Understanding Language:A Discussion

Photo: Courtesy Jeff Johnson

Kenji HakutaStanford University

A Nation at Risk (1983)… call for standards.

No Child Left Behind

No Child Left Behind:Three important pieces for ELLs

Sec. 1111(a)(3)(ix)(III) the inclusion of limited English proficient students, who shall be assessed in a valid and reliable manner and provided reasonable accommodations on assessments administered … including, to the extent practicable, assessments in the language and form most likely to yield accurate data…

Sec. 1111(a)(3)(xiii) enable results to be disaggregated within each State, local educational agency, and school by…English proficiency status.

Sec 3113(b)(2) standards and objectives for raising the level of English proficiency that are derived from the four recognized domains of speaking, listening, reading, and writing, and that are aligned with achievement of the challenging State academic content and student academic achievement standards described in section 1111(b)(1).

Common Core State Standards

National Geographic: George Steinmetz

Old Paradigm

Content Language

Mos

tly v

ocab

ular

y,Gr

amm

ar

New Paradigm

DiscourseText (complex text)

ExplanationArgumentation

PurposeTypical structure of text

Sentence structuresΔVocabulary

practices

LanguageContent

New Paradigm

Content

Discourse

Text (complex text)

Explanation

ArgumentationPurpose

Typical structure of text

Sentence structures

ΔVocabularypractices

Discourse

Text (co

mplex text)

Explanati

on

Argumentati

on

Purpose

Typica

l structu

re of text

Sentence

structu

res

ΔVocabulary

practices

DiscourseText (complex text)

ExplanationArgumentation

PurposeTypical structure of

textSentence structures

ΔVocabularypractices

Math

Language Arts

Science

From a conceptualization of

Language acquisition as an individual process

Language as structures or functions

Language acquisition as implying the linear and progressive building of forms and structures aimed at accuracy, fluency, and complexity

Individual ideas or texts as the center of instruction

To Understanding Language acquisition as a social process of apprenticeship that takes place in social contexts

Language as action, subsuming structure and function (Ellis, N. & Larsen-Freeman, D., 2010; van Lier & Walqui, 2012)

Non linear and complex developmental process aimed at communication and comprehension

Attention to ideas in their interrelatedness, and teaching units as a cluster of lessons centered on texts that are interconnected by purpose and/or theme

Use of simplified texts

Use of activities that pre-teach the content, or simply “help students get through texts”

Identifying discrete structural features of language

Traditional grammar as a starting point for students to know language

Objectives stated as dichotomies (such as “content objectives” and “language objectives”)

Use of complex texts for all students

Activities that scaffold students’ development and their autonomy, so that the knowledge gained will assist them in generating new understandings on their own in the future

Exploration of how language is purposeful and patterned to do its particular rhetorical work

Multimodal grammar as necessary to support students’ understanding of the visual, spatial, gestural, audio and linguistic meanings of texts

Objectives revolving around ways of communicating, doing, and being using language for different audiences and purposes

Principles to Guide Resource Development (Understanding Language - Draft)

• Principle 1: Instruction leverages ELLs’ home language(s) and culture(s).

• Principle 2: Instruction is designed to foster the dynamic interplay between discipline-specific language development and disciplinary knowledge and competencies.

• Principle 3: Instruction is standards-aligned and grade level appropriate and builds communicative competence.

• Principle 4: Instruction addresses the needs of students with various levels of English proficiency and with a variety of prior school experiences.

• Principle 5: Instruction provides the necessary support to ensure that ELLs comprehend the range of language used in the classroom.

• Principle 6: Diagnostic and formative assessment are used to identify students’ knowledge and academic language competencies to guide instructional practice.

13

National Dialogue and Engagement

• Papers, webinars: ell.stanford.edu• Instructional exemplars in ELA, Math, Science• District Engagement through exemplars• Leadership development through on-line content

(we would like to figure out a collaboration with you!)

• Policy development with assessment consortia (PARCC/SBAC and WIDA/ELPA21) and national organizations.