MODULE 1

LANGUAGE - PRINCIPLES AND FUNCTIONS

Linguistic Principles / Characteristics of Language.
1. Language is a system of systems.
− Language is basically a system of vocal sounds for communication.

− Language is a complex system of many interdependent systems working at various levels.

* Phonological system – the system of organizing speech sounds

* Morphological system – the system of making words

* Syntactic system – the system of arranging words into sentences

* Semantic system – the system of organising meaning.

* Graphic system – the system of visual symbols

− The first four subsystems form a hierarchy.

− Knowledge of the nature and organisation of the system of language is essential in language
learning.

2. Language is a system of symbols

− Language is symbolic

− Language is signaling system which operates with symbolic vocal sounds and graphic
symbols.

− A symbol represents something other than itself. Its relationship to the thing that it represents
is arbitrary. e.g. dove = peace

− Language functions well, when the system of symbols is best known both to the speaker and
listener; reader and writer.

3. Language is primarily a system of vocal symbols.

− Language is primarily speech.

− Languages having no written form exist as proof to the fact.

− Oral form comes first in the natural order of learning a language.

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

− Illiterate people and children, who do not know the written form of language, can use the
language in all its variety, in the oral form.

− It shows the importance of the oral work in language learning and teaching.

4. The system of Language is Arbitrary

− Language is a set of symbols operating through a hierarchy of sub systems. However, in most
important human languages, there is no one to one relationship between the symbol and the
sense or meaning that it stands for. For e.g. ‘dog’ and the animal named so.

− There is no rationale apart from convention behind the organization of sounds, words, phrases,
sentences, idioms, usages in any language. Onamatopoeic words or words in which the sounds
directly convey the meaning are the only exception to this.

− The principle stresses the need to internalize the arbitrary set of conventions through practice.

5. Language is unique

− Each language is a unique system in itself.

− Each language has got its own distinctive features with regard to its various subsystems.

− So, the need to make fresh efforts to learn any new language.

6. Language is dynamic

− Language is in a state of flux. Change pervades every aspect of language.

− Each generation changes language according to its needs.

− Cultural and linguistic contacts, in each generation, largely contribute to its change.

− Changes in phonology from Old English to Middle to Modern English

− Morphology- dropping of inflections in Modern English

− Coining new words. E.g. portmanteau words

− Changing old word forms –‘whom’- by who

− Recognition of the dynamic form of language has lead to the shift of emphasis from
prescriptive to descriptive grammar.

7. Language is a set of skills.

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

− Broadly speaking language is set of interrelated skills viz., listening, speaking, reading and
writing. It can also be looked upon as a hierarchy of skills ranging from phonological to
semantic skills.

− Being a set of skills language is a matter of doing rather than knowing.

− The principle points out the importance of imitation and practice in language learning.

8. Language is a set of habits.

“Language is a set of human habits the purpose of which is to give expression to thoughts and
feelings and impart it to others.”

O Jesperson.

− Habits are acquired tendencies as distinct from instincts or inborn tendencies.

− Habitual acts are instantaneous and automatic requiring no conscious thought.

− Language being a set of habits, has to be acquired at habitual level through constant practice.

9. Redundancy of language

There are several devices of expressing the same meaning in any language. It is so because even
if we miss one, the meaning is effectively conveyed and communication takes place
smoothly.e.g.:-In a yes/no question in English there are two/three markers of meaning for its
question form.

Is he still there?

 the placing of helping at the beginning

 the rising tone of the utterance
 the question mark at the end in its written form

10. Versatility of Language

− No language user learns all the sentences he utters beforehand. Using a few basic principles
spontaneous combinations are made to satisfy the communicative needs of the language user.
Transformational generative grammar proposed by Noam Chomsky explains this phenomenon
of creativity of language.

11. Displaced or context free nature of language.

− Animal responses are based on the immediate stimulus. Only human beings can speak of
objects or events not physically present in the context of communication. (Only human beings
can tell lies.)

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

− This characteristic of language helps us to teach language formally in the classroom.

12. Language is social behavior

− Language is in fact asocial behavior. There are many evidences to this fact.

 A child always picks up the language of his society.

 There are socio linguistic variants of any language which shows its relationship with the
immediate community in which it is spoken.
 Significant linguistic choices are made based on the topic, the mode of communication,
the people involved, and the physical context of communication.

− The principle stresses the need for language to be practiced in social contexts.

13. Language preserves and transmits culture.

− As language is social behavior, it represents the culture of the people.

− It not only represents culture, it preserves and transmits culture to future generations and
others who come into contact with it.

− The principle stresses the cultural aim of learning a language.

Functions of Language

Language has a variety of functions. When people talk about language functions, they are
talking about the uses of language. Communication is the most basic function of all languages.

“It is difficult to see adequately the functions of language, because it is so deeply rooted in the
whole of human behavior that it may be suspected that there is little in the functional side of our
conscious behavior in which language does not play its part” (Newmeyer, 2000).

Jakobson's Functions of Language

Roman Jakobson (1960) defined six functions of language (or communication functions).

Phatic Function

The phatic function deals with establishing connection between speakers. Its primary purpose is
to attract/establish, prolong, check, confirm, or discontinue this connection, and may be
composed of either culturally or non-culturally bound set phrases like well, I won’t keep you
long; wow !;and really? In addition to strengthening the relationship between speakers, the use of
the phatic function also increases the listener’s perception of the speaker’s language proficiency.

The phatic function means expressing solidarity and empathy with others. It helps to establish
contact and sociability. It is characterised mainly of speech, however, in certain types of writing

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

as in letters for example, where the beginning Dear Sir/Madam and ending Yours Faithfully also
serve that purpose.

The Poetic Function

The Poetic Function, also known as the aesthetic function, deals with language whose primary
focus is the beauty of the language itself - the richness of sound and texture, and the balance that
makes it a work of auditory art or poetic utterance. The other functions need not be absent in
poetic texts, they merely play a subordinate role. In other linguistic genres too, the poetic
function is not absent, but only appears in a subordinate role (eg: in political slogans, advertising,
commemorative speeches, etc.)

The Metalingual Function

Metalingual function is used whenever the addresser and the addressee need to check whether

they use same code and when the language is used to speak about language. For example:

asking someone the meaning of a word used, “What do you mean by “krill”, “What is

plucked?”. In the process of language learning, the acquisition of mother tongue includes wide

use of metalingual actions. The clearest expression of the metalinguistic function is the

metalinguistics itself, the very language of grammar.

The Emotive Function

It is also known as “expressive or affective function”. This function comes out when we want

to express our emotions although one doesn‟t speak to give an information. For example: the

interjections, which are words or phrases used to express sudden surprise, pleasure or

annoyance such as : “Bah!” , “Oh!” , “Yuck!”“Ouch”,”Aie”. They are not components but

equivalent of sentences.

The Conative Function:

The conative function is an orientation toward “addressee‟. This function finds it purest

grammatical expression in vocative and imperative sentences, and it helps us to make people

do something and it includes orders. For example: “Drink!” or “Go Away”. In it the speaker

intends to influence the listener by engaging him in a certain way in receiving the message.

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

The most common grammatical expression of this function is performed by direct forms of

addressing the listener with verbal forms in the imperative.

The Referential function

The referential function describes the context, (a situation, object or mental state). e.g. "The

autumn leaves have all fallen now." Knowing the context is essential for communication

between the speakers.

Geoffery Leech (1974) states that there are six functions of language.

1. The Informative Function

The informative function of language involves giving and receiving information. The general

assumption is that the content is believable and valuable. For example, language is used to offer

opinions, give advice, make announcements, lecture, admonish, or news report, solicit input or

ask questions. Everyday conversations center around information sharing. In fact, this function

concentrates on the message. It is used to give new information. According to Leech the

informational function can be considered most important, since it helps us deliver messages,

describe things, and give our listener new information. Actually, message is a word that

describes this function best.

2. The Expressive Function

Language expresses and evokes ideas, thoughts and feelings. Expressive language may or may

not include any real information because the purpose of expressive use of language is to convey

emotion. For example, the expression “Yuck” connotes disgust, but the word itself isn't

necessarily used to inform. Expressive language in literature, music and the performing arts

has the power to inspire and entertain (Crystal,2005:228).

The speaker or writer tries to express his feelings. He or she reflexes his or her impression.

This function could give a clear image for the personality of the speaker or writer. The best

example of this kind is Poetry and literature . In fact, this function evokes certain feelings and

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

express feelings. Examples of this kind are, I am very happy or I spent a wonderful vacation.

3. The Aesthetic Function

It is the use of language for the sake of the linguistic artifact itself, and for no other purpose.

The language is taken as an end in itself. According to Leech (1974:69) this function doesn’t

have any particular purpose. Here words and sentences are considered as linguistic artifacts to

be enjoyed for their beauty. This function serves neither as a request nor as a message. All art

understood as art is taken to embody this function, and any object valued for its beauty rather

than for its ideological value or usefulness-whether a gorgeous car, an elegant teapot, or some

acreage of untouched real estate-takes on this function.

