Academic Language 101

Implementation
Conference
November 2, 2012
Academic Language 101
D r. M e l a n i e H u n d l e y
Va n d e r b i l t
University
How do you define academic
language?
Task
vocabulary of content
vocabulary of school
2 Q u e s t i on s
How should teachers address
academic language in their
classes?
teachers should pay attention to
the words kids need
tell the students the definitions of
the words that are hard
Two Questions
Setting the Stage—Student Voices
Agenda
What is Academic Language?
 Multiple areas of academic language
 Academic Language in planning
 Academic Language in assessment
Resources for Academic Language
Overview of Academic Language in
edTPA
Student
Voices
Secret
Language
School is where you go to
learn a secret language but
they don’t tell you that it’s
there. You have to figure it
out on your own. It’s like
an initiation to a secret
club. Maya, 8 grade.
th
Research
Voices
Language is the primary
vehicle for learning,
instruction, and overall
intellectual development. It
is not only a means for
communicating information,
it is also a vehicle for
deepening their
understanding of important
ideas. K er sa int , T h o ms p on , & Petko va , 2 009 , p .
46.)
Language of
School
Academic
Language
Definition
the language of the discipline
that students need
to learn and use to participate and
engage in meaningful ways in the
content area
the oral and written language
used for academic purposes
the means by which students
develop and express content
understandings.
Academic
Language
Challenge
The more experience we get
with our content area, the
more expert we become; the
harder it is to “see” academic
language.
blind spot
familiarity
Cathy Zozakiewicz
Academic language is the oral and
written language that students
need in order to
Definition
 understand (read, listen, think)
 communicate (listen, speak, write,
connect)
 perform (think, read, write, listen, speak,
create)
 Academic Language is necessary to
participate in the content




think
question
talk
learn
Zwiers’ describes academic
language as “the set of
words, grammar, and
Te r m s
strategies
L iorganizational
n g u i st ic
Pro c e sse s
to describe complex
Paused
t t e rn s
ideas, higher-order thinking
processes, and abstract
concepts” (p. 20).
Thinking through the tasks
EL A Lesson Plan Questions
Math Lesson Plan Questions
Research
Voices
Set of words
Grammar
Organizati on
al Strategies
Academic
Language
Set of words
Grammar
O r g a n i z at i on al
S t r a t eg i e s
What are the words &
structures that students need
to know to understand &
make meaning in your content
area?
I eventually figured it all out
but, for a while there, all these
words and terms and names
that I didn’t understand were
flying around. I felt pretty
clueless. Amy, professiona l year
Pedagogy. Curriculum.
Unpack. Reflect. I was pretty
lost in my first education
classes. I needed the secret
decoder ring or something. Sam,
professional year
Student
Voices
Pr e - S e r v ic e
Te a c h e rs
Academic
Language
Program
Examples
Think about your program.
What terms, ideas, structures
do you use?
What terms/structures are
unique to your program?
Context—The Program
Context—The School
Observation Example
Lesson Plan
Lesson Plan Example 1
Lesson Plan Example 2
Academic
Language
Common
Core State
Standards
Emphasis on texts & writing
across content areas
Developmental
vocabulary of discipline
tools
trajectory
CCSS Writing Standards
CCSS 3 Text Types
Academic
Language
Set of words
Grammar
O r g a n i z at i on al
S t r a t eg i e s
“What I realized as I worked
with my content was that I
really had to show my
students how to organize the
stuff they were learning. ”
(Scott, 2011)
Social Studies
Thinking through the tasks
I was wrong. I thought
that y’all were just overemphasizing something
that students really just
knew if they just paid
attention. So, I assigned a
writing prompt and the
students wrote almost
nothing. It was like they
didn’t understand what I
was asking them to do. (Ben,
2010)
Student
Voices
What my
students
needed to be
successful
Writing Prompt
Discuss Steve and Frankenstein.
Student Work
They are books.
Monster is about a boy. Frankenstein is about
a monster.
I revised the prompt
thinking that just doing
that would solve the
problems. I was careful
about the verbs I chose to
replace discuss . I wanted
to be more specific about
what they were actually
going to do in the
writing. (Ben, 2010)
Student
Voices
What my
students
needed to be
successful
Writing Prompt
Discuss Steve and Frankenstein.
Compare and contrast Steve in Monster and
the monster in Frankenstein.
