Language demands and opportunities in relation to Next Generation Science Standards for English language learners: What teachers need to know

Abstract

This paper discusses challenges and opportunities expected as English language learners (ELLs) engage with Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). We subscribe to a view of language learning and proficiency that is most concerned with students’ ability to use language to function in the context of their lives both in and out of school. We have discussed this view of second language acquisition and its implications for the science classroom in greater detail in a separate paper. Here, we concern ourselves with learning opportunities for ELLs in an Englishspeaking science classroom in which NGSS have been implemented based on the National Research Council (NRC, 2011) document “A framework for K-12 science education: Practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas” (hereafter called “the Framework”).