DLI Academic LanguageResources for supporting immersion teachers in developing learners' academic language
What is academic content language?
Academic language consists of the vocabulary, sentence structures, and organizational patterns that learners need in order to understand content in textbooks, academic settings, and other professional contexts. Academic language is usually divided up into categories based on how frequently it is used (Tier 1 words), how complex it is (Tier 2 words), and how specific it is to a particular discipline (Tier 3 words). Academic Language Grid - A one-page PDF that defines academic language and explains language functions, language supports, and language demands Examples: Here are some examples of "textbook vocabulary" versus "academic vocabulary:"
Vocabulary topic: Food Common vocabulary words used to discuss food: eat, food, like, hot, cold, drink, taste, cook, hungry, done Academic vocabulary words tied to the social issue of hunger: famine, malnourished, poverty, food security, access, statistics, nutrition Academic vocabulary words tied to the social issue of nutrition: vitamins, minerals, nutrients, protein, ingredients, caloric intake, calories Vocabulary topic: School Common vocabulary words used to discuss school: desk, teacher, to talk, to write, art, math, science, schedule, etc. Academic vocabulary tied to the social issue of education: curriculum, bureaucracy, collaboration, cohort, intervention, extracurricular, intermural
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How can teachers help students access/understand academic content when they haven't yet developed necessary vocabulary or don't understand the immersion language well?
Consider these questions:
a) Are you conscious of the language demands of the activities and tasks you ask students to do in your lessons?
b) Are you intentionally planning strategies to make input comprehensible for your students (whether orally or in writing)?
c) Have you purposefully integrated pre- and during activities to help students access/understand academic content and social issues even though you are teaching in an immersion language they may not fully understand?
d) Are you intentionally using proficiency-oriented activities and scaffolding strategies to help students learn to speak/write more formally in educational or professional settings?
e) Are you recycling academic vocabulary across different contexts, texts, lessons, and units to help it "stick?"
This simple lesson plan for a science lesson shows how to go about doing this step-by-step. Basically, you are trying to make input comprehensible and then give students enough practice with the targeted language that they can remember it and eventually use it in their own speech.
Consider these questions:
a) Are you conscious of the language demands of the activities and tasks you ask students to do in your lessons?
b) Are you intentionally planning strategies to make input comprehensible for your students (whether orally or in writing)?
c) Have you purposefully integrated pre- and during activities to help students access/understand academic content and social issues even though you are teaching in an immersion language they may not fully understand?
d) Are you intentionally using proficiency-oriented activities and scaffolding strategies to help students learn to speak/write more formally in educational or professional settings?
e) Are you recycling academic vocabulary across different contexts, texts, lessons, and units to help it "stick?"
This simple lesson plan for a science lesson shows how to go about doing this step-by-step. Basically, you are trying to make input comprehensible and then give students enough practice with the targeted language that they can remember it and eventually use it in their own speech.
Further Reading
Case, A.F. & Montgomery, C. (2020). The untapped potential of academic language in world language classrooms. In Burke, B.M. (Ed.), Room for all at the Table: 2020 Report of the Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (pp. 75-93). Ashland, VA: Robert M. Terry. Retrieved from: https://csctfl.wildapricot.org/resources/Documents/2020ConferenceDocs/2020%20Report.pdf
Clegg, John. (2007). Analysing the language demands of lessons taught in a second language. Volumen monografico, pp. 113-128. Retrieved from https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/2575499.pdf.
Clegg, John. (2007). Analysing the language demands of lessons taught in a second language. Volumen monografico, pp. 113-128. Retrieved from https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/2575499.pdf.