meeting the language demands of english language learners through reading in the content areas naomi...

Meeting the Language Demands of English Language Learners

through Reading in the Content Areas

Naomi M. Watkins

Kristen M. Lindahl

Watkins & Lindahl, 2009

Overview

• What are language demands?• Why identify & address language

demands in the content areas?• What are the areas of language that

should be addressed?• How do I identify the language demands of

the texts I use & the lessons I teach?• How do I address these language

demands in my lessons?


What are Language Demands?

• The amount and kind of English needed to understand and participate in content area lessons (Harper & de Jong, 2004)

• May be mistaken for the integrated language processes:– Speaking– Listening– Reading– Writing

• The 4 language processes are the way students participate and communicate; language demands are the types of language at various levels of difficulty that present themselves daily in school


Why Identify & Address Language Demands?

• It may take ELLs 5-10 years to acquire academic language proficiency (Collier, 1987; Cummins, 2001).

• Schools should provide language support to students while they are learning academic subjects (Diaz-Rico & Weed, 2006).

• Research-supported models of instruction for ELLs include both content and language objectives (Chamot & O’Malley, 1996; Echevarria, Vogt & Short, 2004; Dong, 2005).

• Incorporating language objectives may be difficult for content-area teachers (Short & Echevarria, 1999).

• Language is sometimes an “invisible medium” (Diaz-Rico & Weed, 2006).

Watkins & Lindahl, 2009 Andrews, 2008

Teacher Language Awareness

• Knowledge of language– Language proficiency– Language competency

• Knowledge about language– Grammatical terminology– Language forms– Semantic understanding– Syntax– Pragmatics– Phonology


Six Areas of Language Prevalent in Content Area Lessons

1. Reading Comprehension

2. Writing

3. Vocabulary

4. Functional/Formulaic Language

5. Word Study

6. Grammar & Conventions

Lindahl & Watkins, 2007


Reading Comprehension

Def: Process of constructing meaning from text

Examples: • Activating & building background knowledge• Text structure (organization, content features,

graphic features)• Figurative language• Summarizing• Inferencing


Writing

Def: Using written language to respond to typically recurring situations

Examples:• Orthography• Writing Process

– Prewriting: Purpose, Audience, Genre, Stance, Media/Design

• Six Traits


Vocabulary

Def: Bodies of words students need in order to comprehend and express content knowledge and information

Examples:• New words that represent known concepts• New words representing new concepts• Clarifying and enriching the meanings of

known words• Idioms• Abstract high-frequency words • Context clues


Functional/Formulaic Language

Def: Language formulae that students can use in context to accomplish a task

Examples:• Talking about past/future events• Asking for information through questioning• Talking about self• Describing things• Expressing opinions


Word Study

Def: Instruction about words rather than focusing on the meaning of words

Examples:• Prefixes, roots, and suffixes (Word structure)• Word patterns: sound, visual, and meaning

patterns• Compound words• Cognates• Homophones


Grammar/Conventions

Def: How a language is constructed; rules of acceptable writing and language practices

Examples:• Contractions• Paragraphing• Capitalization • Singular vs. plural• Subject-verb agreement


How to Identify Language Demands: Modeling the Process

1. Sample B-D-A Lesson Plan for Science

2. Organizer for Identifying Language Demands

3. Practice Identifying Language Demands for a text and for a lesson/activity


Sample Lesson Plan

• Content Area: Science

• Topic: 3 States of & Conversion of Matter

• Content Objectives: – SWBAT identify characteristics of the three

types of matter by completing a graphic organizer in pairs.

– SWBAT compare and contrast the three types of matter by writing a paragraph independently.


Lesson Plan: Before Reading

• Simulation: Place several ice cubes into a thin glass container. Ask/remind students that they represent solid matter.

• Add heat to the ice cubes until they melt and become water. Ask/remind students that this now represents liquid matter.

• Place a balloon over the tube. Add more heat so that the water evaporates and forms gas. As this happens, the balloon should inflate. Ask/remind students that this now represents gas.

• Inform students that their purpose for reading is to learn the three states of matter and how matter changes.


Lesson Plan: During Reading

Pairs Reading• Find a partner.• One student will be the coach. The other student will be the

reader.• Both students read the 1st paragraph silently.• After reading the 1st paragraph, the reader summarizes the

paragraph for the coach. The coach asks clarifying questions.

• Students then reverse roles, read the next paragraph silently, and the reader then summarizes for the coach with the coach asking questions.

• The process continues until the entire article has been read and summarized.

• Once the entire article is read, the students cooperatively summarize the main idea of the passage.

