Language and physics

Abstract

In a previous article (Logan 1978) I discussed various teaching and learning difficulties in the third world. An earlier article discussed specific educational problems in Papua New Guinea (Logan 1976). This article, a sequel to those two, is concerned especially with educational problems that may arise due to language. The article was prompted by my undertaking a course in crosscultural education and by correspondence arising out of my previous article in this magazine. In fact it has been suggested that the whole subject requires much thought, and in this article I merely report others' thoughts to generate discussion and possibly initiate some research activity. Without a knowledge of the role of language one can always use it as a convenient excuse for poor student performances. As noted in the previous article language difficulties were blamed for one problem until it was also found to be a problem at another college without a similar language 'problem'.It is instructive to list some of the suggested causes of learning difficulties experienced by science students in a crosscultural educational environment. These incIude the student problems: lack of ability, poor background, poor motivation, slow cognitive development, weak vocabulary, poor comprehension of English, specific conceptual problems, unwillingness to work hard and poor study habits. The teacher problems include poor teacher expectation, unsuitable teaching staff with poor English accent

Tailoring science education graduate programs to the needs of science educators in low‐income countries

“…In many low-income countries science is taught in a second language (for example, one of the indigenous languages such as Indonesian or Urdu or a foreign language such as English or French) which differs from the mother tongue of many students. This can have interesting implications for teaching as reported in Case (1971), Gardner (1976), Logan (1981), Kulkami (1988), Marshall and Gilmour (1990), and McNaught (1991. Some African countries employ substantial numbers of expatriate teachers from Europe and Asia, creating even more complex language problems.…”

Teaching and Learning Science: Students’ Perspective

“…As identified by Logan (1981), in developing countries students faced difficulties in learning science due to the incompatibility of their frame work that related to language. Findings of this study show a parallel situation.…”

“…This students' difficulty in learning is a crucial problem in order to understand science concept. The influenced factors of learning problem could be student as a learner, science as body of knowledge, teacher and even institution (school) that deliver an unsuitable curriculum (Logan, 1981). In terms of the student as a learner, for example Logan (1981) described that students' learning difficulties include: lack of ability, low motivation, slow learner, unwillingness to study hard and bad or inappropriate study habits.…”

“…According to Logan (1981), students in many developing countries face difficulties in learning science due to the incompatibility of their frame work that is related to language. The student's entire conceptual framework built in his own language is far different from the scientific framework.…”

The first-year augmented programme in Physics: A trend towards improved student performance

“…1 Thus, even definitions may give students trouble. 2 This difficulty is compounded when learning in a second or third language, [3][4][5][6][7] which is the case in South Africa where only 12% of students applying for tertiary education are mother-tongue speakers of English. 8 Further difficulties in South Africa can be attributed to a dysfunctional education system as a result of the apartheid regime's under-development of Black human potential.…”