4 Directive Function
Language can be used as a directive whereby we aim to influence the behavior or attitudes of

others. The most straightforward instances of the directive function are commands and

requests. Directive language is used to establish and maintain social order by interpersonal

interaction and social control. Directive use of language establishes norms of expected behavior

in certain situations. Traffic signs, laws, rules and policies are among the common forms of

directive language that promote health and safety in society. “Eat your vegetables” is an

example of directive use of language used between parents and children. Another feature of

this function is that the reaction of a listener is even more important than a thought expressed

by a speaker, since this reaction determines whether such a phrase achieved the target or not.

5. The Phatic Function

Phatic Function is the function of keeping communication lines open, and keeping social

relationship in good repair. The example of this function mostly can be found in greeting

(opening the conversation), introducing, farewell and routine polite questions. It is used for

opening, keeping or stopping communication, to examine whether the communication can take

place, or to get the attention of listener and to make sure whether the listener still follows the

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

line of communication. In fact, the purpose of this function is to keep social relationship in

good repair, or of maintaining cohesion within social groups. The information provided is only

for courtesy, often not the real mesage.

Halliday’s Functions of Language:

Halliday identifies seven functions that language has for children in their early years. For

Halliday, children are motivated to develop language because it serves certain purposes or

functions for them. The first four functions that help the child to satisfy physical, emotional

and social needs are:

1 Instrumental: This is when the child uses language to express their needs (e.g.‟Want juice‟)

2 Regulatory: This is where language is used to tell others what to do (e.g. „Go away‟)

3 Interactional: Here language is used to make contact with others and form relationships (e.g.

„Love you, mummy‟)

4 Personal: This is the use of language to express feelings, opinions, and individual identity

(e.g. „Me good girl‟)

The next three functions are heuristic, imaginative, and representational, they helping the child

to come to terms with his or her environment.

5 Heuristic: This is when language is used to gain knowledge about the environment

(e.g. „What the tractor doing?‟)

6 Imaginative: Here language is used to tell stories and jokes, and to create an imaginary

environment.

7 Representational: The use of language to convey facts and information.

Finch Functions of Language

Finch(1997) mentions seven functions of language, they are

Physiological Function

This may seem a rather trivial function but in fact a good deal of language use has a

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

physiological purpose. If you are a sports fan watching your favorite sport on television you

may well feel the overwhelming urge at certain exciting moments in the match to shout

instructions to the players: Go on, do not mess about, for God's sake shoot! The instructions

are perfectly useless; they serve no communicative purpose, but they allow people to release

pent-up energy which otherwise would be quite intolerable.

A great deal of so-called 'bad language' or swearing fulfils this function. Most of what people

say when angry, in the heat of the moment, is said simply to relate the physical and nervous

energy generated by emotional distress. It's often a mistake to take what is said in such moments

literally (Finch,1997).

2 Phatic Function

It is surprising how often people use language for no other reason than simply to signal their

general disposition to be sociable. The technical term for this is phatic communion. The word

'phatic' comes from Greek and means 'utterance'; it's the same root from which people get

'emphatic'. So Literally this is speech for its own sake (Johnson, 1958: 163).

3 Recording Function

This is a more obviously 'serious' use of language than the previous two, although not

necessarily more significant even so. People are constantly using language to record things

they wish to remember. It might be a short-term record, as in a shopping list or a list of things

to do, or a long-term record, as in a diary or history of some kind. It's the most official use of

language; governments thrive on exact records and modern commercial life would be

impossible without up-to-date and accurate files. Indeed, it's probably the most significant

function behind the development of language from being simply an oral medium to becoming

a written one.

4 Identifying Function

Language not only allows people to record, but also to identify, with precision, an intense array

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

of objects and events, without which it would be very difficult to make sense of the world

around us. Learning the names of things allows people to refer quickly and accurately to them;

it gives us power over them.

5 Reasoning Function

All of individuals have a running commentary going on in our heads during their waking hours.

For most of the time they are not aware of it; like breathing, it's automatic. Schizophrenics are

acutely conscious of it and imagination it to be coming from someone else. But the voices they

hear are really parts of themselves which they are unable to acknowledge. Running for the bus

or train they are constantly talking to ourselves in a form of continuous monologue. Sometimes

it takes the form of a dialogue with some imagined 'other', but more often than not it is simply

a form of silent thinking. As an exercise you might try thinking about something, making a

conscious effort not to use words. Making your mind blank is one of the most difficult things

to do because the brain is in a state of constant activity.

6 Communicating Function

This is probably the function that most people would select first as the principle purpose of

language. Communication is a two-way process. On the one hand people need to be able to use

language to express ourselves to others, and, conversely, we need it in order to understand what

they are communicating to us. Communication may take the form of requesting, informing,

ordering, promising, and reprimanding, to mention just a few.

7 Pleasure Function

There are various kinds of pleasure which people derive from language. At the simplest level

there is the sheer enjoyment of the sound itself and the melody of certain combinations of

sounds. Most poetry exploits this function through the use of rhythm, rhyme and figures of

speech. Children very clearly respond to the melody of the language.

Language and Cognition

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

Language and Cognition

 Human Language Its origin is a big debate. (Continuity and Discontinuity theory)
 It is different from all forms of communication found in other species. (mechanisms of
acquisition, developmental stages, uses)
 “Thought is language; sub-vocal speech.” (J. B. Watson)
 “Linguistic form provides one means for thought to be made available to awareness
(another is visual imagery)" (Jackendo, 2002)

Two Views on Language and Thought

 Thoughts precede language. (Cognitive Determinism)

 Language precedes thought. (Linguistic Determinism)

Linguistic Determinism

 It is the idea that language and its structures limit and determine human knowledge or
thought.
 Sapir-Whorf hypothesis: differences among languages strongly affect thought processes
of their speakers. Whorf states that language does not only voice ideas but also shapes
them.
 The child’s knowledge is socially constructed in interaction with adults, so child’s
thought develops only with the growth of child’s social speech.

Eg: The Eskimo language for snow:

apun= “snow on the ground”,

qanikca= “hard snow on the ground”,

utak= “block of snow”

Eg: English - camel, Chinese - luòtuo, Arabic - more than 400 words for the animal

More words = more cognitive categories for the concept.

Eg: Describing directions in different languages - Egocentric axis (left-right) vs. Geocentric

axis (north-south)

Cognitive Determinism:

Thought determines Language

 Those who believe this would say that cognitive development comes earlier in the life

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

of children.

 Cognitive categories they develop determine the linguistic categories that they will
acquire.
 If language determines thought, people speaking diverse languages would think so
differently and never understand each other.
 If it was true then we could control the language that people learn and control their
thoughts as we like.

Theories on Language and Cognitive Development

⚫ Jean Piaget (Cognitive Determinist)

⚫ Lev Vygotsky (Linguistic Determinist)

⚫ B.F. Skinner (Language is acquired through imitation and reinforcement,)

⚫ Noam Chomsky (Language is Innate)

MODULE 2

Language Diversity in the classroom

What is multilingualism? Why is an understanding of the concept of Multilingualism

essential? India is a pluralistic nation, in terms of ethnicity, culture, language and religion. Co-
existence of many languages, races, cultures, and religions has been the essence of Indian
heritage. Multilingualism in India is not a recent phenomenon but it is attested throughout the
Indian history. Indian multilingualism dates back historically to ancient times when ethnic
groups and races came in contact with one another through migration from one region to
another. Indian literary history shows that people used to switch between languages spoken by
the ordinary people and of high literature. For eg: we had scholars who wrote both in Tamil and
Sanskrit. India continues to manifest multilingualism in varied walks of life.

The term ‘multilingualism’ means, the ability of an individual speaker or a community of

speakers to use multiple languages. Multilingualism basically arises due to the need to
communicate across speech communities. Multilingualism is a necessity across the world due to
globalization and wider cultural communication. Multilingualism can be categorized into
different types. Based on the degree or level of competence in the languages, multilingualism can
be classified into two. If a person has native like command in all the languages he knows, then it
is known as Ambilingualism. And if a person has equal degree of competence in the languages
he uses, is known as Equilingualism.

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

Multilingualism can also be classified based on the manner of acquisition of the languages.
When a child acquires more than one language naturally at home, it is termed as Natural
bilingualism. When a person learns other languages in an artificial or classroom setting, it is
known as Artificial multilingualism.Sometimes multilingualism can exist at the level of the
individual or the society. The ability of an individual to have competence in two or more
languages is known as Individual multilingualism. The linguistic diversity present in a society is
known as Societal Multilingualism.

Based on the opportunities for interaction among speech communities in a society,

multilingualism can be classified into two. Speakers who live in their own geographic spaces and
are often monolingual are grouped under horizontal multilingualism. In vertical multilingualism
people of different ethnicity are in direct contact with others because they share the same
territory and participate jointly in all socio-economic activities.

How should you prepare for a supportive multilingual classroom?

It is impractical for a teacher to be familiar with the languages of a multilingual classroom.

Nevertheless, the teacher realizes that the language of a student reflects his cultural background.
A teacher who fails to understand the student’s language or dialect is in reality failing to
understand his needs. Teachers should not expect a set pattern of behavior from all students
irrespective of their cultural, linguistic, social backgrounds.

● Multilingual and multicultural attitudes and values should reflect in the interactions and
choice of classroom activities and resources. Teacher should consciously try to bridge
differences among students from multilingual communities. Students, colleagues and parents
should be encouraged to acknowledge and appreciate the linguistic and cultural diversity within
the school community. Multicultural/multilingual topics should be provided for students to
discuss, read and write about. Teachers should strongly respond against racist incidents or
remarks. Teachers should strongly address the discrimination and hostility experienced by any
community and take a stand against it.

