Science Education International

I" A" E"

Vol. 24, Issue 4, 2013, 402-415 C" S"
Interna,onal"Council"of""
Associa,on"for"Science"Educa,on"

Beating the language barrier in science education: In-service

educators’ coping with slow learners in Mauritius
Mohun Cyparsade*, Pritee Auckloo,
Ismut Belath, Helina Dookhee, Navin Hurreeram†
ABSTRACT: This study describes how in-service teachers in the pre-vocational
sector in Mauritius adopted specific strategies to overcome the language barrier in
the learning of science (Van Driel, Verloop & de Vos, 1998). Students of form III
were taught few basic ideas related to “Earth & Space” through the use of role
play and ICT. The concepts chosen for this study were ‘occurrence of day and
night’, ‘relative positions and motions of the Earth, the Moon and the Sun’ and
‘main constituents of our solar system’. Classroom observations, focus group
discussions with students, interviews with educators and post-test for students
show that role play and ICT can potentially overcome the language barrier in the
learning of science at pre-vocational level. Findings reveal that reading and
writing should be kept to a minimum while use of Mother Tongue (Kreol
language) and hands-on activities with oral interactions must be encouraged
during lessons conducted in pre-vocational schools.

KEY WORDS: Language barrier, pre-vocational learners, role play & ICT, Kreol
language, basic astronomy

INTRODUCTION

The pre-vocational stream

Science education is an essential component of the Mauritian curriculum,

including the revised pre-vocational curriculum introduced in 2001.
However, teaching and learning of science is very closely linked to
literacy. It means scientific literacy would not develop much if there is no
proper language acquisition. In spite of the national urges and efforts
made to promote scientific inquiry and science education in the Mauritian
context, a very slow progress is reported. A report by the Mauritius
Research Council (2004) regarding scientific literacy among students in
Mauritius, states that we are very much lagging behind our international
counterparts. The report highlights that classroom based resources are
inadequate, especially for science instruction. Teacher motivation is
satisfactory but low motivation level of students remains a major
*
Corresponding Author: [email protected]
†
Mauritius Institute of Education, Republic of Mauritius
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hindrance. In an attempt to motivate students, the government has come

up with several schemes such as free education at pre-primary, primary
and secondary levels i.e., no tuition fees are charged, free transport for
students and social aids for needy students. Further efforts include
compulsory education till the age of 16 so that dropouts can be minimised.
Still we find that learners are not attracted to science. This situation is
worse among pre-vocational learners. These are students joining the sector
are those who have failed after a second attempt, in most of the academic
subjects (English, French, Mathematics, History & Geography, Ancestral
language and Science). Their continuous failure is attributed to lack of
interest, poor parents who are not able to provide basic amenities and care,
issues related to broken families, poor educational background of parents,
busy or separated parents, learners not having enough competencies to
climb to next level in the curriculum, tight assessment schemes not
catering for low ability students and so on (Ministry of Education and
Human Resources (MoEHR), 2011).
The national curriculum for the pre-vocational stream caters for areas
such as basic skills in numeracy and literacy, life skills and
communication skills (English, French and Creole), Basic Science and
trade oriented subjects. In this stream students learn basic ideas related to
trade skills, life skills, numeracy and literacy and communication skills.
Poor literacy skills further accentuates learning difficulties in areas
including science.
Out of the roughly 25000 students who participate in the Certificate of
Primary Education (CPE) Examination, about 35% are not able to pass
and move to secondary schools (Mauritius Examinations Syndicate,
2010). A second attempt is not promising either. These learners then join
the prevocational stream alongside a mainstream secondary class
(Auckloo, 2011). They follow a specific tailored programme with teachers
specially trained to work in these schools, with focus on ways to address
learning difficulties and remedial education.

RATIONALE

It is believed that most of the social ills are the products of illiteracy,
which are intertwined with problems of poverty, delinquency, drug
dependence, HIV AIDS, prostitution, teen age pregnancy, and crime. If
we aspire to live in a better society, everything possible should be done to
reverse the escalation of problems related to illiteracy and poverty which
is also related to the problem of dropouts. One of the ways to achieve it is
through literacy among the low ability or deprived students. Given that
traditional methods have failed to motivate most of these learners,
innovations need to be trialled. So this study aims to trial one innovation

