SLA & Academic Language Development

SLA & Academic Language Development

Research & Analysis

By: Erica TrammellSP 2025 EDUC 3310-010

Syntax & Grammar

Access to the Language

Motivation

Quality of Instruction

Vocabulary Knowledge

Discourse

Teacher Action Plan

Observe, Predict, Explain!

In this activity, students will look at objects with different states of matter. In this part they will be asked questions about the objects. They will then make predictions about the objects and discuss them with peers. Lastly, the students will explain their predictions using academic language.

• Students will engage in hands-on learning (BICS)
• Students will be encouraged to use academic language for explainations (CALP)
• Visuals will be used to reinforce scientific thinking (CALP)

Vocabulary Knowledge

• This pillar focuses on words that are used in a specific subject or discipline.

• The pillar also focuses on words that are generally used in an academic setting

Discourse

• This pillar focuses how language is organized in essays and reports.

• It also includes the overall cohesion of a written argument and clarity of writing.

Quality of Instruction

• This factor plays a huge role in a student's journey of second language aquisition.

• If students have high-quality instruction and a high-quality teacher, they will be able to aquire English more easily.

• If students have low-quality instruction and teacher, they will face more struggles and become frustrated quickly.

Having structured discussions are great because they are planned and guided discussions that encourage students, especially EBs to use academic language in a meaningful way.

SIOP Strategy 1

Scaffolding can be very helpful for EBs when it comes to developing academic language. It is a great way to provide support and help them use academic language in a meaningful way until they are able to do it on their own.

SIOP Strategy 2

Scaffolding

Structured Discussions

Motivation

• Motivation is a relative constant factor that impacts second language aquisition.

• While a student's motivation may flucuate throughout time, it stays a driving force for second language aquisition.

• Motivation can be intrinsic:

• Learning for your own enjoyment

• Or extrinsic:

• Learning for some sort of external reward or there could be some outside factor could impact motivation

Syntax & Grammar

• This pillar focuses on sentence structures, verb tenses, and passive voice.

• Ex:

• Transition words like however & therefore

• Varying sentence structures

• subject-verb agreement

• Teachers will usually have multiple EBs in their class, all at different proficiency levels.

• It can be really difficult to provide individualized help, while also ensuring every students' needs are being met.

• EBs may hesitate to speak up in class because they are afraid of making mistakes.

• Classroom discussions may move to quickly.

• Without regular practice, students will struggle to develop speaking skills that are subject-specific.

Challenge 1:

Challenge 2:

Lack of Opportunities for Academic Discussion

Lack of Individualized Support

Connection to SLA Challenge

Lack of Opportunities for Academic Discussion

This activity is a great way to get students talking to one another and just speaking about their observations and predictions. The activity encourages the use of academic language, but there isn't so much pressure on it that students would be overly stressed.

• Language needed to deal with academic tasks in a regular classroom.
• This includes vocabulary in content-specific areas.
• Developed in 5-7 years
• When this is developed in the L1, it helps a lot with the development of CALP in the L2.

CALP (Cognitive Academic LanguageProficiency)

BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills)

• Language used everyday for conversations that are social/personal.

• Developed in 1-3 years.

• Not necessarily related to academic success.

VS

2nd-Grade Science!

Access to the Language

• This factor is all about how much exposure and practice a student has with the second language (English).

• If a student is able to hear and practice the second language at school and at home, they will likely aquire the language quicker.

• If a student doesn't get much exposure to the language and is never given opportunities to practice, they will have a much more difficult time aquiring the language.