418+Agenda+-+1.19.16


 * Learning Goals**
 * Describe the purpose and requirements of the 418L field experience
 * Articulate a rationale for building and building on students' linguistic and social capital
 * Begin to create a robust definition of "academic language"

Notetaker: Sarah

1:15 - 1:30 - Purpose and requirements of 418L field experience 1:30 - 1:45 - Meet with supervisors
 * [[file:418_field assessment tool_s16.docx]]

1:45 - 2:10 - Discuss Zwiers, chapter 1

2:10 - 2:30 - What do we mean by "academic language"?  >
 * []
 * Jack Sparrow (aka Ben): When I get the Pearl back, I'm gonna teach it to the whole crew, and we'll sing it all the time.
 * Elizabeth (aka Matt): And you'll be positively the most fearsome pirates in the Spanish Main.
 *  Jack Sparrow:  Not just the Spanish Main, love. The entire ocean. The entire wo'ld. Wherever we want to go, we'll go. That's what a ship is, you know. It's not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that's what a ship needs but what a ship is... what the Black Pearl really is... is freedom. [|Link]

What academic language really is...

AL **IS**: -access/ membership -connection (academics; knowledge) -necessity -communication -status/ voice -creative (allows you to express new ideas) Academic language is all of these things (lofty/ambitious goals). They are culturally situated.

AL **NEEDS** (what are the elements of AL): -diction -syntax -"rules" -vocabulary -a text (of some sort) - "Words do not magically float around in an anti-gravitational force" - Jedi Anny -visuals -discourse -demands -support -functions -tasks

Don't reduce AL to having students keep a notebook where they write bolded words and definitions down from the text. Not a thing. It is important to recognize AL in the big picture... Bottom line- we are looking at something that has a much bigger goal than simply teaching vocab. //How// do students use this knowledge to gain access and have a voice?

To Learn AL, students need: -practice -exposure

Elements of AL

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 * Housekeeping:**
 * DUE on Thursday: Find a challenging, complex, important/engaging text within your discipline. The text should be 5-10 pages and **designed for experts in the field**. Bring a copy of the text or a link to class.
 * DUE on Thursday: Read Zwiers, chapter 2 (Comprehension strategy: Mindmapping a text)
 * As you are reading, create a [|mind map] that includes these major headings: 1. functions of academic language, 2. features of academic language, 3. features of academic grammar. Bring your mind map to class.