Science learning in the contexts of culture and language practices: Taiwanese perspective

Abstract

This paper describes the cultural and linguistic practices in modern Taiwan and how these attributes and the current educational traditions and expectations influence students’ science learning. Taiwan is a multicultural, not monocultural, country bound together by a common written language system. An examination of the traditional Chinese and indigenous cultural and language practices indicated that the habits of mind of traditional Chinese philosophers tend to be intuitive, metaphorical, descriptive, and holistic in contrast to the rational, causal, analytical, and reductive ways of thinking that are emphasized in western science. In addition, there are distinctive features of Chinese words and cultural beliefs that are likely to have impacts on students’ learning of science. In view of the way science instruction is typically delivered in Taiwanese schools, implications of the above points on science education research and science instruction are also briefly mentioned.