● The teachers should have information about the languages spoken and written by the students
at home. The teacher should know about the literacy skills being developed in the home and
community. Teachers should be aware of the previous educational and personal experiences of
students. He should check out for any family issues that may impact on the child’s progress.

● Individual differences in language backgrounds should be taken into account during class
activities. Group work encouraging students from different cultural backgrounds to share their
experiences should be allowed. Alternatively, monolingual /monocultural students from the same
background should also work together to explore concepts in their own language. The teacher

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

should also consider cultural and linguistic factors when determining the type of evaluation and
reporting processes used.

● Students and families can be looked upon as “funds of knowledge” and not as somebody
‘disadvantaged’. Familiarise yourself with the student’s social environment, family background,
and the strengths of his community. Parental involvement in education can be ensured.
Information should be shared with parents and involve them in their child’s education.

Promoting multilingualism in classrooms would help teachers to:

⮚ Minimise instances of drop-outs or misbehavior in class.

⮚ Ensure flexibility and variety in classroom activities.

⮚ Enhance student motivation.

⮚ Build self-esteem in students.

⮚ Prepare students for performing well in the global scenario.

⮚ Develop pluralistic attitudes leading to peaceful co- existence

⮚ Provide access to quality education to a diversified student community.

⮚ Provide for greater cognitive flexibility among students

⮚ Provide grater metalinguistic/metacognitive awareness among students

Home language: The language that the child learns through their innate language faculty and

informal interaction with the family and other people around them at home is called the child’s

home language. Children come to school with a full-blown communicative competence in

their home language.

At the primary stage, the child's home language must be accepted as it is, with no attempt to

correct it. By Class IV, if rich and interesting exposure is made available, the child will herself

acquire the standard variety, but care must be taken to honour and respect the child's home

language(s). It should be accepted that errors are a necessary part of the process of learning.

It is indeed hard to exaggerate the importance of teaching home languages at school. It is also

now well established that higher-level proficiency skills easily transfer from one language to

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

another. Higher-order linguistic skills generalise across languages; reading, (for example) is a

transferable skill. Improving it in one language improves it in others, while reading failure in

one’s own languages adversely affects second-language reading. It is thus imperative that we

do everything we can to strengthen the sustained learning of home languages at school.

Second Language: The language which a child learns formally usually from the school can

be called his second language. The goals for a second-language curriculum are twofold:

attainment of a basic proficiency, such as is acquired in natural language learning, and the

development of language into an instrument for abstract thought and knowledge acquisition.

Dialects

Dialect is a variety of a language that is distinguishable from other varieties of language by

features of phonology, grammar, and vocabulary. It is usually used by a group of speakers set

apart from others either geographically or socially. In fact any linguistic variety is a dialect. It

is said that ‘everybody speaks a dialect’.

Language immersion

Language immersion is a method of teaching second language in which learners’ second

language is the medium of classroom instruction. Immersion programs take on different

formats based on class time spent on L2, participation of learners, presence or absence of native

speakers of the language, number of subjects taught in L2, and the provision for studying L2

as a separate subject. Functional fluency in the second language is the aim.

School language: It refers to the language of the school. It refers to the medium of instruction

followed in the school and the language used by teachers and students. In Kerala, the school

languages are English and Malayalam.

Even in schools where English is the professed medium of instruction the home language of

the child cannot be overlooked. Where the child’s home language is different from the school

language, the child experiences intense struggle to acquire it. Schools have to find meaningful

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

ways to utilize the child’s knowledge of home language rather than look down upon it.

There may be instances where even though the school language and school language are the

same, a child’s dialect is different from the standard version of the school language. This again

may be a cause of concern and worry and shame for the child. Teachers should understand this

situation and help the child to be proud of his dialect with its uniqueness, but acquire the

standard dialect in all possible ways.

What is Deficit Theory? (Eller, 1989)

In an attempt to explain deficiencies in lower socioeconomic students’ success rate, some

researchers postulated that failure occurred due to insufficient verbal foundation in the

home for success. The deficit theory proposed by Eller,1989 suggested that working-class

children have an inadequate command of grammar and vocabulary to express complex

ideas. Deficit theory explains why students fail in using English. They have:

⮚ Poor linguistic ability

⮚ Limited vocabulary and limited range of grammatical constructions

⮚ Inadequate communicative ability with persons from different language background

⮚ Lack of coherence in their presentations.

As a result, students experience psychological problems and feel incompetent in class. Thus

the theory emphasizes the importance of environment in language learning.

What is Discontinuity Theory?

Modern theories sit in one of two camps; Continuity or Discontinuity. Continuity

theories of language evolution hold that it must have developed gradually, starting among the

earliest ancestors of humans, with different features developing at different stages until

people’s speech resembled what we have today. Discontinuity theory states that our language

using ability is not received from our predecessors-the ape-as the Darwinian concept of

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

evolution states. Instead, man’s ability to use language is unique as he is the result of mutation

and not evolution.

The approach of discontinuity suggests that because there is nothing even remotely similar

to compare human language to, it is likely to have appeared suddenly within mankind’s history.

This may have been as a result of a genetic mutation within one individual, which was passed

on through their ancestors and eventually became a dominant ability. There is a kind of

language device in human beings that can help him learn any language, provided, he is exposed

to the right environment. Noam Chomsky favours this idea greatly. The theory supports

heredity or ones innate biological linguistic potentials in language learning. It emphasizes

that language is a distinctly human and species specific ability.

MODULE 3
LANGUAGE ACROSS THE CURRICULUM
Language is more than communication skills. Language is also linked to the
thinking process . It is a tool for conceptualizing, for thinking, for networking .It
supports mental activity and cognitive precision . It is for academic purposes helps
to express thoughts more clearly (this is especially true for writing). It helps to
structure discourse and practice discourse function. The overall goal, therefore, is
not just the development of Cognitive/Academic Language Proficiency but of
Conceptual Literacy and of Discourse Competence

The basic functions of language are acquired in LS/L1 education and should then
be extended and widened through continued and conscious language use as well as
language reflection in each and every subject, as much as they should be explicitly
linked to competence goals defined in foreign and second language learning.

 First Language : First language refers to the language that a person learns as
their native language, usually coinciding with their mother tongue. It is the
language that a person acquires naturally from birth.

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

  Second Language : Refers to a language that is learned after the first
language. It is a language that is not the person's native language, but is
acquired later in life. Second language acquisition involves the study and
learning of a language other than one's first language.

Concept of LAC

Language across the Curriculum is an approach. An approach is the way to reach

the goals. The goals are two-sided in the context of LAC.

 content related or discipline- related goals

 the other is related to language learning

LAC is an approach to learning that focuses on improving language proficiency in

all subjects in order to enhance student’s learning and learning outcomes..
Language learning and education also takes place in each and every subject in the
school, in each and every academic/mental activity, across the whole curriculum –
whether we are conscious of it or not. LAC emphasizes the integration of language
skills—such as reading, writing, speaking, and listening—into all academic
subjects, beyond traditional language arts classes. This approach recognizes that
language is fundamental to learning and understanding content across various
disciplines.

Language across the curriculum is a modern approach to learning languages.

According to the LAC approach, language learning should occur throughout the
school hours in

1. the language classroom

2. as well as another subject classroom.

LAC emphasizes that language development is the responsibility of all teachers

across the school and in all subject areas. Each subject area has both similar
language aspects and patterns as in other subject areas plus its own specific
language usage and style. Each subject area also has its own specialized
vocabulary and different writing genres,

For eg; Science report writing is different to History report writing.

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

LAC aims to infuse a Second language / foreign language across the curriculum.
LAC claims that language and learning as well as language and thinking are
deeply linked. It helps to develop subject specific language competence in each
subject and across all of the subjects in the curriculum. LAC uses a foreign
language as a language of instruction and provides a larger framework to link
mother tongue with second language /foreign language. It uses target language in
each subject as a medium of instruction and links formal and informal language
education. It develops subject specific communicative competence , subject
specific language usage style and specialized vocabulary and different writing
genres.

Aims of LAC

LAC aims to facilitate the use of languages in a variety of meaningful contexts

and to motivate and reward students for using their multilingual skills in every
class they take at each level in the university curriculum, thus preparing them for
the cross-cultural and multilingual demands and opportunities of a global society .
(Consortium for Languages Across the Curriculum, 1996)

Origins and Aims of Language across the Curriculum (LAC)

The concept of LAC originated in Great Britain.

The milestones are: 1975 Bullock Report A Language for Life and 1985 Swann
Report Education for All .

LAC movement follows the example set by the writing Across the Curriculum
(WAC) movement of 1980s , which sought to use writing as a central learning tool
in classes outside the English department. Rather than relegating writing
instruction to classes in literature or composition WAC provides advice and
assistance to students for the inculcation of the skills needed for writing in each
curricular specialty. Similarly, LAC works with faculty to identify the specific
vocabulary and genres that students need in order to function effectively in another
language in their respective disciplines (Fichera & Straight, 1997) .LAC also draws
upon the content-based language instruction movement of the 1990s.

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

Benefits of LAC

 Instruction that emphasizes purposeful comprehension and communicative

production

 LAC yields superior receptive and expressive accuracy, complexity, and

fluency.

 Restructuring the subject matter in basic terms

 Conceptualising and verbalizing clearly

 Linking it to prior / everyday knowledge

 Helps semantic processing understanding and storage

 More awareness and consciousness

 More linguistic and mental creativity

Need and Scope

The language is always believed to play a central role in learning. No matter what
the subject area, students assimilate new concepts when they listen, talk, read and
write about what they are Iearning. As such, language acts as a vehicle for
educational development and is important for the apprehension and acquisition of
knowledge. In the educational context Language Across the Curriculum

 Provides opportunities for better comprehension and making use of

knowledge.

 Supports language development in all domains and each activity of the

school.

 Supports meaningful learning.

 Provides the same kind of educational experience for all with regard to the
learning of languages

 Develops multilingualism by becoming culturally sensitive and

knowledgeable.

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

 Helps schools to mentor confident language users

 Develops autonomous learners capable of linking language with their

learning.

 Allows all teachers to work towards a common goal.

 Provides cognitively engaging contexts for language practice and integrates

language development with content learning.

Basic Tenets of LAC

1. Language develops mainly through its purposeful use

Language is a means for communicating messages. In LAC classrooms,

students use language with definite purposes like clarifying doubts,
preparing an advertisement or conducting an experiment. This gives clarity,
meaning and direction to language learning

2. Language learning involves learning the four skills of listening,

speaking, reading, writing along with non-verbal modes of
communication.

Any language involves four skills, viz., listening, speaking, reading, and
writing. However, along with these skills non-verbal modes of
communication also prove effective for communicating ideas. There may be
linguistic or cultural variations in nonverbal expression of ideas. This also
needs to be internalized by a learner to be proficient in its use. Thus, learners
need to learn to

 Comprehend oral input

 Construct meaningful utterances
 Understand written texts
 Produce written texts/discourse
 Attend to visual signs/ information
 Use visual means of expression
 Attend to the movements
 Use the whole body, the whole person

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

 3. Language use contributes to cognitive development

A minimum level of language proficiency is required to ensure cognitive

development in learners. Theorists like Piaget and Vygotsky have emphasized the
importance of language in cognitive development. ZPD as proposed by Vygotsky
is crossed by a child by means of use of language with peers or adults.

4. Language is the chief medium for reflective learning essential to become

an autonomous learner.

Reflection or self awareness regarding one’s own behaviour is essential to

growth and development. Reflective thinking is needed to become an
independent learner. This process of reflection is possible only through the
use of language. Language is a medium for reflecting learning

Advantages and Limitations of Language Across the Curriculum

As Language Across Curriculum offers a more realistic and functional learning of

foreign language, it helps students become effective user of the language in day
today communication as well as in academic and professional aspects of
communication. Adopting the concept of Language Across the Curriculum would

 Enable teachers to contribute and get support in dealing with language in

learning issues as well as to work for a common target.

 Use the language to teach more effectively and help students learn more
effectively.

 Help the students to minimize the problems of adjusting to the new medium
of instruction and to learn the subject content better

 Help schools to mentor confident language users.

 Develop autonomous learners capable of linking language with their

learning.

What are the ways to promote LAC?

⮚ Seek governmental involvement by having the concept of language across

the curriculum made a school policy.

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

 ⮚ Encourage teachers to recognize the limits of monolingualism, and
promote multilingualism.

⮚ Provide adequate incentives for teachers to incorporate LAC in their

content areas.

⮚ Ensure that training bodies prepare resource materials to guide action in

classrooms.

⮚ Have a monitoring system on the basis of which grants are distributed to

institutions implementing this concept.

⮚ Through a language center or other educational set up, develop a forum

for the exchange of ideas and expertise among teachers from all
departments.

MODULE 4- Models of Language Across the Curriculum

1. Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)

The term ‘Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)’, a competence-

based pedagogic approach, was coined by David Marsh, University of Jyväskylä,
Finland (1994):"CLIL refers to situations where subjects, or parts of subjects, are
taught through a foreign language with dual-focused aims, namely the learning of
content and the simultaneous learning of a foreign language." That is, The learning
of language is given importance, Language elements are learnt both in the
language classes and in the classes dealing with specific subjects. The focus is to
enable the learner to communicate effectively in the subject area also.

To make learners skilled in using the target language, to enable learners to decode
(convert into intelligible language) a text written in the target language with ease,
to equip learners to understand the vocabulary used by guessing its appropriate
meaning from the context, to help learners use logic and reasoning to sequence
things in their mind, to make them confident in using language to communicate
their ideas, their difficulties, and thereby seek amicable solution.

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

 It is to integrate the language of the content with the language of the learner.
‘Content’ in CLIL - The non-language subjects or scientific disciplines like, the
Sciences, Mathematics, Arts, etc.,A vehicle for language learning and language
use.

Cognition and development of skills of students. Student-generated knowledge.

‘Language’ in CLIL - the language of learning (that means, a language used for
learning key words or phrases, etc. in the text);the language for learning (that
means, using the language to clear doubts, to enter into discussions, to organize
and present information clearly); and, the language through learning (that means,
the new language ability that the student gets by studying the text) ‘Learning’ in
CLIL - It is a mediating tool through which content and language are co-
constructed; an activity that makes students and teachers creative; something that
helps students to make meaningful connections across curricula. That is, if the
content has to be learnt, the student must be able to think effectively in the
language used in the text, understand the concepts presented therein, and even
communicate the same without creating any confusion in the reader or listener’s
mind.

Need and scope of CLIL

1. Can rekindle interest in language learning,

2. can improve the quality of learning
3. can help students to understand themselves, and the world in which they
live
4. suggests means to develop skill in the target language in the midst of
language variations, is practical in approach,
5. can equip the learner to use their new acquired skill at the moment rather
than make them wait and use it later when they pass out of school
6. incorporates learners of all kinds, Learners who have missed their formal
training can also develop language skills through this mode, can make
learners autonomous.

CLIL-content-subject methodology : There is integration of language skills. A

textual passage to generate thought; inclusion of any grammatical feature for study;
practical and contextual learning of language. More focus is on developing

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

comprehension than on studying grammar. The learning style of students is
attended to.

Advantages and Limitations:

1. CLIL helps to Introduce the wider cultural context
2. Prepares for internationalization
3. Access International Certification and enhance the school profile
4. Improve overall and specific language competence,
5. Prepare for future studies and / or working life
6. Develop multilingual interests and attitudes
7. Diversify methods & forms of classroom teaching an learning
8. Increase learner motivation
9. Foster deeper intercultural communication and understanding
10. Provide learners with meaningful contexts to explore and evaluate
beliefs and attitudes
11. Prepare for global citizenship.

Limitations of CLIL: Very few sound research-based empirical studies have been
done so far to prove the benefit of this approach, requires great amount of
conscious learning on the part of the teachers, Lack of CLIL training, doubt
regarding how appreciation of literature and culture can be developed through a
second language as the CLIL claims, may benefit only those students who have
good knowledge of the language previously, Teachers’ reluctance to integrate
materials from the content and language areas, Teachers’ lack of content and
language knowledge affects CLIL success, There is every chance that subject will
be focused and the language element gets sidelined, The examination system
followed at the National level is primarily content-oriented.

Educational Implications of CLIL in Kerala Context:

1. There is urgent need to incorporate the programme into the

training practices for teachers.

2. More resources need to be made accessible for teachers at school.

3. Developing Bilinguals is the need of the hour.

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

2.2 Bilingual Teaching

Goals of Bilingual Teaching: To teach concepts, knowledge and skills through the
language they understand the best. To bring learners as soon as possible into the
mainstream of education because English is the main language of information in
the present era. To help learners to maintain their native language and culture.

Bilingual teaching enables learners to acquire language, both native language (L1)
and second-languages (L2), by engaging with their environment, interacting with
those around them, working to solve challenges and problems, and making neural
connections that allow the brain to build-up a reservoir of connected sounds,
images, feelings, results, gestures that are meaningful.

Advantages: Students become more culturally sensitive and aware, mastery of

foreign language is deepened, adds to the strength of a student to be proficient in a
language other than his or her native or mother tongue, enhances performance in
standardized tests, expands the peer circle of students, less strenuous for teachers,
sustains student interest, clarity in student understanding is ensured.

Disadvantages: Difficult to staff bilingual schools with enough teachers that are
native speakers of the second language, cost of introducing bilingualism in schools
can be greater than an English only school because all materials have to be
purchased in both languages, likelihood of English being sidelined by the native
language is high.

LSP/ESP (Language or English for specific purpose)

Characteristics

1. ESP is designed to meet specific needs of the learners

2. ESP makes use of underlying methodology and activities of the discipline it

serves

3. ESP is centered on the language appropriate to these activities in terms of

grammar, lexis, register, study skills, discourse and genre.

Features:Carter (1983) identified three features common to all ESP courses.

a) authentic material.

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

b) Purpose-related tasks.

c) Self-directed learners.

Most ESP courses assume some basic knowledge of the language system, but it
can be used with beginners. According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987), "ESP is
an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method
are based on the learner's reason for learning".

Dudley Evans describes the true ESP teacher or ESP Practitioner (Swales,
1988) as needing to perform five different roles. These are

1) Teacher,

2) Collaborator,

3) Course designer and materials provider,

4) Researcher

5) Evaluator.

The first role as 'teacher' is synonymous with that of the 'General English' teacher.
It is in the performing of the other four roles that differences between the two
emerge. In order to meet the specific needs of the learners and adopt the
methodology and activities of the target discipline, the ESP Practitioner must first
work closely with field specialists.

Benefits:All language skills are stressed, Combines subject matter and English,
Students become aware of how the text in their subject is structured, Students are
able to use language to learn, and for communication, The course material
becomes relevant as their own teachers prepare them, Goal-directed learning
ensues, Teacher serves as a source of information and also as a corrector of errors,

Difficulties: Lack of resource materials, Uninterested teachers, Time-consuming.

Academic Language Teaching

Academic language refers to the language used in school to acquire new or deeper
understanding of the content and to communicate that understanding to others
(Bailey & Heritage, 2008; Gottlieb, Katz, & Ernst-Slavit, 2009; Schleppegrell,

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

2004). In other words, academic language is characterized by the specific linguistic
features associated with academic disciplines, including discourse features,
grammatical constructions, and vocabulary across different language domains or
modalities. Academic language is the standard language needed by students to
understand words in context and to use language that can convey ideas clearly
without causing any confusion in the listener’s or reader’s mind. It is: language
used by teachers to impart new information and to describe ideas clearly so as to
increase student understanding- “Word knowledge” that enables students to
interact with the text with ease and talk in a manner that is an acceptable norm at
schools- it is more refined than the conversational language- Understanding the
grammar of the language used- the ability to relate events in a convincing and
accurate manner, make comparisons in a clear manner, make judgments based on
textual evidences, have good knowledge of the different forms of words and use
content-specific vocabulary and modes of expression needed in that content area.

It helps in preparing students for academic and professional success-It is

the language of the school and it is used in textbooks, essays, assignments, class
presentations, and assessments- is used at all grade levels, although its frequency
increases as students get older- is also the language of the workplace — for
example, the language used to write a business letter as opposed to a casual e-mail
to a co-worker- is used in all four domains of language (reading, writing, speaking,
and listening)- is used for a variety of purposes across disciplines (ie.,to write a lab
report in science class, to orally explain their reasoning in math class, to compare
two famous speeches in history class, etc).

It is understanding signal words and phrases - a key step in a student's

ability to "unlock" the academic language they encounter, as well as to start using
it correctly themselves. For instance: In the sentence “Even though bats have
wings, they are not birds”, to fully understand the sentence, students must
understand the meaning of "even though" also besides understanding the meanings
of ‘bats’ and ‘birds’. Here is a sample definition:

"Even though" means that two items are similar, but they are not the
same. In this case, bats and birds both share a similar feature (having wings), but
they are not the same animal.

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

 The academic vocabulary is agreed to include three elements: Content
words, process words and words that reflect the grammatical sense.

Content words: These are key words, terms, and concepts in relation to a particular
topic. Process/Function words include directional words or phrases that have to do
with functional language use. These words specify the direction that needs to be
taken by students in performing the task successfully.

Words and word parts that teach English structure: These are words and word parts
that help students to learn new vocabulary with ease. For example, teaching
students how the suffix –ed could convey past tense, can be a teaching point for a
social science teacher too. The Maths teacher may reinforce past tense by drawing
attention to some statements in the problems that speak about something already
done. The Social science teacher may tell students that all historical events are
written in the past tense.

Similarly, understanding that the prefix bi- signifies ‘two’ can make the
meanings of binomial, biannual, bigamy, bilingual, etc. clear to students. Students
can be taught some signal words that could prepare them for the incoming
information. For example, words like ‘therefore’, ‘because’, ‘despite’ and so forth
can be spoken as something that signifies a transition or a switching over of ideas.

What is Academic language after all?

There are several definitions that clarify what Academic language is all about:

Academic language is:

⮚ The language used by teachers to teach.

⮚ The language of the classroom. It is more refined than the usual conversational
style.

⮚ It refers to knowledge of subject specific vocabulary and modes of expression

needed in that content area.

⮚ It is used in textbooks, essays, assignments, class presentations, and

assessments.

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

⮚ It is also the language of the workplace — for example, the language used to
write a business letter

Academic language is used for a variety of purposes across disciplines:

● Students may write a lab report in science class.

● Students may orally explain their reasoning in math class.

Students may listen to and compare two famous speeches in history class.

● Students may compare a scene from a novel and a movie in an English language

arts class.

MODULE 5 OPERATIONALISING LANGUAGE ACROSS THE

CURRICULUM

Academic Language across Subjects: Components:

• Vocabulary

• Grammatical Structures & Functions

• Text Structures

Types of Texts: There are four types of texts. They are: expository, narrative,
reflective and transactional.

Narrative text:

⮚ Writing that tells a story or narrates an event or a series of events.

⮚ It puts events in a linear sequential order.

⮚ There are predictable story elements of setting, character, problem, and solution.

⮚ Children get familiar with this structure early in life through story telling.

⮚ Eg; autobiography, biography, oral historical excerpts, novel

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

Reflexive /Reflective writing:

⮚ writing that is a reflection on some topic that has been presented eg; opinions on
some recent social issue like the threat of terrorism in Kerala or conflict between
journalists and advocates

⮚ used to determine key ideas of a topic, personal emotional responses, enhances

critical thinking

Transactional writing:

⮚ writing that is part of a chain of written communication intended to

communicate, persuade or inform another individual or a group.

⮚ Has a specific purpose, formal in style

⮚ Eg: letters or emails, grant proposals, job applications.

Expository text:

⮚ writing that seeks to explain or ‘expose’ a topic eg: newspaper articles,

instruction manuals

⮚ In contrast to narrative text, expository text structure may include narration,

description, argumentation

⮚ Will have an introductory paragraph, several main body paragraphs and a

concluding paragraph

⮚ the concepts and language are more abstract than that of narrative texts

Examining Content Area Textbooks

In examining content for LAC these are areas to be looked for: vocabulary,
common usages, grammatical structures and functions, text structures,
comprehension strategies and study

skills.

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

Vocabulary: words could be identified in terms of syllables, root words, suffixes,
prefixes, and word origins. Students can be taught to gather the meaning of words
using word parts or the context of the sentence. Some good practices: Keep a
content word vocabulary notebook, review it periodically, play word games using
content words, use authentic materials such as a magazine article, to show the
occurrence of such words in the life beyond school

Common Usages: Usages particular to a subject can be identified and highlighted

during a LAC lesson. eg: typical use of tense in specific discourses

Language Register: Typical linguistic styles of each subject – common vocabulary,

word origins, language expressions, levels of formality, types of discourses.

Social Science:

⮚ Common vocabulary: alliance, anarchy, propoganda, struggle, conflict,

civilization

⮚ Language expressions: compare and contrast: both are...however/Yet/ but

⮚ discussion of impact: it seems that/ it may/

⮚ identify trends/changes: before- after, increase- decrease, post- war scenario

⮚ Some of the important issues are...

⮚ It looks like...

Mathematics:

⮚ Vocabulary: estimate, relationship, symmetry, sphere, complete, pattern,

product, calculate

⮚ Concept Clarification: which of these is.../is not

⮚ Proof: solve/show that... Hence...

⮚ Assumptions: suppose/ assume

⮚ Notations; let us denote... It stands for...

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

⮚ comparisons

Science:

⮚ Vocabulary: kinetic, velocity, mass hypothesis, variable, dissolve, atom,

precision

⮚ Description: it is made up of.../ is diagonally above...consists of...

⮚ Sequence: first/ second/ when- then –next- finally

⮚ Classifying; It can be divided into... There are two types of ...

⮚ Instructions: You have to ...you must.... You need not...

⮚ Cause and effect: is affected by ...is the result of.... causes./ produces/ results

Some root words and their meanings which can be highlighted while teaching
subjects:

Hemo – blood; Logy - study of; Meter – measurement; Morph = form; Hyper -
above; Hypo –

below; Philia – like; Troph – consume; Cide – killing; Therm – heat; Endo –
internal

Eg: in a geography class- thermo – means heat and is a prefix – hence thermal is an
adjective. here – thermal means relating to or caused by heat or change in
temperature. Don’t we use thermals – clothes specially designed to keep us warm
in cold weather? Hence geothermal springs are hot water springs – springs with
water temperatures above its surroundings.

Grammatical Functions

Grammatical Functions represent the purposes for which the language is used.

Look for action verbs within the learning outcomes.

Learners:

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

• evaluate the achievements of ancient civilizations in terms of their enduring
cultural

impact

• explain the impact of regional political parties in Indian elections.

• compare the length of various objects in the classroom.

• describe the specific attributes of a parallelogram.

• describe the procedures used in an experiment.

• compare the densities of various objects in the classroom

Grammatical Structures

Grammatical structures refer to the forms used to serve the language functions.

Use of degrees of comparison to compare two things

• The first circle is larger in diameter than the second.

Use of declarative statements to provide evaluations.

• Regional political parties play a decisive role in Indian politics of modern times.

Use of adverbs to describe processes during an experiment

• Pour the liquid into the jar and briskly stir it.

Use of conditional clauses

• If 50% of a number is 25, what is 75% of the number?

Use of adjectives, before nouns to describe ideas

• Small Village, Major groups, Patriotic Soldiers,

Heavy equipment, Proud victory, Stainless steel plates, long thin tube

Use of conjunctions while comparing and contrasting

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

and, but, whereas, while, also, on the other hand, in contrast, similarly

How can content teachers become language teachers too?

