Cognitive Academic
Language Learning
Approach
Cognitive Academic Language
Learning Approach (CALLA).
The Cognitive Academic Language
Learning Approach (CALLA) is an
instructional model that was developed
to meet the academic needs of students
learning English as a second language in
American schools. Based largely on
findings of studies on cognition, the
model integrates academic language
development, content area instruction
and explicit instruction in learning
strategies for both content and language
acquisition.
Cognitive Academic Language
Learning Approach (CALLA).
• Model for an instructional program
for ELL students at intermediate
level.
• Designed to assist ELL students by
providing English instruction through
the mainstream curriculum.
CALLA is design to:
• Meet the academic language
development needs in English.
• Provide a program of contentbased instruction. Bridge between
ESL or bilingual education and
mainstream education.
• Develop a curricular and
instructional approach for ELL
students based on a cognitive
model of learning.
CALLA Activities to develop
Academic Language
• Develop academic and
technical vocabulary.
• Practice in listening.
• Oral language development
through hands-on activities.
• Practice academic speaking
skills.
CALLA Activities to develop
Academic Language (cont.)
• Develop reading comprehension
skills.
• Practice writing.
• Practice language functions.
• Develop thinking.
Learning Strategies
• Metacognitive: thinking about the
learning process, planning,
monitoring, and evaluating.
• Cognitive: interacting with the
material to be learned,
manipulating or applying.
• Social and affective: interacting
with other person to assist learning.
Metacognitive Strategies
• Advance Organization.
• Selective Attention.
• Organizational Planning.
• Self-monitoring.
• Self-evaluation.
• Self-management.
Cognitive Strategies
• Resourcing.
• Grouping.
• Note-taking.
• Summarizing.
• Deduction
• Imagery
• Auditory
Representation.
• Elaboration
• Transfer
• Inferencing
Social and Affective
Strategies
• Questioning for clarification.
• Cooperation.
• Self-task.
How to Teach Content?
Activities
Content should be taught as experiences
rather than merely as facts. Instead of
being drilled on content vocabulary and
facts, students should be provided with
opportunities to understand new
information and practice new skills within
meaningful contexts, and then to apply
the information and skills to their own
experiences. Cooperative learning and
other types of hands-on group activities
are particularly effective in providing
experiential learning opportunities.
Prior Knowledge
The link between what students already
know and what they are to learn should
be made explicit so that students
understand that they are building on
knowledge frameworks acquired through
prior schooling and life experiences, even
if these were acquired through another
language and a different cultural context.
Teachers can help students activate their
prior knowledge through brainstorming
discussions about the lesson topic,
semantic mapping or other graphic
organizers, or a cooperative activity in
which they have to draw on their prior
knowledge.
Technical Vocabulary
Technical vocabulary is important
because in many cases a word
represents an important concept or
relationship. When presenting and
explaining new information teachers
should use appropriate technical
vocabulary, providing paraphrases,
definitions, and examples to clarify
meaning
Learning styles
Students learn in different ways. Some
students learn best by seeing the information
visually, whether as a written text, pictures, or
diagrams. Other students learn best by
listening to the teacher or to other students.
Many students learn best through concrete
experiences, such as manipulating objects or
equipment, building models, or representing
information through art drama. The teacher
should make use of visual, auditor, and
kinesthetic means of presenting new content
and whenever possible, these different types
of input should be combined so that students
have multisensory experiences with the new
content
Overviews
Overviews provide students with a general
understanding of major points that they will
be studying and how these points are
interrelated. However, do not present large
chunks of information at a time. Intersperse
practice activities with the presentation of
information so that students have an
opportunity to use and think about the new
information. For example: students can work
in groups to answer questions} write
summaries, or make diagrams about the
new information after each presentation of
new content. This allows them to select and
organize major concepts to be remembered
Questioning
Model higher-order thinking skills. Teachers
can show students how to ask and answer
higher-level questions about the content
being studied. Higher-level questions ask
students to speculate, predict, synthesize,
and make judgments about the content
material they are learning, rather than
merely recall facts. These types of questions
require students to use their prior knowledge
and understanding of what is being studied
in the unit to express their thoughts and
insights about important issues and problems.
Teachers not only ask higher-level questions,
but also model higher-order thinking, thus
making their own thinking visible.
Teacher Monitoring
Constantly monitor students'
comprehension of the content. The
teacher can monitor
comprehension with oral and written
questions, exercises, checklists,
observation scales, and
performance measures.
Student Monitoring
Teach students to monitor their own
comprehension. When students monitor
their comprehension, they know when
they are not understanding and can ask
questions to resolve their comprehension
difficulties. In monitoring their own
learning, students should compare new
information with their prior knowledge
and correct any misconceptions they
may have had at the beginning of the
lesson or unit. Students should set learning
goals and monitor whether or not their
efforts at learning are successful.
Student Monitoring
Various techniques can be used to help
students restructure their knowledge in
this way. An example of a knowledgerestructuring technique is K-W-L. In this
technique, students first list what they
already know and what they want to find
out about a topic. After completing their
study of the topic, students document
what they have learned, which provides
them with an opportunity to compare
their new knowledge with their prior
understanding.
Graphic Organizers
Graphic organizers, or schematic
representations of information, can help
students understand and remember
content information. Types of graphic
organizers are semantic webs, spider maps,
Venn diagrams, timelines, T-Lists, flow
charts, story maps, and charts of various
kinds. Graphic organizers can be used by
students to record their prior knowledge
about a topic and later add to or revise
that knowledge as they encounter new
information.
Graphic Organizers
When students are listening or reading for
information, they can write down the main
ideas on a graphic organizer. When
completed, the graphic organizer
becomes an integrated summary of the
content presented in the lesson or unit,
and can then be used as a study guide.
Graphic organizers can also be used by
students to reflect on and evaluate what
they have learned. Similarly, graphic
organizers can be used to organize ideas
and information that are to be written
about or presented orally.
Resources
Give students access to a variety of
content resources in your classroom.
Gradelevel textbooks, library books,
articles, pictures, software, and realia can
be used as reference tools by students as
they work on projects and reports.
Students should be shown how to locate
specific information in such resource
materials even if their ability to
comprehend the entire text is limited.
Using resource materials helps students
develop and extend their knowledge.