Student Work
Steve in Monster got no future in the world
he in. He broke the law got caught in a store
spent jail and on trial. His future done gone
away tho he ant convcicted. It don’t matter
that he might notta done it. He got nothin
now jail done shaped him. He cant escape his
maybe action. Like the monster in
Frankenstein he got no choice in what people
do. Both Steve and the momster shaped by
they society.
The response was better. The
students kind of knew what to
do but there was still
something missing. So, this
time I used several scaffolds to
help the students. A Venn
Diagram. Sentence frames.
Sentence Combining. (Ben, 2010)
Venn Diagram
Sentences
Student
Voices
What my
students
needed to be
successful
Revision
 Steve, the main character in Walter Dean Myer’s novel Monster,
was not convicted of the crime he was accused of but he still has
no future because of the appearance of being a convict. He is in
a world that judges young men by the color of they skin. News
stories about them. It will not matter to society that he was not
convicted; he will always be a monster because of who he is. As
a young, black man who has been in jail and on trial. He will be
judged as monstrous because of how society will see him. He
will always have the stigma of both trial and jail and won’t be
able to escape that. Similarly, the monster in Frankenstein will
always be judged by his outward appearance. He looks scary
and people don’t know what to expect from him. Both Steve
and the monster are products of their society and are judged
and condemned by their society. It doesn’t matter that they
may be innocent; they have the appearance of being monsters
by society’s standards. Neither one of them will be able to
escape the views of society.
Student
Voices
I can do the work for a class as
long as I know what the teacher
means by what she says and what
she asks. When a teacher makes
things clear for me, I think I am a
good student . L e a h , 1 2 g r a d e
th
Making
Ac a d em ic
Language
Vi s i b l e
“When we teach a subject,
or any topic or text within
that subject, we must teach
Te r m s
L ithe
n g u i st ic academic vocabulary
Pro c e sse s
Pafor
t t e rn s dealing with it—not
just the words, but also the
linguistic processes and
patterns for delving deeply
into and operating upon
that content” (Wilhelm, p.
44).
Research
Voices
Terms
Linguistic
Processes
Patterns
Support for
Language
Tasks
Students need to be able to
participate in the learning
environment in order to be
successful.
Access
Vocabulary
Command Terms
Scaffolds/Tools
Structures for making meaning
Student Notes
Task Practice
Command Terms
Burke Term List
Student
Voices
Making
Ac a d em ic
Language
Vi s i b l e
 Most of the time I don’t even know
how to start or what to do. It’s more
than just sometimes not knowing the
words in the directions. It’s knowing
what I am supposed to use when I talk
in the class or when I write something
for class. M a t t , 1 2 g r a d e
th
List command terms that you might
use in your classroom that could
cause students problems.
Annotate
 In English—you add notes and/or
commentary to text, usually explaining
something or going deeper into the
specific meaning, make connections,
identify and/or explore key literary
elements
 In Science—add brief notes to a diagram
or graph
Task
Think about
when you were
in middle and
h i g h s c h oo l.
What words in
t h e d i r e c t i on s
c a u se d y o u
p ro b l e m s?
Think about
your content
area. What
w o r d s c o u ld
c a u se s t u d e n t
p ro b l e m s?
Student Notes
Example
So?
How do we put it
together?
Academic
Language
in Planning
and
Assessment
Focus on Student Learning
Planning
edTPA
Vi s i o n o f
Te a c h i n g
 Use knowledge of students
 Build content understanding
 Design assessments to monitor
student learning
Instruction
 Student engagement
 Student thinking
 Subject-specific pedagogy
Assessment
 Analysis of student learning
 Provide feedback
edTPA
There are language demands
that teachers need to consider
as they plan to support
student learning of content,
which include:
Vocabulary
Language functions
Syntax
Discourse
Academic Language
edTPA
Terms
Discourse
Ac a d em ic
Language
D i s c ou r se
Language Demand
Language
Demand
Language
Fu n c t io n s
Language Functions
S y n t ax
Syntax
Academic Language
edTPA
Terms
Ac a d em ic
Language
D i s c ou r se
Language
Demand
Language
Fu n c t io n s
S y n t ax
Oral and written language used
for academic purposes
Discourse
edTPA
Terms
Ac a d em ic
Language
D i s c ou r se
Language
Demand
Language
Fu n c t io n s
S y n t ax
Structures of written and oral
language
How members of the discipline talk,
write, and participate in knowledge
construction
Discipline-specific
 Distinctive about features/way of
structuring language (text structures)
 English
 Math
 Science
 Social Studies
Language Demands
edTPA
Terms
Ac a d em ic
Language
D i s c ou r se
Language
Demand
Language
Fu n c t io n s
S y n t ax
Specific ways that academic
language is used by students to
participate in learning tasks
 reading
 writing
 listening and/or speaking
 demonstrate/perform
Language Functions
edTPA
Terms
Ac a d em ic
Language
D i s c ou r se
Language
Demand
Language
Fu n c t io n s
S y n t ax
content and focus of the learning
task
Represented by action verb within
the learning outcome (describing,
comparing, summarizing, etc.)
