Value of Non-native Speaker Teacher Acts in the Second Language Science Classroom

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate actual non-native teacher talk in the second language (L2) science classroom and the value of the talk as perceived by students, who are English language learners. Twenty L2 science lessons conducted by ten non-native teacher trainees were analyzed for teacher acts. Feedback from the teachers was also obtained via stimulated recall sessions. Perceptions of the value of the teacher acts were obtained from sixty-one students via group interviews. The findings indicated that most of the teacher acts were identical to those occurring in other classrooms. Nevertheless, two of the acts, namely, overt repair and assist acts were newly identified acts generated by the teacher trainees, which suggest that some acts may be particular to specific classroom contexts. Students perceived certain acts, namely, the elicitation, follow-up, check, and conclusion acts, to be more valuable compared to others in aiding their understanding. Findings of this study offer a more realistic approach in implementing L2 science teaching and learning in the context where teachers and students are not proficient in the L2.