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How do you think learning English can benefit you?

It can assist me to:

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Researchers estimate 85% of achievement test results are based on how well students understand the vocabulary of the standards. There are a minimum of 55 academic words (found on my website ) that are used in the CCSS, its exemplars, and current samples from the testing consortiums. These words fall into the category of Tier 2, or academic words, that are used across curriculums and throughout life. Upon doing my own action research on these words, I discovered that many students at all grade levels and risk levels don鈥檛 know these words.

Some of the words I am referring to include: analyze, anticipate, cite, compare, comprehend, classify, contrast, delineate, . . . and the list continues. Students generally learn these verbs through specific lessons that target the skills these words represent. Some students learn the words easily, but most students, especially ELL and low-SES students, have difficulty. When academic words are taught, the hope is that they will be retained in long-term memory.

I train teachers to take the critical words of the standards and teach them in such a way that they are retained in a memory system called non-motor procedural memory. This is the system we use to store and use our decoding skills, as well as other information, such as song lyrics. This requires engaging students in various activities to get the words stored quickly and easily. Strategies include: drawing pictures, vocabulary word maps, mind mapping, 3-D graphic organizers, vocabulary word gloves, check my vocabulary cards, songs or raps, vocabulary cartoons, movement activities such as freeze frame, skits, and puppet shows, analogies, and online games.

Learning these words requires a whole school effort in which they are used in dialogue, on tests, by all teachers, in newsletters, posters, and as words of the week. When teachers ask where to begin with teaching academic vocabulary, I tell them these are the words to approach first. Pre-assess, teach in fun and repetitive ways, use review games, get parents involved if possible, and aim for success!

Select vocabulary strategically

Just because ELL students and others in need of language development can鈥檛 always say it, it doesn鈥檛 mean that they can鈥檛 think it. It鈥檚 our job to help them develop the academic vocabulary appropriate to the subject area and their levels of learning, and we can start by using three-tiered model for determining vocabulary.

Tier 1 words represent objects or actions that students will be familiar with in their native languages--rudimentary words like 鈥渃hair.鈥� Tier 2 words are more complex and may be subject-specific (for example, 鈥渆stimate鈥� in math) and require direct instruction. Finally, Tier 3 words are complex, low-frequency words, primarily found in the upper grades (think 鈥渁llotrope鈥�).

Though Beck et al.'s model isn鈥檛 developed specifically for ELLs, note that teachers can differentiate vocabulary instruction for ELL students by teaching across the tiers--selecting words that align to students鈥� levels of language acquisition and background knowledge.

But how can you know which words are the right words? Classroom teachers should sit down with their ELL coaches to reevaluate their vocabulary lists through an ELL lens, keeping or adding words that are cognates, have multiple meanings, or contain essential roots, suffixes, or prefixes that can help foster ELL students鈥� language development (Herrerra et al., 2010).

For example, here鈥檚 a typical 3^rd-5^th grade science vocabulary list, from ):

axis; cloud; condensation; evaporation; fog; fresh water; ocean; precipitation; process rotation; states (of matter); substance; water; droplet; wind; process rotation; droplet; wind

So which of these words are cognates (words that have a common origin)?

condensation (condensaci贸n); evaporation (evaporaci贸n); precipitation ( precipitaci贸n); process (proceso); rotation (rotaci贸n); substance (sustancia)

Next, which words have multiple meanings and may appear across content areas?

axis

Which words contain essential roots, suffixes, or prefixes?

condensation; evaporation; precipitation; rotation

If you鈥檙e overwhelmed by the notion of teaching academic vocabulary to ELL students, remember that choosing words strategically can help students use--and retain--new vocabulary.

As a consultant, I鈥檓 always asked for the best ways to meet the needs of ELL students. In my experience and survey of research, it is a rich exposure to words and connecting these words to concepts. I can relate this advice to my own experiences as a language learner - I arrived in the U.S. at ten years old and exited out of the ELL program at my school after two years. I will never forget the day the I began attending 鈥渞egular鈥� classrooms, which meant no friends or support system as far as language. So I began talking to myself and studying as many words as I could, not just the definition, but how they applied to whatever we were learning for the day. I don鈥檛 like to admit to this, but few of my teachers really communicated what we were going to be able to understand after a lesson - most just focused on skills. After years of schooling (and talking to myself!), I began to pick up more and more Tier 2 (academic) and Tier 3 (domain-specific) words.

Teaching rich, Tier 2 & 3 words to your students can significantly increase their comprehension. It would be beneficial for teachers to look at their standards and think about what concept (big idea) do I want students to understand after this lesson? Then, choose an adequate amount of academic and domain-specific words that can be learned for mastery at the end of the lesson. Learning vocabulary words by simple memorization is a skill and through brain research we know that words learned this way are easily forgettable. But tie this skill to a concept, big idea, or understanding, and our brains are able to make connections and store the meaning in our long-term memory. As an ELL student, I worked all this out in my head, and in my native language, for some time. It was not until I started college that I was fluent in the cognitive language, and I鈥檓 still learning new words, every day.

Here are some ideas I鈥檇 like to share:

1-teach new vocab with movement/gestures accompanying the statement of the meaning

2-use a funny/dramatic cartoon that illustrates the meaning

3- underline a link in the new word that relates to a familiar word, like the 鈥減ug鈥� in pugnacious, then draw your cartoon or write your sentence using both words

4-keep track of the words you introduce and in the following days make use of them in unrelated instruction/ communication

I鈥檝e taught English to both ELL students and native language speaking students. I find a similar trend between both groups--grammar is a dying science. We hear poor grammar and inappropriate vocabulary everywhere whether it鈥檚 on TV, in music, on the street, or even in 鈥渏ournalistic鈥� articles. With the advent social media shorthand, students no longer see or understand the need to use academic vocabulary because this shorthand has become more common.

I鈥檝e had students answer test questions with 鈥淚DK鈥�. Having students keep a reading log and participating in SSR has helped incredibly with both of my student groups. The key to teaching students academic vocabulary is to use it ourselves.