In Austria, approximately 35% of middle school students have a first language (L1) other than German, with urban middle schools experiencing even greater linguistic diversity, sometimes reaching 100% of students in a class having a non-German L1 (Statistik Austria, 2022). Language plays a critical role in educational success. However, Austria’s education system largely adheres to a "monolingual habitus," failing to fully embrace the multilingual realities of modern classrooms (Stubler, 2018). Recent migration waves, driven by economic and political factors, have further diversified classrooms across Europe, increasing the need for education systems to adapt (Tereshchenko & Archer, 2014; Göğebakan-Yildiz, 2017). For students in middle schools, science classes pose unique challenges due to the subject's reliance on complex language, which includes subject-specific terminology and intricate academic sentence structures (Meyer & Prediger, 2012; Fornol, 2020). Many students struggle to understand lessons and textbooks, highlighting the need for a more language-sensitive approach to teaching science. 

To address these challenges, Austria has revised its middle school curriculum to incorporate "language learning and reading" as a crosscutting theme and promote the didactic principle of "language-sensitive subject teaching" across all subjects (Rechtsinformationssystem des Bundes [RIS], 2023, pp. 6, 8). These changes aim to encourage teachers to integrate language-awareness strategies and reading methods into their instruction. Such adaptations are crucial in fostering equitable educational opportunities for students from diverse linguistic backgrounds. However, while these revisions represent progress, significant gaps remain between curriculum requirements and classroom practices. Research suggests that this disconnect is largely influenced by teachers and the materials they use, such as textbooks (Vojíř & Rusek, 2022). 

Although textbooks have been updated to align with the new curriculum, teachers play a critical role in implementing language-sensitive instruction. Teachers often provide scaffolding to support students in understanding content. However, these supports typically emphasize receptive learning—focusing on word-level comprehension—while neglecting sentence- and text-level language structures. Moreover, teachers rarely implement scaffolds that encourage active language production, where students generate language and articulate their ideas (Petersen, 2022; Øyehaug et al., 2024). 

The barriers to effective language-sensitive teaching are compounded by the already significant workload that teachers face. Globally, educators, including those in Austria, frequently report feeling overwhelmed by excessive responsibilities, leaving them with limited capacity to take on additional tasks, such as developing language-sensitive teaching practices (Petersen, 2022). Addressing these systemic challenges will require not only curricular reforms but also adequate support for teachers to ensure the successful integration of language-sensitive methods in classrooms.  

To gather further information regarding whether physics teachers in Austria are familiar with the new curriculum and their willingness and ability to incorporate it into their lessons, the following research question with four sub-questions was formulated: 

RQ: What are the attitudes of middle school physics teachers toward the new curriculum, reading, and language in physics education, and how are these attitudes reflected in their teaching practice? 

Sub-questions: 

1. How familiar are teachers with the general and subject-specific sections of the new curriculum, and to what extent are they willing to participate in professional development on this topic? 

2. What serves as the foundation for teachers’ lesson planning? 

3. How aware are physics teachers of academic and subject specific language in physics education? 

4. Do physics teachers apply various reading methods and strategies in their lessons, and how much time is allocated to these practises in their physics classroom? 

This cross-sectional study employed a quantitative approach to examine the attitudes of Austrian middle school physics teachers towards reading habits and textbook use in the 2024/25 academic year. Data were collected via the online survey tool "LimeSurvey" between October and November 2024, using a questionnaire titled "PhyVerBEr – understanding, describing and explaining physics." Participants were contacted via email, with a direct survey link provided for convenience and broad accessibility. The questionnaire also included open-ended questions, though these are excluded from this paper due to space constraints. Ethical considerations included informed consent, anonymity, and adherence to ethical guidelines to ensure participants’ privacy and honest responses. The questionnaire, developed specifically for this study, incorporated items from the PISA Questionnaire for language teachers (Suchań et al., 2019), adapted for science education by modifying terms and clarifying technical language. It comprised 21 items across five categories: language and reading in physics (4 items), curriculum and textbooks (7 items), demographic information (8 items), and closing questions (2 items). Responses utilized 4-point Likert scales, 5-point frequency scales, Yes/No answers, and numerical values. A three-step piloting process ensured the clarity and usability of the questionnaire. Sampling was conducted via school principals, who distributed the questionnaire to physics teachers actively teaching at least one physics class per week in the 2024/25 school year. Teachers not actively teaching during this period were excluded. To incentivize participation, respondents could win educational books related to language in physics. A total of 131 middle school physics teachers participated, including 75 females (57%) and 56 males (43%), with teaching experience ranging from first-year teachers to 42 years of service. Among participants, 70% taught 6th grade and were implementing the new curriculum, while 35% reported teaching in urban areas. To ensure anonymity, detailed workplace information was not collected. Only 50% had completed a physics teaching degree, and 21% held a degree in a language subject. Most participants (95%) reported German as their first language.

The results of the study highlight several important aspects of the role of language in physics education in Austria. A significant majority of teachers (74%) view reading skills as highly important, with reading accounting for 25% of class time on average. However, there is considerable variation in how reading is approached across teachers, and many report a lack of systematic application of reading strategies. Despite acknowledging the importance of language in learning physics, a substantial portion of teachers (55%) express concerns that dedicating time to language development could detract from subject content. The study also revealed a gender-based difference in teachers' perspectives, with female teachers dedicating more time to reading (28%) compared to male teachers (21.5%). Interestingly, the teachers’ personal experience with multilingualism was limited, as only six participants had learned physics or other subjects in a second language. This lack of direct experience with multilingual education may influence their perceptions of language's role in physics teaching. Furthermore, while most teachers expressed a willingness to engage in professional development, there is a clear need for targeted training on language-sensitive teaching methods, particularly those that do not compromise subject-specific content. These findings emphasize the need for continued professional development in reading strategies and language awareness to improve both student comprehension and overall teaching effectiveness in physics education. In conclusion, the study underscores the importance of integrating language support into physics education but highlights the need for more structured and focused professional development to fully realize the potential of language-sensitive teaching practices.

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