Teaching and learning of science using English in a non-English speaking environment: the 'Homonyms, Homographs, Homophones' challenge

Abstract

While most of the Sabah rural primary school Science teachers struggled through the language policy change, many have yet to build up enough confidence to conduct the Science lessons fully in English. Taking on from there, Academic Management Sector of Sabah Education Department embarked into producing a module which aims to serve as a guide for teachers to teach systematically using proper English language. The module consists of detailed chapter by chapter scripted lesson based on lesson plans which were carefully planned to meet the objectives of the curriculum specifications. At this point in time, the project is in still in progress. Continuous mentoring and monitoring primary school Science teachers reveal that among the factors that may affect teachers teaching effectively depend on teachers' ability to understand and comprehend the text in English, command of the English language, the skill to deliver the subject content to the pupils, the teachers' teacher training background: whether he/she was trained in the Malay or English medium, the number of years teaching the particular subject, teaching methods, and coping strategies used to overcome problems encountered in teaching science in English. This paper discusses the teachers' ability to use communicative and scientific English language to construct meanings in a Science classroom. Extensive research studies in the area of psycholinguistics have shown the importance of the academic language ability in science in relation to teaching and learning the subject (Lemke, 1990; Fang, 2005; Brown, Reveles & Kelley, 2005). Pupils should be taught to translate their colloquial language into the scientific language. This is because the language of science has its own specialized and 'unique semantic patterns, its own specific ways of making meaning' (Lemke, 1990:1). Barba (1995) points out that science vocabulary development is not just a simple matter about knowing the meaning of the word using the glossary or dictionary. Pupils come to Science classrooms with their prior knowledge of a corpus of English words. To ensure that pupils develop their Science vocabulary, teachers should assist pupils develop new concepts and attach old words for new concepts. The problem is the words in Science could carry different meanings as in everyday usage. Homographs are words that have the same spelling, different pronunciation and different meanings. Homonyms are words which have the same spelling and pronunciation but have different meanings. Homophones are words that have same pronunciation but different spellings and meanings. Therefore , if teachers do not pay attention to the homographs, homonyms or homophones, pupils may not comprehend the Science concepts correctly. Yager (2004) pointed out that because there are so many terms and new science concepts which carry a meaning of its own in the field of Science, hence, pupils study Science by recognizing the definitions of the technical terms and parroting what they read or have been told by their teachers. Hence, teachers must make extra effort to point out and explain Science keywords that are homographs, homonyms or homophones to the pupils. The challenges and issues faced by teachers in relation 10 the Teaching and Learning Science and Mathematics in English (TLSME) are not something new. Numerous concerted efforts at different levels have attempted to alleviate the situation. This project undertaken hopes to help teachers improve the current situation in the local context.