Many content teachers have made a significant investment in preparing to teach a specific subject area such as science, math, social studies, music, and so forth. It’s natural that their focus is on teaching the content topics in their area of expertise. Elementary teachers also teach a variety of subjects and tend to focus on the topic at hand whether it is teaching a science lesson or poetry. Few would disagree that language permeates all topics and subject areas.
In this time of remote learning, teachers are experiencing the reality that many students, English learners and English-speaking students alike, are challenged by the rigorous content and skills associated with high academic standards. Meeting standards is challenging when teaching face-to-face but is even more so in a remote environment.
It’s important to keep in mind that English learners are learning the same content as other students, but they are reading, writing, listening and speaking a language in which they are not yet completely proficient. What a difficult job they have!
At the same time, these students are developing a level of English language that English-speaking students and teachers typically take for granted, such as stating an opinion, asking for permission, clarifying a statement, and reading written instructions. Also, they’re learning lots of high level of academic vocabulary.
It’s easy to see that English learners might disengage from remote lessons when the lesson’s content and instruction are well beyond their level of English proficiency.
In planning and teaching lessons, attention to the linguistic needs of English learners is critical for them to be able to participate fully in lessons and learn academic content. Effective teachers, those whose English learner students thrive, intentionally teach language and content simultaneously.
In reality, all teachers are language teachers. Teachers with English learners in their classes need to think about ways to integrate language into content lessons. Every content area — math, science, language, arts, history — requires students to use language in a particular way. For example, texts in social studies tend to use more expository writing which differs from a narrative story in English language arts that uses metaphor.
The academic language used in school is particularly challenging for English learners because it differs from the everyday language students “pick up” in day-to-day life. 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.
Integrating language into content lessons begins with lesson planning. In designing lessons, focus on the purpose of the lesson and its associated language by writing both content objectives (What students will learn, based on standards) and language objectives (The language students need to be successful in the lesson). Ask yourself:
- 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?
The answers to these questions become your language objectives. Then think about meeting those objectives and ask:
- When in the lesson will I explicitly teach the language needed?
- What activities will I plan that provide opportunities for students to use language and meet the objectives?
- What scaffolds will I use to make the lesson more comprehensible, e.g., visuals or a partially completed outline?
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’s evident that Angelica learned that both content and language are important. In fact, her objectives are actually quite good! She even listed the materials needed: popcorn, microwave and bowl.
Routinely 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.
Since language is an integral part of learning content, English learners benefit when teachers think through the language demands of lessons and teach students what they need in order to learn the lesson’s content information and skills. Indeed, all teachers are language teachers.
Based on: Echevarria, J., Vogt, M.E, Short, D. & Toppel, K. (2024). Making content comprehensible for Multilingual learners: The SIOP Model, Sixth Edition. Boston: Pearson.
Short, D. & Echevarria, J. (2016). Developing Academic Language Using the SIOP Model. Boston: Pearson.
(A version of this post was published on February 22, 2016)