„Velkommen til Norge!“ – Seminarsitzung zum sprachsensiblen Fachunterricht in der Fachdidaktik Biologie

„Velkommen til Norge!“ - Seminar session on language-sensitive teaching in biology didactics

Abstract

This article describes a seminar session on language-sensitive teaching for future biology teachers. This session is part of a preparation seminar before future teachers take part in a semester-long school internship. Not only do we present the session concept, we highlight the importance for future educators to be aware of language-sensitive teaching in all subjects. Special emphasis is put on the potential of hands-on-activities in science education to foster language acquisition. One key element of the session is a worksheet presented in Norwegian; this initiates a change in perspective as students must cope with tasks in a language they do not speak. During this exercise, the seminar reflects on possible ressources students can use to deal with tasks even when faced with language barriers. Furthermore, possible improvements to decrease such barriers are discussed and the participants of this session develop and reflect on language-sensitive teaching materials.