<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail-pw-hidden-cp"><header class="gmail-article-header entry-header"><h1 class="entry-title gmail-single-title" rel="bookmark">When it comes to learning science, language can determine success</h1>
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<span class="gmail-by"></span> <span class="entry-author gmail-author"><a href="https://www.studyinternational.com/news/author/the-conversation/">The Conversation</a></span> <span class="gmail-meta-divider">|</span> <time class="gmail-updated entry-time" datetime="2017-05-12">May 12, 2017</time>
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<p>Pupils who have access to physical educational resources,
such as books and computers at home, tend to perform better in science
than those who don’t. This has been proved by a great deal of <a href="https://timssandpirls.bc.edu/timss2011/downloads/T11_IR_S_Chapter4.pdf">international research</a>. </p><p>image: <a href="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/77110/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic">https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/77110/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic</a></p><img title="count When it comes to learning science, language can determine success" src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/77110/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="count" width="1" height="1">
<p>It’s true in South Africa, too, but <a href="http://www.sajournalofeducation.co.za/index.php/saje/article/view/1292/685">our research</a>
has found less tangible factors also play a role in pupils’ science
achievement. These factors include parental education levels, parental
involvement in homework – and, crucially, home language.</p>
<p>Language is a factor that makes the South African context unique and
has a noteworthy role in pupils’ science achievements. The language of
teaching and learning is often different from the language spoken in a
pupil’s home. Only <a href="http://www.hsrc.ac.za/uploads/pageContent/2929/TIMSSHighlights2012Dec7final.pdf">26 percent</a> of
pupils who participated in the 2011 Trends in International Mathematics
and Science Study (TIMSS) spoke the language of the test at home. For
our research, we studied data from 11,969 Grade Nine pupils – on
average, 16 years old – who participated in TIMSS in 2011.</p>
<p>Successive apartheid governments used <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2295225">language policy</a>
as a tool to create socio-economic and educational division. This
history means language as a home resource can’t be overlooked when it
comes to understanding pupils’ performance in science at school. Our
results proved just how important language is – the language most often
spoken in a pupil’s home was the single most important predictor.</p>
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<p>In developing countries such as South Africa, science, technology and
innovation have become forces that drive economic growth and
competitiveness and have the potential for improving the quality of
life. The number of skilled people (such as scientists, engineers and
other technically skilled personnel) in a country is associated with its
economic growth and ability to compete in the global economy.</p>
<p>The development of these skilled people begins at the school level.
So it’s a cause for concern the 2011 TIMSS found the average science
achievement of Grade Nine South African students to be well below the
international centre point of 500 points. Tackling language policy can,
we believe, improve pupils’ performance in this important subject.</p>
<h3><strong>Findings</strong></h3>
<p>Historically, the state provided educational resources in an
unbalanced way. Schools designated for white pupils were well resourced,
while those for black learners were under-resourced. Today, these
imbalances <a href="https://ideas.repec.org/p/sza/wpaper/wpapers165.html">persist</a>. There are <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-south-africa-can-disrupt-its-deeply-rooted-educational-inequality-48531">vast differences</a> in physical resources at poor and affluent schools.</p>
<p>The school resources we included in our study were the condition of
the school building; the use of workbooks or worksheets as the basis of
instruction and class size. We also explored the capacity of the school
to provide instruction based on the availability of resources such as
textbooks, science equipment and computer software.</p>
<p>For home resources, we asked the pupils to report on how often the
language of the test was spoken in the home, the number of books at
home, the number of home assets, parental education levels, and parental
involvement in school homework.</p>
<p>Language emerged strongly as a success factor. Pupils who used the
language most frequently spoken at home in the TIMSS test scored 62
points higher, on average, than those who seldom spoke the language of
the test.</p>
<p>The number of home assets present in a pupil’s home had the second
strongest positive association with science achievement. It was found
for each additional asset (such as a fridge, television, computer etc.)
in a pupil’s home, they scored an average of 11 points higher in science
than their peers.</p>
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<p>The third most important predictor of science achievement was the
condition of the school building. Pupils who attended schools with minor
problems with the building performed 24 points higher, on average, than
those who attended schools that reported moderate to serious problems
with the buildings.</p>
<p>So what does this all mean?</p>
<h3><strong>Implications</strong></h3>
<p>Language development is <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0010027793900584">recognised</a>
as crucial for all other learning to take place. Our findings suggest
the language of instruction (and of testing) has not been mastered by
the time pupils are in Grade Nine. This is unsurprising – most of the
learners tested using TIMSS were, in essence, learning science through a
foreign language.</p>
<p>This means pupils are likely to be at a disadvantage because their
knowledge of the language of instruction is below the expected level for
their age and grade. Education policies must seek both to improve the
manner in which the language of instruction is taught to students who
don’t speak that language at home, and concurrently, the policies that
promote instruction in the home language must be strengthened.</p>
<p>It’s important we understand the determinants of science achievement
for South African pupils. This has far reaching implications for the
country’s broader growth and development. This is because successful
interventions at school level may contribute to increasing the pool of
matriculants who are eligible to study science-related subjects at a
tertiary level and who will later join the skilled workforce.</p>
<p>Disregarding these environmental factors may hinder the success of
policies designed to improve achievement and further economic growth.</p>
<p><em>By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/andrea-juan-369081">Andrea Juan</a>, Research Specialist- Education and Skills Development, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/human-sciences-research-council-2144">Human Sciences Research Council</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mariette-visser-376051">Mariette Visser</a>, Senior Research Manager in the Education and Skills Development Research Programme, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/human-sciences-research-council-2144">Human Sciences Research Council</a></em></p></div></section><span><br>Read more at <a href="https://www.studyinternational.com/news/comes-learning-science-language-can-determine-success/#XjK32e1KEZTTV6HH.99">https://www.studyinternational.com/news/comes-learning-science-language-can-determine-success/#XjK32e1KEZTTV6HH.99</a><br><br><a href="https://www.studyinternational.com/news/comes-learning-science-language-can-determine-success/#Dwymy8G11dsWOAKS.97">https://www.studyinternational.com/news/comes-learning-science-language-can-determine-success/#Dwymy8G11dsWOAKS.97</a><br></span></div><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature">**************************************<br>N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to its members<br>and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal, and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message. A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)<br><br>For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to <a href="https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/" target="_blank">https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/</a><br>listinfo/lgpolicy-list<br>*******************************************</div>
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