English
Math
Science
Social Studies
Syntax
edTPA
Terms
Ac a d em ic
Language
D i s c ou r se
Language
Demand
Language
Fu n c t io n s
S y n t ax
Set of conventions for organizing
symbols, words and phrases
together into structures (e.g.,
sentences, graphs, tables)
Yet another
consideration…
Characteristics
of textual
resources
 In social studies, long sentences with
multiple embedded clauses are common.
 Frequent use of pronouns it and they as
referents.
 Cause and effect statements are frequent.
 Because there will be more people in the
world in the future, we will need more
land on which to build towns and cities.
 Various verb forms are used:
 “I found Rome a city of bricks and left it
a city of marble.” Augustus is supposed
to have spoken these words as he lay
dying. He was Rome’s first emperor, and
started the first of its great building
programs. He claimed that he had had
over 80 temples rebuilt.
Social
Studies
 Use of passive voice
 Multiple embeddings
 Long noun phrases serving as
subjects or objects
 If…then constructions and logical
connectors (if, because, however,
consequently)
 The Calvin cycle is sometimes referred
to as the “light-independent reactions”
because, unlike the light reactions, it
does not require light to begin.
However, this does not mean that the
Calvin cycle can continue running in a
plant kept in the dark. The Calvin
cycle requires two inputs supplied by
the light reactions, ATP and NADPH.
Science
 Comparatives:
 6 is greater than 4
 María earns six times as much as Peter
 Lin is as old as Roberto
 Prepositions:
 (divided) into, divided by,
 2 multiplied by 6 and X exceeds 2 by 7
 Passive voice:
 X is defined as a number greater than 7.
 Reversals: The number a is five less than b.
 Logical connectors: if…then
 If a is positive then -a is negative.
Mathematics
 Vocabulary
 Text, character, plot, theme, thesis,
characteristics, genre, metaphor, simile,
gerund
 Narrative Structures
 Quotatives
 Descriptors
 Inferential language in metaphors
 The use of “like” or “as” in similes
 Literary Response
 Generating/Justifying an opinion
 Citing evidence
English
Language
Arts
Teacher
Candidate
Rephrase
E n g l ish /
Language Arts
Te r m s &
Phrases
 What are the key words and phrases my
students will need to understand, read
and use in the learning activity?
 Which of these words/phrases will be new to
my students?
 Which of these words/phrases have different
meanings in other contexts? Which might be
confusing for students?
 Is there a non-jargon, student-friendly way to
explain this to students?
Handout
Teacher
Candidate
Rephrase
Te r m s
Phrases
Using Language
 How (i.e., for what purpose) will
students be using language in the
learning activity?
 What key words/phrases will
students need to understand in order
to follow the directions in the
learning activity?
 What key words/phrases will students need
to understand in order to work with texts
in the learning activity?
 What key words/phrases will students need
to understand in order to
 talk about the texts?
 write about the texts?
 create similar texts?
Math
Example
(Emily)
Mathematical
Vo c a b u l a r y &
Representations
 What are the key mathematical words
and phrases my students will need to
understand and use in the learning
activity?
 Which of these words/phrases will be new to
my students?
 Which of these words/phrases have different
meanings in informal/non-mathematical
conversations?
 What are “kid-friendly” ways of describing
each of these?
Handout
Emily’s Notes
Math
Example
(Emily)
Mathematical
Vo c a b u l a r y &
Representations
 Which new mathematical
representations (including notation)
will students need to learn to “read”
and use in the learning activity?
 What “non-mathematical” words or
phrases will my students need to
understand in order to make sense of
the task scenarios in the learning
activity?
Math
Example
(Emily)
Genre (i.e.,
Pu r p ose ) a n d
L i n g u i st i c
Fe a t u re s
How (i.e., for what purpose) will
students be using language in the
activity?
 Which key words/phrases will my students
need to understand in order to follow
directions during the learning task, and which
of these will be new to my students?
