Influence of mother tongue (Chope) on teaching and learning in science education: a Mozambican study about fundamental electrical concepts

[摘要] This research report investigates the influence of Chope (a nativeMozambican language) on the teaching and learning of fundamental electric'concepts.Two research instruments were used: a written task and an interview. Thewritten task investigated students' understanding, in Chope and Portuguese(the instructional language), of twenty fundamental electric concepts, as wellas translations of scientific sentences about electricity from Portuguese toChope. The interview was used as an auxiliary instrument to betterunderstand procedures used in the written task.The study showed that Chope as prior knowledge can be understood in threeways: (1) as a positive influence when knowledge acquired through Chope isscientifically acceptable; (2) as a negative influence when a Chopedefinition hinders understanding of an electric concept; and (3) as anauxiliary agent in the understanding of the precise meanings of electricalterms. There are however other influences such as childhood environmentand common usage.

[发布机构] University of the Witwatersrand