Learning Chemistry in English: The Relationship between Language Skills and Learning Outcomes

Rudi Firmayanto; Leny Heliawati; Bibin Rubini

doi:10.24042/tadris.v5i2.6455

Learning Chemistry in English: The Relationship between Language Skills and Learning Outcomes

Rudi Firmayanto, Leny Heliawati, Bibin Rubini

Abstract

The study aims to analyze the relationship between English language skills and the students' learning outcomes in chemistry learning that uses English as the medium of instruction (EMI). This qualitative descriptive study was conducted on 40 high school students. Data is collected and analyzed in the form of the test result of the language skills and learning outcomes. The results for students' language skills: 75 % of students are at level A2 (primary user), 15 % are at level B1 (intermediate), 5 % are at level B2 (upper-intermediate), and 5 % are at level C1 (advance/proficient user). The students' chemistry learning results are averagely low, i.e., 70 % of students gained a score under 75 as the minimum criteria of standard learning, only 30 % of students reached the score above the KKM (Criteria of Minimum Competency). The conclusion of this research is that there is a relationship between language skills and chemistry learning outcomes. Learning chemistry in English has not given good results for students' learning outcomes. Therefore, the demands of learning in English need to be supported by good language skills to understand the learning content.

Keywords

Chemistry; English; Language skills; Learning outcomes

Full Text:

PDF

References

Albakri, R. H. (2013). Teaching scientific vocabulary to EFL learners using english: Content and language integrated learning. Arab World English Journal, 4(1), 269–286.

Arikunto, S. (2006). Prosedur penelitian suatu pendekatan praktik. Rineka Cipta.

Ball, P. (2018). Innovations and challenges in CLIL materials design. Theory Into Practice, 57(3), 222–231. https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2018.1484036

Banegas, D. L. (2012). Integrating content and language in English language teaching in secondary education : Models, benefits, and challenges. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 2(1), 111–136.

Bell, D., Martin, M., Wooff, D., & Mclain, M. (2016). Primary design and technology: Perceptions and practice. PATT32 Conference Proceedings.

Bello-Orgaz, G., Jung, J. J., & Camacho, D. (2016). Social big data: Recent achievements and new challenges. Information Fusion, 28, 45–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inffus.2015.08.005

Chung, Y., Yoo, J., Kim, S.-W., Lee, H., & Zeidler, D. L. (2014). Enhancing students ’ communication skills in the science classroom through socioscientific issues. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 14(1), 1–27.

Coyle, D. (2015). Strengthening integrated learning: Towards a new era for pluriliteracies and intercultural learning. Latin American Journal of Content and Language Integrated Learning, 8(2), 84–103. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.5294/5915

Galloway, N., Kriukow, J., & Numajiri, T. (2017). Internationalisation, higher education and the growing demand for English: An investigation into the English medium of instruction (EMI) movement in China and Japan. British Council. https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/H035 ELTRA Internationalisation_HE_and the growing demand for English A4_FINAL_WEB.pdf

Galloway, N., Numajiri, T., & Rees, N. (2020). The ‘internationalisation’, or ‘Englishisation’, of higher education in East Asia. Higher Education, 80, 395–414. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-019-00486-1

Guillamón-Suesta, F., & Renau, M. (2015). A critical vision of the CLIL approach in secondary education: A study in the valencian community in Spain. Latin American Journal of Content and Language Integrated Learning, 8(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.5294/laclil.2015.8.1.1

Gulyas, A., Pfefferle, J., Wolf, K., & Waitz, T. (2015). A model for CLIL in school chemistry classes : Combining the aims of CLIL and chemistry teaching. Eurasian Journal of Physics & Chemistry Education, 7(2), 75–82. https://doi.org/10.12973/ejpce.2015.00002a

Hasim, Z., & Barnard, R. (2018). EMI in a public university in Malaysia. Routledge.

Heras, A., & Lasagabaster, D. (2015). The impact of CLIL on affective factors and vocabulary learning. Language Teaching Research, 19(1), 70–88. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168814541736

Hu, G., Li, L., & Lei, J. (2014). English-medium instruction at a Chinese University: Rhetoric and reality. Language Policy, 13, 21–40. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-013-9298-3

Huang, Y. (2020). The Effects of elementary students’ science learning in CLIL. English Language Teaching, 13(2), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v13n2p1

Lasagabaster, D. (2019). Motivation in content and language integrated learning (CLIL) research (pp. 347–366). The Palgrave Handbook of Motivation for Language Learning.

