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The present study relates to a research line in didactics of science that focuses on the function that sign systems or semiotic modes have in communicative interactions in science classrooms. The study was conducted by 20 secondary and university science teachers who belong to the same research group LIEC ("Language and Science Teaching") at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB). This group is devoted to the study of the relations between language and science teaching, and is centred on the analysis of textbooks, because these are still the most used "didactical mediators" in science teaching. The study attempted to construct indicators in order to investigate whether textbooks are adequate for didactical intervention. Such an investigation would provide useful information for better strategies both to read in class and to write more innovative textbooks from a "didactical" point of view, i.e., textbooks that are more appropriate to support students' autonomous work in science classrooms. (Contains 1 figure and 2 tables.)

The paper presents an intensive study of a micro-event aiming at the characterization of teacher's discourse from a multimodal communication perspective in a secondary school science classroom dealing with the topic of "water cycle." The research addresses the following questions: (a) What communicative modes are used by the teacher?, (b) what role do the different communicative modes play within teacher's discourse?, and (c) what are the relationships among communicative modes being used by the teacher? Theoretical framework is developed based on three strands: multimodal communication, science teaching and learning as modeling, and social semotics and Halliday's functional grammar. An analytic scheme guiding teachers' discourse analysis is presented and results discussed. Implications for science teacher education are drawn that would contribute to the improvement of science teacher education.

Carries out a naturalistic small-scale study involving a class from a senior high school in Spain over two years. Analyzes students' essays on chemical change using text analysis techniques. Reports the development of four conceptual profiles and the implications of research for the process of teaching the concept of chemical change. (Author/KHR)