Erica Bowers, Ed.D.Erica Bowers, Ed.D.ebowers@fullerton.eduebowers@fullerton.edu

Laura Keisler, Ed.D.Laura Keisler, Ed.D.lkeisler@gmail.comlkeisler@gmail.com

Academic Literacy!

If advanced academic literacy is our goal- than we, as teachers, must be acutely aware of the academic language demands students will encounter.

What is the goal for the learners you support?

It becomes more “Academic.”

Scarcella (2003) defines Academic English as “a variety or a register of English used in professional books and characterized by the specific linguistic features associated with academic disciplines.”

“The difference between the ‘everyday’ and the ‘specialist’ lexis [words] is a major way that language of academic texts differs from the ordinary interactional language of daily life” (Schleppegrell, 2004).

Language used to “access and engage with the school curriculum” (Bailey & Heritage, 2008)

What is different about language as students progress through the

grades?

From Narrative to Academic

Use very specific content arealanguage

Cause/Effect structure if _____, then _____

You need to be able to “read” And present information graphically

Science Text

Math Texts

•Use very content specific language

•Diagrams, equations, graphs

•A lot of text on one page!

History Texts

• Tend to use another “voice”

• Use multiple charts, graphs, pictures, political cartoons.

• Unfamiliar phrases

Don’t think Language Arts is Immune!

• Content specific language AND multiple meaning words!

• Bloom’s language

• Complex sentence structure

Read, write, and speak like a

scientist

Read, write, and speak like a historian

Read, write, and speak like a mathematician

Students must learn to…

Academic language is more than just the words (vocabulary) we speak- it’s knowing how and when to use them!

For example:Everyday language: Cow-brain sandwiches are illegal now because you might get Mad Cow.

Science speak, “Human consumption of the cerebrum matter of the Bos taurus or related bovid mammals is currently interdicted by legislation related to the potential for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy—or BSE—contraction.”

What makes Academic Language so difficult?

Distinguishing between the Form and Function of

LanguageLanguage Forms- the structure of language.Syntax and sentence structureNarrative and Expository text structureGrammatical featuresAcademic Vocabulary

Language Functions: the purposes/tasks for using language.ExplainInferAnalyzeSynthesizeCompare/ContrastPersuade

Vocabulary knowledge strongly influences reading comprehension.(Nagy

& Scott , 2000; Beck & McKeown, 2007)

Knowledge of word meanings affects every aspect of language knowledge. (Stahl, 2003, p. 241)

Vocabulary: A Key Component to Comprehension

Which words do I

choose?

So many words, so little time!

The Importance of Selecting the “Right”

Words

Zeno et al., 1995

• 310 words make up about 50% of words in text.

• We often find ourselves teaching the rare words that only occur in 10% of text!

• The trick is to teach the middle of the pyramid.

Tier Words

A strategy created by Beck, Mckeown, & Kucan (2002) to select critical words for instruction.

One Method for Selecting Vocabulary

An ideal reader’s vocabulary contains three tiers

of words: Tier 1 words- high frequency & common words.

We gain most of these words through exposure in oral language. (i.e., happy, run, stop…)

Tier 3 words- infrequent words that are often content driven (i.e., ptolemy, viscosity, temperance). It is best to directly teach these using student friendly definitions.

Tier Words cont.

Tier 2 words- occur frequently in the

ideal reader’s vocabulary and across many content areas (i.e., manufacturing, journal, recycle).

These are the words to focus on during instruction.

Tier Words cont.

Johnny Harrington was a kind master who treated his servants fairly. He was also a successful wool merchant, and his business required that he travel often. In his absence, his servants would tend to the fields and cattle and maintain the upkeep of his mansion. They performed their duties happily, for they felt fortunate to have such a benevolent and trusting master.

Which words are Tier 2?

Activity excerpted from Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002, p. 16

Try it….

Johnny Harrington was a kind master who treated his servants fairly. He was also a successful wool merchant, and his business required that he travel often. In his absence, his servants would tend to the fields and cattle and maintain the upkeep of his mansion. They performed their duties happily, for they felt fortunate to have such a benevolent and trusting master.

Do your selections agree?

Words with more that take on a shade of a

different meaning in a content area….

e.g., function, distribute, factor, power.

Another Consideration…

What technical vocabulary might

students be unfamiliar with?

Is everyday vocabulary used in an unfamiliar way in the text (i.e., are there words with multiple meanings students might not be aware of)?

Academic Vocabulary: making it explicit

Content/topic specific vocabulary they need to learn in order to understand the reading and build their knowledge of the subject

Integer Hypothesis Myth Acropolis

Technical Vocabulary

words that students are likely to encounter

in many subject areas and can have either a specialized or more general meaning depending on the context in which they are being used.

