English in Science Classroom - A support or Hinderence

Being an international language, English has become the need of time. There are many language centres and English medium schools around which are considered of high standard due to their emphasis on English language. My visit to different well recognized English Medium Schools has shown that children get the maximum exposure to a second language (L2) through variety of activities both inside and outside classrooms. This could be through teachers’ modeling, teaching learning resources, positive attitude, exposure activities like movie shows, and many more. The same is reflected by Cameron (2001) that the amount and type of exposure to a language is essential for its development. I personally agree with the notion that more input will lead to the maximum output with reference to language in younger children. However, being a science educationist, my concern is that how English language supports or interferes in the cognitive development of a child.

Cameron (2001) suggested that L1 is always helpful in understanding new concepts and in the cognitive development of children. One of my observations in the Maths period in grade 1 indicates that students faced difficulty in understanding new concepts, which were only explained in English. For example when a teacher asked students to write “a quarter” numerically, most of them wrote 4/1. Had initial explanation been allowed in L1, the outcome might have been otherwise. Similarly, my own experience tells me that students feel comfortable when they are taught difficult concepts of chemistry in Urdu (L1). This makes teaching bilingual where the main terms are in English (as mentioned in the books) but the rest explanation is in Urdu (first language). This practice on one hand provides a comfortable and language friendly atmosphere in the class, however, isn't in accordance to the school’s language policy. Furthermore, it is also important to have a synergy in the medium of instructions in the classroom with the medium of assessment. Focusing on L1 in science classrooms and L2 for the assessment leads to the double standards for the children who may feel difficulty to express them at the time of paper pencil test. This is the biggest dilemma for me as a science teacher to find out my position while selecting the language in science classroom. Also, Many contextual realities make the issue more complex, for example, the importance of English language in society, less availability of learning resources in L1, lack of teachers’ command on L2 etc. How can one keep the balance between these important aspects of teaching and learning? Should teacher be bilingual and provide both language opportunities in the classroom simultaneously in order to meet the demand of child’s cognitive development and assessment.