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which is minimisation of the language issue in the learning of science

through role play and ICT.
Through this study the researchers and educators are finding out ways
to engage low ability learners in meaningful learning experiences such as
role play and ICT. It is believed that role play is one of the methods that
can engage learners into meaningful classroom transactions (Cyparsade,
Chummun, Carooppunnen and Moheeput, 2011; Cyparsade, Moheeput
and Carooppunnen, 2009; McSharry and Jones, 2000). It will be an
opportunity for educators to learn about new techniques, up to date
resources including ICT and interactive pedagogy and also how to present
information in a variety of formats (Steele, 2004).
The medium of instruction in the prevocational sector has for long
time been restricted to English and French languages, although teachers
use the mother tongue from time to time. Research and latest development
in the Mauritian prevocational sector has prominently called for
increasing use of the mother tongue or the Kreol language (MoEHR,
2011). In line with the current and recent reform that has started in this
sector since 2011 (MoEHR, 2011), increasing importance is being given
to the language component to facilitate learning in other areas through the
mother tongue. It is also being envisaged to assess the learning of science
in Kreol language just to avoid the language barrier and carry out a
reliable assessment. The present research is thus in line with a merger
between approaches that includes role play, ICT as well as the use of
mother tongue.

AIM

The aim of this study is to support the educators’ use of role play and ICT
in pre-vocational schools in Mauritius for the teaching and learning of
basic science and to reduce the language barrier among low ability
learners.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. How far can role play and ICT support learning of basic science at
pre-vocational level?
2. What are the constraints facing the implementation of role play and
ICT in the teaching of basic science to low ability learners through
English usage?
3. To what extent the teaching and learning of concepts related to Earth
and Space can be achieved through role play, ICT and Kreol?

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LITERATURE REVIEW

What is being offered to students in pre-vocational education sector

For the first time there has been a National Curriculum Framework
Secondary (NCF), in 2009, for Pre-vocational Education in Mauritius.
According to the NCF (2009), pre-vocational education must, among
others:

Enable the holistic development of each individual learner, foster the

ability for critical thinking, creativity and self-expression in learners,
prepare learners for lifelong learning, develop functional literacy and
numeracy that will serve as the basis for vocational training,
apprenticeship or further education, develop problem solving skills (NCF,
2009).

All these objectives will be translated to our students through four

domains, which are Communication Skills, Numeracy and Problem-
Solving Skills, Life Skills and Livelihood and Trade Skills (NCF, 2009).
In line with this NCF, Numeracy and Problem Solving Skills calls for the
use of ICT as a support for learning.

Work being done in pre-voc sector currently

Educators in the pre-vocational sector are performing according to what is

stipulated in students’ workbooks and with the aid of teachers’ guides
provided to them. Many of these educators do possess a specific
qualification needed for teaching of low ability students (75%) and only a
few of them have not undergone specific training in the field of special
educational needs i.e., remedial education. All of them possess a School
Certificate and many of them have a Higher School Certificate (60%).
Around 11% of these educators possess a Diploma in pre-vocational
education and around 9% of them have a Degree (MoESR, 2003). Though
teachers have been trained, there is inadequate provision of good quality
teaching – learning experiences to learners. This is making the teaching
and learning process more difficult in the pre-vocational sector, where
more effort should have been put to help the low ability students. Another
drawback in this sector is the severe lack of resources which is the cause
of poor response and retention from these students.

What was missing in pre-voc schools so far?

It has been widely recognised that periodic in-service training is essential

in order to compensate for the shortcomings in or lack of training of those
teachers who are in the field along with keeping them refreshed about
recent pedagogical developments (Agarkar, 2005, pp.161-162).

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In line with the above statement the current study has attempted to meet
the shortcomings of the sector through concerted efforts. These include
training and resources provided to teachers, resources provided to
students, funding and also assessment of learning. Even the textbooks for
the pre-vocational sector have been revised so that appropriate materials
are provided to learners. Capacity building for inspectors, heads of
institutions, educators (including temporary ones) have been conducted so
that they can drive the implementation of the new curriculum. These were
unfortunately less prominent until recent developments.

Use of role play in science lessons

The reason why role-play can help to make science relevant to many
children is that it is based upon ‘play’ (Munirah, 2006; McSharry & Jones,
2000). If the teacher steps into his classrooms with the same kind of
planning, usual strategies, almost same questions, unchanging resources
and evaluation techniques, then it may become very boring for learners,
especially if they are low ability ones (Cyparsade, Chummun,
Carooppunnen & Moheeput, 2011; Nickerson, 2009; Sukhoo-Busawon,
2008). In this study, role play, ICT and Kreol language have been chosen
as these have not been implemented so far at the pre-vocational level in
the teaching and learning of science in Mauritius. Actually, learners need
to internalise certain abstract concepts through the engagement of more
than one sense at a time, through role play and other activities (Sharma,
2006).

