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Characterizing elementary science teachers’ understanding of language as an epistemic tool
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Characterizing elementary science teachers’ understanding of language as an epistemic tool

Chenchen Ding, Carolyn Colvin, Brian Hand, Gavin W. Fulmer and Jee K. Suh
Frontiers in education (Lausanne), Vol.11, 1777052
07/16/2026
DOI: 10.3389/feduc.2026.1777052
url
https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2026.1777052View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

Central to scientific literacy is the cultivation of students' engagement in scientific practices, including the generation and justification of scientific knowledge. Critically, teachers' understanding of epistemic tools predicts their likelihood of facilitating such knowledge-generation activities. This study examines elementary science teachers' conceptualization of language as an epistemic tool to learn science in a two-year professional development (PD) program focused on the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) approach. Gee's discourse analysis with inquiry tools of situated meanings and figured worlds was utilized to analyse teachers' written responses to characterize their language uses as a learning tool. The results indicate a continuum of teachers' understanding of language building from a pedagogical perspective to a rich epistemic orientation. Importantly, the continuum aligns with a questionnaire measuring teachers' understanding of language as an epistemic tool. On the one hand, teachers with higher questionnaire scores demonstrated rich epistemic understanding of language by explaining how writing and everyday language help students understand scientific concepts. On the other hand, teachers with lower questionnaire scores showed pedagogical understanding of language by explaining procedural use of language in science classroom. These results provide evidence for the role of the language questionnaire in supporting rich PD workshops at a large scale and informing the movement toward understanding that language is fundamental to all science learning.
 discourse analysis epistemic tools generative learning language science teacher education

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