Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Understanding Interactions in Multilingual Science Classrooms through Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT): What Do Contradictions Tell Us?

  • Published:
International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Interactions in multilingual science classrooms involve local cognitive and sociocultural dimensions along with global contextual aspects such as language-in-education policies. The intersection of these has implications for providing quality science education and supporting diverse students. This study investigates interactions in Lebanese multilingual science classrooms by using an integrative framework to analyze dialogicity of local classroom practices, or the extent to which students’ ideas are acknowledged and built upon for conceptual learning. Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) is then used to depict local practices within the larger global contextual aspects. Data were collected through instrumental case studies of three middle school science teachers in schools of different socioeconomic levels. Data sources included: (a) videotaped science lessons, (b) teacher and school leader interviews, and (c) student group interviews. Data were then arranged into an activity system for each teacher’s classroom. Each activity system showed how local interactions and practices were situated within contextual aspects and the emergent contradictions in each. We discuss what contradictions tell us about interactions in Lebanese multilingual science classrooms and how these can inform professional development in multilingual science education.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aguiar, O. & Mortimer, E. (2013, September). Promoting productive dialogic teaching in the classrooms: A challenge to science education. Paper presented at annual meeting of the European Science Education Research Association (ESERA), Nicosia, Cyprus.

  • Aguiar, O. G., Mortimer, E. F. & Scott, P. H. (2010). Learning from and responding to students’ questions: The authoritative and dialogic tension. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 47(2), 174–193.

    Google Scholar 

  • Akkary-Karami, R. & Rizk, N. (2012). The TAMAM project: Shifting the paradigm of educational reform in the Arab world. Journal of International Education and Leadership, 2(3), 1–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, L. & Krathwohl, D. (Eds.). (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives. New York, NY: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc..

    Google Scholar 

  • Bakhtin, M. M. (1981). Discourse in the novel. In M. M. Bakhtin (Ed.), The dialogic imagination: Four essays by M. M. Bakhtin (pp. 259–422). Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bakhtin, M. M. (1986). Speech genres and other late essays (Y. McGee, Trans.). Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. & Passeron, J. C. (1977). Reproduction in education, society and culture (Richard Nice, Trans). London, England: Sage Publication Ltd.

  • Center for Educational Research and Development (2017). Statistical bulletin: Academic Year 2017–2018. Retrieved from https://www.crdp.org/files/201807260129101.pdf.

  • Center for Educational Research and Development (2020). Studies and researches. Retrieved from http://www.crdp.org/studies?la=en.

  • Creese, A. & Blackledge, A. (2015). Translanguaging and identity in educational settings. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 35, 20–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Creswell, J. W. & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Engeström, R. (1995). Voice as communicative action. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 2(3), 192–214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Engeström, Y. (1999). Activity theory and individual and social transformation. In Y. Engeström, R. Miettinen & R.-L. Punamaki (Eds.), Perspectives on activity theory (pp. 19–38). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

  • Engeström, Y. (2001). Expansive learning at work: Toward an activity theoretical reconceptualization. Journal of Education and Work, 14(1), 133–156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Engeström, Y. & Sannino, A. (2010). Studies of expansive learning: Foundations, findings and future challenges. Educational Research Review, 5, 1–24.

  • Erickson, F. (2004). Talk and social theory. Cambridge, England: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ford, M. J. & Wargo, B. M. (2011). Dialogic framing of scientific content for conceptual and epistemic understanding. Science Education, 96, 369–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • García, O. (2009). Bilingual education in the 21st century. Oxford, England: Wiley-Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • García, O. & Lin, A. M. Y. (2016). Translanguaging in bilingual education. In O. García & A. M. Y. Lin (Eds.), Bilingual and Multilingual Education (Encyclopedia of Language and Education, Vol. 5). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer, Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/306924988_Translanguaging_in_Bilingual_Education.

  • Garza, T., Huerta, M., Spies, T., Lara-Alecio, R., Irby, B. J. & Tong, F. (2018). Science classroom interactions and academic language use with English learners. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 16(8), 1499–1519.

  • Gibbons, P. (2003). Mediating language learning: Teacher interactions with ESL students in a content-based classroom. TESOL Quarterly, 37, 247–273.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodnough, K. (2018). Addressing contradictions in teachers’ practice through professional learning: An activity theory perspective. International Journal of Science Education, 40(17), 2181–2204. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2018.1525507.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jakobson, J. & Axelsson, J. (2017). Building a web in science instruction: Using multiple resources in a Swedish multilingual middle school class. Language and Education, 31, 479–494. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2017.1344701.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karlsson, A., Larsson, P. N. & Jakobsson, A. (2020). The continuity of learning in a translanguaging science classroom. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-019-09933-y.

  • Kennedy, M. M. (2010). Attribution error and the quest for teacher quality. Educational Researcher, 39, 591–559.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lan, S.-W. & de Oliveira, L. (2019). English language learners’ participation in the discourse of a multilingual science classroom. International Journal of Science Education, 41(9), 1246–1270. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2019.1607618.

  • Larsson, P. & Jakobsson, J. (2020). Meaning-making in science from the perspective of students hybrid language use. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 18(5), 811–830. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-019-09994-z.

