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Academic Language Academic Language
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Academic language is the language used in classroom settings to acquire new knowledge and skills, interact with a topic, and share information with others. Academic language is broken down into several levels: word/phrase, sentence, discourse, and sociocultural context.
If multilingual learners (MLs) are going to effectively engage with complex, grade-level texts and complete standards-based content tasks, they need to develop understanding of the academic language in each dimension necessary for these tasks. By teaching academic language, MLs gain access to the language of power and open doors to post-secondary opportunities.
In order to teach academic language, you must be able to identify the language demands of the text and tasks MLs will be engaging with in the unit or lesson. SupportEd provides various solutions and practical tools to help build your understanding of strategies to support your MLs’ English language development. For a more detailed understanding of supporting academic language development for MLs, checkout chapters 5 and 6 of Unlocking Multilingual Learners’ Potential.
Printables Printables
Academic Vocabulary
Planning Template
Increasing Academic Language Awareness
Checklist
Supporting Development in Speaking and Writing
Checklist
Vocabulary Instruction
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Books Books
Unlocking Multilingual Learners’ Potential: Strategies for Making Content Accessible Unlocking Multilingual Learners’ Potential: Strategies for Making Content Accessible
In this eagerly anticipated revision of their bestselling book, authors Diane Staehr Fenner, Sydney Snyder, and Meghan Gregoire-Smith share dynamic, research-backed strategies that every educator of multilingual learners (MLs) can add to their repertoire. Including more of what educators loved from the first edition—authentic classroom examples, a wide variety of research-based instructional strategies, and practical tools to implement across grade levels and content areas—this is the ultimate practical guide to unlocking the potential of MLs in K-12 classrooms.
Self-Paced Learning Self-Paced Learning
Unlocking Multilingual
Learners’ Potential
Online Book Study
Webinars Webinars
Embedding Academic Language for English Learners
Academic Language
Podcasts Podcasts
Unlocking Multilingual Learners' Potential (2nd edition) Unlocking Multilingual Learners' Potential (2nd edition)
- Teaching MLs Podcast with Tan Huynh
- Diane Staehr Fenner, PhD, Sydney Snyder, PhD, & Meghan Gregoire-Smith, MA
On episode 193 of Teaching MLs Podcast w/ Tan Huynh, authors Diane Staehr Fenner, Sydney Snyder, and Meghan Gregoire-Smith chat about their eagerly anticipated revision of their bestselling book and share dynamic, research-backed strategies that every educator of multilingual learners (MLs) can add to their repertoire. That includes authentic classroom examples, research-based instructional strategies, and practical tools to implement across grade levels and content areas.
Articles Articles
Teaching Academic Vocabulary to Multilingual Learners: A Q&A with Sydney Snyder Teaching Academic Vocabulary to Multilingual Learners: A Q&A with Sydney Snyder
Which vocabulary words should be used to teach MLs, and how should those words be introduced and practiced? Dr. Sydney Snyder, principal associate at SupportEd and co-author of Unlocking Multilingual Learners’ Potential, provides the following expert answers for ML educators.