Argumentation in science involves offering and responding to claims, providing and asking for evidence or justifications, and analyzing those claims to formulate a decision (Gross 1990). The authors’ experience with students, including those who are English learners, suggests that many young science students benefit from language frames to scaffold the use of academic language and vocabulary to formulate arguments and counterclaims. Language frames are partially constructed cloze statements that highlight the academic language and syntax required to communicate in argumentation. This article describes how teachers can model the use of language frames in the science classroom.
Details
Type Journal ArticlePub Date 11/1/2009Stock # sc09_047_03_28Volume 047Issue 03