Glossary of Terms & Phrases
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Academic Language: “Academic language is different from everyday speech and conversation. It is
the language of texts, of academic discussion, and of formal writing. Academic language proficiency
requires students to use linguistic skill to interpret and infer meaning from oral and written language,
discern precise meaning and information from text, relate ideas and information, recognize conventions
of various genres, and use a variety of strategies for distinct purposes.” –Susana Dutro
Authentic Practice: Authentic practice allows students to use language purposefully and apply their
new skills in meaningful and relevant ways.
Bias: Bias is an inclination or preference either for or against an individual or group that interferes.
Developmentally Appropriate: The curriculum is aligned with the student’s reasoning,
communication, interpretation skills, and ability to focus and interact.
Differentiation of Language: The instructional materials differentiate for language levels.
Discrimination: Discrimination is behavior that treats people unequally because of their group
memberships. Discriminatory behavior, ranging from slights to hate crimes, often begins with negative
stereotypes and prejudices.
English Language Proficiency: The language proficiency levels outline the progression of language
development in the acquisition of English as an additional language. The language proficiency levels
delineate expected performance and describe what ELLs can do within each language domain of the
standards for designated grade level clusters.
o 1 Entering
See attached WIDA Performance Definitions for examples of
o 2 Emerging
language expectancies in speaking, listening, reading and
o 3 Developing
writing.
o 4 Expanding
Genres: Genres are socially-defined ways in which language (e.g., oral and written) is used to
participate in particular contexts to serve specific purposes.
Graphic Supports: Graphic supports are a type of scaffold to help students demonstrate their
understanding of ideas and concepts without having to depend on or produce complex and sustained
discourse. Examples include: charts, graphic organizers, tables, graphs, timelines, and number lines.
Interactive Supports: Interactive supports are a type of scaffold to help students communicate and
facilitate their access to content, such as by working in pairs or groups to confirm prior knowledge,
using their native language to clarify, using cooperative group structures, or incorporating technology
into classroom activities.
Language Control: Language control reflects the extent to which a communication is comprehensible.
Comprehensibility is measured by the number and types of errors committed in oral or written discourse
that affect the meaning or intent of the message. These errors involve lapses in fluency, grammatical
usage, phonology (the sounds used by a particular language), and semantic choice (the selection of
words to convey meaning). See attached WIDA Performance Definitions for examples of language
control for each language proficiency level.
Language Domains: The four main subdivisions of language include listening, speaking, reading, and
writing.
o Listening: process, understand, interpret, and evaluate spoken language in a variety of situations
o Speaking: engage in oral communication in a variety of situations for a variety of audiences
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o Reading: process, understand, interpret, and evaluate written language, symbols and text with
understanding and fluency
o Writing: engage in written communication in a variety of situations for a variety of audiences
Language Functions: “Functions are the tasks or purposes and uses of language. We use language to
accomplish something for both social and academic purposes.
o “Social purposes include expressing needs and wants, making jokes, exchanging greetings,
indicating agreement or disagreement, and participating in personal conversations.
o “Academic purposes include navigating written text, asking and answering informational
questions, asking and answering clarifying questions, relating information, comparing,
contrasting, explaining cause and effect, justifying, drawing conclusions, summarizing,
evaluating, persuading, and conducting research.” – Susana Dutro
Language Forms: Forms include both grammatical features as well as vocabulary.
o Grammatical features can include parts of speech, verb tenses, subject/verb agreement, use of
pronouns, conjunctions, and sentence structure or syntax (i.e. complex and compound sentences,
embedded/tag questions, and word order).
o Vocabulary includes:
 Instruction in words with a multitude of meanings (i.e. play: play a trick, play a game,
play the piano, a double play, an award-winning play)
 Vocabulary specific to the content and concepts being taught
 Basic and general utility vocabulary required for constructing sentences. Examples of
general utility vocabulary include:
 Connecting words required to construct complex sentences such as: because, then,
but, sometimes, before, therefore, however, whereas
 Prepositions and prepositional phrases such as: on, in , under, behind, next to, in
front of, between, in the background
 Basic regular and irregular verbs such as leave, live, eat, use, saw, went
 Pronouns such as: she, his, their, it, us, each other, themselves
 General academic vocabulary such as: notice, think, analyze, direct, plan,
compare, proof, survive, characteristics
Linguistically Appropriate: The linguistic complexity is one level more complex than currently
producible. See attached WIDA Performance Definitions for examples of linguistic complexity for each
language proficiency level.
