Bridging Content and Complex Language
As a native speaker of mainstream English, I have found these chapters to be very revealing. One of my first revelations was the understanding of the great depth and breadth of the issues involved with the comprehension and use of academic English. I had not taken the time to fully explore all of the many ways in which the English language, especially academic English, can be confusing for English language learners. The uses of qualifying statements, prosody, clauses etc. present so many challenges that I now have an even greater respect for any level of success that ELL’s achieve on a daily basis. I have also become much more aware of the ways in which I, unintentionally, may be confusing ELLs with my speech. It also helped me to identify the particular mechanisms that are breaking down when individuals who are ELLs seem to be having difficultly being understood and how I may be able to help repair those issues in an efficient way. Also, the first chapter clarified the way in which these seemingly minor difficulties in communication can have social and psychological ramifications that are much deeper than receiving a low grade.
However, the next few chapters have given me much hope. As a theatre teacher, it seemed like an onerous task to try to teach the content of my courses, as well as continually scaffolding the use of academic language. However, the strategies that are given are not unlike some of my current teaching methods. I believe, through some minor changes and deliberate planning, I can effectively teach, both academic language and content. For instance, analysing the way in which a particular character speaks and how this reflects their thinking are essential parts of an actor’s preparation for a role. Therefore, discussing metalinguistic and metacognitive processes can be easily done in relation to course content. Furthermore, theatre emphasises using the whole body and voice to communicate and is not limited to the verbal realm. Therefore, students who are experiencing language difficulties may feel safer and freer to express themselves in these ways. Consequently, I, as well as their fellow students, will be better able to scaffold their language development, as we assist them in finding the right academic language to express the ideas they have presented.
There are many more examples of the many ways I have been inspired to bridge the content of my courses with the acquisition of academic language and I am excited to try them out with students in the field.