• All teachers have implicit knowledge of academic language .

• With some awareness and attention, they can notice the major language needs of

students, in terms of the content taught.

• Language supports can be built into content lessons to enhance them.

Framing a language objective in a content lesson plan

• What are the key content objectives?

• What should students do using language? (discourses)

• What are the language functions that students will need to do the discourses?

• What is the text structure?

• What are some grammatical forms important to understanding the content?

• Which key words or phrases contribute to the understanding of the theme?

Mathematics

• Content Objective: To compare two or more polygons

• Language Objectives:

• To learn the use of the prefix ‘poly’ meaning ‘many’

• To use comparative degree to compare polygons

• To write a paragraph describing polygons

Social Studies

• Content Objective: To examine the effects of women's rights movements

• Language Objectives:

• To use the listed vocabulary ‘feminism, segregation, suffrage, sea change ’

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

• To use contractions to compare women’s rights in various periods of history
(Students will be comparing what women could and couldn't do—and what they
did and didn't do)

• To deliver a speech

Science

• Content Objective: To explain the effects of a force on an object

• Language Objectives:

• To use the listed vocabulary ‘force, motion, kinetic’

• To use passive voice in describing the effect of force. (A force is applied to the
football by Jane.)

• To fill up a worksheet describing force.

Text Structure

The term “text structure” refers to how information is organized in a passage. The
structure of a text can change multiple times in a work and even within a
paragraph. Reading comprehension in content areas relies on increasing awareness
of the structure in the textbook and showing students how to use that structure to
understand what the author is trying to say.

Teaching students to recognize common text structures can help students monitor
their comprehension.

To create the text structure strategy teachers should:

1. Choose the assigned reading and introduce the text to the students.

2. Introduce the idea that texts have organizational patterns called text structures.

3. Introduce the following common text structures for expository writing:

Description and sequence,

problem and solution,

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

 cause and effect

compare and contrast.

4. Introduce and model using a graphic organizer to chart the text structure.

To use the text structure strategy teachers should:

⮚ Show examples of paragraphs that correspond to each text structure.

⮚ Examine topic sentences that clue the reader to a specific structure.

⮚ Model the writing of a paragraph that uses a specific text structure.

⮚ Have students try write paragraphs that follow a specific text structure.

⮚ Have students diagram these structures using a graphic organizer.

Informational Reading and Writing Across Subjects

Information Text – Features

⚫ Text features are parts of informational (nonfiction) text other than the body
that help the reader understand the content more clearly.

⚫ Informational Texts use a variety of visual, graphic and text features to

organize information, highlight important ideas, illustrate key concepts, and
provide additional information.

⚫ Features include headings, subheadings, table of contents, index, glossary,

preface, paragraphs separated by spacing, bulleted lists, sidebars, footnotes,
illustrations, pictures, diagrams, charts, graphs, captions, italicized words or
passages, boldface words or sections, colour, and symbols

Name of text feature Purpose of text feature

Title Quickly tells the reader what

information they will learn about

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

Table of Contents Shows students the different chapter or
section titles and where they are
located

Index Directs students where to go in the text

to find specific information on a
topic/person

Glossary Identifies important vocabulary words

for students and gives their definitions

Headings or subtitles Help the reader identify the main idea

for that section of text

Sidebars Set apart from the text(usually located

on the side or bottom of the page and
elaborate on a detail mentioned in the
text

Appendix Provides relevant additional

information usually long referred to in
the body

Pictures and captions Show an important object or idea from

the text

Labelled diagrams Allow readers to see detailed

depictions of an object from the text

with labels that teach the important

components

Charts and graphs Represent and show data related to or

elaborate on something in the main
body of text

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

 Maps Help a reader locate a place in the
world that is related to text

Cutways and cross sections Allow readers to see inside something

by dissolving part of a wall or to see all
the layers of an object by bisecting it
for viewing

Inset photos show either a faraway view of

something or a close-up shot of minute
detail

What is reading comprehension?

Reading comprehension is the ability to:

⮚ Monitor one’s own understanding of the text while engaging in reading

⮚ Extract and construct meaning through interaction and involvement with written

language

⮚ Focus on what is important by understanding the layout in textbooks.

⮚ Make sense of the headings, subheadings, illustrations, tables, graphs, and

summary sidebars used in texts

⮚ Represent graphically (write or draw) the meanings and relationships of the

ideas that underlie the words in the text.

⮚ Ask and answer who, what, where, when, and why questions and, in some cases,
map out the time line, characters, and events in stories.

⮚ Clarify and add to written content.

⮚ Answer questions posed by others and by oneself.

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

⮚ Summarize by attempting to identify and write the main or most important ideas
that integrate or unite the other ideas or meanings of the text into a coherent whole.

⮚ Use multiple strategies to understand the meaning of the vocabulary used and
the comparisons within and between texts.

⮚ Personalize one’s own reading style and make inferences and judgments as and
when required.

Reading involves

⚫ Previewing and predicting before reading

⚫ Actively searching for relevant information during reading

⚫ Reflecting on learning after reading

Before Reading

 Students will predict what vocabulary, facts, features you might encounter
to help you understand the text.
 preview photographs/pictures and text structures.
 draw their attention to features of informational text.
 connect content to previous experiences.
During Reading
 Text features are “called out” for relevance and as a tool to gather
information.
 As the reading progresses, students confirm or clarify their misconceptions
of facts about the topic.
 Teacher facilitates “pause and ponder” moments and facilitates discussion
with structured academic talk.

After Reading

 Students revisit key vocabulary and using evidence from text, describe
importance of key words for comprehension.
 Students finalize their confirmations or misconceptions about content.
 Students are asked to write to inform using the facts learned from the text.

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

How can reading comprehension be developed in students?

All teachers must develop and embed reading strategy instruction into content
lessons to enhance the reading ability of learners. Here are a few literacy strategies
that have been suggested by good readers for ensuring reading comprehension in
the content area classrooms.

1. Think Aloud: When reading content-related texts, students can learn a lot from
teachers who stop to vocalize their thinking. When reading aloud, the teacher can
stop from time to time and orally complete sentences like these:

⮚ So far, I've learned...

⮚ This made me think of...

⮚ That didn't make sense.

⮚ I think ___ will happen next.

⮚ I reread that part because...

⮚ I was confused by...

⮚ I think the most important part was...

⮚ That is interesting because...

⮚ I wonder why...

⮚ I just thought of...

2. Mimic Literature Circles: Mimic literature circles are deeply rooted in the theory
of social interaction. Students are assigned roles during book discussions. Each
student is given a task like clarifier, connection-maker, questioner, and
summarizer. The clarifier identifies context clues and helps find meanings of
important and unknown words. The connection-maker underlines the main ideas
and details and assists in getting an overall idea of the text. The questioner asks
why and how questions to promote analytical and inferential thinking and the

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

summarizer rereads and prepares the summary of the text.As students perform their
roles, they comprehend the text deeply.

3. Column Notes: This strategy asks students to respond to a text (or film or audio

recording) by organizing notes and thoughts into two columns. The left column is
labeled “Key Ideas” and the right is labeled “Responses.” The “Key Ideas” section
includes traditional notes from the text, like main ideas, details, people, and events.
The “Responses” section is a place for students to record questions, inferences,
assumptions, and connections they’ve made. By linking the key ideas with
responses, students can better internalize the information from the text.

4. Build Academic Vocabulary: The Marzano 6-Step Vocabulary process is still

widely regarded as one of the best ways to introduce and teach academic
vocabulary. They are:

Marzano’s Six Step Process:

a. Provide a description, explanation, or example of the new term.

b) Ask students to restate the description, explanation, or example in their own

words. (Allow students whose primary existing knowledge base is still in their
native language to write in it.)

c) Ask students to construct a picture, symbol, or graphic representing the word.

d) Engage students periodically in activities that help them add to their knowledge
of the terms in their notebooks.

e) Periodically ask students to discuss the terms with one another. (Allow in native
language when appropriate)

f) Involve students periodically in games that allow them to play with terms.

5. Asking questions and challenging the learner’s beliefs and knowledge: Students
should be encouraged to ask and answer deep-reasoning questions to help them
construct explanations. Unfortunately, students are not in the habit of asking many
questions, and most of their questions are shallow. A typical student rarely asks
questions in a classroom, and less than 10 percent of student questions involve
deep reasoning. When students are trained how to ask good questions while

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

reading or listening to lectures, their comprehension scores increase on objective
tests. Teachers rarely ask deep-reasoning questions in classroom settings, so it
would be prudent to improve the questioning skills of teachers. One of the easiest
ways to get students to ask questions is to challenge one of their entrenched beliefs,
and thereby put them in cognitive disequilibrium. Research on question asking has
revealed that genuine information-seeking questions are inspired by contradictions,
anomalies, incompatibilities, obstacles to goals, salient contrasts, uncertainty, and
obvious gaps in knowledge.

6. Response Notebooks: Response notebooks provide many opportunities for

students to use writing as a tool for learning. One effective, efficient, simple way to
use a response notebook is to pose an open-ended question before reading, have
students respond after reading and then have students share with partners. Here are
just a few examples of possible open-ended questions: Was the title of the book/
chapter a good one? Why or why not? How is this book similar to or different from
other books you have read? Is there anything in the reading so far that you do not
understand, and if so, what is it? What makes a book a “good” one for you, and is
this book in that category? Do you like the author’s style of writing? Why or why
not? If you could change the ending of the book, would you change it? Why or
why not? Response entries may also require students to document their ideas with
evidence from the text or react to another student’s entries.

7. Text Response or questions: The teacher or students provides a direct quote

from the text that is challenging, interesting and/or confusing. The student
responds to the quote by predicting what will happen, what is confusing and why
the quote is interesting (or uninteresting). It is a personal response to the passage
chosen.

8. Chapter Tour: Students benefit from learning how to use information in

textbooks to construct meaning and improve comprehension. Reading-around-the-
text is a pre-reading strategy used to preview text. The text preview prepares
students to understand what they will be reading. Students are made to read the
chapter headings, or picture titles and make a guess about what the text would
contain. Their answers can be checked after the text is read. This strategy can be
adapted to use with any text but works best with text that contains chapter

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

introductions and summaries, chapter questions, pictures, diagrams and other
graphics, and bold or colored vocabulary words or concepts.

These instructional strategies are not exhaustive but only representative of

innumerable effective strategies a teacher may choose to use.

What study skills would ensure learners to develop proficiency in Language?

Study skills refer to a set of skills required for a learner for independent learning.
Independent study will require some essential knowledge of the concerned content
area along with necessary linguistic abilities. Study skills are classifies into four:

 Skills for locating information: these refer to skills for reference i.e. using a
dictionary, encyclopedia, searching the library, searching on the internet.
 Skills for gathering information: skimming, scanning, intensive reading,
extensive reading
 Skills for storing information: notemaking, note taking, summarizing, mind
mapping,
 Skills for retrieving information: skills for organizing content into
appropriate discourses

A. Note Making

Knowing how to make notes is the best means of keeping students engaged in the
process of self learning. Note-making is a means to check one’s own understanding
of the information read or heard. The notes must be:

⮚ Accurate (correct in conveying the information)

⮚ Honest (Always crediting words, ideas, and images of others in appropriate

citations).

⮚ Concise (Be brief: using abbreviations, keywords, and phrases).

⮚ Organized (Use a note-making technique to keep your ideas and information

organized).

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

⮚ Relevant (Keep checking your data. Does it help to answer your question? Are
you staying on topic?)

Three Kinds of Notes

1. Summarizing (condensing ideas, details, and supporting arguments in point-

form recording references accurately)

2. Paraphrasing (taking the author’s idea and restating it in our own words.
References to be recorded accurately)

3. Directly Quoting (copying information directly from the source because it is

important to use the author’s exact words but has to be referenced accurately)

How to make notes?

1. Look for the key ideas.

2. Use your own words.

3. Use point form, not complete sentences

4. Delete unnecessary words (e.g., the, this).

5. Omit unneeded examples.

6. Add subheadings.

7. Use shortcuts: abbreviations and symbols.

8. Include your own ideas, responses, and questions.

9. Use note-making organizers, index cards or large sticky notes, visual

representations, highlighting using different colours etc to enhance the skill of
note making.

Benefits:

1. Encourages individual contribution.

2. Helps one avoid plagiarizing sources.

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

B. Note taking

⚫ Approach the speaker with a positive attitude.

⚫ Before listening, refresh your previous knowledge about the topic.

⚫ Note only the main points. They might be :-

 The ideas that are listed

 The ideas that are repeated.
 The ideas that are backed up by visual display

⚫ Use abbreviations- commonly accepted, subject – specific or personally

designed

⚫ take down notes systematically, using numbering and writing headings and

subheadings

⚫ use branching notes, flow charts or other graphic organizers to make notes.

⚫ After listening, organize the notes by comparing transcripts with others, if

needed.

⚫ Expand them into connected writing for future use

How to Summarize

⮚ Read the original passage or text very carefully.

⮚ Identify the main point.

⮚ Use a pencil to highlight or underline the main point from the text.

⮚ Make notes in the margins or on another sheet of paper to keep track.

⮚ Write in your own words and don’t quote the author’s words from the text
extensively.

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

⮚ Now use the present tense to summarize the author’s view.

Writing skills

Written Discourse: Positives

⚫ More precise as words can be thought through and carefully chosen

⚫ Once written, words can still be changed or rearranged in order to make

communication more precise

⚫ There is a tendency to use larger words and more complex sentences to make
the message more interesting

⚫ Writing can happen over a period of time with much consideration given to the
message and its delivery

⚫ The receiver can spread reading out over a period of time so as to give full
attention to meaning

⚫ Writing is a permanent record of information

Negatives

⚫ The pace of communication is determined by the reader or receiver of

information

⚫ The audience for written discourse is not always known

⚫ The meaning might be supported by visual graphics, but there are no nonverbal

communication cues to read

⚫ It is less personable and can be very one-sided

What is process writing?

The process approach treats all writing as a creative act which requires time and
positive feedback to be done well. In process writing, the teacher moves away from

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

being someone who sets students a writing topic and receives the finished product
for correction without any intervention in the writing process itself.

Why should teachers be interested in a process approach to writing?

White and Arntd say that focusing on language errors 'improves neither
grammatical accuracy nor writing fluency' and they suggest instead that paying
attention to what the students say will show an improvement in writing.

Research also shows that feedback is more useful between drafts, not when it is
done at the end of the task after the students hand in their composition to be
marked. Corrections written on compositions returned to the student after the
process has finished seem to do little to improve student writing.

The changing roles of teacher and students

The teacher needs to move away from being a marker to a reader, responding to
the content of student writing more than the form. Students should be encouraged
to think about audience:

Who is the writing for? What does this reader need to know? Students also need to
realise that what they put down on paper can be changed: Things can be deleted,
added, restructured, reorganised, etc.

What stages are there in a process approach to writing?

Although there are many ways of approaching process writing, it can be broken
down into three stages:

Pre-writing

This is the stage where one finds the idea. The teacher needs to stimulate students'
creativity, to get them thinking how to approach a writing topic. In this stage, the
most important thing is the flow of ideas, and it is not always necessary that
students actually produce much (if any) written work. If they do, then the teacher
can contribute with advice on how to improve their initial ideas.

Here are some ideas for classroom activities during this stage:

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

● Brainstorming: Getting started can be difficult, so students divided into groups
quickly produce words and ideas about the writing.

● Planning: Students make a plan of the writing before they start. These plans can
be compared and discussed in groups before writing takes place.

● Generating ideas: Discovery tasks such as cubing (students write quickly about
the subject in six different ways - they:

1. describe it

2. compare it

3. associate it

4. analyze it

5. apply it

6. argue for or against it.

● Questioning: In groups, the idea is to generate lots of questions about the topic.
This helps students focus upon audience as they consider what the reader needs to
know. The answers to these questions will form the basis to the composition.

● Discussion and debate: The teacher helps students with topics, helping them
develop ideas in a positive and encouraging way.

Here are some ideas for classroom activities during this stage:

 Fast writing: The students write quickly on a topic for five to ten minutes
without worrying about correct language or punctuation. Writing as quickly
as possible, if they cannot think of a word they leave a space or write it in
their own language. The important thing is to keep writing. Later this text is
revised.
 Group compositions: Working together in groups, sharing ideas. This
collaborative writing is especially valuable as it involves other skills
(speaking in particular.)
 Changing viewpoints: A good writing activity to follow a role-play or
storytelling activity. Different students choose different points of view and

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

 think about /discuss what this character would write in a diary, witness
statement, etc.
 Varying form: Similar to the activity above, but instead of different
viewpoints, different text types are selected. How would the text be different
if it were written as a letter, or a newspaper article, etc.

Evaluating, structuring and editing

Now the writing is adapted to a readership. Students should focus more on form
and on producing a finished piece of work. The teacher can help with error
correction and give organisational advice.

Here are some ideas for classroom activities during this stage:

● Ordering: Students take the notes written in one of the pre-writing activities
above and organise them. What would come first? Why? Here it is good to tell
them to start with information known to the reader before moving onto what the
reader does not know.

● Self-editing: A good writer must learn how to evaluate their own language - to
improve through checking their own text, looking for errors, structure. This way
students will become better writers.

● Peer editing and proof-reading: Here, the texts are interchanged and the
evaluation is done by other students. In the real world, it is common for writers to
ask friends and colleagues to check texts for spelling, etc. You could also ask the
students to reduce the texts, to edit them, concentrating on the most important
information.

The importance of feedback

It takes a lot of time and effort to write, and so it is only fair that student writing is
responded to suitably. Positive comments can help build student confidence and
create good feeling for the next writing class. It also helps if the reader is more
than just the teacher. Class magazines, swapping letters with other classes, etc. can
provide an easy solution to providing a real audience.

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

Writing as communication

Process writing is a move away from students writing to test their language
towards the communication of ideas, feelings and experiences. It requires that
more classroom time is spent on writing, but as the previously outlined activities
show, there is more than just writing happening during a session dedicated to
process writing.

Potential problems

Writing is a complex process and can lead to learner frustration. As with speaking,
it is necessary to provide a supportive environment for the students and be patient.
This approach needs that more time be spent on writing in class, but as you have
seen, not all classroom time is spent actually writing.

