1. Language Learning in the Content Classroom
Laura Kuti, Ph.D.
Assistant Chair, Curriculum & Instruction
School of Professional and Continuing Studies
University of Richmond

2. Session Follow-up and Payment Information
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3. Introductions and Pre-assessment
Ticket in: What is language?
Share your answer with others near you
Prepare your bag of tricks

4. Language Acquisition Strategies
Mini-lesson in another language
What strategies do you rely on?
Will you retain new language that you were exposed to? If so, why? If not, why not?
Did one student have an advantage of another?
Identify who in the room knows Spanish and of those participants, have them gauge their proficiency.

5. Language Acquisition Theory
Behaviorist would agree that language acquisition is a learned set of habits through exposure, imitation, and repetition and focuses on analyzing language units (sentence diagramming, words, phonemes)
Nativist would agree that children are born with an innate ability to acquire language, including the notion of Universal Grammar and the Language Acquisition Device (Chompsky)
Cognitivist would include the relationship between the mind and language and how the language shapes thoughts along with culture and reality
Interactionist posits that children can only learn language from someone who wants to communicate with them
Which one is right? All of the above, how can we make a case for each theory? This is so theoretical, what about my classroom? Why is this important?

6. L2 Language Teaching Methods
Pre-20th Century
Early 1900’s
1940’s-1950’s
1960’s-1970’s
1980’s-1990’s
1990’s-present
Grammar-translation
Audiolingual, Direct Method (Berlitz)
Behaviorist
Universal Grammar, LAD
Krashen’s 5 Hypotheses
Information Processing Models
Communicative Approach, Interactionism
Bloomfield,
Fries
Skinner
Chompsky,
Krashen
Anderson, McLaughlin
Vygotsky,
Snow
Did you learn a language through one of these methods? Look at the progression across time, what do you notice?

7. Language Competence Grammatical Competence
Phonology (sounds)
Morphology (formation of words)
Vocabulary
Syntax
Discourse Competence (link ideas in spoken turns and longer written and oral texts)
Sociolinguistic Competence (use of language is appropriate for situation)
Pragmatic Competence (use of language to perform specific functions)
Consider your own classroom and work with your group to develop an example for one of the areas of language competence.

8. Social Language vs. Academic Language
Context embedded BICS: Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills
The language necessary for day to day living, including conversations with friends, formal interaction
CALP: Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency
The language necessary to understand and discuss content in the classroom
Context reduced
Cummins’ Iceberg Theory
It is estimated that every day speech consists of only 5,000-7,000 words. The vocabulary demands on students skyrocket during the secondary years in education, ballooning to an estimated 88,500 words. Across the four domains of reading, writing, speaking, and listening as well as the same structure that exists in the L1

9. What can be tricky about academic language?
Cross-content vocabulary
Reading
Writing
Speaking
Listening
Prior knowledge/experience
Cultural awareness
How do we mitigate for these challenges?
Take one minute to document the multiple ways that “table” can be used across the core academic subjects. Now come up with your own cross-content vocabulary word.

10. Strategies and Activities to Support Language Acquisition
Introduce word families
Modified texts
Visuals
Sentence starters
Visual organizers like Venn Diagrams and Frayer Models
Outlines
Videos
Clarification in native language
Experiential learning/TPS
Circumlocution
Zwiers’ Placemat
Information gap activities
Partnering that involves oral communication
Dioramas/Living Dioramas
On your bag of tricks, note which area(s) of challenge these strategies might support. The common thread here is differentiation and understanding when your students need additional support.

11. Support for Immigrant Students and Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education
Teaching the Whole Student
Acknowledge their acculturation to the U.S. school system
Acknowledge/Attend to their socio-emotional needs (PTSD, family separation or reunification, poverty)
Acknowledge need for/Support/Provide access to initial literacy instruction appropriate for adolescents
Provide focused academic skill instruction to bridge gaps in knowledge
Provide integration of content and language

12. Support for Immigrant Students and Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education (cont’d)
For students who are at the very beginning level of proficiency, there are four means for non-verbal communication:
Imitate
Visual representation
Sorting/Matching
Body language/acting out
Additional Resources:
Think of a recent class activity in which one of these forms of non-verbal communication could have been used? Share with the group (use tickets in to draw names).

13. Additive Model
Currently there are over 4.7 million foreign born individuals enrolled in pre-K to postsecondary education, that is 6% of the total school population. Successful immigrant and refugee integration efforts build capacity of schools and communities. As teachers and administrators it is incumbent upon us to support all children in our classrooms as welcome additions. That environment begins at the school level and transfers to classrooms. A smile is understood in every language.
Ticket out:
1 take away
1 aha
1 I want to know more about…

14. Follow-up Assignment
Please respond to the following questions electronically after this session: Question 1: Think about the ways we discussed providing linguistic support to English learners as part of teaching and learning. Describe 3 ways that you will modify your lessons/activities/assignments. Question 2: In Chapter 5 of the book, there is a quote from Jeff Wilhem that states “Language floats on a sea of talk and…we must get students to talk through their content understanding and thinking processes.” Read through the chapter and then describe what this would like in a class with English learners. Question 3: Although language acquisition theory may seem to be just that, theoretical, what theoretical elements are relevant for teaching and learning? Question 4: How might you transform a written response assignment that you have recently given to your students into a relevant non-verbal activity for a student at the most beginner level of learning English?