Using Language Science to Promote Interest in Science in a Science Museum

Abstract

The current study investigated how science museum visitors react to a demonstration based on language science, a topic typically under-represented in science museums. Language science is the interdisciplinary, scientific study of language. It combines social and biological sciences with computer science and engineering, and has strong connections to humanities, education, and clinical fields. Our qualitative analysis revealed that science museum visitors find language science demonstrations engaging and are able to learn key scientific points illustrated in the demonstration. Finally, our data suggest that language science as a topic might be attractive to the subset of museum visitors that are interested in language. We argue that diversifying the kinds of sciences represented in science museums may be one way to broaden interest in science. Language science may be particularly well suited to spark interest in science among individuals who have lost interest in traditional STEM fields but find humanistic disciplines compelling.