Academic Oral Language: Building the
Foundation for Writing and Content
Learning
Deming, New Mexico
June 6, 2011
Jeff Zwiers
Today’s Objectives
What
is it?
How can I assess it and
with it?
Academic
Oral Language
Why
is it
important?
J.Zwiers
How can I teach conversation
skills in order to improve
content understandings and
writing (& reading)?
Reflective Inquiry/Action Research
Teach
& Assess
How can I develop my students’
language of cause and effect,
evidenced(Academic
by essays
and interviews,
language
inquiry) conversations?
by using academic
Reflect
& Plan
Analyze
Evidence
(student work)
Academic language is the set of words, grammar, and
organization used to describe:
Abstract concepts
Higherorder
thinking
processes
Complex
ideas
Examples?
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Cause-Effect, Empathize,
Compare, Classify, Apply,
Evaluate, Persuade, Interpret
Recognize patterns,
Academic Language
Academic Language Snapshot
Photosynthesis, democracy,
imagery, numerator, etc.
Content vocabulary
(brick)
Content vocabulary
(brick)
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Academic Language Snapshot
Evidence
Analyze
Interpret
Elaborate
Support
Compare
Foster
Aspects
Photosynthesis, democracy,
imagery, numerator, etc.
Long Sentences
U-turn terms
Transitions
Grammar,
Ab-Co-Th Terms (Terms
organization, prosody
that travel across
Clauses
disciplines)
Pronouns
Word order
Content vocabulary
ACADEMIC
(bricks)
Punctuation
METAPHORS:
Text structure
[100/hr! (Pollio, 1977)]
Content vocabulary
(bricks)
“stand idly by while…”
“played a key role in” “in the wake of”
“narrow pursuit” “no simple formula”
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Additional Mortar Words (Coxhead, 2000)
Home and Academic Languages
Math
language
Science
language
History
language
General academic
language for thinking, reading,
writing, & communicating
Student B
Student A
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Literature
language
Watching for Academic Language
By the 1880's, steam power had dramatically shortened the
journey to America. Immigrants poured in from around the
world. They came from the Middle East, the Mediterranean,
Southern and Eastern Europe, and down from Canada.
The door was wide open for Europeans. In the 1880’s
alone, 9% of the total population of Norway emigrated to
America. After 1892 nearly all immigrants came in
through the newly opened Ellis Island.
Families often immigrated together during this era,
although young men frequently came first to find work.
Some of these then sent for their wives, children, and
siblings; others returned to their families in Europe with
their saved wages. (http://www.ellisisland.org/immexp/wseix_5_3.asp)
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Three Ingredients for Building Language
Reading
Listening
Visuals
Gestures
1.
Input
2.
3.
Output
Presentations
Answer questions
Sentence frames
Pair-shares
Drama/Improv
Interaction (negotiating meaning)
Scaffolding Oral Academic Language Output with
Pro-Con Improv
Topics:
Camping, Shopping, Traveling, Cell Phones,
TV, Computers, Video Games, School, Cars,
Conferences
Transitions:
However,
On the other hand,
Then again,
Frames:
One advantage is …
A negative aspect of ___ is …
In spite of the positives of _____,
Variations:
Whole class Pro-Con; Compare-contrast, For-Against
J.Zwiers, 159
but
Negotiating Meaning
A
B
InfoGap-Negotiation Cards
A
Viruses are not living because they:
B
Viruses are alive because they:
1. Teacher previews key vocabulary on cards & goes over
sentence starters.
2. Students read and try to memorize points on the cards.
3. A and B pairs converse (friendly debate) the issue and
come to a conclusion. They can look at the cards, if
needed.
J.Zwiers, 159, Handout 11
Quantity & Quality of Classroom Talk: Findings
• 85% of class time was
devoted to lecture,
question and answer, and
seatwork. (Nystrand, 1997)
• Teachers encouraged elaborations, but only
16% of the paired interactions were
beneficial to learning. (Staarman, Krol & vander Meijden, 2005)
• English learners spent only 4% of the
school day engaged in school talk; and 2%
of the school day discussing focal content of
the lesson. (Arreaga-Mayer & Perdomo-Rivera, 1996).
Not enough
The following practices were not enough to develop
deep and enduring academic language, skills, and
content understandings.
