Writing and Academic Language

1. August 18, 2011 Writing and Academic Language

2. Agenda • Writing: How’s it going? • Academic language: What’s the deal? • Now what?

3. Why does being a good writer matter? • Oral and written argumentation has been an important link to a healthy democratic society (Connor, Gorman, & Vahapassi, 1988). • Writing struggles have far reaching implications for college and job prospects of students (ACT, 2005; National Commission on Writing, 2004, 2005).

4. What are those consequences? Work: • Two-thirds of employees who are salaried at large American companies have to write at least sometimes at work. • Mining and transportation/utilities were the only sectors where the vast majority of employees weren’t expected to write.

5. What do bosses say? • “Writing skills are fundamental in business. It’s increasingly important to be able to convey content in a tight, logical, direct manner, particularly in a fast-paced technological environment.”

6. What are those consequences? Higher Education: • Argumentative writing is a component of many graduation exams and college entrance tests. • Strong argumentative writing is highly valued by postsecondary educators (Bridgeman & Carlson 1984; Patterson & Duer, 2006) • A survey of college professors: over half of students in freshman classes are not adequate writers.

7. A sample SAT prompt: • Reality television programs, which feature real people engaged in real activities rather than professional actors performing scripted scenes, are increasingly popular. These shows depict ordinary people competing in everything from singing and dancing to losing weight, or just living their everyday lives. Most people believe that the reality these shows portray is authentic, but they are being misled. How authentic can these shows be when producers design challenges for the participants and then editors alter filmed scenes? • Assignment: Do people benefit from forms of entertainment that show so-called reality, or are such forms of entertainment harmful? Plan and write an essay in which you develop your point of view on this issue. Support your position with reasoning and examples taken from your reading, studies, experience, or observations.

8. Think of your own experience: • How did you learn to do academic writing? • What do you remember about it?

9. The State of Writing • American students struggle with both narrative and informative writing (Harris & Graham, 1999). • The argumentative writing of students is “poorly reasoned and unpersuasive” (Harris & Graham, 1999).

10. In 2003, • 70% of students in grades 4, 8, and 12 struggle with writing (Persky, Daane, & Jin, 2003). In 2007, • Things were slightly better. Only slightly. • Average scores were a bit higher (3 pts. for grade 8, 5 for grade 12). • Same percentages were performing at or above proficient.

11. What did they write? – 8th

12. An 8th‘Excellent’ Response

13. What did they write? – 12th

14. An 12th ‘Uneven’ Response

15. Part of a 12th ‘Uneven’ Response

16. How do we make sure writers can do excellent writing? • Are students using the language expected of them in their school writing? • Is the language expected of them different from the language they speak and use most frequently?

17. Intervention and outcomes Outcomes Intervention Teacher Knowledge & Capacity Academic Language Complex Reasoning Deep Reading Comprehension Purposeful Reading/ Expository Writing Engaging Topics & Materials Structured Discussion Perspective Taking CCDD Theory of Change, Adapted from Grant, Figure 2.

18. Academic Language (AL) • the written language of school texts • the oral language used in classrooms and professional education • the language of academic assessments • the oral and written language of science • the language associated with prestige and power

19. AL: A Definition “knowing and being able to use general and content-specific vocabulary, specialized or complex grammatical structures, and multifarious language functions and discourse structures—all for the purpose of acquiring new knowledge and skills, interacting about a topic, or imparting information to others” (Bailey, 2007)

20. How academic is academic? • “language can be more or less academic –that is furnished with fewer or more of the traits that are typical of academic language; we have no basis for postulating a separate category of language that has passed some threshold qualifying it as academic” (Snow & Uccelli, 2009: 114-115)

21. AL across domains (Bailey & Butler, 2003:6)

23. Dimension 1: Academic Language Register Awareness • Register: “a variety of language distinguished according to use” (Halliday, 1978, pg. 87).

24. Dimension 2: School Genre & Discourse Structure Awareness • Detached stance is expected. • A developing academic language user might say: • “I think that Berry has a good point…” • “I’m sure Berry’s view is right…” • A more advanced user might say: • “Berry’s point should be accepted…” • “Berry is clearly correct in saying…” (Adapted from Schleppegrell, 2004)

25. Dimension 3: Knowledge of Words that Link Persons or Ideas in Spoken and Written Discourse • “All of the living things in the shortgrass prairie ecosystem work together to keep healthy. These species might not survive in a different ecosystem—a forest or a swamp, for example. But each is right at home here, getting everything it needs from the prairie.” (Finton, 2004, pg. 7)

