Effect of student’s Aptitudes of subject on their perceptions of learning Science integrated English lesson
Chapter ⅠIntroduction
English is taught from the third grade (9 years old) of elementary school as a mandatory subject and has got positive results in many aspects since 1997.The aims ofprimary school English education are to increase the interests and motivation of students to learn English and to develop basic communicative competence (Korean Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development, 2001). Since the seventh national curriculum, the English instruction in elementary school in Korea had predominantly focused on speaking and listening comprehension skills. Yet, the actual English classroom realities in Korean elementary schools, teaching and learning English remains as a critical challenge (Moon, 2005).
In the EFL context, English is learnt as a foreign language, and the learners live in the contexts where they do not have to speak and listen to English for everyday survival. Koreanelementary learners in an EFL situation rarely have opportunities to experience English outside of the classroom. Their exposure to English is usually limited to classroom, with as little as two or three class sessions per week. Furthermore,thislimited exposurealmostconsists of spoken language such as speaking and listening comprehension practices that do not give Korean elementary learners chances to practice Englishat home or outside of the classroom. Many learners cannot read content materials because their English instruction often only includes basicEnglishconversational skills. Such skills often do not consider learners’ cognitive level and interests which often causes the learners to lose their motivation. (Lee, 2007)The researches(Jung, 1999; Kim, 1999) emphasized the need for adapting informative topics that motivate the learners’ interest and participation in the lessons. Adapting a cross-curricular approach also has been suggested as one of many ways for successfulEnglish education on the Korean primary context (Eskey, 1997; Halliwell, 1992; Kim, 1999; Park, 2002; Tongue, 1991).
The classroom – learning environment causes a second difficulty. There are typically more than 30 learners in one class in GyeonggiProvince in Korea, with very different levels of English language competency. Due to large number of learners and various levels of students, teachers are difficult to teach English to them appropriately. Low level learners cannot understand classesif teachertaught beyond their ability, while more advanced level learners lose interest if the class is not challenging.
In spite of these difficulties, the importance of learning English has been growing in our society, especially for young learners (Moon, 2005). Therefore, considerable research on English teaching methods is required, both to assist English teachers and learners. Recently, Content-Based Instruction (CBI) is coming up as a new wave for English education in Korea. According to Briton, Snow, and Wesche (1989), a recent surge of research and material on CBI has given us new opportunities and challenges. Looking at Park’s research (2004), some suggestions are provided for a practical introduction of CBI education in the areas of a pre-or in-service teacher training system, governmental assistance, and other practical issues; deciding the starting grade and subjects for immersion(Kang, 2009). However, there have been growing interests in content-based English instruction in Korea, the actual and concrete teaching methods and curriculum still remains unfamiliar to many teachers. For example,this researcher assumed that students who are interested in English subject have more positive perceptions towards studying English than students who are interested in the other subjects. However, whenthis researchertaught SCBI (science content based instruction) to the public elementary students in Koreafound different phenomena. Some of the students who are not concentrated innormal English class rather eagerly participated in SCBI than the other students.Thus, this researcher borrowed content-based language curriculum that integrate science into English ((20 ,Kang) and examined how students’ different subject aptitudes affected their perceptions and achievement towards their learning English.
ChapterⅡ.Literature Review
2.1 CBI (Content Based Instruction)
The focus of this research is on the contents of English. The contents have a definite influence on students’ interest and motivation in learning English. Contents – Based Instruction is an approach that emphasizes the importance of content. Thus it can be said that this research is based on CBI.
2.1.1 The definition of CBI
Content-based instruction (CBI) refers to an approach to second language teaching in which teaching is organized around the content or information that students will acquire, rather than around a linguistic or other type of syllabus. (Lee, 2007) Krahnke (1987)states that CBI is the teaching of content or information in the language being learned with little or no direct or explicit effort to teach the language itself, separately from the content being taught.
According to Leaver and Stryker (1997), CBI implies the total integration of language and content learning. It represents a significant departure from traditional foreign language teaching methods in that language proficiency is achieved by shifting the focus of instruction from the learning of language per se to the learning of language through the study of content. CBI uses the content in accordance with the language teaching to fuse them together to a cohesive whole which is of use to the student.
2.1.2 CBI Models
CBI has started in Canada as a successful second language immersion program. There are two different models of emersion; the adjunct and sheltered language instruction, which were referred by Snow (1989). The adjunct model is that content and language instruction have been integrated. In the adjunct model, students enroll in a regular academic course; in addition, they take a language course that is connected with the academic course. Then, during the language class, the language teacher’s focus is on helping students process the language in order to understand the academic content presented by the subject teacher. The language teacher also helps students to complete academic tasks such as writing term papers, improving their note-taking abilities, and reading academic textbooks assigned by the content teacher.
