Going beyond textbooks vital to create passion for science
Carla Lever sits down with Robyn Tyler: academic and science language activist
Can you tell us a little about the work you do with language and science education?
I work with teachers, student teachers and pupils to explore how we use language in teaching science.
To learn science is to learn to read, write, talk and do science, and so language and literacy are key.
We grapple with what it means to learn science in a country where there are many languages, through an education system that favours only one, especially in content subjects like science.
What kinds of book resources do schools need to get pupils passionate about science, and what is the situation they are currently working with?
Inspiring passion means we have to go beyond school textbooks, which just cover the content-heavy Caps curriculum.
They’re published in only English or Afrikaans beyond grade 3, which alienates many of our pupils.
Sadly, these are often the only science books that our children experience.
Want to get kids excited about science? Give them interesting science books – non-fiction and sciencefiction – ideally written by local South African authors in South African languages!
Of course, one of your arguments is that language is a resource, just like books, beakers and Bunsen burners.
Can you explain that thinking?
Well, whether you’re working with a book, a beaker or a Bunsen burner, you’re still working with language!
Even the most serious scientists need to talk and write while doing their experiments.
My colleagues and I work with the idea that verbal language – whether spoken or written, WhatsApped or sung – is a resource for learning, along with other forms like gesture, action and facial expression. It’s vital teachers think of all these ways of using language as rich meaning-making resources in the classroom.
Tell us a little about your science study group in Khayelitsha?
It was a pleasure to be the facilitator of a grade 9 Natural Science study group in a school in Khayelitsha during my doctoral fieldwork there in 2016.
I’d joined the 36 teens for their study of a chemistry topic, and we started up the voluntary group which met in the school library after school.
We shared our study methods for memorising elements on the Periodic Table, debated which languages and language varieties should be used to study science, translated definitions from Xhosa into English and local teenage Xhosa; and watched Youtube clips about chemistry.
What education strategies did you observe that worked well in that context?
Two key strategies worked well in our study group. The first was playing with different resources for learning science.
Whether it was drawing diagrams, using our hands to represent atoms, free writing in our home languages, or debating what gets ‘lost in translation’, our learning was definitely enriched by tapping into these resources which are so often repressed or ignored in the classroom.
The second was making connections between the natural science curriculum and the world the teens live in.
We used Xhosa to do this as well as connecting to realworld scientists who sent us Whatsapp videos in which they answered our pressing questions about chemistry.
Tell us a little about your own language and literacy collective? I hear you're starting an open access site?
Yes, we’re very excited about this! Some colleagues and friends at UCT and beyond who advocate for multilingualism in language and literacy education have recognised the need to provide a space to share ideas and resources.
So, we’re launching a website which will include reflections, resources and contacts for interested parents, pupils, teachers and policy makers.
Are there any particular children's books or stories relating to science that you love and would recommend?
One book I love is Stephen and Lucy Hawking’s mixedgenre novel, ‘George’s Secret Key to the Universe’, translated into Xhosa and Zulu by Xolisa Guzula and Phiwayinkosi Mbuyazi.
It’s suitable for all ages, whether as a read-aloud by an adult or a self-read when children are older.
What I love most is children having access to a variety of books on science.
Then they will see that, for example, the Periodic Table is represented differently in different chemistry books.
This shows them scientific knowledge is not only expressed in only one form.
What everyday ways can we all use to develop the curiosity and confidence in children to explore the natural and scientific world around them?
Use questions, and don’t be too quick to answer them!
Let children explore and develop their own questions about what they experience in the world.
Show them the different ways that scientific ideas can be expressed and value all of these, not just those expressed in formal, standard English.
Lastly, expose children to the more formal ways and academic ways of expressing science ideas through written text and video, and talk with them about it. Reading and telling stories with your children is a powerful gift to them. It builds knowledge, language, imagination and school success!
For more information about Nal’ibali, or to access children’s stories in a range of South African languages, visit: