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Fostering ELLs’ Achievement in Middle School Lesaux, Marietta, & Phillips Galloway

ACADEMIC LANGUAGEA guide for middle school teachers

Nonie Lesaux, PHD

Sky Marietta, MAT, EdD

Emily Phillips Galloway, MSEd

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Fostering ELLs’ Achievement in Middle School Lesaux, Marietta, & Phillips Galloway

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AgendaWhat is “academic language?”How does academic language intersect with

conversational skills?What are key instructional levers for academic language?

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•What might be challenging about this

text?

•What background knowledge does

the reader need to support

comprehension?

•Anything else you are struck by?

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What is Academic Language (AL)?

ALthe written language of school texts

the oral language used in classrooms and

professional education

the language of academic

assessments

the oral and written language

of science

the language associated with

prestige and power

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Academic Language: A BIG problem space

Academic Ways of Communicating

language, language structures and ways of organizing speech and writing found in

all academic contexts

language, language structures and ways of organizing speech and writing unique to

the disciples

Vocabulary

domain-specific words (e.g.,

photosynthesis)

general purpose academic words (e.g., process)

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AL: A Register Perspective Register: constellation of lexical and

grammatical features that are used to support communicate in certain contexts

(Halliday & Hassan, 1989; Schleppegrell, 2001: 431-432)

Learning to read and use academic language requires learning a new

‘register’ of language that allows for participants in academic settings to communicate information in ways

that are more precise and concise. Thing= Type =Kind= Species (precise) Hail+ Sleet +Rain + Snow= Precipitation

(concise)

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my linguistic

self

Shared-Interest

communities Language shared by communities connected by

common hobbies or activities

(sports, music, video games,

politics, religion, arts, etc.)

Cooking

‘Semifreddo,’

‘clarified butter’ ‘ramp’

Academic/ Professional communities Language shared by school, university or

professional communities

Teaching ‘First, read…then…’ ‘Can you say more

about….’

Academic Learning-health policy,

sociology, education‘absolute poverty’ ‘Matthew effect’

‘Hawthorne effect’ ‘hidden curriculum’ Social

communitiesLanguage shared by

friends, acquaintances

Familial communitiesLanguage shared

by families

Norwegian

Eg elskar degHalloTakk

English

Phillips-Galloway & Dobbs (2012)

AL: One of many registers ActivityThink About: Who are you as a language user?

Write or Draw: On the provided web ‘map’ your own language resources.

Share: With the colleagues at your table, share your ‘linguistic self.’

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Learning from ourselves as language users….

language development

continues throughout adolescence and

potentially throughout life

being a skilled language user in

some social contexts does not guarantee adequate language proficiency in other

social contexts

• as speakers develop new language skills to navigate an increasing number of social contexts

• the process of acquiring and being socialized into academic language –or the “language of school”—appears to be challenging for many students who speak fluently in other settings (Cummins, 2000; Schleppegrell, 2004; Snow & Uccelli, 2009)

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Language: Different Tools For Different Communicative Goals

my linguistic

self

Shared-Interest communities

Language shared by communities connected by common hobbies or activities (sports, music,

video games, politics, religion, arts, etc.)

Academic/Professional communities

Language shared by school, university or professional communities

Social communitiesLanguage shared by friends,

acquaintances

Familial communitiesLanguage shared by families

Phillips-Galloway & Dobbs (2012)

The colloquial language that students use at home is a valuable

resource for building relationships,

communicating emotions and forging a social

identity.

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Fostering ELLs’ Achievement in Middle School Lesaux, Marietta, & Phillips Galloway

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Language: Different Tools For Different Communicative Goals

my linguistic

self

Shared-Interest communities

Language shared by communities connected by common hobbies or activities (sports, music,

video games, politics, religion, arts, etc.)

Academic/Professional communities

Language shared by school, university or professional communities

Social communitiesLanguage shared by friends,

acquaintances

Familial communitiesLanguage shared by families

Phillips-Galloway & Dobbs (2012)

At school, adolescents need a particular set of linguistic tools for discussing abstract

ideas.

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Rhetorical Flexibility: The instructional end goal

my linguistic

self

Shared-Interest communities

Language shared by communities connected by common hobbies or activities (sports, music,

video games, politics, religion, arts, etc.)

Academic/Professional communities

Language shared by school, university or professional communities

Social communitiesLanguage shared by friends,

acquaintances

Familial communitiesLanguage shared by families

Phillips-Galloway & Dobbs (2012)

The goal of AL instruction is to equip

students with the ability to use a wider set of language forms and

functions for an increasing variety of

social contexts, including at school (Ravid & Tolchinsky,

2002).

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Fostering ELLs’ Achievement in Middle School Lesaux, Marietta, & Phillips Galloway

PUTTING IDEAS TO PRACTICE

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3 Key Instructional Levers for Promoting Academic Language

1• Make tasks cognitively

challenging AND context embedded

2• Teach language through

content

3• Co-construction of

content and language knowledge through talk

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Instructional Lever #1: Make tasks cognitively challenging AND context embedded

Ask students to read, write, and respond to complex texts while providing support

Graphic organizers

Providing time for thinking and writing

Text comprehension routines

Classroom discussion and peer talk to scaffold thinking

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Instructional Lever #2: Teach Language Through Content

By engaging students in writing and speaking activities that require the use of the target language features, we create an authentic context for language use

Teach vocabulary that is necessary for conveying topic knowledge

Read multiple texts on the same topic

Embed lessons in units of study

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Instructional Lever #3: Co-construction of content and language knowledge through talk

Peer discussion can be one of the richest contexts for acquiring new language and learning on a topic

Frequent, short discussions

Discussion as a classroom routine

Discussions that center on texts, particularly complex texts

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Accommodating Linguistically Diverse Students

Allow students to connect knowledge and language in their L1 to L2 content

Encourage peer discussion in the L1 at the start of a unit

Allow the use of the L1 to first express thinking

Make quick connections for common words that do not require deep exploration

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CLOSING AND REFLECTION

RTI Model for ELL Academic Success Lesaux, Marietta, & Phillips Galloway

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Closing Discussion

What do you see as the language needs of your students?

What is one change you might make to support your students’ academic language development?