Building Academic Language for ELLs
Across the Grades through Discussion
and Dilemma-Centered Curriculum:
Word Generation
Claire E. White
QUEENS COLLEGE
CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
November 14, 2013
Purpose of this presentation

Recap: ELLS and academic achievement

The role of oral language proficiency and its relation to reading
comprehension

The crucial role of structured classroom discussion in promoting academic
language

Word Generation: a discussion and dilemma-based curriculum for
developing academic language in grades 4-8

Activity: Classroom discussion: how do we develop the kind of language
we associate with academic achievement and comprehension of text?

Videos and WG Unit review

Debrief
Differences start early
Good news: Data show that at grade 3 –Almost all kids
(99%) of every ethnic/racial group have basic word
reading skills (ECLS-K)
 Bad news: By Grade 3, there are racial/ethnic gaps in
comprehension and literal inference items

What happens?

These differences in achievement occur because there is
an increase in the cognitive and linguistic demands of
grade level texts rather than a decrease in student skill
 Early reading instruction focuses mostly on word
reading even though there are greater demands for
academic vocabulary knowledge in the later grades
which is often not being developed
 Most literacy programs in the early grades do not
focus on language development or classroom
discussion
TABLES/FIGURES
Figure 1: Achievement Gap on the 2007 NAEP Grade 4 and Grade 8 Reading
by Family Income and English Language Learner Status
1.40
Middle-income children vs. low-income children
1.24
English proficient children vs. English language learners
1.20
0.99
Effect Size (Standard Deviation Units)
1.00
0.81
0.80
0.73
0.60
0.40
0.20
0.00
Grade 4
Grade 8
Remembering the “Marlup”
Poor reading comprehension outcomes
Poor comprehension outcomes later on in school are not
necessarily a product of poor word reading skills but a lack of
vocabulary and academic language
 By using decoding and other skills, students can fluently “read”
largely incomprehensible texts and answer “comprehension”
questions
 They lack academic language and vocabulary to comprehend
text, to talk about text, to write about what they’ve read
 Instruction should focus on engaging students in meaningful
interactions with text to gauge for actual comprehension; avoid
IRE format unless for quick check
What happens to texts as students get older and why do
students struggle with comprehension?

By the fourth grade, texts begin to get more abstract, more literary, more
technical, more decontexualized

Greater language demands of secondary texts, particularly vocabulary that
occurs across content area texts in the middle and high school

Unfamiliarity with specific academic vocabulary—the words necessary to
learn and talk and write about academic subjects- words like: analyze, investigate,
distribute, generate, develop, interpret

Instead we tend to focus on the unusual: sarcophagus, defenestrate, gloam or on
discipline-specific vocabulary/concepts: words like: antebellum, photosynthesis,
slope, isotopes

L2 learners navigate all of the above with the added burden of acquiring
English and mastering grade-level content simultaneously
What are some challenges for ELLS and
struggling readers?
Lack of oral proficiency, especially CALP -specific academic
vocabulary—the words necessary to learn and talk about
academic subjects (analyze, refer, claim, develop, interpret, generate,
investigate)
 Lack of depth and breadth of word knowledge (substitute,
gross domestic product)
 Understanding the polysemous nature of some words (eg.
screen, draft)
 Unfamiliarity with idiomatic expressions, especially phrasal
verbs (back up, back down, back in- break up, break down, break in)
 Syntactic structures: The thicker the glacier, the faster it moves
 Greatest obstacle of all: classrooms/instruction that don’t offer
opportunities for discussion, speaking, listening, and interacting
with peers.
What do we know about effective language and
vocabulary instruction?
Students need multiple, intentional exposures to
language/words for internalization
 Students need to hear and use high leverage words in
varied contexts
 Students need opportunities to use the words in
speaking and writing (organized discussion)
 Students need targeted direct teaching of ‘mortar’ words
 Students need to acquire word learning strategies that
have long term effects

Discussion predicts achievement
Classroom discussion is rare and brief
(Applebee, Langer, Nystrand & Gamoran, 2003)
Minutes of
discussion/lesson
Low
track
classes
Middle
track
classes
High
track
classes
Mixed
classes
0.70
1.44
3.30
1.42
And it has always has been (Gamoran & Nystrand, 1991)
Classroom Discussion
Teacher skill
in promoting
discussion
and debate
Discussion
and debate
•
•
•
•
•
•
Perspective taking
Complex reasoning
Academic language skills
Deep reading comprehension
Analytic writing
Productive participation in
discussion and debate
What do skilled teachers do to engage students in
discussion for comprehension of text?
Extend discussion of vocabulary crucial to
understanding the text
 Don’t settle for a one word answer
 Redirect students to the text for evidence
 Ask why and how questions
 Continue to follow up
 Get more from several students
 Value students’ contributions
 Don’t evaluate

What do less skilled teachers do?
List vocabulary
 Teach the wrong words
 Test students on word knowledge
 Ask students which words they don’t know
 No discussion
 Use IRE; do not ask questions with uptake
 brief, inaccurate and unhelpful examples for word
definitions

Teacher talk in higher and lower
performing classrooms: examples

2 brief examples of teacher talk about text with ELL
students in a second grade classroom and a fifth grade
classroom
Higher performing classroom talk with ELLs about
vocabulary for text comprehension- 2nd grade
Teacher: What does rambunctious mean? Lucas was rambunctious.
(book discussed; J. Hurwitz’s Class Clown)
Students: Bad?
Teacher: what did Lucas do that was bad?
Student: He fooled around.
Student: He stuck his head in a chair.
Student: He called out. He pretended to smoke.
Teacher: So rambunctious means what?
Student: Acting up?
Student: Fooling around?
What did this teacher do?
This more skilled teacher:
Extended discussion of vocabulary
 Didn’t settle for a one word answer
 Redirected students to the text for evidence
 Asked open-ended questions
 Continues to follow up
 Gets more from several students