In sheltered-language instruction in a second language environment, a second model of content based instruction has been caused. Both native speakers and non-native speakers of a particular language follow a regular academic curriculum. For classes with non-native speakers, however, ‘sheltered’ instruction is geared to students’ developing second language proficiency. Sheltered-language instructors support their students through the use of particular instructional techniques and materials. It offers the significant advantage that second language students do not have to postpone their academic study until their language control reaches a high level. It follows that students are often highly motivated because they learning content that is relevant to academic requirements of the programs in which they are enrolled. To sum up, what all models of CBI in common is learning both specific content and related language skills.
2.1.3 Positive Views of CBI
In theory, integrated English and content instruction has many benefits. First, language acquisition is based on input is meaningful and understandable to the learner. Such integration increases students’ interests with content and it also provides a meaningful basis for understanding and acquiring new language structures and patterns (Genesee, 1994; Krashen, 1989; Snow, 1989; Taylor,1983). Brinton, Snow, and Wesche (1989), in CBI, language takes on its appropriate role as a vehicle for a accomplishing a set of content goals. They researched that content-based classrooms may yield an increase in intrinsic motivation and empowerment, since CBI class focuses on subject matter that is important to their lives. Students are working with content that is interesting and relevant, they forget that they are learning a language and acquisition occurs in an almost incidental fashion.
Second, language cognition and social skills develop concurrently among young learners. Language is a crucial medium that social and cognitive development proceeds (Genesee, 1994). By learning core subjects in English, learners can obtain core concepts and develop social skills. As shown in Snow, and Wesche’s (1989) study, students are pointed beyond transient extrinsic factors, like grades and tests, to their own competence and autonomy as intelligent individuals capable of actually doing something with their new language.
Third, the integration of English and content instruction emphasizes the specificity of functional language use (Genesee, 1994). In other words, ‘In content-based language teaching, the claim in a sense is that students get “ two for one”-both content knowledge and increased language proficiency’ (Wesche, 1993).
To sum up, unlike more traditional approaches to language teaching which are based around the presentation and practice of grammatical forms and lexis in decontextualized environment, CBI is an effective method of combining meaningful, cognitively demanding language and content learning within the context of authentic materials and tasks.
2.1.4 Content-based instruction in science
Keenan (2004) found that English language learners seem to struggle less with learning science content than they do with other content areas. She believes that science is a non –threatening way for students learning English. Students share their experience and knowledge of the world around them without feeling that they have the “wrong” answer to a teacher-prompted question. Moreover, science inquiry facilitates the language development.
Kessler and Quinn (1988) discussed the characteristics of science:
Science is generally defined as a set of concepts and relationships developed through the processes of observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of natural phenomena. Through scientific inquiry, students develop learning processes inherent in thinking: observing, classifying, and finding space and time relationships. Current approaches to science and second language education based on research and classroom practice indicate a set of central notions for relating science and ESL.
According to Lee (2007), the advantages of using science are as follows. First, it provides a source of meaningful and relevant language input, using hands – on materials and texts with extra linguistic devices (diagrams, charts and pictures) to clarify meaning. Second, children’s tendency toward natural curiosity will give positive affective conditions for high motivation and low anxiety. Third, it gives extensive opportunities for small group interactions in which students negotiate meanings and revise comprehensible language input. Fourth, opportunities for heterogeneous grouping with the role of peer tutor will alternate among students. Fifth, students will have experience with a wide range of language functions as well as extensive vocabulary development needed for school success. Sixth, the integrating of all - listening, reading speaking, writing- modalities of language use. Seventh, the use of prior cultural and educational experiences will develop new concepts. Eight, literacy-related tasks will develop cognitive and academic language proficiency. Nine, as a language acquisition perspective, science gives a rich context for genuine language use. Science can serve as a focal point around which oral language and literacy in ESL can develop.
ChapterⅢ. Methodology
3.1 Research Questions
The main purpose of this study is to investigate how much students’ aptitudes of science orEnglish subjects affect their perceptionsandachievement on SCBI (science content based instruction).To pursue this field of research, this study posed the following two questions. They are
1) How do students of different aptitudes towardsEnglish or science subjects, respond tostudying scienceintegratedEnglish lessons?
2) How much improvement was noticed in the students’ content knowledge once they completed studying science integrated English lessons?
3.2Participants
The subjects in this research were fourth graders (9 years old) in three classes at Dorim primary School. The number of students was76 and they have been studying English formally twice a week at school since one year ago. The researcher is an English substitute teacher and has been teaching English for 7 years at public elementary schools. However this researcher met these participants for the first time in March of this year. The school is located in Guri city, Gyeong Gi provincein South Korea. The students’ economical backgrounds were middle- low or low classes. Thus, parents were not fully involved in their children’s education so the students’ English proficiencies are low compared to other areas in Gyeonggi province. All students in fourth grade three classes were chosen. Some of students learned English before third grade at private institutes.Most of students have studied English since one year ago at school, 15students studied more than 2years and only 11 students studiedlearning English over three years until this March 2011.Thus, there were huge linguistic proficiency gaps between students but most of them were beginners and none of them had lived in English speaking countries.In this study, students were divided into some groups according to their aptitude of different subjects.The reason was this research studied students’ perceptions and content knowledge improvement towards English subject based on their English or science subject aptitudes.