26. Dimension 3: Knowledge of Words that Link Persons or Ideas in Spoken and Written Discourse • “All of the living things in the shortgrass prairie ecosystem work together to keep healthy. These species might not survive in a different ecosystem—a forest or a swamp, for example. But each is right at home here, getting everything it needs from the prairie.” (Finton, 2004, pg. 7)

27. Dimension 4: Information Packing/ Unpacking Skills • Elementary student: • “Aluminum is a metal and it is abundant. It has many uses and it comes from bauxite. Bauxite is an ore and looks like clay.” • Adult: • “Aluminum, an abundant metal with many uses, comes from bauxite, a clay-like ore.” (Hunt, 1977, pg. 95)

28. Academic language: History textbook (6thgrade) Autonomous text with authoritative, detached stance Later, in the 1200s BC, the Assyrians from northern Mesopotamia briefly gained control of Babylon. However, their empire was soon overrun by invaders. After this defeat, the Assyrians took about 300 years to recover their strength. Then, starting about 900 BC, they began to conquer all of the Fertile Crescent. They even took over parts of Asia Minor and Egypt. The key to the Assyrians’ success was their strong army. Like the Hittites, the Assyrians used iron weapons and chariots. The army was very well organized, and every soldier knew his role. Example from Holt Social Studies, Grade 6

29. Academic language: History textbook (6thgrade) Autonomous text with authoritative, detached stance Words that link ideas explicitly (connectives) Later, in the 1200s BC, the Assyrians from northern Mesopotamia briefly gained control of Babylon. However, their empire was soon overrun by invaders. After this defeat, the Assyrians took about 300 years to recover their strength. Then, starting about 900 BC, they began to conquer all of the Fertile Crescent. They even took over parts of Asia Minor and Egypt. The key to the Assyrians’ success was their strong army. Like the Hittites, the Assyrians used iron weapons and chariots. The army was very well organized, and every soldier knew his role. Example from Holt Social Studies, Grade 6

30. Academic language: History textbook (6thgrade) Autonomous text with authoritative, detached stance Words that link ideas explicitly (connectives) Words that link the same participants (reference chains) Later, in the 1200s BC, the Assyrians from northern Mesopotamia briefly gained control of Babylon. However, their empire was soon overrun by invaders. After this defeat, the Assyrians took about 300 years to recover their strength. Then, starting about 900 BC, they began to conquer all of the Fertile Crescent. They even took over parts of Asia Minor and Egypt. The key to the Assyrians’ success was their strong army. Like the Hittites, the Assyrians used iron weapons and chariots. The army was very well organized, and every soldier knew his role. Example from Holt Social Studies, Grade 6

31. Academic language: History textbook (6thgrade) Autonomous text with authoritative, detached stance Words that link ideas explicitly (connectives) Words that link the same participants (reference chains) Complex information (complex words) Later, in the 1200s BC, the Assyrians from northern Mesopotamia briefly gained control of Babylon. However, their empire was soon overrun by invaders. After this defeat, the Assyrians took about 300 years to recover their strength. Then, starting about 900 BC, they began to conquer all of the Fertile Crescent. They even took over parts of Asia Minor and Egypt. The key to the Assyrians’ success was their strong army. Like the Hittites, the Assyrians used iron weapons and chariots. The army was very well organized, and every soldier knew his role. Example from Holt Social Studies, Grade 6

32. Academic language: History textbook (6thgrade) Autonomous text with authoritative, detached stance Words that link ideas explicitly (connectives) Words that link the same participants (reference chains) Complex information (complex words) Densely packed information (complex syntax) Later, in the 1200s BC, the Assyrians from northern Mesopotamia briefly gained control of Babylon. However, their empire was soon overrun by invaders. After this defeat, the Assyrians took about 300 years to recover their strength. Then, starting about 900 BC, they began to conquer all of the Fertile Crescent. They even took over parts of Asia Minor and Egypt. The key to the Assyrians’ success was their strong army. Like the Hittites, the Assyrians used iron weapons and chariots. The army was very well organized, and every soldier knew his role. Example from Holt Social Studies, Grade 6

33. Bringing it all together - WG • Weekly issues of interest = Prime opportunities to turn perspective taking into persuasion • Weekly debate = Great way to rehearse the position before writing • Weekly vocabulary = Some academic tools to use in the writing • Weekly reading passages = Examples of academic language and structures

34. Some WG writing • Read the 2 passages with your partner. • Which is ‘better writing’? Why?

35. Which is ‘better writing’? • If you look for: • Clear perspective • Logical reasoning • Cohesive perspective • Convincing argument • If you look for: • Detached stance • Sensible referential chains • Explicit markers of organization • Information packing

36. Takeaways • Writing is complicated. • Knowledge of the task and discourse expectations is a key. • Practice is important, including exposure to text, oral rehearsal of arguments, and helpful feedback.