"Talking Science" discusses the role of language in teaching and in communication of scientific and technical subjects. It identifies and analyzes the many strategies teachers and students use to communicate about science and to influence one another's beliefs and behavior. Special emphasis is placed on analyzing patterns of social interaction, the role of language and semantics in communicating scientific concepts, and the social values and interests which lie behind these patterns of communication. Working from transcripts of recordings made in real science classrooms, this volume goes beyond previous work on the organization of classroom discourse to show how the conceptual content of a specialized subject is actually communicated through the semantic patterns that teachers and students weave with language. Modern techniques of discourse analysis are used to place the communication of science in the context of classroom lessons, debates, and disruptions. Critical analysis further shows how a mystique of science is perpetuated in classrooms and identifies the hidden social interests it serves.

Texts record the meanings we make: in words, pictures and deeds, and politics chronicles our uses of power in shaping social relationships large and small. Textual politics is about meaning - the meaning we make with words and with the symbolic values of every object and action. The book begins with an introduction which discusses the relationship between discourse and the notions of power and ideology. These concepts are then applied to major issues: the social construction of class, gender and individuality; the rhetoric of polarizing social controversies (religious fundamentalism vs. gay rights); and the abuse of technical language in policy arguments (educational research vs. conservative politics). The book ends with chapters which extend the theory to processes of large-scale social change and apply it to the challenges facing education and political action in the new global information century.

Texts record the meanings we make: in words, pictures and deeds, and politics chronicles our uses of power in shaping social relationships large and small. Textual politics is about meaning - the meaning we make with words and with the symbolic values of every object and action. The book begins with an introduction which discusses the relationship between discourse and the notions of power and ideology. These concepts are then applied to major issues: the social construction of class, gender and individuality; the rhetoric of polarizing social controversies (religious fundamentalism vs. gay rights); and the abuse of technical language in policy arguments (educational research vs. conservative politics). The book ends with chapters which extend the theory to processes of large-scale social change and apply it to the challenges facing education and political action in the new global information century.

"Talking Science" discusses the role of language in teaching and in communication of scientific and technical subjects. It identifies and analyzes the many strategies teachers and students use to communicate about science and to influence one another's beliefs and behavior. Special emphasis is placed on analyzing patterns of social interaction, the role of language and semantics in communicating scientific concepts, and the social values and interests which lie behind these patterns of communication. Working from transcripts of recordings made in real science classrooms, this volume goes beyond previous work on the organization of classroom discourse to show how the conceptual content of a specialized subject is actually communicated through the semantic patterns that teachers and students weave with language. Modern techniques of discourse analysis are used to place the communication of science in the context of classroom lessons, debates, and disruptions. Critical analysis further shows how a mystique of science is perpetuated in classrooms and identifies the hidden social interests it serves.