Even though English learners are a large and growing part of the U.S. public school population, there are a number of myths and misconceptions about these students that seem to persist. This blog series will attempt to dispel some of those myths and misconceptions. By the way, the myths are discussed in no particular order.
The first myth is:
- Content teachers aren’t language teachers.
With high academic standards, most students are challenged by the rigorous content and skills associated with the standards. English leaners are learning the same content as other students but they are reading, writing, listening and speaking in a language in which, by definition, are not completely proficient. What a difficult job they have! Further, at the same time that they are developing a level of English language that most students and teachers take for granted, e.g., how to restate an opinion, ask for permission, clarify a statement and read instructions, they also have to learn a high level of academic language.
Academic language, as you’ve undoubtedly heard, differs from everyday language because it is more grammatically dense and formal than the kind of language found in conversations at home and with peers. It includes more sophisticated and technical vocabulary, complex sentence structures, and rhetorical forms that are used almost exclusively in academic settings. It’s unlikely that English learners are exposed to this type of language outside of school.
In reality, all teachers are language teachers. Every content lesson – math, science, language, arts, history – required students to use language in a particular way. Teachers with English learners in their classrooms must think about how to integrate language into content lessons.
For every lesson, teachers should post and review both content objectives (What students will learn, based on standards) and language objectives (The language students need to be successful in this lesson). During lesson planning effective teachers ask:
- What vocabulary do students need in order to understand the content?
- What kinds of language functions do I need to teach, e.g., compare and contrast, use of superlatives, or making predictions?
When teachers post and review objectives with students, students internalize the idea that both content and language are the focus of learning. By way of demonstrating the power of making students aware of the lesson’s objectives, let’s look at what happened in a second grade class. The class had been reading “How To” books and the assignment was: Think of something you can do. Write a “How To” book of your own. One English learner surprised her teacher with the following beginning to her book:
It is evident that Angelica learned that both content and language are important. In fact, her objectives are quite good! She even listed the materials needed: popcorn, microwave and bowl.
Habitually posting and reviewing content and language objectives helps teachers think about the language demands of the content lesson they are planning. And, it lets students in on what they are learning and why. Potent stuff.
So, since language is an integral part of learning content, all teachers need to think through both the language and skill demands of every lesson. Indeed, content teachers are language teachers.