  • Lee, O. & Buxton, C. A. (2011). Engaging culturally and linguistically diverse students in learning science. Theory Into Practice, 50, 277–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, O. & Buxton, C. A. (2013). Integrating science learning and English language development for English language learners. Theory Into Practice, 52, 36–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lee, O., Llosa, L., Grapin, S., Haas, A. & Goggins, M. (2019). Science and language integration with English learners: A conceptual framework guiding instructional materials development. Science Education, 103(2), 317–337. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21498.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lemke, J. L. (2001). Articulating communities: Sociocultural perspectives on science education. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 38, 296–316.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leont’ev, A. N. (1978). Activity, consciousness, and personality. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lin, A. & Yi Lo, Y. (2017). Trans/languaging and the triadic dialogue in content and language integrated learning (CLIL) classrooms. Language and Education, 31(1), 26–45. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2016.1230125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Louks-Horsley, S. E., Stiles, K., Mundry, S., Love, N. & Hewson, P. W. (2010). Designing professional development for teachers of science and mathematics, Expanded (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martínez-Álvarez, P. (2019). What counts as science? Expansive learning actions for teaching and learning science with bilingual children. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 14(4), 799–837. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-019-09909-y.

  • McCarty, T. L., Collins, J. & Hopson, R. K. (2011). Dell Hymes and the new language policy studies: Update from an underdeveloped country. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 42(4), 335–363.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moore, E., Evnitskaya, N. & Ramos-de Robles, S. L. (2018). Teaching and learning science in linguistically diverse classrooms. Cultural Studies of Science Education, 13, 341–335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mortimer, E. F. & Scott, P. H. (2003). Meaning making in secondary science classrooms. Buckingham, England: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Orr, M. & Annous, S. (2018). There is no alternative! Student perceptions of learning in a second language in Lebanon. Journal of Language Education, 4, 79–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patchen, T. & Smithenry, D. W. (2014). Diversifying instruction and shifting authority: A cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) analysis of classroom participant structures. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 51, 606–634.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Postholm, M. B. (2014). Methodologies in cultural–historical activity theory: The example of school-based development. Educational Research, 57(1), 43–58. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131881.2014.983723.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prinsloo, C. H. & Harvey, J. C. (2018). The differing effect of language factors on science and mathematics achievement using TIMSS 2015 data: South Africa. Research in Science Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-018-9769-9.

  • Probyn, M. (2015). Pedagogical translanguaging: Bridging discourses in South African science classrooms. Language and Education, 29(3), 218–234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roth, W.-M., Lee, Y.-J. & Hsu, P.-L. (2009). A tool for changing the world: Possibilities of cultural-historical activity theory to reinvigorate science education. Studies in Science Education, 45, 131–167. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057260903142269.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryoo, K. & Bedell, K. (2019). Supporting linguistically diverse students' science learning with dynamic visualizations through discourse-rich practices. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 56, 270–301.

  • Saka, Y., Southerland, S. A. & Brooks, J. (2009). Becoming a member of a school community while working toward science education reform: Teacher induction through a cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) perspective. Science Education, 93(6), 996–1025.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salloum, S. & Abd-El-Khalick, F. (2010). A study of practical-moral knowledge in science teaching: Case studies in physical science classrooms. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 47(8), 929–951.

  • Salloum, S. & BouJaoude, S. (2019a). The use of triadic dialogue in the science classroom: A teacher negotiating conceptual learning with teaching to the test. Research in Science Education, 49(3), 829–857.

  • Salloum, S. & BouJaoude, S. (2019b). Language in teaching and learning science in diverse Lebanese multilingual classrooms: Interactions and perspectives. International Journal of Science Education, 1–33.

  • Scott, P., Mortimer, E. & Aguiar, O. (2006). The tension between authoritative and dialogic discourse: A fundamental characteristic of meaning making interactions in high school science lessons. Science Education, 90, 605–631.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seah, H. & Silver, E. (2018). Attending to science language demands in multilingual classrooms: A case study. International Journal of Science Education.. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2018.1504177.

  • Shehab, S. S. & BouJaoude, S. (2017). Analysis of the Chemical Representations in Secondary Lebanese Chemistry Textbooks. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 15(5), 797–816.

  • Shuyab, M. (2016). Education for social cohesion attempts in Lebanon: Reflections on the 1994 and 2010 education reforms. Education as Change, 20, 225–242.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stake, R. E. (2013). Multiple case study analysis. New York, NY: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stroupe, D., Caballero, M. D. & White, P. (2018). Fostering students’ epistemic agency through the co-configuration of moth research. Science Education, 102, 1176–1200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sutton, C. (1996). Beliefs about science and beliefs about language. International Journal of Science Education, 18, 1–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vieira, R. D. & Kelly, G. J. (2014). Multi-level discourse analysis in a physics teaching methods course from the psychological perspective of activity theory. International Journal of Science Education, 36(16), 2694–2718.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Younes, R., Salloum, S. &, Antoun, M. (2019, May). The effects of language and parents’ education on performance in mathematics and science. Paper presented at the International Conference on Teaching Science and Mathematics in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Settings, Nicosia, Cyprus.

  • Zhang, Y. (2016). Multimodal teacher input and science learning in a middle school sheltered classroom. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 53(1), 7–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Balamand, Balamand al-Kurah, Lebanon

    Sara Salloum

  2. American University of Beirut, Bliss St., Beirut, Lebanon

    Saouma BouJaoude

Authors
  1. Sara Salloum
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Saouma BouJaoude
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sara Salloum.

Electronic Supplementary Material

ESM 1

(DOCX 195 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Salloum, S., BouJaoude, S. Understanding Interactions in Multilingual Science Classrooms through Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT): What Do Contradictions Tell Us?. Int J of Sci and Math Educ 19, 1333–1355 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-020-10114-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-020-10114-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation