Academic Language and English Language Learners

Academic Language and English Language Learners

Featuring Dr. Robin Scarcella, providing an overview to academic language instruction for English language learners, as well as teaching strategies, activity ideas, and recommended resources.

Guiding Questions:

1. Describe how academic English differs from the English we use in everyday life. What are some misconceptions people might have about academic language development?
2. Does your school have an effective, comprehensive academic language curriculum in place? If not, how could you work with colleagues within your school to develop one?
3. According to Dr. Scarcella, how might academic language instruction be designed to address the needs of both newcomer ELLs and long-term ELLs?
4. Based on what you heard today, can you describe skills other than vocabulary knowledge that are essential to academic language proficiency?
5. What types of professional development activities do you think would be helpful to teachers who want to learn more about effective academic English instruction?

Additional Resources