3.3Research Design
3.3.1 Overview
This study was conducted from March, 2011 to August, 2011. Table 3.1 below presents the detail procedures. Study of prior research and material collections in the planning stage was important because they gave basic directions to the research in the aspects of data collection and analysis.
Surveys were taken both before and afterexperimental lessons and researcher’sobservationwas also analyzedin order to compare how students’different subjectaptitudesaffectedtheir perceptions towards learning English. Pre and post- test results were examined to measure how muchcontent knowledge improvementwas noticed towards learning English between before and after experimental lessons.
Experimental lessonscontents were adopted from Yoyo Playtime science 2 (Kang, 2010) which were written by according to students’appropriate cognitive level. Experimental lesson planswere createdby the researcher considering the relation between students’interests and lesson’s objectives. They were implemented for eight periods twice a week from March 2011 to April 2011. They were also filmed and observed for greater analysis of the results.Table 3.1 shows the research procedure for experiment groups.
Table 3.1 Research procedures
Steps / Period / ProceduresPlanning / March, 2011 / Selection of research topics and questions
Study of prior research and material
collections
Analysis of the 3rd grade science
curriculum
Design of lesson plan, evaluation of
materials
Acting / March, 2011 ~
April, 2011 / Execute pre– post surveys and analysis
Selection of Experiment groups
Implementation of lesson plans
Execute Observation and analysis
Execute post-test and post surveys
Evaluation / May,2011 ~
July, 2011 / Collection of data and analysis
Research questions testing and deduction of
conclusions and implications
Table3. 2the ExperimentalSchedules
Steps / Date / Steps / DatePre-survey 1 / March, 3rd / Experimental lesson 5 / March, 21st
Pre-test1 / March, 3rd / Experimental lesson 6 / March, 24th
Experimental lesson 1 / March, 7th / Experimental lesson 7 / March, 28th
Experimental lesson 2 / March, 10th / Experimental lesson 8 / March, 31st
Experimental lesson 3 / March, 14th / Post-survey 1 / April, 4th
Experimental lesson 4 / March, 17th / Post –test1 / April, 4th
3.3.2Pre-SurveyData Collection procedure
Thispre-survey questions weremodified from the original researchers’ survey questionsby the researcher in order to understand students’different subject aptitudes and perceptions toward learning English(Moon, 2005, p62-63 & Lee, 2007, p69-70). The questions were related to students’ aptitudes about studying English or science. The first question was focused on the students’ general perceptions about their normal English classes. Question2-6 asked about the students’ perception on English subject, meanwhile question 7-11 asked the same about the science subject. The same questions were asked for both subjects. (See appendix A).Students’ perception questions were composed of how students participate duringschool English class(2questions), how they enjoy learning English at home or out of school (2questions), and how they will achieve their future occupation or hobbies which will beconnected toEnglish (1question).
The questionnaire was adapted from Dillman (2000) which was a Closed-ended questionnaire and designed to answer the 11research questions.In March 2011, after editing and proofreading, it was completed and conducted by 76 fourth grade students in apublic elementary school. The students wrote their names on the survey and then checked the most suitable answer for each question from number 2 to 11;this was then used to divide them into groups based on their aptitudes of subject according to their answers.It was created first in Korean then later translated into Englishto help the students’ understand it more clearly.
The responsesto the pre-survey (Q2-11) were used for two purposes. Composingexperimentalgroups (See Table 4.1)and analyzingparticipants’learningEnglish perceptions.The students who formed Group A were either 1) strongly agreed or 2) agreed with a minimum of three out of five English (question 2-6)and science (question 7-11) aptitude related questions.
The students who formed Group B or C were either 1) strongly agreed or 2) agreed with a minimum of three out of five English (question 2-6)or science (question 7-11) aptitude related questions. The students who formed Group D disagreed with a minimum of three out of five English (question 2-6) and Science (question 7-11) aptitude related questions.For example if one student answered 4 strongly agreed with English and 3 agreed with science, he/she was included in Group A. When the 4 groups were formed, the researcher used “like” as a criteria for students’ subject aptitude, that meant the students chose either “strongly agree” or “agree”with a minimum of three out of five English (question 2-6)and/or science (question 7-11) aptitude related questions.
3.3.3 Pre-test Data collection procedure
In March 2011, before conducting the experimental lessons, the pre-test was carried outto evaluate the participants’English language ability and their prior science contentsknowledge. The researcher referred to the other study (Kang, 2009) and then redesignedthe pre-test 20 questions that containedEnglish language and science content questions.(Appendix B)They were focused on written language questions because the pre-test was a paper test. The science contents were two topics taken from their 3rd grade science textbook using yoyo playtime science book2 which the students had studied the previous year. Its results were analyzed and compared according to the groups of students’ subject aptitude.