Chapter 11 focuses on how we use language and the different levels to develop and benefit the ELL speech patterns. Students should be talking more, and guide their own discourse to include their judgement. CALP, or Cognitive Academic Lanugage Proficiency is the strategy that promotes the use of academic vocabulary in L2 students. "CALP constitutes academic language, which is a highly complex set of language functions required for access to, and success in, the core curriculum" (LDR, 309). Essentially this is the language that is needed to perform basic school tasks. The students must rely on their previous background knowledge, the content of the text, and any comprehension strategies they have learned, to access the content. CALP is primarily only used in schools as it builds off of BICS. It is the teacher's responsibility to provide L2 students the opportunities to acces the CALP words and learn how to use them themselves. Some strategies teachers can use to build CALP are: vocabulary repetition, glossary journals, paraphrasing, comprehension, poetry, and choral reading. There are 5 C words that build the CALP strategy; communication, conceptualization, critical thinking, context, culture. Building upon each area will increase the students vocabulary and comprehension of the L2 and the content areas. I was able to attend a training recently that was dedicated to academic vocabulary. The primary focus of the training was to address words found in the content areas and that are applied in the benchmark assessments, as well as the California Standards Test. This way when the students start taking these assessments, the use to particular words will not confuse them. Instead the students will already have a proficient understanding of the words and know what they are asking or meaning. It makes sense, howeve it is a little harder to address these needs in a special education classroom being that every student is at a different level or academic acheivement, maturity, language development, etc.
I have copied and pasted a handout that was given out at the training I attended. The words in BOLD print are the academic vocabulary. This is also a great comprehension strategy.
Teaching the Selected Terms
(Marzano, and Pickering 14-30)
6 Step Process:
Step 1: Provide a description, explanation, or example of the new term.
Step 2: Ask students to restate the description, explanation, or example in their own words.
Step 3: Ask students to construct a picture, symbol, or graphic representation of the term.
Step 4: Engage students in activities that help them add to their knowledge of the terms.
Step 5: Periodically ask students to discuss the terms with one another.
Step 6: Involve students in games that allow them to play with terms.
Jenna King writes: "In my classroom, each student had an “Academic Language Journal” that we used to enter academic language into as we came across it during instruction, including a synonym, antonym, an example, and a picture if applicable". What a great idea! This could be a great resource for my students, something I will look into creating!
ReplyDeleteLindsy Hughes states: "The chapter stresses the importance of meaningful use of language. Students benefit most from opportunities to express thoughts and interpret meaning in English". My favorite portion of this statement is that the language must be meaningful. In the classroom we come across so many vocabulary words daily that we must pick and choose the most important words and the words used frequently across curriculums.