Use of ICT in science lessons

The use of ICT in Mauritian classrooms has been introduced since late
1990s (Isaacs, 2007). Several initiatives have been taken by the Ministry
of Education & Human Resources, the Mauritius Institute of Education
(MIE) and other stakeholders.

Mauritius has attempted to promote ICTs in schools since the late 1990s
which is reflected in its national ICT policy, a segment of which is
dedicated to education (Isaacs, 2007, p.2).

The MIE has introduced ICT modules in all teacher education

programmes as a subject and also as an important support for the teaching
and learning process. All pre-service and in-service teachers are
encouraged to use ICT in their planning, teaching and assessing tasks.

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The introduction of ICT in the school curriculum worldwide has brought a

drastic change in the way concepts are taught (Ramma, Dindyal, Kah
Chye & Cyparsade, 2006, p.717).

Use of ICT in science lessons helps in creating and maintaining interest of

learners especially through animations and graphics, activating mental
processes of learners.

Use of mother tongue in science lessons

In Mauritius most learners’ mother tongue is Kreol. However, they need

to study most subjects in English and only one or two subjects are in
French. In this situation there is lots of confusion in the minds of low
ability learners. They are faced with two barriers in their learning process,
the content and the English/French language. In this situation students of
low abilities should be taught using the mother tongue to at least remove
one barrier to learning. For so long, there was debate about whether creole
should be used in formal instruction. The NCF 2009 has made provision
for the use of Kreol in instruction especially with low ability students
(MoEHR, 2003).

Motivation of low ability learners

Educators should be aware of how to motivate learners, once motivation is

established (intrinsic or extrinsic), learning is easier to occur.

When people are motivated, they intend to accomplish something …

students’ motivation plays a crucial role in science learning (Sevinç,
Özmen & Yiğit, 2011, pp.218-232)

Engaging educators to cope with the language barrier

Though educators in the pre-vocational sector are qualified, they need

additional support in schools to implement the new NCF and innovative
strategies. Several training workshops were organised to explain to
educators what is there in the curriculum for understanding nature, how to
teach them through meaningful activities and projects, even use of
innovations and ICT has been demonstrated.

METHODOLOGY

Sample

The group on which the research focused is prevocational teachers in

Mauritius. A convenient sample (Cohen et al, 2002) of ten educators
participated in this study. The teachers were of both genders, holding

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appropriate pedagogical qualifications to teach pre-vocational students

and having several years of teaching experience in the pre-voc sector.
These educators were chosen as they were willing to take initiatives and
few who are in the panel of curriculum writers for pre-vocational science.

Modality of the planning and intervention

"Basic Astronomy" was selected as it is directly related to students’ daily

life and could be illustrated with animations and graphics. The concepts
that students learn at form III level in pre-voc stream are: Our Solar
system, Planets and other bodies, Relative motions of Sun, Earth and
Moon, Occurrence of eclipses and Occurrence of day and night on Earth.
Concepts such as our solar system, planets and other bodies in our solar
system, relative motions of sun, earth and moon and the occurrence of day
and night on the earth, were chosen. A PowerPoint Presentation was
prepared by the researchers. The PowerPoint included hyperlinks to
Encarta Encyclopaedia, colourful photographs and artists’ impressions
related to these concepts, interactive simulations and video files showing
celestial bodies and their motions. Along with ICT, it was planned to use
role play to reinforce the idea of motion of the moon around the earth,
simultaneous motion of the moon around the earth and motion of the earth
around the sun, motion of planetary bodies around the sun, and also the
occurrence of day and night on the earth.
All these chosen topics were taught by the educators, in their classes
in two periods of one and a half hour each. Educators started the session
by written pre-test with questions: what is a planet, what is the shape of
the Earth, how many planets are there in our Solar System, name the
planets found in our Solar System, what is a Moon, what causes day and
night on earth, etc.
The pre-test was in English and textual information was sought
through a worksheet. When the scripts were collected and analysed, it was
found that most students could not answer even the simple questions.
They did not understand the questions asked. They were then asked the
same questions orally by the educators and most of the time it was
answered in Kreol (L1). It was found that students were able to
communicate more fluently in the L1 and then answer some of the
questions set in the worksheet. It was also found that once L1 was used,
students were ready to talk freely on the topic, they even asked questions
to the educators conducting the lesson. Gradually they became much
enthusiastic and the lesson became interactive.
The next step was to use the PowerPoint Presentation including
animations. Role play was used to supplement the explanation. This
teaching session lasted about 60 minutes. In the following lesson,
presentation continued for one hour till all concepts identified by the

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researcher were taught. This lesson ended with the administration of the
post-test by the educators.

