Integrating English to Science Teacher Training Classroom
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Abstract
This study was aimed determining the attitudes of student-teachers towards the integration of English in science education. With the impending ASEAN Community of 2015, the Institute for the Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology in Thailand initiated the campaign of combining English usage with scientific tasks. The subjects of this study were forty students, enrolled in the faculty of education, majoring in Science education at Sisaket Rajabhat University, a teacher training institution in the Northeastern part of Thailand. The subjects were assigned to do projects related to science experimentation, and also present their experiments in English. Prior to their presentations, they were trained how to present projects in English. Data were collected by questionnaires, which aimed to determine their attitudes towards the integration of English into their science project presentations, and to compare different strategies used to complete the task. Students were also interviewed after completing the questionnaire. The results stated that the majority of student-teachers considered integrating English in science as very challenging as they needed to practice how to deliver both accurate science content and comprehensible English. Nonetheless, all of the subjects realized how important it is for them as future science teachers to teach in English. Hence, they were willing to practice more with a positive attitude. These findings can be used as guidelines for a teacher training institution to further enhance the integration of English in subject matters.
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