Review_Author: Julie Kittleson
Book_Author: Jay Lemke
Book_Title: Talking science: Language, learning, and values
Reference: (1990) Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation.
Date: 5/16/2002
Time: 2:48:18 PM
Remote Name: 128.175.34.174
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Within the field of science education, one of the major foci of activity is related to the question of how people learn science. Within this question are several issues that need to be addressed in order to construct a meaningful account of what learning science means. In the history of science education there have been numerous explanations for learning science. For example, meaningful learning, conceptual change, constructivism, and socioculturalism, among others, have all enjoyed some degree of success in terms of describing learning. By examining each of these descriptions of learning it is apparent that each position has an associated set of assumptions about the nature of knowledge and the nature of learning (although it is important to recognize that not all subsets within a particular learning theory will agree along all dimensions). Following this perspective, Lemke, in Talking science: Language, learning, and values, provides an account of what it means to learn science and what constitutes scientific knowledge.
The central assertion that Lemke makes is that “the mastery of a specialized subject like science is in large part mastery of its specialized ways of using language” (p. 21). A point that is integrally related to this assertion is the idea that meaning is constructed. That is, words by themselves do not convey meaning. Rather, it is the ways in which words are connected to larger thematic patterns (such as the thematic patterns in science) that generates meaning. According to Lemke, “what makes the language of science distinctive is primarily, but not exclusively, its semantics: the specific relationships of scientific meanings to one another, and how these relationships are assembled into thematic patterns” (p. 21). An important point that follows is that scientific knowledge is not a static body that is prepared for uptake by a learner. Instead, learning science means learning the thematic patterns and learning how to talk science.
In this book, Lemke provides both specific examples of students talking science and a broader framework within which to situate the students’ talk. In terms of classroom discourse, Lemke describes patterns of talk that are seen taking place between teachers and students. For example, one of the tactics described is triadic dialogue, which is similar to the initiation-response-evaluation (IRE) pattern that was described by Courtney Cazden. What is important to note is that the triadic dialogue, as described by Lemke, is one of the ways in which teachers control the content of science classes. There are other ways in which teachers structure classrooms so that they maintain control. Example of this would be structural tactics and thematic tactics. According to Lemke, “structural tactics are those that manipulate the activity structure itself, while thematic tactics manipulate the actual topical content of what is said within the course of that activity” (p. 66). The larger point that should be connected to the previous statement is that classrooms are often mediated by unequal power relations; that is, the teacher typically maintains control over the events of the classroom. Lemke, however, calls this into question. He states the following: “People in dominated social categories are very often made to act the way they do by how they are treated. They thus seem to confirm a belief that they are inferior by nature, a belief which only serves to rationalize their domination by those who keep them acting as they do” (p. 85). Science is complicit in this domination in the sense that it is often thought that only the best and brightest students can and should pursue science. Lemke rejects this notion. Further, by arguing that learning science means learning to talk science serves to break the elitist barrier that is often placed around science.
In the final chapter of the book, Lemke describes social semiotics. This is the broader framework that he puts forth as being fruitful in terms of understanding the process of learning to talk science. It is also a framework that can be used for investigating learning. However, where other theories of learning science would be concerned with mental processes, Lemke’s says that the social semiotic approach entirely rejects mentalism. What becomes more important than the mental processes of the individual is understanding how language is used by a community to construct the meaning of scientific concepts, and then understanding how the individual comes to use these concepts in an appropriate manner. In other words, how a person becomes able to ‘talk science’. Language, however, is not simply a matter of speaking the words. Using language necessarily involves non- linguistic features such as values and ideology. In this sense, the framework put forth by Lemke in 1990 shares some features with more recent theoretical perspectives on language, such as the theory and method of discourse analysis (or, more appropriately, D/discourse analysis) suggested by James Gee in his 1999 book, An introduction to discourse analysis. In both Lemke’s method and Gee’s method, there is an emphasis placed on understanding how language is used by particular people in particular times and places. Further, it is not only the particular people but the particular times and places that give language its meaning. This is the case in science, as argued by Lemke, and out of science.
I would recommend Talking science to people who are interested in examining classroom discourse, and particularly to people who are interested in classroom discourse from the perspective of social semiotics. The account of social semiotics that Lemke provides in the last chapter is clearly written yet provides a detailed description of some key tenets. In particular, these tenets have interesting implications for understanding learning. In this sense, Talking science is an important resource for examining what it means to learn science.
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Book_Author: selective
Book_Title: Direct Line
Reference: comparison rate First Colony Life Insurance Company
Date: 2/28/2007
Time: 12:21:50 AM
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