Understanding how teachers design lessons in response to the language demands of science

Abstract

The role of language in science learning and teaching has been a focus of science education research for over three decades (see for example, Lemke, 1990, Sutton, 1996, Wellington and Osborne, 2001). This rich body of research has led to the insight that learning the language of science is constitutive of learning science. Wellington and Osborne (2001) went so far as to argue that for many students “the greatest obstacle in learning science—and also the most important achievement—is to learn its language” (p. 3).