Billmeyer & Barton, 1998


Lesson Plan: After Reading

After Reading: Graphic OrganizerStates of MatterState

ofMatter

Shape Volume ParticleSpeed

Types orUnique

Characteristics

Write or Draw anExample

Solid

Liquid

Gas


Lesson Plan: Writing

• Student Prompt: – Using your completed graphic organizer as

a guide, compose a paragraph comparing and contrasting the three states of matter: 1. Solid

2. Liquid

3. Gas


How to Identify Language Demands: Practice

• When examining text and/or planning lessons and activities, ask:

What language will my students need in order to read this text

and/or participate in this lesson or activity?


How to Identify Language Demands: An Organizer

Demands of the TextDemands of the Lesson/Activities


Writing

Functional Language

Vocabulary

Word Study

Grammar/ Conventions


You Try!

1. Identify the language demands for the text.

2. Then, identify the language demands for the after reading portion (graphic organizer & writing prompt) of the lesson.



For the Text• Background

Knowledge• Headers• Italics of vocabulary• Figures & captions

For the Activity• Isolate key ideas • Summarize/

Paraphrase


Writing

For the GO:

• Organizing ideas (prioritizing)

For the paragraph:

• Topic sentences

• Concluding sentences

• Use of examples


Vocabulary

For the Text• Content obligatory:

matter, gas, liquid, solid, particles, viscosity, substance, spherical, condensation

• Content compatible: fixed, definite, overcome, tension, volume, state

For the Activity• On the GO: Shape,

volume, particle speed, types or unique characteristics

• To complete GO: crystalline, amorphous, surface tension, viscocity

• To write paragraph: All of the aforementioned vocabulary words


Functional/Formulaic Language

For the Text• Commands

(imperatives) in the experiments

• Ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, …)

For the Activity• Compare/Contrast

language– Similar/ Dissimilar– Alike/Different– In contrast– In addition– But– While– And, also, too


Word Study

For the Text

• -tion words– Condensation– Sublimation

• Amorphous

• Crystalline


Grammar/Conventions

For the Text• Celsius, Fahrenheit, &

milliliter abbreviations• Numbered steps on

directions

For the activity• Commas used in a list

of items• Indenting • Capitalization • Present tense verbs

– To be– To change– To have– To stay or to remain


How to Target Your Instruction to Address Identified Language Demands

1. Select a text and an existing lesson/activity

2. Identify the language demands of the text and the lesson/activity

3. Prioritize demands based on students’ needs


How to Target (Continued)

4. Target the lesson by:• Adding• Subtracting• Refining To the presentation portion of your lesson

based on prioritized needs5. Write language objectives that complement

content objectives—communicate both to students

6. Provide explicit instruction on prioritized demands embedded within the context of the lesson


Concluding Thoughts

• Vital for ELL students that content area teachers always consider content and language when planning instruction

• Remember that there is more to language than the four processes

• Instruction in the various areas of language should be made transparent to students


References

• Andrews, S. J. (2008). Teacher language awareness. In J. Cenoz & N. H. Hornberger (Eds.) Encyclopedia of language and education, 2nd ed, 6, 287-298. New York, NY: Springer Science + Business Media LLC.

• Billmeyer, R., & Barton, M. L. (1998). Teaching reading in the content areas: If not me, then who? Aurora, CO: Mid-continental Research for Education and Learning.

• Chamot, A. U., & O’Malley, J. M. (1996). The cognitive academic language learning approach: A model for linguistically diverse classrooms. The Elementary School Journal, 96(3), 259-273.

• Collier, V. (1987). Age and rate of acquisition of second language for academic purposes. TESOL Quarterly, 21(4), 10-34.

• Cummins, J. (2001). Negotiating identities: Education for empowerment in a diverse society. Ontario, CA: California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE).

• Diaz-Rico,L.T. & Weed, K.Z. (2006). The crosscultural, language, and academic development handbook. Boston: Allyn and Bacon

• Dong, Y. (2005). Getting at the content. Educational Leadership, 62(4), 14-19.• Echevarria, J., Vogt, M., & Short, D. J. (2004). Making content comprehensible for English

learners: The SIOP model. Boston: Pearson.• Harper, C., & de Jong, E. (2004). Misconceptions about teaching English language learners.

Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 48(2), 152-162.• Lindahl, K. M. & Watkins, N. M. (2007). Language objective menu. Unpublished manuscript.• Short, D., & Echevarria, J. (1999). The sheltered instruction

observation protocol. (Educational Practice Report 3). Santa Cruz, CA & Washington, DC: Center for Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence. Available: www.cal.org/resources/digest/sheltered.html


Contact Information

• Naomi Watkins– [email protected]

• Kristen Lindahl– [email protected]

Slides will be available on the IRA website to download.

meeting the language demands of english language learners through reading in the content areas naomi...

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types of language

written language

language support

address language demands

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areas of language prevalent

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