10 Ways to Get Students Using Academic Language During Distance Learning & Beyond

This article originally posted on Middle Web on 1/6/2019. This is an updated version that includes how to promote academic language during distance learning. 

“My kids seem to speak English well, but when it comes to academic tasks, they struggle.” We often wonder why English learners have a difficult time with standardized tests and essays in content areas but are able to communicate with peers and get along fairly well on a day to day basis. The reason behind it may be that academic language is different from everyday language. Academic language takes from 5-7 years to acquire while social or conversational language (often known as BICS, basic interpersonal communicative skills coined by Jim Cummins) only takes 2-3 years. 

What we know is that students need to make greater gains in academic language in order to become successful in school and post secondary. 

Academic language is the language of the content area of instruction. It is the textbook talk and vocabulary and syntax used in lectures and class presentation. It is not just single words and includes phrases and sentences as well. 

It is critical that English learners are offered many opportunities on a daily basis to practice using academic language. Why? We have to consider that some English learners go home to environments where they speak another language in the home. And that is awesome! Bilingualism has great benefits. However, to develop bilingualism, when they are in our classrooms or under our instruction, we have to build as many opportunities as possible for English language development using domain specific vocabulary. We have to put the language in their mouths. Other students (including native English speaking students) may go home to English speaking households, but the level of vocabulary or conversation may not be where we’d hope. This is yet another reason why our instruction (be it face to face or remote) needs to be filled with opportunities for students to use academic language. 

How can we get students to use academic language? Below you will find 10 ways to get students, especially English learners, practicing academic language in your classroom and beyond.

​These techniques work best with explicit modeling and explanation of the routines. And I caution you that the first time you try one, it might not go as planned. Don’t give up! Just like cooking something for the first time (at least for me), it may not turn out the way you hope, but with practice and repetition, it will improve!

1. Linguistic Frames: Linguistic frames (sentence frames) and sentence stems help English learners with the language structure. They give students the inertia to complete a sentence in English. Many times our students know what they want to say. They are cognitively capable of answering the question but struggle with putting the thought into an English language structure. Linguistic frames are scaffolds that hold the language in place. An example of a science sentence stem is, “Based on the experiment, I can conclude that…”
2. Conga Line: The Conga Line is a fun way to have students listen and speak with peers using academic language repeatedly. Students are divided into 2 lines facing one another. The teacher poses an open-ended question and students take turns sharing responses with the partner facing them. When the teacher turns on the music one of the lines moves down until the music stops. Everyone has a new partner and partners share once again. The repetition of sharing their responses as well as hearing from multiple partners supports English learners in developing vocabulary by listening and speaking. Some students benefit from sentence stems as an additional scaffold during the Conga Line.  
3. ​​Consensus: Coming to a consensus helps learners think, listen, and speak. Students begin by individually brainstorming on a topic or question. Then each person shares with their group. The group looks for trends and like ideas and writes them in the center. Studies show that it is not enough to allow students time to work or talk with peers. Opportunities that produce the greatest gains are those where students must work together to come to a consensus.
4. Interactive Word Wall: This is a word wall that is organized like a graphic organizer and by unit or theme. It includes visuals and real objects and is student centered. Adding linguistic frames and sentence stems boosts the instructional potential of this method. Students are encouraged to add words, graphics, and real objects to the interactive word wall in both English and in native languages.
5. Picture Word Inductive Model (PWIM): PWIM is one of my favorite instructional methods for supporting language and academic growth in students. This technique incorporates many language domains simultaneously. Calhoun (1998) presented this method as a way to build vocabulary. Students are given a picture related to the topic of study and are asked to list all the words they know about it. They discuss with a partner or group. Students dictate what they see in the picture as the teacher labels. The teacher adds critical vocabulary and multiple meaning words. Students use the labeled visual to generate verbal and written responses. Linguistic frames can be offered as a scaffold. 
6. List, Group, Label: Students are given a LIST of words or asked to brainstorm words together in groups on a given topic of study. Then they work together to arrange the words into categories or GROUPS. Finally, they collaborate to come up with a name or LABEL for each group. Through List, Group, Label, students negotiate for meaning, justify their choices and come to a consensus as a team.
7. QSSSA: QSSSA stands for Question, Signal, Stem, Share, and Assess. Seidlitz and Perryman (2011) offer this as a structured conversation strategy that promotes academic language, 100% participation, and embeds wait time. The teacher poses an open-ended question to the class. Students are asked to give a signal when they can answer the question. The teacher provides the class with a sentence stem to scaffold academic conversation. Students share their responses with a group or partner. The teacher holds students accountable by assessing a few responses and randomly calling on 3-5 students.
8. Inside Outside Circle: The class forms two circles facing one another. The teacher poses a question and pairs take turns sharing their responses. When the teacher signals, the outside circle moves to the left and new partners are formed. The conversations continue and this routine is repeated multiple times. Students benefit from hearing many responses and from repeating and building upon their own responses. Linguistic frames and word walls can be offered to scaffold students.
9. Barrier Games: Barrier games are fun, learning games. Students are paired up and sit across from one another with a “barrier” between them. The barrier could be a folder or a book sitting upright. Each partner holds vocabulary words, visuals, or information in front of them and must explain to the other partner using only verbal language what they have. Partners must guess or must put tasks in order according to their partner's directions.
10. Jigsaw: In the early 1970s, Elliot Aronson invented and developed the jigsaw strategy with his college students. Students are grouped in fours and each assigned a different section to read or task to complete. After reading their assigned section, they meet with others who read the same section to discuss. This is their expert group. The expert group talks about what they read, what was important, and what they will share with their peers that did not read this section. Everyone returns to their original groups of four and each member takes a turn sharing and teaching about their section. ​

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Consensus

QSSSA

Distance Learning
The methods above are easy to implement in a typical classroom. However instituting them into remote teaching and learning involves a bit of creativity. First we have to consider that remote learning looks different from district to district and from virtual classroom to virtual classroom. As I write this in March of 2020, educators across the globe are converting their classrooms and instruction to distance learning because of the Coronavirus Pandemic. Students and teachers are unable to safely hold the same learning space. Therefore, educators are creating learning experiences that require technology and those that do not depending on their district’s, families’, and students’ needs. The instructional techniques below can be implemented using technology such as video platforms, Google Classroom, or LMS (learning management systems). Without technology, the techniques can be adapted into paper-based activities. Think about each through the lens you are working with. 

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@ValentinaESL | Valentina Gonzalez

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Academic language can be challenging for students and for us as educators throw in remote learning and we are truly challenged. Taking a student centered approach where kids are doing the work means a mind shift for many of us. When we create spaces where students negotiate for meaning and they build their knowledge with our support and facilitation greater gains will occur!