Students may also react negatively to reworking the same material, but as long as
the activities are varied and the objectives clear, then they will usually accept
doing so. In the long term, you and your students will start to recognise the value
of a process writing approach as their written work improves.

When analyzing children’s writing a teacher can look for: Correctness of content,
text structure, sentence structures, vocabulary, spelling, punctuation, and
handwriting. Writing with a sense of purpose: two important things that a writer
must consider are audience and purpose. The writer must understand his aim or
purpose in writing the text and work constantly towards achieving it. He must
clearly know what it is that he wants to achieve through his writing. Next he
should consider his audience. Know who is going to read the material. Use a plan
and style that will be appreciated by your reader.

The term writing to learn and understand refers to writing activities to develop
students’ understanding and thinking. They are a means through which students
build their understanding of their subject matter. eg: Field or laboratory notes,
reading notes- (summary, outlines, analysis), an email to an authority, a project
report, an assignment.

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

CLASSROOM DISCOURSE

Discourse is the ability to negotiate meaning by interacting thoughtfully and

coherently in a given context. It allows the individual to go beyond uttering
sentences and equips the individual to converse or express ideas meaningfully as
the situation demands.

 Classroom discourse is the language that teachers and students use to

communicate with each other in the classroom. The traditional classroom
discourse model was in Teacher Initiation - Student Response - Teacher
Feedback (IRF) pattern. It was a triadic dialogue which often became
teacher monologues which were very authoritative. It is a fact that even now,
classroom discourses are primarily initiated or started by teachers and even
end with them. Students remain passive all the time.
 However, modern concepts of classroom discourses carry certain
characterisitcs like: Student initiations, students’ selection of topics of
discourse, freedom for responses, more student talk and less teacher talk.
This change can be brought about only if oral interactions, questioning
pattern and discussions do happen in classrooms in an orderly manner.

Strategies for promoting classroom discourses:

⮚ Permitting students to initiate discussions.

⮚ Allowing students more time to develop vocabulary knowledge.

⮚ Providing ample opportunities for students to develop their oral skills.

⮚ Making discussion sessions meaningful.

⮚ Asking open-ended, thought provoking questions.

⮚ Providing sufficient time for students to answer the question.

⮚ Equipping students to frame ‘Wh’ questions on any topic under study.

⮚ Making clear your expectations before assigning a task.

⮚ Accommodating learner differences and providing emotional support.

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

Oral Discourse: Merits

● Meaning is supported by nonverbal communication and other factors such as

tone and intonation

● It can be done at the spur of the moment

● The audience is known to the one delivering the message

● The pace of communication is generally determined by the speaker

● More personable and involves a shared situation between speaker and listener

Demerits

⚫ Words are often not given as much consideration before they are spoken

⚫ It is often less planned and is less structured

⚫ There is a tendency to use words with fewer syllables and less complex
sentences Once delivered, it cannot be changed or taken back

⚫ The receiver of information must listen to the whole speech or presentation at

once in order to get full meaning

⚫ Oral information is only permanent if it is continuously passed from one person

to the next

Discussion as a tool for learning

An effective group discussion is one in which the group is able to accomplish its
purpose or to establish a basis either for ongoing discussion or for further
collaboration among its members. It is a democratic, egalitarian process.

The elements of an effective group discussion:

 All members of the group have a chance to speak, expressing their own
ideas and feelings freely, and to pursue and finish out their thoughts.
 The discussion is not dominated by any one person.
 Students feel safe in expressing any variety of points of view.

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

  Group members can receive and respond to respectful but honest and
constructive feedback.
 Arguments, though spirited, are based on ideas, not on people saying it.
 Even in disagreement, there’s an understanding that the group is working
together to resolve a dispute, solve a problem, create a plan, make a
decision, find a set of ideas all can agree on, or come to a conclusion from
which it can move on.

As you engage in meaningful discussion, remember to:

• Talk with your friends and listen to their views too.

• Give your views too.

• Build a meaningful link of ideas.

• Write down your findings in points.

• Make yours or your team’s presentation.

• Answer the doubts raised by your friends.

• Examine your contribution in the discussion.

• Find out what you would do better next time when discussions are conducted.

How do you prepare for an effective group discussion in your class?

Before Discussion:

 Provide necessary information for the discussion in the form of readings,

video recordings, graphs,or listening materials.
 Design a set of questions/ activities that make students review the
information.

During Discussion:

 Involve all participants

 Encourage disagreement, and help the group use it creatively.
 Don’t be the font of all wisdom.

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

After Discussion:

 Design an activity asking students to summarize or highlight important

points/ conclusions.
 Wrap up the session.
 Have a follow-up if necessary

Discussion helps to:

⮚ Develop creative thought

⮚ Engage in meaningful interaction with friends and teachers.

⮚ Enhance understanding of the topic by synthesizing information properly.

⮚ Progressively increase your boundaries of knowledge and skill of inquiry.

⮚ Present matter confidently as in a debate.

⮚ Understand your limitations and strengths.

Types of Questions:

There are numerous systems for classifying questions. Blosser (2000) classifies
questions into four major types: Managerial, Rhetorical, Closed, or Open.

Managerial Questions are those used by the teacher to keep the classroom
operating—to move activities (and students) toward the desired goals for the
period, lesson, or unit. Such questions as “Does everyone have the necessary
equipment?” “Will you turn to page 15,please?” or “Who needs more time to finish
the experiment?” are managerial questions.

Rhetorical Questions are used by teachers to reinforce a point or for emphasis.

“The green coloring matter in plants is called chlorophyll, right?” or “Yesterday
we said there are three major groups of rocks: igneous, sedimentary, and
metamorphic, okay?” fit into this category.

Teachers asking rhetorical questions do not really anticipate receiving oral student
responses, although they sometimes get them.

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

Closed Questions are those for which there are a limited number of acceptable
responses or “right answers.” “What is the chemical formula for water?” “What
happened when you switched from low- to higher-power magnification?” or
“What are plant cell walls made of?”

It is expected that students have already been exposed to the information requested
by a closed question—from a teacher’s lecture, class activity, assigned reading, or
some visual aid.

Open Questions anticipate a wide range of acceptable responses rather than one or
two “right answers.” They draw on students past experiences but they also cause
students to give and justify their opinions, to infer oridentify implications, to
formulate hypotheses, and to make judgments based on their own values and
standards. Examples of open questions might include:

“If you were to design a science display for the school bulletin board, what would
you include in the display and why?” “What do you suppose life on Earth might be
like with weaker gravity?” or “What should be included in a project to improve the
school environment?”

Don’ts in Questioning

1. Using "double barreled" questions (asking two questions at one time) E.g.: Are
you still thinking about that problem, or do you want to move on to the next
subject?

2. Not giving students enough time to think about questions.

3. Providing students with the answer to your question. (They'll stop thinking and
wait for you to provide the answer.)

4. Being overly judgmental about responses provided. You should be accepting of

a student's willingness to respond even if the answer’s wrong.

5. Avoid "yes" and "no" questions. Instead of asking, "Is carbon monoxide a
pollutant?" ask, "Why is carbon monoxide considered a pollutant?”

6. Avoid ambiguous questions. Does it seem possible or does it seem impossible to

you that the Nazi extermination of the Jews ever happened?

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

Do’s in Questioning

1. Demonstrate listening: Use non-verbal signals such as facial expressions, a nod,

eye contact, leaning forward.

2. Sustain the question: Use probing effectively. Encourage a range of responses to

the one question. Does anyone have a different opinion? Could you tell us a little
more about that idea? Can you provide some evidence to support your point of
view?

3. Allow wait time: Learn to be comfortable with the silences. Tell students why
you are waiting

4. Minimize feedback: Affirm student responses, but avoid excessive

praise/criticism, which may silence alternative responses.

5. Vacate the floor: Redirect student responses or comments to other students to

encourage student dialogue.

PLANNING, IMPLEMENTING, AND ASSESSMENT OF ‘LAC’

Planning:

⮚ Identify new terminology and concepts within content

⮚ Identify language registers and style of writing in the subject.

⮚ Determine learning goals

⮚ Decide on essential previous knowledge required by students

⮚ Structure and plan meaningful tasks for learners to acquire effective language
skills

⮚ Create opportunities for learners to use language in relation to subject specific

tasks like preparing a lab report, a project proposal, a business email etc

⮚ Establish strategies to ensure fair and equitable opportunities for all.

⮚ Collect effective resources

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

⮚ Design appropriate evaluation strategies

IMPLEMENTATION:

The best lesson plan is worthless if not implemented properly.

Some suggested practices are:

⮚ Establish a positive classroom environment

⮚ Give clear idea of lesson objectives to students

⮚ Maintain interest and variety to sustain student attention.

⮚ Use appropriate speed

⮚ Collect timely student feedback

⮚ Maintain a reflective teacher journal

ASSESSMENT

⮚ The focus of assessment is on learner’s progress in understanding of linguistic

elements in an area of study.

⮚ Use different assessment strategies

⮚ Have oral and written assessments

⮚ Establish effective routines for observing performance and assessment

⮚ Double grade students: one grade for content and one grade for linguistic

correctness

⮚ Use porfolios for authentic assessment

⮚ Supply word banks / peer interpreters for assessment

⮚ Can allot extended time to complete tests

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam

St John The Baptist’s College of Education Nedumkunnam