 Write some sentences (to develop into
sentence frames) that capture how you expect
students to be using academic language to
achieve a particular purpose during the
learning segment.
 What are “kid-friendly” ways of describing
each of these?
Academic
Language
Tools
Sentence
Fr a m e s
Sentence Stems
Phrases
 Sentence Frames are tools that can help
give students the words and the
structures to use as they are initially
developing fluency.
 Since the square root of __ is __, then
__ squared must be ___. (Math)
 The __ is an important symbol for __
because __. (ELA)
 In the experiment, the __ acted on the
__ and caused a __ . (Science)
 The war was caused by __ , __ , and __
because __ .(Social Studies)
Generate hypothesis
Academic
Language
Tools
Looking at one
task
Sentence
Fr a m e s
Language Arts
Math
Social Studies
Science
In order to do this task for each
content area, requires that
students
Know what a they are being asked
to do
Have something to say
Have the words to say it, or
Have the structures to write it
Identifying Cause/Effect in Language
Arts
Sentence
Frames
Tex t u a l t o o l s
 I think the character did that ________ because
________.
 Even though many people thought that the cause
was ________, I believe it was ________.
 Each ________ played a key role. First, ________
did ________. Then, ________ did ________.
Academic
Language
for edTPA
Planning Commentary
Teacher candidates must identify a
language function essential to the
central focus.
 English Example
 Math Example
 Science Example
 Social Studies Example
Identify a key learning task that
provides students with
opportunities to practice using the
language function
Academic
Language
for edTPA
Planning Commentary
Additional language demands
 Given the language function &
identified task, identify associated
language demands
 Vocabulary
 Syntax
 Discourse
Language Supports
Instructional supports that will
help students UNDERSTAND and
USE language function & identified
language
Focus of
TPAC
Assessment
 A meaningful chunk of instruction
around a big idea or essential question
for the students in the class
 Support for both content and academic
language development
 Strategies and materials tailored to the
students in the class
Conceptual
Framework
of
Assessment
 What? – candidate describes plans or
provides descriptions or evidence of
what candidate or students did
 So what? – rationale for plans in terms
of knowledge of students &
research/theory, explanation of what
happened in terms of student learning
or how teaching affected student
learning
 Now what? – what candidate would do
differently if could do over, next
instructional steps based on assessment,
feedback to students
 Pre-Service Teachers are asked to:
Academic
Language—
edTPA
 Select one key language function essential for
students to learn within the central focus.
 Identify a key learning task from plans that provide
students opportunities to practice using the
language function.
 Language Demands (consider language function &
task) describe the language demands (written or
oral) students need to understand and/or use.
 Vocabulary
 Syntax
 Discourse
 Language Supports: Describe instructional supports
that will help students understand and use language
function & additional language demands.
 Assessments: What formal and informal assessments
will provide evidence of students’ understanding
and fluency?
TPA Glossary: Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity
Resource Slides
Discourse—
English
 Discourse: Structures or ways of organizing
oral or written language serve a particular
function within each subject area.
 In English-language arts, language forms
include
 expository, narrative, poetic, theatric,
journalistic, film, and graphic print materials;
 video and live presentations.
 Language forms can be at the sentence
level, paragraph or genre level. If the
function is to interpret character
development, then appropriate language
forms could include literacy essays or a set
of sentence frames like “ The author used
(action, dialogue, and/or description) to
introduce (main character). One example
of (action, dialogue, and/or description)
was ________, which suggested that the
character was __________.”
TPA Glossary: Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity
Discourse—
Elementary
Mathematics
 Discourse: Structures or ways of organizing
oral or written language to serve a
particular function within each subject
area.
 In mathematics, language forms include
 symbolic representations such as numbers,
equations, and two-column proofs (which can
be translated into words),
 tables and graphs (which are shorthand
language for summarizing complex sets of
data),
 and narrative (e.g., explanations of problem
solutions).
 If the function is to compare, then appropriate
language forms could include Venn diagrams or
pattern sentences like “The _____ is
longer/larger/heavier than the ______.”
 If the function is to explain, then students might use
sentence starters like “First, I…”, “Then I…” to
structure the explanation, and use “Finally I…” to
signal the conclusion.
TPA Glossary: Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity
 Discourse: Structures or ways of organizing
oral or written language serve a particular
function within each subject area.
