AN INQUIRY APPROACH TO SCIENCE/LANGUAGE TEACHING AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF CLASSIFICATION AND ORAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS OF MEXICAN AMERICAN BILINGUAL CHILDREN IN THE THIRD GRAD

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of an inquiry approach to science and language teaching to further develop classification and oral communication skills of Mexican American third grade bilingual children.;A random sample consisting of sixty-four subjects was selected for experimental and control groups from a population of one hundred and twenty third-grade Mexican American children participating in a bilingual education program in Austin, Texas. The Solomon Four-Group experimental design was employed. Pre- and posttesting was performed by use of the Goldstein-Sheerer Object Sorting Test, (GSOST) and the Test of Oral Communication Skills (TOSC).;The experimental group participated in a sequental series of science lessons which required manipulation of objects, exploration, peer interaction and teacher-pupil interaction. The materials provided to the children consisted of familiar objects common to their experiential background; e.g., shells, buttons, strips of metal, leaves and fish. The children made observations and comparisons and then grouped them on the basis of perceived and inferred attributes. Children worked individually and in small groups.;Research indicated that children learn a language best when they are able to practice and experiment with language skills. Science within an activity based instructional format facilitates not only language learning, but also, the development of learning skills such as intellectual skills and communication skills. The underlying philosophy of an inquiry approach to science and language teaching is that learning is not naturally compartmentalized.;Analysis of variance procedures were used on the posttest scores in order to determine if there was a significant improvement in classification skills and oral communication skills in the experimental group. The results on the posttest scores indicated a significant improvement at the .01 level in favor of the experimental group in both classification skills and oral communication skills. Therefore, it was concluded that participation in the science inquiry lessons facilitated the development of classification skills and oral communication skills of bilingual children.