Foreign languages in African science classrooms: perspectives on and approaches to language use during teaching

Abstract

Africa is perhaps the only continent in the world where most formal or school education is conducted in instructional languages that are foreign to most learners and their teachers. In contexts where formal learning is conducted in a foreign language, achievement of general profi ciency in the instructional language is a necessary fi rst step if any learning is to be expected in that language. In this article, the objective is to argue an appropriate perspective on – and suggest approaches to – the use of (the foreign) language by science teachers during teaching. This article is the outcome of sustained literature reviews of cross-national research on language in science education over the last 40 years. In this article, a plural nature of school science is adopted, including it being a distinct language foreign to all learners, irrespective of their fi rst language. Therefore, the main objective of this article is to highlight the role of the instructional language as used by the science teacher and in science texts. This article targets the science teacher with regard to the well-known need for teacher intervention in the learning of school science.