Super Science

Abstract

The aim of my final Portfolio is to create an engaging science textbook that fulfills the cognitive and developmental needs of young learners studying English in a Korean private academy’s after-school program. The institute at which I am currently employed bases its after-school science classes on “Fun Science”, a monthly experiment subscription service. Although convenient, the science kits, are usually little more than bags of flimsy cardboard pieces with instructions that even adults would find difficult to decipher. When the experiments go well, children are able to take home an amusing toy. However, more often than not, the kits can be assembled, played with, and even broken within minutes, leading the scientific principle that the experiments supposedly demonstrate to be quickly forgotten along with the kit itself. Due to the fact that the academy’s after-school curriculum focuses heavily on reading and writing, science serves to simply inject excitement into an otherwise tedious routine. I believe a more strategic approach to scientific inquiry in the EFL classroom could not only be fun for the students, but it could also be meaningful. My book aims to familiarize students with scientific concepts and allow them to practice descriptive and analytical language while focusing on science related tasks. By giving students a purpose for their language use, a science-based English class could take advantage of students’ eagerness to find meaning in both class activities and the natural world around them (Cameron, 2001, p.21). The group of learners that my textbook will address are first graders who have recently completed a two year long English language kindergarten program. Before starting elementary school, the learners studied the majority of their school subjects in English and developed the ability to converse fluently about a variety of topics. The students have a proficiency level of Level 5 (Bridging) on the WIDA scale. In order to improve students’ ability to use new language in context, the children must repeatedly encounter new vocabulary and make connections with conceptual knowledge (Cameron, 2001, p.74). For this reason, the text will aim to recycle vocabulary related to scientific experimentation throughout the book and engage students to repeatedly use topic-based vocabulary in experiments and other activities.