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Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 20, Issue 2, Article 9 (Jun., 2021) |
Language is like a medium that helps you to communicate with others (Maheux, 2017). For the development of language, the words and mind should work collectively. Mercer (2002) mentioned that “Words and Minds takes a lively and accessible look at how we use language to combine our mental resources and get things done” (p.3). Language plays a crucial role in science learning (Seah, 2016b). Likewise, biology has its scientific language which helps students to understand biology. Learning biology involves learning a specific language of biology like other subjects (McComas, Reiss, Dempster, Lee, Olander, Clément, & Waarlo, 2018). In biological language, the different terminologies are embedded. Hence the acquisition of biology vocabulary is essential for developing scientific concepts (Driel, Slot, & Bakker, 2018).
Jagger and Yore, (2012) emphasized the importance of scientific language. However, little attention has been given to the language of science in terms of the teaching process. The scientific language is rarely discussed and mostly gets neglected. Likewise, there are very few people who are aware of the importance of scientific language in teaching-learning of science. According to Shanahan and Shanahan, (2008), science literacy itself is a core subject and it has three main components. These include basic literacy, derived literacy, and fundamental literacy. Basic literacy demands some skills of writing and reading. Thus, derived literacy required science knowledge. At last, fundamental literacy is about knowledge and the application of science in the solutions to daily life issues. Unfortunately, it is considered that biology literacy is about reading and writing alone(Thompson & Logue, 2006). It is beyond that component and language has a significant role in constructing and communicating knowledge and necessary thinking skills which learners need as citizens of socio-scientific contemporary society. However, the development of language requires opportunities to learn the language of biology through multiple teaching approaches.
Science plays a crucial role in the development of humankind. The word science looks so simple and easy but it includes the information of the world. Science is the field that explores the latest phenomena. Science is the logical exploration of nature. According to Chalmers (2013) that everyone holds the common belief that there is something special in science. It may be the well-structured scientific methods or reliability of scientific methods which make it so special. Nowadays, science is embedded in every field of study such as the life sciences which relates the study of biology. Furthermore, Chalmers (2013) explored that science provides reliable information that is based on facts instead of personal opinions. Therefore, the learning of science is a bit different and complicated from the learning of other disciplines. Hsu and Roth (2014) also endorsed that students learn science employing accommodation and assimilation methods. These two aspects help to understand the new concepts and modify the previously learned concepts in science.
Biology contains detailed information about living and nonliving organisms. Ruiz-Mirazo, Peretó, and Moreno (2010) mentioned that biology is the central part of living organisms. It explains the systems, processes, and functions of living organisms. From a biology perspective, life is something that performs continuous functions for better survival like the heart. Moreover, it is described in Setiawan (2019) that biology is the major discipline that encloses the other disciplines related to living organisms. Life science is another name of biology which distinguishes it from other sciences. In addition, the learning of biology takes place with the help of experiments, observation, and descriptions.
In addition, the situation of teaching and learning of science suggests that our schools are not producing human resources that are scientifically literate in the field of science and technology, which has a significant role in the rise and fall of nations (Khalid & Khan, 2006; Social Policy and Development Centre SPDC, 2002-03). Hence, it is difficult for science teachers, especially biology teachers, to identify and resolve language issues in the biology classroom. On the other hand, teachers are not well trained to use technology gadgets in the classroom and they are also not aware of the search engines on the internet to search more about trends and issues in biology teaching and learning processes.
