| The absence of language-minority students from the field of science at the university level (Atwater, 1986) suggests a problem in the way science is taught in the schools. Lemke (1990) contends that language is the gatekeeper which constrains the participation of diverse students in advanced science classes.;This dissertation is a year-long combined ethnographic and action research study of the development of the language of science in a sixth-grade bilingual (Spanish-English) classroom in a small, rural, coastal town in Northern California. The study addresses the following questions: (1) What structural elements contribute to the instructional climate in a bilingual classroom and how does manipulation of those elements affect language development? (2) What happens in bilingual science classroom lessons to the language use of students in both languages and to their understanding of fundamental scientific concepts? (3) What is the knowledge base of the teacher with respect to the teaching of and in a second language? How does this knowledge base relate to the research base from linguists, psycholinguists and semioticians who have studied both second language acquisition and the language of science?;The study reviews the literature in science education and second language acquisition and suggests a new "Concentric Socio-Cognitive Model" for bringing together the complex factors involved in second language acquisition. The study also provides an analytic frame for looking at the development of a scientific voice in all students. Drawing on the work of Maher and Tetreault (1994), Cohen (1989, 1991) and Brown, Ash, Rutherford, Nakagawa, Gordon & Campione (1993), the frame brings together the elements in the classroom dynamic which affect the development of language: (a) positionality of students within the greater society and within the classroom, (b) the process of continual mastery of the content and language, (c) the control of the technology or tools, (d) the location of authority in the class and (e) the development of scientific voice.;The study proceeds from a macro-lens focus on the classroom environment, to ever-narrowing foci including participation task structures, dialogic interactions, sense making practices and teacher knowledge illuminating the development of the language of science. Discourse analysis of audiotapes and videotapes in coordination with interpretation from field notes illustrates the relationship between participation-task structures and language use, the role of the teacher and that of peers in shaping the discourse of science through everyday language, and the teaching of scientific terms such as "fact," "opinion" and "hypothesis.".;Field notes and interviews help establish that though the knowledge base of bilingual teachers is extensive and complex, it omits current research implications and suggests a gap between research and practice. A number of interventions to increase participation of language-minority students and increase teacher awareness of research are described in the action research component of the study.;The study concludes that: (a) Language status must be considered in the dynamics of the science classroom in bilingual settings; (b) orchestration of the elements of the classroom--positionality, mastery of concepts and language, control of technology, and location of authority--is crucial to language development; (c) students can learn and do science using everyday language, but the curriculum must include a bridge to the development of scientific discourse; (d) strategies for the development of second language should be applied to the teaching of scientific discourse; and (e) teachers and educational researchers must be brought into a mutual community of practice to address complex issues in schools. |
