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Cultural Studies of Science Education

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01-09-2012

Hybrid discourse practice and science learning

Authors: George Kamberelis, Mary D. Wehunt

Published in: Cultural Studies of Science Education | Issue 3/2012

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Abstract

In this article, we report on a study of how creative linguistic practices (which we call hybrid discourse practices) were enacted by students in a fifth-grade science unit on barn owls and how these practices helped to produce a synergistic micro-community of scientific practice in the classroom that constituted a fertile space for students (and the teacher) to construct emergent but increasingly legitimate and dynamic disciplinary knowledges and identities. Our findings are important for the ways in which they demonstrate (a) how students use hybrid discourse practices to self-scaffold their work within complex curricular tasks and when they are not completely sure about how to enact these tasks (b) how hybrid discourse practices can promote inquiry orientations to science, (c) how hybrid discourse practices index new and powerful forms of science pedagogy, and (d) how hybrid discourse practices are relevant to more global issues such as the crucial roles of language fluency and creativity, which are known prerequisites for advanced science learning and which aid students in developing skills that are necessary for entry into science and technology careers.

next article Expanding discourse repertoires with hybridity

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Transcription Key (Adapted from Atkinson & Heritage 1984)

underline marks emphatic

CAPS mark very emphatic stress

: indicates a lengthened vowel sound (extra colons indicate greater lengthening)

(X) indicates transcription of word impossible (extra Xs indicate additional words)

((italicized double parentheses)) contain contextualization commentary

{curly brackets} indicate a false start

= indicates utterances latched on to one another, without perceptible pauses

[brackets between lines indicate overlapping speech.

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Title: Hybrid discourse practice and science learning
Authors: George Kamberelis
Mary D. Wehunt
Publication date: 01-09-2012
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Published in: Cultural Studies of Science Education / Issue 3/2012
Print ISSN: 1871-1502
Electronic ISSN: 1871-1510
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11422-012-9395-1

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