This truly depends on your classroom setup, are you implementing an immersion only classroom or an integrative language linguistic classroom.  If you're immersion, you need to provide written and oral instructions ONLY in english.  If it's integrative, the instructions should be written in english, oral in english, but you should be willing to clarify in a native tongue.  Depending on your syllabus, and your classroom setup, this should be relatively easy for you to answer.  If it remains hard at the moment, you need to take this as an opportunity to clarify for next semester and bend over backwards to meet the needs of those students who fall within the grey area.  My 2 cents.

I would strongly recommend however limiting assitance on a need-to-know basis for only those who are crippled and unable to progress on a given laboratory exercise.  Texts should be provided in the native tongue for the students, if not then this might be negated.

I see oral discussion with writing is the best  in english

This is an action research project sorry if that was not made clear.

I think one of the things you need to remember is that Language has the dual status of being a medium and a subject matter in education. I suggest that your emphasis could be on language as a medium here. maths and science need to be accessed. You can build the language development of these students around accessing their subject matter: maths and science. This way, it would be a dual approach where the language has a sort of functional focus

Thank you very much Gordon.

Yes language is the medium of access here.

Caleb:

I have found the use of debate in developing language skills to be helpful but you must relate the topic to their prior reading/experience/and/or societal/global issue to be motivating. Here's a link to our recent conference paper presented at the 16th Annual Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference in Indiana, U.S.A.:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274720155_Debating_A_Dynamic_Teaching_Strategy_for_Motivating_Students_and_Teachers

Best regards,

Debra

Conference Paper Debating: A Dynamic Teaching Strategy for Motivating Student...

When learners form their own understanding of the target language without being explicitly told by the teacher, then they have a much better chance to internalize, retain and use the language productively at a later date. Much of the discovery can take the form of problem-solving activities, which encourage students to make their own hypotheses about the language 

http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/Documents/college-artslaw/cels/essays/secondlanguage/wharton-p-grammar.pdf

You might find this article useful... Seah, L. H., Clarke, D., & Hart, C. (2015). Understanding Middle School Students’ Difficulties in Explaining Density Differences from a Language Perspective. International Journal of Science Education, 37(14), 2386-2409. Although it is based in Science education there are possible links to what you do.

Wow you guys are highly supportive, thanks o all.

Caleb

Caleb,

Just for a moment, think of yourself as a student in such a class. What would support your learning as a new language learner + the content.  How do we all learn at first?  Listening, repeating, visuals plus written word, moving to making ones own dictionary of terms, receiving verbal and other forms of cuing. Offering oral and written directions in both languages is helpful, too. Children and youth catch on fairly quickly through conversation and peer support (peer/pair/share) and a buddy system.  Continuous comprehension checks are critical as you move through the lessons. I think it's also important to consider what kinds of language support your students are receiving outside of the classroom and if there is some kind of integration of subject matter within the "new language" tutoring, etc. Perhaps a literature review of ELL's in early childhood and from sites where teachers are teaching (usually abroad) English as a second language might offer insights and strategies that can be applied with success.

Best wishes,

Victoria

I am a researcher,  who wants to look at interactions in lessons.

My question was how to include the language issue in my study.

Thanks.

Hello Caleb, I was teaching science in English for several years.  English is a second language here, but the present school students are rather poor at English.  For science, we had CDRoms that were interactive, and I found them useful.  We (teachers) use very simple English, and short sentences in our communication with students.  At times, some students would ask for a translation of a difficult word in the national language, and it's good to do so, while emphasizing the need for them to use English.

Now I teach Biology in college and my research helps to facilitate the learning and remembering of biological processes in English.

At one time, it was the Peace Corps personnel who taught English, Math and science to the children in my country.  "American Peace Corps volunteers worked hand-in-hand with Malaysians to improve lives and promote livelihoods. Some volunteers taught math, science and English to tens of thousands of Malaysians."

http://www.peacecorps.gov/media/forpress/news/2158/

Data The Light-dependent Reactions of Photosynthesis (video recording)

Hi, Debra

The best way to identify the issues in this specific research work is through the application of different and effective instruments: students interviews, class observations, check list, survey to Ss and teachers.

Caleb,

I know a major scientific journal that publishes articles about science and math. It might help you.

Link: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_serial&pid=1516-7313&lng=en&nrm=iso

Regards

Thanks Gustavo and Is believed,  I am having many ideas now.

Thanks it is appreciated.

To these several important alternatives, I'll add a perspective and an alternative strategy.  The perspective: Overall these several responses appear to take for granted the idea of the solo teacher, typically a person with limited skills in diverse languages, working in a stand-alone or self-contained classroom.  The strategy: End the isolation of the teacher by bringing in language-proficient and culturally competent adults.  For example, some of our work has included the preparation and support of appropriately prepared and supported parents.  The main idea here is occupational ladders for parents challenged by poverty, social exclusion and social isolation and ultimately a two dimensional strategy: School-based family support and, for particular (targeted) families, a two-generation helping strategy, i.e., we help parents at the same time we work with their children. 

Very interesting insight Hal. In the Uk, we have worked on what we refer to as family literacy and ESOL, but largely in reverse to the form I think you describe. Our logic is that young learners could help their parents to acquire language and if possible vice-versa.

Perhaps we could work on the possibility of doing a comparative study. Really interested in your idea and will welcome further interaction. I can be reached via [email protected]

In our part of the world, two-generation strategies are bi-directional---as parents learn, they are able to help their children and reciprocally (as you note) children also help their parents.  The most important part of the complex intervention I mentioned is the occupational ladders provided to poverty-challenged, socially excluded parents.    Two of my family system members are leaders in this work in the USA.   A husband and wife research team, both are on the faculty at the University of Alabama.  Tania Alameda-Lawson is on the social work faculty, and Michael A. Lawson (my son) is in Education. I'm confident that they'll be very interested in a collaborative research project.   I'm interested, but unavailable because I'm over-committed.

I think, that a mind-map in the target language of the content issues in question which the students get familiar with before the instruction could help analysis of the interaction (what and how smth was/could be said). I have found such tool helpful in studying learners development on the issue (in my case intercultural communicative competernce).