Creative Fusion of Languages and Science in Teaching Conference

Creative Fusion of Languages and Science in Teaching Conference

Author: Timothy E.L. Douglas

In May 2022, the Department of Language and Cultures at Lancaster University hosted ‘Creative fusion of languages and science in teaching’, a one-day conference that aimed to break down the misperception of a ‘fork in the road’ between science and languages, highlight the complementarity of languages and science, discuss creative methods of combining science with modern languages within teaching to enhance both language teaching by introducing science-related material an science teaching by introducing language-related material. Featuring talks by Cyrille Rollet, Luís Pinho, Marta Melnyk, and Laura-Jane Bazter on topics ranging from Francophone contributors to science, the language of science and young learners, and languages in IT, the conference was open to teachers, researchers, and interested members of the public.

Introduction by Timothy Douglas

Types of Languages in IT by Marta Melnyk

Marta Melnyk (Ukrainian polyglot, language teacher, blogger and IT specialist) explored how languages other than English can be very useful for a career in IT. Drawing on her own experience, she explained how German, Polish and Ukrainian helped her to build relationships with certain clients who preferred to speak these languages, and how knowledge of languages can increase one’s chances of receiving a job and a higher salary. Marta also mentioned that German is likely to be particularly valued by the IT branch, and that language skills generally take longer to acquire than technical skills and are therefore valued more.

Francophone contributors to science and their heritage by Cyrille Rollet

Cyrille Rollet (Department of Languages and Cultures at Lancaster University) spoke about the important contributions many Francophones have made to very varied scientific disciplines and that all these disciplines can be touched on in French language lessons. He also demonstrated the scale of scientific research in France, and that a very significant proportion of researchers are of non-French origin, and that most French researchers publish with foreign co-authors. He also suggested creating interdisciplinary classes by collaboration between science and language teachers to appeal to pupils with interest in both area.

The language of Science: Young learners, scientific literacy and cultural models by Luís Pinho

Dr. Luis (Chemistry Department of Lancaster University) showed how understanding science is often about making sense of foreign words and how this can increase pupils' "cultural capital" or familiarity with culture. He highlighted that that science is part of culture and culture influences the way people understand science. He advised teachers to show links between languages and science and use interdisciplinary teaching materials, while cautioning that pupils at schools have very limited language skills. Concrete examples of topics linking languages and science include names for lab equipment and the periodic table of the elements.

Challenges we face when integrating the learning of science and languages by Timothy Douglas

Dr. Timothy Douglas (Engineering Department and Materials Science Institute, Lancaster University) explored a wide range of challenges faced when integrating the learning of science and languages: the lack of discussion of the role of science in languages despite the highly international nature of science; the false assumptions that everyone speaks English, that language is merely about transmission of information and that science is independent of language; and difficulties in measuring the impact of languages in science and that his language teachers at secondary school did not consider that pupils had very different motivations for learning language.

This conference was funded by Creative Multilingualism (University of Oxford).

Find out more about the Creative Multilingualism project here.