One reason the quality of approaches in science teaching are often equated with kinds of practical activity that teachers and students engage in is because school science has tended to be viewed mainly as a 'practical subject'. While in practice, the teaching of science involves practical work as well as use of language, often written or in the form of teacher and student talk, the manner of talk or use of the language of instruction in the classrooms by the science teachers as a factor in the quality of learning or the persistently and comparatively lower outcomes in school science subjects is still a rare focus in science education research (Oyoo 2004). This article draws from findings from an exploratory study that sought to answer the question: How is the manner of use of language of instruction in the classroom by the science teachers a source of the difficulties students encounter in learning and retaining scientific concepts? Evidence is provided of teachers' general unawareness of the nature, functional value and difficulty of the non-technical component of their classroom language. Implications of this general science teachers' unawareness on the initial preparation and continuing professional development of science teachers are considered.
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