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Academic Language

Academic Language. Notions and Issues in Education Theory and Practice. What is academic language?. The scholarly context : communities of professional practice English as a First L anguage English as a Second Language.

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Academic Language

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  1. Academic Language Notions and Issues in Education Theory and Practice

  2. What is academic language? • The scholarly context: communities of professional practice • English as a First Language • English as a Second Language Adapted from Valdes, G. 2008. Between Support and Marginalization. The Development of Academic Language in Linguistic Minority Children. In International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism MAINSTREAM ENGLISH ESL (K-12) BILINGUAL EDUCATION TESOL (College)

  3. Academic Discourse. MAINSTREAM ENGLISH A set of intellectual practices and a way of reading the world, Involves the presentation of opinions and explicit argumentation in support of opinions, Follows conventions of explicitness, detachment and appeal to authority, Is organized to allow appropriate reader interpretation, Follows stylistic conventions involving grammar and usage, and is error free

  4. Academic Language TESOL (College) • Is a proficiency required for tertiary study in English and/or • Is the language used within particular disciplines and professions • Follows particular conventions for presenting information specific to the field • Is characterized by particular set of formal features (e.g., sentence length, complex noun and adjective phrases)

  5. Academic Language ESL (K-12) • Is the language needed to succeed academically in all content areas including: • The English used to interact in the classroom • The English used to obtain, process, construct and provide subject matter information in spoken and written form

  6. Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency BILNGUAL EDUCATION • Cognitively and linguistically complex language needed for success in academic settings • Conceptual-linguistic knowledge • The ability to manipulate and interpret language in cognitively-demanding, context-reduced texts

  7. What is academic literacy? More than reading comprehension and decoding! A refrigerator magnet is sticking to the fridge. Magnets attract certain kinds of metal Some metal is attracted by a magnet Magnetic attraction only occurs between ferrous metals Magnetic force fields…

  8. “The extended drought caused the crops to fail, resulting in a widespread famine and many deaths, especially among the children and the elderly.” • “There was no rain for a very long time. The farmers had planted crops like maize and wheat and corn, but because it didn’t rain, all the crops died. Because there were no crops there was nothing for the people to eat, and they became very hungry. Because they didn’t have enough to eat, many of them died, especially the children and old people.”

  9. Academic Literacies • Each discipline has its own conventions and patterns of thinking. • Professional stratification of language (Bakhtin): professionals use specific language and intentions. • Critical thinking: questions are asked for… Science→ clarification of the unknown English → to explore possible interpretations

  10. Intellectually challengingcurriculum • Engages in higher-order thinking and in disciplined and inquiry-oriented activities • Students can construct their own understandings through participation in substantive conversations with others • Students can transform and apply their learning in new contexts • Students can take on new roles and relate school learning to real-world contexts

  11. Reflect: • What kind of practices would you like to see in an intellectually challenging classroom? • How would the idea of knowledgeas constructedand of authentic work be reflected in practice? • What would you expect learners to be doing, and what kinds of roles would they be taking on?

  12. Practices for intellectually engaging classrooms “Students engage with the key ideas and concepts of the discipline in ways that reflect how experts in the field think and reason.” Students label artifacts or answer comprehension questions based on a reading about the Egyptians. versus Students are required to explain the significance of Egyptians artifacts and tomb paintings.

  13. “Students transform what they have learned into a different form for use in anew context or for a different audience.” Antarctica. Class presentation to other classes in the format of a morning TV show with students working on different parts of the show. Local community. Creation of an information booklet for newly arrived immigrant students’ parents. Egyptian jewelry. Students create their own jewelry and make museum cards for them.

  14. “Students make links between concrete knowledge and abstract theoretical knowledge”

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