Students may be familiar with these words

but find that they may be used in unfamiliar or unique ways in a particular content area.

Everyday Vocabulary

Word Everyday Meanings Technical Meaning in

a content area

Order __________________ ___________________________ Odd __________________ ___________________________

Story __________________ ___________________________

Good __________________ ___________________________

Pool __________________ ___________________________

Try it…Give a definition for each word to the person sitting next to you:

4

Try this one!

8

X

Find X

The Academic Word List (List of Academic

Words that occur in multiple academic contexts across genres):

http://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/resources/academicwordlist/

Word Count (86,800 most frequently occurring words in English ranked by order of frequency) http://www.wordcount.org/main.php

Other Resources for Selecting Words

1. Students should be active in developing their

understanding of words and ways to learn them.

2. Students should personalize word meanings.

3. Students should be immersed in words.

4. Students should build on multiple sources of information to learn words through repeated exposures

Research suggests four main principles to guide vocabulary

instruction:

(Nagy & Scott , 2000)

Parade-Pause-Pair Vocabulary The Semantic Sleuth Response Boards The Semantic Sleuth 4-Corners Multiple Meaning Carousel The Semantic Sleuth Squad Rise and Fall Definitions Vocabulary Memory Boxes

Activities that utilize the 4 principles of effective vocabulary instruction

Excerpted from Bowers & Keisler, 2010.

Games are excerpted from: Bowers, E. & Keisler, L. (2010). Building Academic Language through Content-Area Text: Strategies to Support English Language Learners. Huntington Beach, CA: Shell Education.

Teacher shares a sentence using a vocabulary word

and offers two definitions for the word.

Students select the definition they feel is correct.

Rise (stand) or fall (sit) represents the 2 answer choices.

Students rise or fall depending on which answer they feel is correct.

Rise and Fall Definitions

Teacher sentence:At the beginning of the brainstorming session

the leaders had an inchoate idea of what their mission statement should be.

Rise: not yet completed, or fully formed; vague

Fall: crazy, wild, irrational.

Rise and Fall Definitions

Teacher definition:After Sam forgot their anniversary, roses were not

enough to mollify Sadie, who was clear that nothing less than diamonds would get him back in her good graces.

Rise: invalidate, annul, void, cancel

Fall: To soften, appease, pacify

Rise and Fall Definitions

Students make cards with either just the vocabulary

word or just the definition. Students choose one of their cards to

“parade.” Students get up and parade (mix) until the teacher

says, “pause.” They pair with the closest person and share their

card. The pairs determine the word to match the definition

or the definition to match the word. After 2 “parades” students switch cards with their

partner and continue playing.

Parade-Pause-Pair

The Semantic Sleuth Squad

•Students are arranged in teams and each team is given a vocabulary word used in a teacher generated sentence.

•Students work as a group to define their word by using context clues or word structure strategies.

•Students write a team definition, explanation of the strategy they used to determine the meaning, and use the word correctly in a sentence.

Sentence:Becky bought a machine that would help her to

desiccate her fruit so that she could eat it in the winter.

Strategy:Team definition:Team sentence:

Semantic Sleuth Squad

Sentence:His enemy was in an enervated state after he

had been deprived of food and water.

Strategy:Team Definition:Team Sentence:

Semantic Sleuth Squad

Beck, I., McKeown, M. G., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary

instruction. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Beck, I. & McKeown, M.G. (2007). Increasing young low income children’s oral vocabulary repertoires through rich and focused instruction. The Elementary School Journal, 107(3), pp. 251-271.

Bowers, E. & Keisler, L. (2010). Building Academic Language through Content-Area Text: Strategies to Support English Language Learners. Huntington Beach, CA: Shell Education. Huntington Beach, CA: Shell Education.

Juel, C., Biancarosa, G., Coker, D., & Deffes, R. (2003).Walking with Rosie: A cautionary tale of early reading instruction. Educational Leadership, 60(7), pp.12–18.

Nagy, W.E., & Scott, J.A. (2000). Vocabulary Processes. In M.L. Kamil, P. Mosenthal, P.D. Pearson, & R. Barr (Eds.), Handbook of reading research (Vol. III, pp. 269-284). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Snow, C. E. (1990). The development of definitional skill. Journal of Child Language, 17, pp. 697-710.

Stahl, S. A. (2003). Vocabulary and readability: How knowing word meanings affects comprehension. Top Language Disorders, 23(3), pp. 241- 247.

References