Academic+Language

=What is academic language? Why does it matter?=

Read
===="Academic language is the oral and written language, sometimes accompanied by visuals such as pictures or charts, needed by students to understand and communicate in the academic disciplines for specific purposes and often for a distant audience. Academic language includes such things as specialized vocabulary as well as grammar, style, and organization associated with genres within a field (e.g., literary criticism, explanations of historical phenomena, lab reports) and other language-related activities typical of classrooms, (e.g., expressing disagreement, discussing ideas, asking for clarification)." [|Definition from the TPA]====

====We often think about academic language as jargon or insider language -- ways of communicating that is specific to a particular group. For example, a doctor might report this to her colleagues, "The patient is a 23-year-old male who presents to the emergency room with foreign body and airway compromise." This is academic language. A non-academic version would go something like this: "A 23-year-old man came to the emergency room because he had something caught in his throat and he had a hard time breathing."====

====Academic language matters because it the "stuff" academic content is made of, similar to the ingredients in a cake. If students can't understand or use the language common to an academic field, their ability to learn the content is significantly impeded. Your job as a teacher is to help students gain fluency in the language of your subject area. This involves three basic steps:====

3. Supporting students' use of academic language
[|Presentation on AL Components of EdTPA] [|Video of the presentation] - [|Handout for Teacher Educators] [|PDF version (for art teachers)] [|Academic Language Development Network]

http://minnetesoljournal.org/spring-2014/academic-language-demands-texts-tasks-and-levels-of-language - Ranney overview for ESL

=What are features of academic language in my subject area?=

Read the link(s) that apply to your subject area
A list of academic language for all subject areas can be found [|here]

[|Academic Language of English Language Arts] [|Academic Language of Math] [|Academic Language of Social Studies] [|Academic Language of Science] [|Academic Language of Physical Education] (scroll down to "Academic Language for Physical Education) & [|Academic Language in PE] [|Academic Language of Music]
 * [|Examples]
 * [|Examples]
 * [|Examples]
 * [|Examples]
 * [|Article about a program to improve students ability to read science texts]
 * [|Related blog by a teacher]


 * **Uncovering academic language through standards documents**- Zwiers (p.275-276) suggests using standards documents to identify the language of a discipline and the associated thinking skills. Here are links to WA state standards documents. As you read the standards, you can highlight the language of the discipline.
 * [|Grade level content standards]

Read
- Brief explanation of academic language and why to teach it - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OetbzrP2QUU&feature=plcp - List of most frequently used academic words.
 * Vocabulary**- Brick and Mortar Terms - Brick (technical vocabulary), Mortar - ("general-utility words that hold the content-specific words together") (Zwiers, 2008, //Building Academic Language// p. 22


 * Grammar** - long sentences, passive voice (e.g. "The statistics were then calculated . . .", "The victims were given amnesty. . . "),


 * Style** - figurative language (metaphors and analogies, etc.), writing for a distant audience (additional explanation), writer is "detached' from the message, evidence to support ideas, frequent use of modals (would, could, etc.) and conditional tense (If she were to contract the disease . . . ), expressing reservations/lack of certainty (e.g. perhaps, most likely, theoretically, etc.)


 * Organization -** specific order and logic to explaining concepts and communicating an argument -- e.g. introduction, thesis statement, topic sentences, conclusion; hypothesis, experiment, evidence, new hypothesis


 * Genres -** particular styles and types of communication with specific rules/conventions, genres vary by disciplines -- e.g. lab report, persuasive essay, book review, mathematical proof, exercise plan, historical narrative

Tech Tools
> http://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/resources/academicwordlist/ - Academic Word List
 * http://splasho.com/upgoer5/ - Can you explain a complex idea from your discipline using just the thousand most frequently used words?
 * http://www.uefap.com/vocab/select/awl.htm - AWL site for English Learners
 * http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/alzsh3/acvocab/index.htm - Practice activities
 * http://www.lextutor.ca/vp/eng/ - Lexical Tutor (text analyzer)
 * http://tesl-ej.org/ej31/m2.html - Complete Lexical Tutor description

Teaching Strategies

 * Sentence Frames -- ( claims . On the other hand, _ claims __; First,__ . Next, ___. Finally,__ .)
 * Word Walls - (Post new/important vocabulary on the wall organized by categories)
 * Personal Dictionaries - (Students keep a notebook of new/important words and definitions)
 * Language Quilt - (Four boxes: a) the English word, b) the word translated, c) the word used in a sentence, d) picture and definition)
 * Graphic Organizers

[] Kate Kinsella's article on Common Core

[|Sonoma County Schools handout] on supporting academic language
 * Includes a list of teaching strategies near the end of the document

Kate Kinsella's workshops & materials
 * http://www.pgusd.org/english/kinsella/Kinsella_AcadDiscourse_Handout.pdf
 * http://pubs.cde.ca.gov/tcsii/prolearningtoolkit/kinsellatwotktime.aspx


 * Examples and non-examples of AL**
 * Avoiding informal language - []