Liu, Y. (2018). Literacy challenges in chemistry: A multimodal analysis of symbolic formulas. In Global Developments in Literacy Research for Science Education (pp. 205–218). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69197-8_13

Lo, Y. Y., & Macaro, E. (2015). Getting used to content and language integrated learning: What can classroom interaction reveal? The Language Learning Journal, 43(3), 239–255.

Mehisto, P., & Wolff, D. (2010). European framework for CLIL teacher education. European Centre for Modern Languages.

Merino, J. A., & Lasagabaster, D. (2018). CLIL as a way to multilingualism. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 21(1), 79–92.

Mesa, M. S. L. (2014). Applying CLIL to a physics and chemistry unit. In Universidad De Oviedo. Universidad de Oviedo.

Moleong, L. J. (2007). Metodologi penelitian kualitatif edisi revisi. Remaja Rosdakarya.

Morton, T. (2020). Cognitive discourse functions: A bridge between content, literacy and language for teaching and assessment in CLIL. CLIL Journal of Innovation and Research in Plurilingual and Pluricultural Education, 3(1), 7–17. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/clil.33

Msimanga, A., & Erduran, S. (2018). Language, literacy and science learning for English language learners: Teacher meta talk vignettes from a South African science classroom. In Global Developments in Literacy Research for Science Education (pp. 97–111). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69197-8_7

Nawrot-lis, B. (2019). The challenges of content acquisition in a CLIL course. Springer.

Ortega, A. G., Cheung, J. M., & Fong, M. Y. (2015). Enhancing content and language integrated learning in post-secondary vocational education. SpringerPlus, 4(2). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1186/2193-1801-4-S2-O3

Prieto-arranz, J. I., Fabra, L. R., Calafat-ripoll, C., & Catrain-gonzález, M. (2015). Testing progress on receptive skills in CLIL and non-CLIL contexts. In Content-based Language Learning in Multilingual Educational Environments, Educational Linguistics. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11496-5

Purnama, S., Purwanto, B. E., Kholid, I., & Huda, S. (2019). The impact of listening phonological errors on speaking: A case study on English education. Journal for the Education of Gifted Young Scientists, 7(4), 899–913.

Ruiz de Zarobe, Y., & Zenotz, V. (2017). Learning strategies in CLIL classrooms: How does strategy instruction affect reading competence over time? International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 21(3), 319–331. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2017.1391745

Somers, T. (2017). Content and language integrated learning and the inclusion of immigrant minority language students: A research review. International Review of Education, 63, 495–520. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-017-9651-4

Supriatna, U., Samsudin, A., & Efendi, R. (2019). Teaching solar system topic through Predict-Observe-Explain-Apply (POEA) strategy: A path to students’ conceptual change. Tadris: Jurnal Keguruan Dan Ilmu Tarbiyah, 4(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.24042/tadris.v4i1.3658

Trim, J. (2011). Using the CEFR: Principles of good practice. University of Cambridge.

Vithanapathirana, M., & Nettikumara, L. (2020). Improving secondary science instruction through content and language integrated learning (CLIL) in Sri Lanka. International Online Journal of Education and Teaching, 7(1), 141–148.

Yamano, Y. (2013). CLIL in a japanese primary school: Exploring the potential of CLIL in a Japanese EFL context. International CLIL Research Journal, 2(1), 19–30.

Yang, W. (2015). Content and language integrated learning next in Asia: Evidence of learners’ achievement in CLIL education from a Taiwan tertiary degree programme. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 18(4), 361–382. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2014.904840

Yassin, S. M., Tek, O. E., Alimon, H., Baharom, S., & Ying, L. Y. (2010). Teaching science through English: Engaging pupils cognitively. International CLIL Research Journal, 1(3), 46–59.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24042/tadris.v5i2.6455

Refbacks

There are currently no refbacks.

Tadris: Jurnal Keguruan dan Ilmu Tarbiyah is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. p-ISSN 2301-7562 | e-ISSN 2579-7964