Teaching of Science in English: best strategies or appropriate strategies?

Abstract

The year 2003 marked another history in Malaysian education when the government reinstated English as the medium of instruction for Science subject, reversing a policy introduced almost 30 years ago. As Science teachers were trained in the Malay language, they might find some difficulties in teaching the science subjects in English. However, it is uncertain the extent of the difficulties they face and how they overcome such difficulties. Some teachers were said to use the Malay language or a mother tongue to teach science subjects because students seemed to comprehend better in the Malay language or the mother tongue. Although strategy could be-one solution to help students to understand their lesson, there should be other ways that could help teachers to enhance their teaching of Science in English. This paper will discuss findings on a study carried out, involving five volunteered Science teachers, at a secondary school in one of the states in Malaysia. The purpose of the study was to investigate how the teachers prepared for their Science lessons as well as the actual delivery of the content in class to enhance their teaching in English involved. Specifically, it looked into the strategies adopted by Science teachers to enhance comprehension and understanding of the Science subject in low proficiency classrooms This paper will also discuss the implications and present recommendations based on the findings in the study.