Annika Åkerblom

Awareness of Language use in Conceptualization: A Study of Children's Understanding of Movement and Gravity

In this article the role of childrens awareness of the function of language use is examined in an empirical, qualitative investigation. Forty children of six and 10 years old were asked to make sense of a science problem in special dialogue setting where they were encouraged to reflect on their own language use. The article concerns the interplay between language use and meaning-making. Dialogue excerpts where the children expressed awareness of their own language and understanding were selected, and qualities of awareness were delimited in these excerpts and grouped in four descriptive categories. A widened definition of language awareness is proposed and discussed, in which awareness of the close relationship between language use and meaning-making is taken into consideration.

The epistemological role of language use in children’s explanations of physical phenomena

The article investigates the interplay between the meaning given to certain key expressions and pupils’ understanding of science subject matter, in a qualitative study of learning.The intentional-expressive approach to the epistemological role of language use served as a theoretical frame, within the wider context of phenomenographic research on learning. Data were collected using a particular dialogue structure. Micro-process analysis was employed to examine the data. Two descriptive categories emerged: 1) Exploring the function of meaning, and 2) Inventory of meaning. Pupils who explored the function of meaning related their explanations, both to other expressions, and to their personal understanding of the physical problem. Pupils who made inventories of meaning mostly directed attention towards expressions as words. Emphasis was on correct reproduction of scientific terminology. Inventory of meaning was most common in the dialogues with the fourteen-year-olds, while exploring the function of meaning dominated in dialogues with the ten-year-olds.