Investigating the Effect of Using Modern Language Vocabulary Teaching Strategies on the Recall and Application of Scientific Vocabulary with a Year 7 Class: A Case Study Proposal

Abstract

Vocabulary is essential to understanding and participating in scientific discourse and is therefore integral to learning science. Science teaching,however, has a notable lack of explicit vocabulary teaching. Scientific teaching may benefit from using the vocabulary teaching strategies that can often be observed in modern language teaching. Strategies observed in the modern language classroom have been adapted for scientific vocabulary teaching in this case study proposal. Improvements in the recall and application of scientific vocabulary following the intervention would suggest that the strategies are beneficial to scientific learning. Such results would encourage further research that could investigate whether the strategies could help to close the attainment gap that exists between the socially advantaged and disadvantaged. Further research would be shaped by considering students’ perceptions of vocabulary learning.