Teaching ESL through Science

Description

This resource provides activities and worksheets that comprise a science curriculum for students aged from 12 to 15 years of age who are at the beginning stages of learning in English. Although it was written for students attending an intensive English language school, it is relevant for all teachers working with students beginning their learning of science in English.

It has been written by science teachers working together with English language teachers and it develops understandings of science through an explicit focus on the language of science. In this way, the resource is unique in that it provides an authentic school science curriculum at the same time as a context for developing students’ English language.

The resource’s science content is extensive, covering aspects from all four domains of a typical secondary science curriculum: Earth and Beyond; Life and Living; Natural and Processed Materials; and Energy and Change. Similarly, the language content, using Halliday’s functional model of language, covers a wide range, from beginning levels of English to more advanced levels, and from specific aspects of language to broad aspects of genre.

The resource offers very practical, classroom-based units of work that deal with the various science domains and are made up of a number of sequential tasks and activities, most of which are supplemented with photocopiable worksheets and reference materials. This ensures the resource is practical for teachers and students, as well as being well organised and easily accessible.