachgebrauch; Geschriebene Sprache; Schriftliche Übung; Writing skill; Schreibfertigkeit; Grammatik; Ausland; Sinnerfassendes Lesen; Schweden
Abstract	In this article we examine teacher instruction on scientific literacy tasks and teacher expression of ultimate and subordinate purposes during one teaching sequence of a science unit. By using a Practical Epistemology Analysis and Systemic Functional Grammar we can provide a view of the direction learning takes and the consequences for student text production. The material comprises transcribed audio recordings of teacher instruction, students' pair work and written texts. The results show that the students are mainly involved in hands-on activities while aspects of scientific literacy are not foregrounded. Language use is dominantly spoken and, when written text is requested, no explicit instruction on how to write is given, resulting in a variety of texts from 'more-spoken-"like"' to 'more-written-"like"' without adhering to scientific genre. Ultimate purposes are never expressed while subordinate purposes are to some extent made explicit, but obscured by the dominant focus on 'doing', resulting in uncertainty about why the activity is requested. As a result, the learning direction is not always in accordance with teacher intention. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01