Tools used in this study

• Pre-test; written test with simple questions on basic astronomy

with short answers
• Post-test on same topics, testing how far the educators’
interventions facilitated understanding
• Second post-test on the same topics, using a worksheet with lots
of visuals where students had to label several diagrams and give
very short answers; this was used to test the difficulty with the
English language
• Interview of educators and a pedagogical inspector to find out
their perception on the study
• Focused group discussion (FGD) among students to find out their
perception on the use of ICT, role play and especially Kreol

Role play

Ideas chosen for role play were Earth – Moon system, Sun – Earth –
Moon system, Solar System, Occurrence of day and night on Earth. For
the Earth – Moon system two students of different heights and body size
were involved. The small one represented the moon and rotated around
the larger body representing the earth. For the Sun - Earth – Moon system
three students of different height and body size were involved (Figure 1).
The small one represented the Moon and rotated around the larger body
representing the Earth; while the Earth was moving around the Sun and
spinning slowly at the same time. For the solar system a group leader was
assigned, s/he was asked to work along with other ten members of the
group to perform a role play to show how the planets move around the
Sun. They had to prepare word cards on which the Sun, Moon or the name
of a planet was written. While doing the role play they were supposed to
express which celestial body each one represented. E.g., “Hello friends, I
am the Sun; all the 8 planets rotate around me. I stay in one fixed
position”. The modelling of occurrence of day and night was also
demonstrated using a role play. Students were taught this concept using a
globe and light from projector representing sunlight.
After viewing this model, students were asked to reflect in groups
about how they can use role play to demonstrate the occurrence of day
and night on the earth. Students were able to manage the role play using a
torch in front of a student, who would spin slowly. When the light fell on
the face of the student, s/he would say “day time!” and when there was no
light falling on the face of the student s/he would say “night time!” and
continue to spin.

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Figure 1: Role Play for Sun-Earth-Moon System

FINDINGS

Pre-test

During pre-test learners were not very enthusiastic as they could not
decipher the questions. The classroom teacher tried to explain the
questions in Kreol and asked them to write answers in Kreol if they
cannot manage with English. This was yet another evidence of the
language barrier in the learning of science. Many students could not
imagine any other planet’s name apart from Mars. It was astonishing to
find out that very few considered Earth itself to be a planet. Many
worksheets were returned nearly blank or with answers to only the first
few questions out of 13. Most important misconceptions demonstrated by
students in the pre-test: A star is a planet, the Sun is a planet, Mars is a
planet (only one), planets are small and far from that Earth, Earth is not
considered to be a planet, the moon is a planet, etc. These ideas have
already been taught at primary level in “Earth & Environment”, but have
not been grasped by the students. This situation thus informs us about
prior knowledge of learners as well as their predisposition to grasp and
understand additional concepts in their curriculum.

Response of students to the PowerPoint Presentation

During the interview, students said that normally they use chart paper,
wax crayons, scissors, glue, soap and posters that teachers make or ask
students to make. They do not even get access to Biology, Chemistry or
Physics labs. In only one of the ten schools, students stated that they had
been to the labs on few occasions and they liked so much the activities
and demonstrations performed. Before the presentation, the objectives and
content of the lesson were read and explained so that students know what
to expect in the presentation. Students were very enthusiastic as the lesson
unfolded through the slides and so on. They asked what is “etoile filante”
i.e., a shooting star etc. All questions were answered by the researchers
and educators.

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Use of low cost 3D model of our solar system

Along with the PowerPoint presentation, students were shown a low cost
3D model (figure 2) of our solar system, how the planets are arranged
around the Sun, their relative distances and sizes were exposed. Students
could interact with the model and rotate the planets about a central axis.
Some students expressed that they would create a model, given that easily
available materials have been used (Waldron, 1998; Cyparsade, 2006;
Wardle, 2009). Another marking point in the explanation was the Kreol
version of the mnemonic, that is used to recall the positions of planets
from the Sun. They were initially given the English version but it did not
attract much attention.

My Very Energetic Mother Just Served Us Noodles

Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune

The Kreol version that the researcher has devised is:

Mo Voisine Envie Met Juste So Uniforme Nef

Which means:
My neighbour wishes to wear only her new uniform

This sentence is actually related very much to school life of youngsters.

