Language growth is not just understanding terminologies
To master using appropriate language in a certain subject area, students will first need to learn terminologies and concepts in that subject. It is essential for them to memorize words, use certain sentence structures, analyze unique ideas and express their own thoughts in particular patterns. Part of a teacher’s responsibility is to help them grasp all the above with scaffolding.
However, it does not stop just there. Rather than something used only in classrooms, language is supposed to be an inner ability which one will employ for every aspect of life. When a teacher teaches a subject, he or she should not only consider students’ language growth inside the classroom, but also think about how students can apply this newly acquired language growth in real life situations. For example, in a literature class a student may seem to understand theme and motif quite well, and he can identify these elements for an in-class reading, but one question remains for the teacher — is he able to do this only because there are so many hints and aid from the teacher and fellow students’ comments in the class, or can he actually utilize these concepts when he reads other literature in order to gain bigger satisfaction, reflect upon the social issue addressed in the work, or gain new perspectives for his thinking? Thus the teacher should always keep in mind that ultimately language growth is for helping the student become more competent.
It is also important to remember that language growths in each subject are not isolated. In a historical novel, the author may very well use a lot of real historical figures and events to make the illustration more vivid. Students without the proper language ability in history may have difficulty to comprehend the meaning because of lack of knowledge in background, timeline and social norms of a particular time. The same applies to scientific novels, popular science books, or even trivial things like bank statements (which will include basic math). It is the teacher’s job to remind students that they should constantly try to apply their language growth in as many fields as possible for their own benefits.
Chang Liu