ERIC Number: EJ924041
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0950-0782
EISSN: N/A
How "Language-Aware" Are Lesson Studies in an East Asian High School Context?
Walker, Elizabeth
Language and Education, v25 n3 p187-202 2011
Educators worldwide have been attracted by lesson study for its teaching and learning enhancement potential. However, some believe it takes for granted language, out of which all teaching and subject matter are made. Employing a functional linguistics lens in an analysis of two second language science lesson studies, called "learning" studies in Hong Kong, the paper evaluates the extent of a language-aware perspective in the studies. The data are recordings of the most polished lessons in the lesson study cycles, with planning, teaching and testing materials from post-study presentations. Minimal evidence of a language-aware perspective was found. That is, the academic "content" was de-contextualized in that lessons focused on propositional knowledge rather than its academic cultural use in explaining, reporting or discussing science; and attention to the cognitive academic language (CAL) construing the science was negligible. The teachers' CAL seemed unplanned and students' CAL development was largely ignored. Some recommendations are made and significant implications of the findings are addressed. (Contains 4 figures and 4 tables.)
Descriptors: High Schools, Academic Discourse, Student Attitudes, Foreign Countries, Second Language Learning, Science Instruction, Metalinguistics, Intellectual Development, Language Variation, Video Technology, Language of Instruction, English (Second Language)
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Hong Kong
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A