Lower performing classroom talk with ELLs about
vocabulary for text comprehension: 5th grade
Teacher: Okay, bocadillo, verguenza, nervios, torpe, Peru, calvo,
condescendencia, magnanimo, colocar. (snack, shame, nerves,
clumsy, Peru, bald, condescendence, magnanimous, place).
Teacher: What words don’t you know?
Students: Magnanimo. condescendencia
Teacher: Okay. We’ll look in the book using context.
Teacher: What does the word man mean? Man equals people. A
portion? A portion is a small portion (uses a gesture to show size).
What did this less skilled teacher do?
What did this less skilled teacher do?
Listed vocabulary
 Words were extremely high level
 Asked students which words they didn’t know
 No discussion of words, no examples
 “Use context” -A strategy gone bad
 No opportunities for clarification
 No discussion
 No questions with uptake
 Brief, inaccurate and unhelpful examples for “portion”
and “man”

How do we build oral language proficiency/academic
language in English for our ELL students?
 Through
curriculum and instructional
practices that engage students in text-based
classroom discussions that provides them
with opportunities for developing language
skills that gives them greater access to texts,
to ideas, to higher- level thinking, to
participation in important conversations
Word Generation

A program designed to:



Build the vocabulary of middle school students through
repeated exposure to high frequency academic words in
various contexts across all content areas;
Promote regular use of effective instructional strategies,
especially the importance of discussion across all content
areas teachers;
Facilitate faculty collaboration on a school-wide effort (whole
school adoption is highly recommended).
Word Generation: Materials





3 series (3 years of materials).
24 week-long units each focused on a set of 5 target words selected from
the Academic Word List (AWL)
Cross content activities: 15 minutes a day/5 days a week)
Texts written at 6th grade level
Passages written to engage adolescents in high-level discussions
on nationally-relevant topics as well as on topics that are of great
interest to this age group
•Should there be federal funding for stem cell
research?
•Should athletes be paid multi-million dollar
salaries?
•Should amnesty be given to undocumented
immigrants?
•Affirmative action and college admissions
•Should you be able to rent a pet?
•Should there be curfews for teenagers?
•Junk food: Should it be sold in schools?
Word Generation: Weekly Schedule
Monday
Launch
passage
introduces
words
Tuesday-Thursday
Math-Science-Social Studies
Friday
Writing with
focus words
ELA: Launch
Introduction to weekly passage, containing
academic vocabulary, built around a question
that can support discussion and debate,
(comprehension questions, student friendly
definitions included)
Word Chart
Math
a)
b)
c)
Students can work in pairs
Whole class discussion
Open-response
(show/explain how you got
your answer)
MCAS-type mathematics
problems using some of the
target words
Science
Page 1
Thinking experiments to promote discussion
and scientific reasoning
Page 2
Debate/
Discussion
Developing positions on the issue
set out in the passage, to help
the class frame the debate
Writing/Taking a Stand
Give evidence to
support your
position.
WG-Enhanced- Grades 4-8
*Develop new curriculum for grades 4 and 5 w/discussion,
debate as primary driver, cross content exposure to AWL
words through engaging and age-appropriate dilemmas
*Modify existing Word Generation middle school program for
6th, 7th, 8th grade grades through enhanced science and social
studies units
 Structured discussion is the driver
 Tied to content and common-core standards
 Incorporates perspective-taking, complex reasoning,
academic language
 Thematically linked
 Multiple representations of language groups, minority,
immigrant and refugee groups, universal topics of belonging,
exclusion, being uprooted, identity, etc. Examples of success
and resilience
Video Newscasts: Introduce Topics and Dilemmas for
Background Knowledge and Academic Language Development
What should teacher talk and classroom
discussion look and sound like?

Activity: Unit 6: Should doctors be allowed to assist
critically ill patients with suicide?
Accountable talk

Successful teachers use “accountable talk and
accountable talk moves” which encourages
academically productive talk and accountability among
learners (O’Connor & Michaels, 1997)
Some Multipurpose Talk Moves

Say more about that.

Do you agree/disagree and why?

Who can repeat what Gloria just said?

Why do you think that?

Do you have an example/counterexample?

So, are you saying…?

Can you elaborate on what you just said?

Teachers: Include target vocabulary in meaningful
ways

Unit 6: Should doctors be allowed to assist
critically ill patients with suicide?
Target words:
 prevention
 critical
 pursue
 alter
 approach
What approach did Mayor Bloomberg take to prevent obesity and
diabetes in his constituents? Do you agree with his approach to
alter the sugar intake of his constituents? Was he successful in
preventing other health hazards?
Why were some New Yorkers critical of Mayor Bloomberg’s
approach to limiting junk food? What are some other critical
areas that the mayor could have focused on?
Should we able to pursue something that is known to be bad or
detrimental to us? Why or why not? Is there a role in
government that should assist in the altering of our behavior?
Do you agree that New Yorkers should have the right to decide to
end their own lives if they find themselves critically ill?? What is
an alternative approach that might be offered to a critically ill
patient?
Video: 8th graders discuss Unit 6

Ms. Berges
Video: 4th grade newscast

Introductory unit for Word Generation
Debrief and Q and A
To conclude..

Engaging in WG discussion-based weekly activities in the
elementary grades and across the content areas can improve
word learning for L2 learners on target word measures and their
use in persuasive essays

Embedding debate and discussion-based classroom activities as
well as systematic vocabulary instruction school-wide has the
greatest potential to accelerate the reading achievement of
struggling readers and especially English language learners

Thank you: [email protected]