Being explicit for distant audiences
I believe teachers need to be careful when using complex vocabulary because students might not know what the teacher is saying. For example, if I cannot assume students will understand the academic word “medium” when I ask them to do something with a medium. Some may assume that I am using the meaning of medium as between big and small. It is incumbent upon the teacher to make sure students are aware of the meaning of academic words. Students cannot mindread. They have to deal with the comprehensible input they receive from their teachers. Zweir’s talks about how the scaffolding must be built before academic language comprehension can be achieved. I believe that this is not only crucial, but sometimes very hard to remember. Teachers live in the world of academic language and jargon without thinking about it. They always need to be aware that they must bridge the gap between students and the language of the teacher.