IRF
- Exposure(listen-read), Interrogation, Regurgitation
- Sentence starters and frames
- Think-pair-shares
- Group & whole class discussions in which a
few students & the teacher dominate the talk
- Isolated & disconnected facts & vocabulary
- Quantity rather than quality
- Limited assessments (written, MC, )
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Bulking up Classroom Conversations
David:
Liliana:
David:
Liliana:
Lisa:
Edgar:
Lisa:
Edgar:
Lisa:
Why did that happen?
Gravity, I think.
Yeah, gravity pulled it down.
So, now what?
I think there are different ways to solve it.
So? Just do what the book example did.
But why do you turn the fraction over?
Who cares? Just turn it over.
3a
9ab
OK.
3c - 6 ÷ c - 4
2
Academic Conversations
Students should stay focused on a topic and
negotiate meaning like emerging subject
matter “experts” by using the following skills:





Elaborate, clarify, and question
Support ideas with examples
Build on &/or challenge partner ideas
Paraphrase ideas
Synthesize conversation points
(Goldenberg,
Not natural;
1992;
EachZwiers,
a double
2009)
skill
J.Zwiers, 139
Advantages of Academic Conversation
Language and Literacy Advantages
Content Learning Advantages
- Builds academic language
- Builds vocabulary
- Builds literacy skills and comprehension
- Builds oral language and
communication skills
- Builds content understandings
- Cultivates connections
- Helps students to co-construct
understandings
- Conversation helps teachers and
students assess learning
Thinking Skills Advantages
- Builds thinking skills
- Promotes different perspectives & empathy
- Fosters creativity
- Fosters skills for negotiating meaning and
focusing
Social Advantages
- Builds relationships
- Builds academic ambience
- Makes lessons more culturally relevant
- Fosters equity
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Psychological Advantages
- Develops inner dialog and self-talk
- Builds engagement and motivation
- Builds confidence & academic
identity
- Fosters self-discovery
- Builds student voice &
empowerment
Developing Academic Conversation Skills
• Skills with symbols
x
Topic
• Hand motions for prompts
How do these skills support writing and content understandings?
Activities for developing AC skills
- Equip students with teacher-like skills
- Focus on one skill
- Move from less to more challenging
ELABORATING & CLARIFYING:
Opinion Continuum
Corn for fuel
Corn for food
Karim
X
Alex
X
Use table to solve
Sara
X
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Lara
X
Use graph to solve
Lea
X
Theo
X
Activities for developing AC skills
SUPPORTING WITH EXAMPLES:
Evidence Columns
Thesis, theme, argument:
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Activities for developing AC skills
PARAPHRASE:
Interview Grids & Webs
What is your favorite
holiday and why?
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Etienne
Halloween
because…
Designing Conversation Prompts & Tasks
Example
Language
Use an
essential
How does great literature
One way to explain,
impact, factors, led
influence history—and vice
question
to, as a result of
versa?
Use a
thinking skill
Compare the two characters
Argue for or against …
Evaluate solutions of…
Use a product
or task
Design an experiment to
measure the speed of
sound.
Hypothesize that…
Control variables
Extrapolate from the
data, correlate
Discuss the value of school
sports programs.
How are you biased?
Apply, perspective, real
world, connects to,
challenge
Use life
experiences
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A major difference,
outweigh, long run,
criteria, perspective
Practice Academic Conversations
Choose your topic/text (handout). Have a conversation with a partner.
Use the symbols on the handout and use the sentence frames.
Language Arts
History
(poem)
(myths)
Math
Science
(interest)
(resistance)
Persuasive Seesaw Conversation (& pre-writing)
Reasons &
Evidence
My responses to
opposing points
Reasons &
Evidence
Opposing
position
My position
2D-seesaw
3D-seesaw
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Persuasive writing sample with colors
J.Zwiers, 212
Persuasive Language Posters
J.Zwiers, 212
Persuasive Writing Check-bric
J.Zwiers, 210; handout p. 8
Paired Planning Practice
1.
Work with a partner to clarify language
objectives for an upcoming lesson
2.
Design (or modify) the summative
assessment & rubrics for academic language
and thinking, as well as formative
assessments.
3.
Weave oral language and academic
conversation activities into lesson to support
and assess learning.
Conclusion
Language empowers students to use, change,
challenge, and explore ideas—not just
regurgitate them or select them from a list. In
developing their academic language, we can
help reduce the “Gap of Potential,” which is the
gap between who a student is now and who
that student can, wants, and should become in
the future to create a better world.
Thank you!
Contact: jzwiers@stanford.edu
jeffzwiers.com
J.Zwiers