Using bilingual written argumentation to promote undergraduates’ bilingual scientific literacy: Socrative® as an immersive participation tool

ABSTRACT

A key goal of university bilingual science courses is to enrich undergraduates’ bilingual scientific literacy (BSL). However, very little is known about how to foster BSL. This study aimed to provide research evidence to explore the possibility that BSL can be promoted by using bilingual written argumentation when Socrative® is treated as an immersive participation tool. To test our hypothesis, we intervened a university Spanish–English bilingual Biology course. Fifty-two undergraduates (25 females and 27 males, 16–25 years old) were: (1) presented with argumentative questions requiring application of concepts covered in lectures, (2) asked to write a Spanish–English bilingual argumentative paragraph individually, and (3) polled for the most reasonable answer. A histogram of class responses was displayed, and undergraduates were encouraged to: (4) discuss the question in pairs, (5) write a Spanish–English bilingual argumentative paragraph in pairs, and (6) be polled for the most reasonable answer. Undergraduates’ paragraphs were the subject of peer critique and useful feedback throughout the Spanish–English bilingual science course. The findings suggest significant benefits for providing undergraduates with opportunities and support to written argumentation in both English and Spanish. The outcomes of this study carry important policy implications in light of the growing university bilingual practices around the world.

KEYWORDS:

• Bilingual written argumentation
• bilingual scientific literacy
• clickers
• smartphone-based classroom response systems
• Socrative®
• university science education

Acknowledgements

The authors are very deeply indebted to the university students at the Biology of Organisms course for allowing them to investigate the activities in which they were engaged.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Pablo Antonio Archila

Pablo Antonio Archila is a researcher in bilingual science education in the School of Education, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia. He holds a PhD in education from Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas, Bogotá, Colombia, and a PhD in educational sciences from Université Lumière Lyon 2, Lyon, France. He conducted postdoctoral research at Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia, and Université Paris Diderot, Paris 7-Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France.

Jorge Molina

Jorge Molina is an Associate Professor at the Department of Biological Sciences at Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia. He holds a Dr. rer. nat. degree in neurobiology at Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Recently, he has cooperated in various bilingual Biology education innovation projects at university level.

Anne-Marie Truscott de Mejía

Anne-Marie Truscott de Mejía is Professor in the School of Education at Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia. Her recent publications include Forging Multilingual Spaces (2008), Empowering Teachers across Cultures (2011, with Christine Hélot), and Bilingüismo en el Contexto Colombiano (2011, with Alexis López and Beatriz Peña).