Teaching chemistry to pupils for whom English is a second language

The science laboratory is a linguistically rich environment. Not only are pupils exposed to a wealth of vocabulary they are also engaged on a process of discovery which requires them to hypothesise, predict, observe, describe and draw conclusions. Much of what goes on in a chemistry lesson is observable and therefore concrete. The language used to describe chemical processes and the new vocabulary used by pupils in a chemistry laboratory means that science is in fact a second language to most pupils.