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Meaning-making in English-medium instruction science classroom interaction: from the systemic functional linguistics perspective

  • Jack Pun ORCID logo and Wenyun Jia ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: October 30, 2024
International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching
From the journal International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching Volume 63 Issue 1

Abstract

Teaching science in English is increasingly common worldwide. This study explores the role of language in science meaning-making during classroom interactions by drawing on video-recorded classroom observations of four biology lessons in secondary English medium instruction (EMI) settings in Hong Kong. Informed by systemic functional linguistics (SFL), we integrate classroom interaction analysis with Lemke’s approach to thematic analysis. The results reveal similar interactional patterns across full- and partial-EMI science classrooms, characterised by a lack of interactivity and authoritative teacher behaviour in selecting student responses to engage with. During extended initiation–response–feedback exchanges, teachers’ feedback on students’ responses appears to underscore the importance of teachers’ modified input – specifically input emphasising semantic relations within the field of biology – in developing students’ content knowledge and language skills. The implications of the findings for applying SFL pedagogies in EMI science classrooms to improve teacher–student interaction are discussed.

Keywords: English medium instruction (EMI); systemic functional linguistics (SFL); science; classroom interaction; language challenges
Corresponding author: Wenyun Jia, Department of English, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China, E-mail:

Funding source: Swire Educational Trust

Acknowledgments

We would like to say thank you the participants and the schools.

  1. Research ethics: Approved by the Oxford University Education DREC.

  2. Informed consent: The research obtained ethical approval and consent forms were provided for teachers and students.

  3. Author contributions: JP contributed to the conception, design, and data collection. WJ contributed to the analysis and interpretation of data. Both authors contributed to writing and revising the manuscript.

  4. Competing interests: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

  5. Research funding: This work was supported by Swire Educational Trust (2013 to 2017).

  6. Data availability: Upon request.

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Supplementary Material

This article contains supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2024-0109).

Received: 2024-04-01
Accepted: 2024-10-06
Published Online: 2024-10-30
Published in Print: 2025-03-26

© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Editorial
  3. Broadening the appliability of systemic functional linguistics
  4. Research Articles
  5. Functional linguistics in life: an embodied approach in teacher education
  6. Teaching citation to university students
  7. Patterns of interaction between experiential and interpersonal meanings in student texts in Spanish: grounds for system-based applications in an academic writing context
  8. System networks as a resource in L2 writing education
  9. Teaching Chinese grammar through International Chinese Language Education micro-lectures: negotiating mass and presence through multimodal pedagogic discourse
  10. Meaning-making in English-medium instruction science classroom interaction: from the systemic functional linguistics perspective
  11. Scaffolding instruction in an EFL drama lesson: a systemic functional analysis
  12. Teaching mental processes to EFL learners: a blended-learning proposal
  13. SFL as a socially accountable praxis: who and what are we working for?
  14. Regular Articles
  15. The influence of task complexity and task modality on learners’ topic and turn management
  16. Explicit grammar instruction in the EFL classroom: studying the impact of age and gender
  17. Language pedagogies and late-life language learning proficiency
  18. The relative effects of corrective feedback and language proficiency on the development of L2 pragmalinguistic competence: the case of request downgraders
  19. Unraveling the dynamics of English communicative motivation and self-efficacy through task-supported language teaching: a latent growth modeling perspective
  20. Effects of random selection tests on second language vocabulary learning: a comparison with cumulative tests
  21. Determining the L2 academic writing development stage: a corpus-based research on doctoral dissertations
  22. Dynamic development of cohesive devices in English as a second language writing
  23. What pronunciation specialists believe CELTA tutors need to know to prepare student teachers to teach pronunciation
  24. The effect of collaborative prewriting on L2 collaborative writing production and individual L2 writing development
  25. Beyond learning opportunities: focused encounters in a sociocognitive approach to second language acquisition and teaching
  26. Funds of knowledge for synchronous online language teaching: a translanguaging view on an ESL teacher’s pedagogical practices
  27. A frequency, coverage, and dispersion analysis of the academic collocation list in university student writing
  28. Fostering well-being in the university L2 classroom: the “I am an author” project
  29. How teaching modality affects Foreign Language Enjoyment: a comparison of in-person and online English as a Foreign Language classes
  30. Toward a better understanding of student engagement with peer feedback: a longitudinal study
  31. Chinese EFL learners’ basic psychological needs satisfaction and foreign language emotions: a person-centered approach
  32. Are foreign language teaching enjoyment and motivation two sides of the same coin?
  33. Orchestrating listening in EMI university lectures: how listening proficiency and motivation shape students’ use of metacognitive listening strategies
https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2024-0109
Keywords for this article
English medium instruction (EMI); systemic functional linguistics (SFL); science; classroom interaction; language challenges

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Editorial
  3. Broadening the appliability of systemic functional linguistics
  4. Research Articles
  5. Functional linguistics in life: an embodied approach in teacher education
  6. Teaching citation to university students
  7. Patterns of interaction between experiential and interpersonal meanings in student texts in Spanish: grounds for system-based applications in an academic writing context
  8. System networks as a resource in L2 writing education
  9. Teaching Chinese grammar through International Chinese Language Education micro-lectures: negotiating mass and presence through multimodal pedagogic discourse
  10. Meaning-making in English-medium instruction science classroom interaction: from the systemic functional linguistics perspective
  11. Scaffolding instruction in an EFL drama lesson: a systemic functional analysis
  12. Teaching mental processes to EFL learners: a blended-learning proposal
  13. SFL as a socially accountable praxis: who and what are we working for?
  14. Regular Articles
  15. The influence of task complexity and task modality on learners’ topic and turn management
  16. Explicit grammar instruction in the EFL classroom: studying the impact of age and gender
  17. Language pedagogies and late-life language learning proficiency
  18. The relative effects of corrective feedback and language proficiency on the development of L2 pragmalinguistic competence: the case of request downgraders
  19. Unraveling the dynamics of English communicative motivation and self-efficacy through task-supported language teaching: a latent growth modeling perspective
  20. Effects of random selection tests on second language vocabulary learning: a comparison with cumulative tests
  21. Determining the L2 academic writing development stage: a corpus-based research on doctoral dissertations
  22. Dynamic development of cohesive devices in English as a second language writing
  23. What pronunciation specialists believe CELTA tutors need to know to prepare student teachers to teach pronunciation
  24. The effect of collaborative prewriting on L2 collaborative writing production and individual L2 writing development
  25. Beyond learning opportunities: focused encounters in a sociocognitive approach to second language acquisition and teaching
  26. Funds of knowledge for synchronous online language teaching: a translanguaging view on an ESL teacher’s pedagogical practices
  27. A frequency, coverage, and dispersion analysis of the academic collocation list in university student writing
  28. Fostering well-being in the university L2 classroom: the “I am an author” project
  29. How teaching modality affects Foreign Language Enjoyment: a comparison of in-person and online English as a Foreign Language classes
  30. Toward a better understanding of student engagement with peer feedback: a longitudinal study
  31. Chinese EFL learners’ basic psychological needs satisfaction and foreign language emotions: a person-centered approach
  32. Are foreign language teaching enjoyment and motivation two sides of the same coin?
  33. Orchestrating listening in EMI university lectures: how listening proficiency and motivation shape students’ use of metacognitive listening strategies
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