The perception and experiences of teachers about language issues in the biology classroom

Research Method

This is a qualitative exploratory research study in nature. The qualitative research method is used to explore deeply and analyze the multifarious phenomenon. Cohen, Manion, and Morrison (2000) explained that constitutes teacher’s perceptions and practices applied in context for addressing the language issues in the biology classrooms. The qualitative exploratory research design is used in this study because it is most appropriate to answer the identified research questions.

Hence, the primary purpose of this study was to explore the perception of secondary school teachers about issues in the language of biology. In addition, this research design is also useful in situations where less or no research study is conducted on a particular phenomenon. So, researchers explored the real problem from the biology teacher’s perception by using an exploratory research design.

Research Questions

Q1. What are the teachers’ perceptions of the role of language in Biology learning?
Q2. How have the teachers’ experienced language issues while teaching Biology?

Recruitment of Participants

The sample of this study was recruited through a purposive sampling technique from the urban part of the Sindh province of Pakistan. Hence, four teachers were recruited as per their qualification and teaching experience at the secondary school level, and gender balance. The teachers were recruited based on the criteria of (i) having a Master’s degree in Biology, (ii) a Masters degree in Education, (iii) at least five years of experience at the secondary school level, and (iv) received professional development training in theory respective subjects. Likewise, Robinson (2014) explained that the criteria for sampling facilitate the novice researchers to recruit the authentic sample from the population. The semi-structured interviews were conducted face-to-face to explore the teacher's perception and experiences about biology teaching focusing on the language issues in the classroom. Participant’s identity was kept confidential throughout the process of data collection, analysis and presentation.

The Procedure of Data Collection and Analysis

The semi-structured interview guide was used to collect the data from the selected respective schools’ teachers. The research ethics were followed by taking permission and consent from the school management and research participants. All the semi-structured face-to-face interviews were tape-recorded with the participants’ permission. The duration of each interview was 45 to 50 minutes.

Thematic analysis was used for the robust interpretation of the collected data (Lapadat 2010).