Language Development
All students continue to develop as learners of language
throughout their academic careers, and indeed their lives.
Academic language is vitally important as students progress
through high school and into college and careers. Notably,
students need to understand and analyze how the structure
of language and its organization in a variety of texts differ
across academic disciplines, and they need to apply and adapt
language forms and features to express their own ideas and
construct arguments as appropriate to purpose, audience, and a
range of formal and informal academic tasks. In turn, teachers
need to develop deep understandings of the inextricable links
between content knowledge and language. Content knowledge
is embedded in language, and language is a meaningful
resource for conveying and understanding knowledge of the
world.
Academic language broadly refers to the language used in academic texts and settings, such as
those found in school. In order to achieve career- and college-ready standards, students in grades
nine through twelve need to understand oral and written academic language as well as use it
appropriately in their writing and presentations. The syntactic and organizational structures, as well
as vocabulary, used in academic language are different from those used in the everyday language
of social settings (including informal interactions in school); these shifts in register and attendant
structures and vocabulary are learned and practiced through rich instruction. Some students in
high school may have developed awareness of academic language and can use it flexibly; others,
including ELs and standard English learners, may need specialized instruction to further develop their
language for academic purposes. Academic language shares characteristics across disciplines, but is
also highly dependent upon disciplinary content. Thus, instruction in academic English benefits from
collaborations among teachers across disciplines to address the variations of language use and text
structures in multiple subjects and text types. (For more on the characteristics of academic English,
see chapter 2 of this ELA/ELD Framework and chapter 5, Learning About How English Works, of the
CA ELD Standards.)
By the end of grade eight, students learned to vary
sentence patterns for meaning, reader/listener interest,
and style; maintain consistency; express ideas precisely
and concisely while eliminating redundancy; and use verbs
of various types to achieve effects when writing, speaking,
reading, and listening (L.6–8.3). They traced the etymology
of words and verified the meanings of words or phrases
by consulting a dictionary (L.6–8.4). They also interpreted
figures of speech, used relationships between particular
words to increase understanding, and distinguished among
connotations of words with similar denotations (L.6–8.5).
Students gathered vocabulary knowledge when considering
a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression
(L.6–8.6). As they read, students determined connotative,
figurative, and technical meanings of words and phrases
and analyzed the impact of word choices on meaning and tone (RL/RI.6–8.4); they also determined
the meaning of subject-specific words, phrases, and symbols (RH/RST.6–8.4). As they wrote, students
used words, phrases, clauses, and appropriate transitions to clarify relationships and create cohesion
Academic language shares
characteristics across
disciplines, but is also highly
dependent upon disciplinary
content. Thus, instruction in
academic English benefits from
collaborations among teachers
across disciplines to address
the variations of language use
and text structures in multiple
subjects and text types.Grades 9 to 12 Chapter 7 | 681