Language and the teaching and learning process in Chemistry: contemporary readings of Vygotsky supported by Tomasello

Abstract

Considering a sociocultural perspective, the role of language in the teaching and learning process in Chemistry goes beyond a simple vehicle for the transfer of information, such as names of substances, laboratory glassware and formulas. This new reading of the role of language in the process of teaching and learning is anchored in Vygostsky's studies, which emphasizes the importance of the social and cultural nature of mental activities. The Tomasello's ideas can clarify the discussion about cultural processes at the origin of language acquisition. For this discussion, in the form of a theoretical essay, from contemporary readings of these authors, some approximations between their ideas are established, highlighting some implications on language in the teaching and learning process in Chemistry, such as: i) students need to participate in their own acquisition of the scientific language; (ii) this acquisition is not through memorization, but through problematization, and (iii) teachers must recognize how students are perceiving that language and not simply consider it as already acquired. However, this debate on the new role of language must be investigated by researchers in the field, since in addition to the difficulties pointed out in this essay, the nominalization process and the grammatical metaphor, for example, are important sources of difficulties found in the acquisition of scientific language.