Linguistic Complexity: Linguistic complexity refers to the amount of discourse (oral or written), the
types and variety of grammatical structures, the organization and cohesion of ideas and, at the higher
levels of language proficiency, the use of test structures in specific genres. See attached WIDA
Performance Definitions for examples of linguistic complexity for each language proficiency level.
Prejudice: Prejudice is an unfavorable opinion or feeling formed beforehand or without knowledge,
thought, or reason.
Progression of Language Development: Language development moves along a continuum of
difficulty.
easy
 Present progressive-statements (is walking, is not walking)
 Past progressive tense (was walking, was not walking)
 Future tense (going to walk)
 Present perfect tense (have/ has + past participle: She has been walking a mile
each day for the past year.)
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difficult
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Phrasal verbs (Walk down the street. Walk up the path.)
Past perfect tense (had + past participle: We hadn’t been walking long. . .)
Conditional form: (If we walk to the store, we will not be able to carry many
bags.)
Future and conditional perfect tenses (has been walking, will have been
walking, If she had walked, she would have gotten some exercise.)
Passive voice (It was written by, This picture was taken by my grandfather.)
Scaffolding Supports: Instructional strategies or tools used to assist students in accessing content
necessary for classroom understanding or communication; may include teachers employing techniques
(such as modeling, feedback or questioning), or students using visuals or graphics, interacting with
others, or using their senses to help construct meaning of oral or written language
Scope and Sequence: Scope refers to what is being taught. In this case it would be the forms and
functions of language. The sequence provides a pacing for introducing this curriculum in a constructive
way.
Sensory Supports: Sensory supports are a type of scaffold that facilitates students’ deeper
understanding of language or access to meaning through the senses (seeing, hearing, touching, smelling,
or tasting). Some examples include: realia, manipulatives, pictures and photographs, illustrations,
diagrams, drawings, magazines, newspapers, physical activities, videos and films, broadcasts, models
and figures.
Stereotyping: A stereotype is an exaggerated belief, image or distorted truth about a person or group –
a generalization that allows for little or no individual differences or social variation. Stereotypes are
based on images in mass media, or reputations passed on by parents, peers and other members of
society. Stereotypes can be positive or negative.
Social and Instructional Language:
o This is the language ELs need to communicate for SOCIAL AND INSTRUCTIONAL purposes
within the school setting. For example:
 Tell me about today’s weather.
 What did you do over the weekend?
 Pass your homework forward.
 It’s time to line up.
 What did you eat for lunch?
 Put your books on the table.
 The dictionary is on the shelf under the window.
o Social Language: The everyday registers used in interactions in the school
o Instructional Language: The language that typifies classroom discourse from teacher to
teacher across content areas, such as, “Open your books to page ____.”
Visual Supports: Visual supports are a component of sensory supports. It deals with supports that
promote understanding through seeing.
Vocabulary Usage: As students progress from Entering to Bridging levels of proficiency, we witness
change in vocabulary use from general language to specific language to specialized or technical
language that is required in processing or responding to a task.
Sample Grade
General
Specific
Technical
Standard
Level Cluster
Language
Language
Language
The language of
1-2
in all
total
sum
Mathematics
The language of
Language Arts
The language of
Science
The language of
Social Studies
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3-5
person
character
protagonist
6-8
knee
kneecap
patella
9-12
people
population
demographics
WIDA English Language Proficiency Standards: The ELP standards include criteria that express the
language expectations of ELLs at the end of their English language acquisition journey across the
language domains. Overall, the ELP standards center on the academic language needed and used by
ELLs to succeed in school.
WIDA’s levels of English language proficiency
Entering (1)
Reaching (6)
The second language acquisition process involves the gradual scaffolding from:
Concrete ideas and concepts
Explicit meaning
Abstract ideas and concepts
Implicit meaning
Familiar situations
Informal registers
General vocabulary
Single words and phrases
Non-conventional forms
Unfamiliar situation
Formal Registers
Technical vocabulary
Extended discourse
Conventional forms
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