When this sentence was given on the slide, most students took notebooks
to write it. In fact, during the following session, most students could recall
the names of the planets in the correct order starting from the sun. Another
hint was given: the last 3 planets’ names start with the letters S - U - N
related to the word Sun. This would also help students to recall the planets
in the correct order from the sun. It should be noted that the intention was
not to make learners rote learn, but to use the sentences and tips as support
till the concepts are understood, the sentence is not needed.

Figure 2: low cost 3D model of Solar System

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Post-test

The first post-test was conducted through the same worksheet used for
pre-test. It was planned to verify how far the researchers’ and educators’
interventions had made the students grasp the basics of astronomy. It was
very surprising to see that these students could not answer simple
questions on what was taught. The first post-test was intentionally
structured textually so that it may be established whether reading poses a
difficulty for these pre-vocational students. Students could barely read and
decipher the questions and write answers to these simple questions. To be
able to assess the understanding of science content by these learners,
without going through the difficulties of English language, a second post-
test was devised.

Second post-test

Only large diagrams related to the topics studied were provided in the
worksheets. Students were expected to discuss in groups and then answer
the questions set by labelling the diagrams and adding a few words to
describe what is being observed. The second post-test gave a clue to the
difficulties of the pre-vocational learners. It may be that if the assessments
are conducted orally and in Kreol, most students would pass in science
tests. In the NCF 2009, it has been proposed to assess students using
innovative strategies such as through projects, making of artefacts,
presentations and also oral tests involving Kreol.

Educators’ views on the use of Kreol, role play and ICT

Educators’ views were also collected through interviews, they

commended the remarkable enthusiasm of students when these
innovations were brought to their classrooms. They are all for the use of
Kreol, role play and ICT, as long as meaningful learning takes place. They
mentioned that they have benefitted from the in-house training on the use
of role play, ICT and Kreol in their lessons (Bender, 2005) and that
further training and initiatives are needed.

Students’ views on the use of Kreol, role play and ICT

Students’ views were collected through a focus group discussion, after the
two working sessions and after filling in the two worksheets in the post-
test. It was found that students are very much interested with the content
of ‘basic astronomy’ as it is directly related to their everyday life. In fact
the learners got so much involved in the discussions and they also asked
very pertinent questions. Students expressed that innovations brought to
them have been beneficial as they can now understand many things which

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were difficult before. They are also of the opinion that use of Kreol is very
important for understanding of ideas in everyday life.

CONCLUSION

Through the methodology employed, resources prepared and the strategies

deployed by the researchers and educators, it has been established that
role play coupled with ICT usage can indeed stimulate the learning of
basic science/astronomy by pre-vocational learners. This is also made
more accessible to learners through the use of the mother tongue which
thus further engages learners in meaningful interactions. Both the
educators and the learners engaged in the activities which they found
meaningful and appropriate. Prominent constraints included shyness of
learners, language barriers and indiscipline, but these issues were
counteracted by creating an appealing learning environment through
innovations, that are suitable for low ability learners. So we can say that
ICT, role play and the use of Kreol are very appropriate for the teaching
and learning of basic astronomy by pre-vocational learners.

Limitations of the study

The sample was limited to ten educators and so it is difficult for us to say
whether the influence of role play, ICT and Kreol language would
significantly inform the teaching and learning of science. Only ten
educators benefitted from this in-house training in Mauritius. It would
have been very conclusive if a larger sample were used. This could
include further research in the use of Kreol, role play and ICT in other
topics in science, across different levels of the pre-vocational sector. The
data analysis is only qualitative in nature, and it was not the intention to
analyse the marks in detail. A longer term research would substantially
inform the other dimensions of the study and theory as well as researchers
and practitioners in the area.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The use of L1 is a must during activities as there is already a learning

barrier which is the content. At least one barrier (language) can be
removed or alleviated for appropriate learning to take place in science.
Resources used should be innovative to attract and maintain the attention
of these low ability students. Lots of interactions should be envisaged,
ample questions should be asked and learners should be encouraged to ask
questions to clarify any doubt they have in mind. Another aspect to bear in
mind with pre-vocational learners is the assessment could be partly in
Kreol to help learners. It is recommended to use tools such as oral tests,

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demonstration of learning by drawing, labeling diagrams, oral

explanations of phenomena and even problem solving by drawings,
sketches, annotated diagrams, project works and oral presentations,
without much language pressure. This study was driven by teacher
educators, however, educators too should be able to engage in classroom
research and share their good practices (Agarkar, 2005).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We wish to heartily thank students who participated in this study, rectors

and educators, for their support and involvement, Mauritius Institute of
Education for providing basic resources for this study.

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