This contribution introduces the research project “Physics Education in the Context of Linguistic Diversity” (PhyDiv). The aim of the project is to develop and evaluate teaching approaches that consider the linguistic composition of learners in a classroom. The question to be investigated is whether and under what conditions a language-supportive lesson design with a focus on academic language and the systematic integration of pupils’ multilingual skills in teaching support the subject-related learning success of pupils in physics. For this purpose, three variants of high-quality physics lessons on the basic concept of “energy” have been developed and implemented as part of an experimental intervention study. In the first intervention variant, subject and language learning are combined through so-called language-explicit instruction (SEU). In the second intervention variant, language-explicit subject teaching is extended by the inclusion of multilingualism (SEUM): Multilingual learners are encouraged to actively use their home language in certain phases of the lesson. A control group (K) received physics lessons in which language was not explicitly addressed. The project aims to provide a basis for the development of teaching strategies that can contribute to the improvement of the learning success of multilingual pupils and monolingual German learners with low(er) academic language skills.

Keywords
linguistic diversity, Physics education, multilingualism, language-explicit instruction, academic language