Investigating academic language proficiency and chemistry content knowledge of newcomer English language learners in a public high school

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the characteristics of, the relationship between, and the effects of gender, age, and prior schooling on newcomer English language learners (ELLs) academic language proficiency (ALP) and chemistry content knowledge (CCK) levels. The mixed-method research design involved interviewing 51 participants at an urban public high school for three times over a four-month period using four open-ended questions about certain topics in chemistry. Two rubrics were developed to grade interview transcriptions. Each contained five successive levels: entering (1), emerging (2), developing (3), maturing (4), and advanced (5). Results from the qualitative data analyses showed that the characteristics of ALP range from being completely silent (level 1) to being able to explicitly and adequately express scientific ideas without the assistance of non-language cues (level 5); the characteristics of CCK range from not having the knowledge of targeted topics at all (level 1) to understanding the essence of chemical reactions, the patterns of the periodic table, and being able to apply these patterns in solving problems (level 5). Results from quantitative data analyses indicated that participants ALP and CCK levels were significantly correlated at post-interviews but not at pre-interviews. In addition, the ALP levels were significantly different between mid- and post-interviews but not between pre- and mid-interviews. Interestingly, no significant differences of ALP and CCK levels were found with respect to students gender, age, and prior schooling experience. Implications for teaching, limitations, and future research were also discussed in the present study