The effect of language on the performance of second‐language students in science examinations

Abstract

It has been established by previous researchers that changes in the wording of multiple-choice examination questions can significantly affect pupil performance. In this study recent 'home' General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) and 'overseas' General Certificate of Education (GCE) papers were examined for questions in which the language could be simplified, and modified questions were prepared. When performance on the original and modified forms of the questions was compared for a sample of British school pupils, no statistically significant difference emerged. When performance on the same questions was examined for a sample of pupils for whom English was the second (or third) language, there were significant differences in their performance on modified and unmodified versions of the questions.

Language and Student Performance in Junior Secondary Science Examinations: The Case of Second Language Learners in Botswana

“…Students are required to participate in terminal examinations that make assumptions about their language proficiency in order to assess their scientific content knowledge. Anstrom (1997, p. 33) asks the important question, BWhen assessing language minority students, teachers need to ask whether they are measuring language proficiency or content knowledge?^This question underpinned studies by Bird & Welford (1995) and Clerk & Rutherford (2000) and provides a starting point for this study.…”

Language in science performance: do good readers perform better?

“…The researchers agree that for an effective simplification of science items by reducing word count, it is necessary to remove irrelevant information only. Bird and Welford (1995) also conducted a study in which they modified, or rather simplified, questions of a science exam by inter alia reducing the word count and substituting words, finding no statistically significant effects on students' overall performance. The effects of simplification leading to better performance only became significant when investigating non-native students.…”

Clasificación y análisis de los problemas terminológicos asociados con el aprendizaje de la química: obstáculos a superar

“…Problemas en la redacción de las cuestiones de evaluación en cuanto a aspectos léxicos, sintácticos o lógicos provoca una incorrecta interpretación por parte de los estudiantes (Dalcq, 1987). Por ello, la reformulación de cuestiones, en lo que se refiere al vocabulario inicialmente empleado, así como a la simplificación de las estructuras gramaticales utilizadas ha tenido efectos positivos tanto en estudiantes de ciencias que estudiaban en su lengua materna (Cassels y Johnstone, 1985) como en los que estudian en una segunda lengua (Bird y Welford, 1995;Prophet y Badede, 2009). …”