when teachers support their students’ development of language awareness, or how specific language
resources (e.g., word choice, ways of putting sentences together) enable users of English to convey
particular messages in powerful ways (e.g., in an argumentative text or oral debate), they learn
to be more deliberate users of English. Through this
dual development of academic English and language
awareness, teachers support ELs to gain sophisticated
understandings of language as a complex, dynamic,
and social resource for making meaning; this dual
development also helps students develop the ability to
shift their language use intentionally based on discipline,
topic, task, purpose, audience, and text type.
Designated ELD is a protected time during the
regular school day when teachers use the CA ELD
Standards as the focal standards in ways that build into
and from content instruction so that ELs develop critical
English language skills, knowledge, and abilities needed
for rigorous academic content learning in English.
Designated ELD should not be viewed as separate and
isolated from ELA, science, social studies, mathematics,
and other disciplines but rather as an opportunity during
the regular school day to support ELs to develop the discourse practices, grammatical structures, and
vocabulary necessary for successful participation in academic tasks across the content areas. English
learners build language awareness in designated ELD as they come to understand how different text
types use particular language resources (e.g., vocabulary, grammatical structures, ways of structuring
and organizing whole texts). This language awareness is fostered when students have opportunities to
experiment with language, shaping and enriching their own language using these language resources.
During designated ELD students engage in discussions related to the content knowledge they are
learning in ELA and other content areas, and these discussions promote the use of the language from
those content areas. Students also discuss the new language they are learning to use. For example,
students learn about the grammatical structures of a particular complex text they are using in science
or ELA, or they directly learn some of the general academic vocabulary used in the texts they are
reading in ELA or social studies.
As the texts students are asked to read become
increasingly dense with academic language, designated ELD
may focus more on reading and writing at different points
in the year, particularly for students at the Expanding and
Bridging levels of English language proficiency. Adolescents
ELs need to develop the language and literacy skills to
graduate from high school and become ready for college,
careers, and responsible citizenship. Their instructional
program, including designated ELD, reflects the anticipated
linguistic and academic challenges of the curricula and
prepares them for these challenges. An intensive focus
on language, in ways that build into and from content
instruction, supports students’ abilities to use English
effectively in a range of disciplines, raises their awareness of
how English works in those disciplines, and enhances their
understanding of content knowledge.Designated ELD should not
be viewed as separate and
isolated from ELA, science, social
studies, mathematics, and other
disciplines but rather as an
opportunity during the regular
school day to support ELs to
develop the discourse practices,
grammatical structures, and
vocabulary necessary for successful
participation in academic tasks
across the content areas.An intensive focus on
language, in ways that
build into and from content
instruction, supports
students’ abilities to use
English effectively in a range
of disciplines, raises their
awareness of how English
works in those disciplines, and
enhances their understanding
of content knowledge.Grades 9 to 12 Chapter 7 | 721