The popularity of inquiry–based learning, an approach that emphasizes the student’s role in the learning process, has steadily increased. Traditionally used in science education, inquiry has expanded to other content areas. Students learn by doing which allows them to build knowledge through discovery, experience, and discussion. The process typically involves students formulating a question about a topic that piques interest, collecting data, analyzing the data, and drawing conclusions. Students individually or collaboratively write a report about the findings and present those findings to peers. Inquiry is most effective when it becomes part of the classroom culture, where students routinely think deeply, ask questions, share opinions, and research topics.
In many cases inquiry lessons, or lessons with an inquiry activity, reduce the language demands on multilingual learners by providing opportunities for exploration with visuals, hands-on materials and peer discussion. By allowing multilingual learners to tap their curiosity, follow their instincts, and learn through discovery, they grow and develop as independent learners. Multilingual learners’ participation in the reading and writing aspects of the lesson is scaffolded by working with a more proficient English-speaking partner or small group.
For readers familiar with the SIOP Model for teaching multilingual learners, you undoubtedly recognize many shared characteristics between SIOP and inquiry-based learning. In classes with multilingual learners, teachers using an inquiry approach need to be mindful of several linguistic considerations and instructional supports for these students.
Content and Language Objectives
Research shows that establishing clear learning objectives that are relevant and understandable can lead to improved student motivation and higher academic achievement. Having both content and language objectives for every lesson is a hallmark of SIOP. Both are critical for ensuring that the lesson’s purpose is visible for students. Multilingual learners are learning new content and a new language simultaneously so sharing what will be learned is particularly important for these students.
Teachers sometimes misinterpret objectives as being incompatible with an inquiry approach when in fact all lessons, inquiry or not, have expected outcomes for students. We have seen in science, for example, that some teachers say providing the objectives at the start of the lesson gives away the inquiry process. We have worked with those teachers in two ways:
- Presenting objectives after an introductory exploratory activity. The exploration aspect is preserved yet the purpose of the lesson and learning outcomes are clarified for students.
- Changing the way they design the objectives. For example, the content objective, Students will investigate what factors contribute to water pollution,is better with an inquiry lesson than, Students will investigate the effect of pesticides and trash on water pollution. A language objective such as, Students will fill out an observation report using complete sentences, doesn’t reveal what students will discover. However, Students will describe, using complete sentences, the effects of pesticides and trash on water pollution, gives too much detail
Content objectives are based on content standards and are typically tied to curriculum or pacing guides. Teachers have more latitude with writing language objectives and can connect language learning specifically to each lesson which doesn’t adversely affect the inquiry process.
Students’ Language Development
Sufficient language supports are critical so that multilingual learners aren’t at a disadvantage due to their limited English proficiency. There are many ways to provide language supports with inquiry-based learning that teacher should implement in every lesson.
- Focus on key vocabulary. At a minimum, multilingual learners need to understand the essential vocabulary and procedures they need to participate productively in lessons. From the sample objectives above, words such as investigate, factors, influence, pesticides and trash would need to be explicitly taught or reviewed and an observation report form would be shown so multilingual learners clearly understand what they’ll be doing. During the lesson, multilingual students likely will become frustrated if they don’t understand the key terms their peers are using when talking about the activity. Previewing key vocabulary and posting it for reference increases multilingual learners’ full participation.
- Increase word consciousness. With guidance, students can discover how words work and how they can make sense of unknown words. For example, there is exponential power in identifying roots and affixes (prefixes and suffixes) to derive word meaning. Also, students might explore resources for defining words and their meaning.
- Use vocabulary in context. After the inquiry portion of the lesson, additional vocabulary terms that students need to learn are highlighted or explicitly taught (if needed), discussed, and identified in the product created during group work. This kind of reinforcement of vocabulary in context makes the words more relevant and meaningful for students — and more likely to be retained.
- Accept translanguaging for student-to-student communication. Multilingual students use all their linguistic resources to make sense of the lesson. That is, they clarify and discuss concepts their home language during the lesson, as well as English, as needed.
- Provide language frames so students can talk about what they’re discovering.To advance students’ English proficiency, be sure to connect the language frames to a language target such as language functions, e.g., compare, predict, explain, or formulate questions. For example, When I observe _____________ I notice ___________. My prediction is that _________________.
- Language skills are needed by all students. Many of the skills needed for inquiry lessons can be taught to multilingual learners and other students who need instruction in, for instance, how to read research and take notes, how to write up observations and cite evidence, how to write a summary, and so on.
Questioning
An important aspect of inquiry-based learning is teaching students how to ask the kind of questions that elicit higher levels of thinking such as analysis or evaluation. Teachers need to think about the kinds of questions that get students to think more deeply about a topic, and then model those questions. Otherwise, students likely will rely on lower-level questions during exploration that can be answered with a Google search. One of SIOP’s Features (#15) is to, Use a variety of questions or tasks that promote higher-order thinking skills. Provoking complex thinking is an explicit goal in both inquiry-based learning and SIOP lessons.
Student Agency
Inquiry learning is characterized by a classroom environment that allows students to learn through exploration and discovery. It is student-centered and encourages independent learning. Self-directed learning allows students to make choices and builds self-confidence in themselves as learners. SIOP teaching also recognizes each student’s background, culture, language and interests and considers each one an asset that can be connected to learning. Here are several ways that both inquiry and SIOP build student agency:
- Build background.Teachers can make lessons relevant by connecting, for example, historical documents to students’ lives. Asking students to think about how the Bill of Rights might be different if it were written by people of color allows them to think deeply about the issues from their own perspective. Student-driven inquiry connects students’ interests and curiosity to the lesson by encouraging them to ask their own questions and seek answers. SIOP’s Feature #8 asks teachers to link students’ background experiences to the lesson’s concepts. Teachers encourage students to use what they know and use their lived experiences to make sense of information, guiding them to see the connection between the two.
- Develop expertise. A goal in many inquiry lessons is for each student to become an expert in an aspect of the content being studied. As students present the results of their inquiry, their understanding of the content is deepened and their knowledge is expanded by the presentations of others. SIOP’s Practice & Application component encourages hands-on experiences, grappling with content, and applying it in meaningful ways including presenting their findings to peers. There are many SIOP activities that encourage students to become experts on a topic.
- Provide meaningful activities. Inquiry lessons need to resonate with students to be effective. A topic or question is unlikely to spark curiosity or enthusiasm if it isn’t of interest to students or if the activities aren’t motivating. SIOP’s Feature #6 suggests that lessons include meaningful activities that integrate the lesson’s concepts with opportunities to practice and develop reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. In this way, multilingual learners gain proficiency in English while participating in interesting, relevant learning.
Reviewing the Process
An important aspect of being a good researcher is to reflect on your outcomes. Ask students to reflect on both what they learned and how they learned it. SIOP’s Strategies component promotes the use of learning strategies such as metacognition or thinking about thinking. Similarly, students should reflect on what worked and what they might have done differently. Here is an opportunity to bring in the lesson’s content and language objectives. Students can assess whether the outcomes gained from their experiences met the objectives, citing evidence like good researchers do.
The alignment of SIOP with inquiry-based learning is clear. A proponent of inquiry-based learning said, “When teachers design inquiry-based learning activities, they should integrate them with the curriculum, relate them to students’ past experiences and promote them with lifelong learning and critical thinking skills”
That’s a description completely compatible with SIOP.