Discourse—
Science
 In science, language forms include
 symbolic representations such as chemical equations
(which can be translated into words),
 graphic and tabular representations (which is
shorthand language for complex sets of data),
 lists (e.g., materials lists), and
 narrative (e.g., analysis and conclusions sections in
a lab report).
 Language forms can be at the sentence,
paragraph, whole text, or symbolic levels.
 If the function is to draw conclusions, then
appropriate language forms to structure the content
could include charts of investigative results or
sentence starters to structure an analysis such as
“The results of the investigation show…” “This
suggests that…”
TPA Glossary: Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity
Discourse—
Social
Studies
 Discourse: Structures or ways of organizing
oral or written language to serve a
particular function within each subject
area.
 In the history-social studies, language
forms include expository, narrative,
journalistic, maps, and other graphic print
materials; presentations of data in text,
charts, and graphs; video and live
presentations.
 Language forms can be at the sentence
level, paragraph or symbolic level.
 If the function is to develop a document-based
argument, then appropriate language forms
could include written essays with specified
formats and pattern sentences like “The two
main causes of _____________ were
____________ and____________. For example,
the (author of) (document) stated that
_______________ (citation).”
TPA Glossary: Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity
 Discourse: Structures or ways of organizing
oral or written language serve a particular
function within each subject area.
Discourse—
Math
 In mathematics, language forms include
 symbolic representations including numbers,
equations, and two-column proofs (which can
be translated into words),
 graphic representation (which is shorthand
language for complex sets of data), and
narrative (e.g., to describe or compare).
 If the language function is to compare, then
appropriate language forms could include Venn
diagrams or an equation like x < 7.
 If the language function is to prove, then
appropriate language forms include formal two column proofs as well as informal explanations that
begin with a statement of the problem and known
information, followed by a series of statements like
”And then, I know _______ because _______”,
ending with what it to be proved.
TPA Glossary: Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity
Language
Functions—
English
 Language Functions: The function is the
purpose the language is intended to achieve in
the learning task.
 Functions are associated with verbs found in
learning outcome statements.
 Common language functions in the language
arts include:
reading/listening for main ideas and details;
analyzing and interpreting characters and plots;
writing narrative, informational, or poetic text;
using presentation skills to present a play, a speech,
or do a dramatic reading;
 evaluating and interpreting an author’s purpose,
message, and use of language choice, setting,
mood, tone, and other literary strategies;
 comparing ideas within and between texts,
 making sense of unfamiliar vocabulary through
pictures, word parts, and contextual clues.




TPA Glossary: Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity
Language
Functions—
Math
 Language Functions: The function is the
purpose the language is intended to achieve in
the learning task.
 Functions are associated with verbs found in
learning outcome statements.
 Common language functions in mathematics
include










describing mathematical phenomena,
predicting from models and data,
comparing based on common attributes,
summarizing mathematical information,
justifying conclusions,
evaluating data and mathematical representations,
classifying based on attributes,
explaining phenomena and processes,
drawing conclusions based on data,
representing mathematical information and
mathematical models, etc.
TPA Glossary: Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity
Language
Functions—
Science
 Language Functions: The function is the
purpose the language is intended to achieve in
the learning task.
 Functions are associated with verbs found in
learning outcome statements.
 Common language functions in science include
 reading investigative procedures, diagrams, figures,
tables, graphs, and dense authoritative text;
 writing or presenting causal explanations; modeling
scientific phenomena;
 predicting from models and data from scientific
inquiries;
 comparing based on common attributes,
summarizing scientific data from inquiries;
 justifying conclusions with scientific evidence;
 evaluating data and investigative procedures;
 classifying based on attributes;
 describing processes and procedures;
 drawing conclusions based on investigative results,
etc.
TPA Glossary: Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity
Language
Functions—
Social
Studies
 Language Functions: The function is the
purpose the language is intended to achieve in
the learning task.
 Functions are associated with verbs found in
learning outcome statements.
 Common language functions in history-social
studies include
 reading/listening for main ideas and details in
narrative, expository, and persuasive text;
 reading/interpreting maps, graphs, and data tables;
 evaluating and interpreting an
author/presenter/historian’s purpose and message;
 corroborating an author’s claims;
 examining evidence an author/presenter/historian
uses to support claims;
 analyzing arguments in favor of a perspective;
writing/presenting persuasive arguments;
 analyzing and/or describing causes of historical,
economic, geographic, and political events;
 supporting written or spoken claims with evidence
and warrants; etc.
TPA Glossary: Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity

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