Let’s talk biology – Developing a model for incorporating English-speaking experts into the (bilingual) science classroom

Abstract

We present an instructional approach to incorporate into biology lessons an exchange of videos between international practicing scientists and secondary-school students. We validated the approach in German school settings in three curricular contexts: genetics, cell biology, and immunology. The participating students (n = 255) were native speakers of German with a background of English as a foreign language. The three participating scientists, English-speaking experts from the United Kingdom and Uganda, were rooted in different fields that were related to the respective curricular topics. We explain how the video exchange model was developed and evaluate students’ comments and suggestions for improvement in a qualitative approach. This is followed by a discussion of implications for future applications. The video exchange was intended to promote English as the language of science in biology lessons. Through personal and genuine insight into science professions, students were able to experience the usefulness of English as a tool for international communication. We argue that the instructional model is applicable to a wide variety of educational contexts, including minority language students and native speakers of English.