RESEARCH REPORT

TLDR

Research on teaching and learning strategies shows that children must simultaneously develop specialized vocabulary and conceptual understanding, and that language acquisition occurs through active speaking and listening. The study investigates which aspects of learner talk in school science are important and proposes ways to ensure those aspects occur, arguing that teaching children to use spoken language as a tool for collaborative thinking benefits science understanding. The authors analyze teacher‑learner science dialogue to identify strategies that enable students to sustain collaborative conversations after teacher withdrawal, using structured activities mediated by oral language to develop scientific concepts. The research project found that structured rational dialogue helps children negotiate and refine their science concepts.

Abstract

This paper examines what is important about talk between learners during school science and, having identified this, suggests how we can ensure that what we consider important happens. By looking at the interaction between teachers and learners talking about science, it is possible to indicate ways in which learners can be helped to continue this learning conversation with one another when teacher support is withdrawn. Strategies for teaching and learning are examined. The paper reports on the findings of a research project designed to teach children how to negotiate their ideas about science concepts through rational dialogue. Children's development of scientific concepts in classrooms is undertaken through structured activity and mediated through oral language. Children must move forward simultaneously in their use of specialized vocabulary and in their understanding of current scientific explanations, models and ideas. New language and new ways of using language are learned by doing, which means for children, primarily speaking and listening. Children's understanding of science can benefit from teaching them to understand that spoken language is a powerful tool for thinking together.