Teaching English Through ELA, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies: A Content-Based Language Teaching Approach 036752113X, 9780367521134

Citation preview

 i

Teaching English Through ELA, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies

Accessible and hands-​on, this textbook provides a comprehensive introduction to teaching language through content, an approach known as Content-​Based Language Teaching (CBLT). A content-​based, language-​focused approach to teaching in the disciplines is essential to serving the language and disciplinary needs of English learners (ELs) in the classroom. Guided by learning standards and informed by research, this book demonstrates how content materials in English Language Arts (ELA), Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies can be harnessed to develop the English language proficiency of ELs as well as advance their disciplinary knowledge and skills. Using content materials in ELA, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies as a starting point, this textbook illustrates how to teach English as an additional language effectively by integrating language instruction with disciplinary teaching. It showcases numerous learning and instructional activities, complete with targeted language exemplified in sentential and discourse contexts, direct instruction, teacher modeling, guided and individual practices, and assessments, which are further backed up by detailed discussions of their goals, rationales, and implementation. This textbook also features a discussion of differentiation to address the varied needs of students. To further assist readers in determining how to incorporate language instruction, Peng identifies extensive possibilities for language teaching that are based on the same content materials and beyond those targeted by sample learning activities. Each chapter ends with three types of exercises—​multiple-​choice questions, open-​ended discussion questions, and problems of application—​to bolster understanding, promote reflection, and encourage application. Complementing the book are additional online resources, including ready-​to-​use PowerPoints, which are available on the book’s webpage at Routledge.com/​ 9780367521134. Covering key issues such as characteristics of effective language instruction, differentiation, and the challenges associated with CBLT, this is an essential text in TESOL methods and content-​area language teaching, as well as an invaluable resource for pre-​service and in-​service ESL/​EFL teachers and content-​area teachers who are interested in furthering their students’ language and literacy development. Long Peng is Professor of Linguistics and TESOL in the Curriculum and Instruction Department at the State University of New York, Oswego, USA.

ii

 iii

Teaching English Through ELA, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies A Content-​Based Language Teaching Approach Long Peng

iv

Cover image: © Getty Images First published 2023 by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 and by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2023 Long Peng The right of Long Peng to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-​in-​Publication Data A catalog record for this title has been requested ISBN: 978-0-367-53227-7 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-367-52113-4 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-08100-5 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/​9781003081005 Typeset in Bembo by Newgen Publishing UK Access the Support Material: www.routledge.com/9780367521134

 v

This book is dedicated to my students, my wife, Jean Ann, and my parents, David Peng and Grace Zhang. Without their encouragement and support, this book would not have been written.

vi

 vii

Contents

Detailed contents  Support Material  Preface  Acknowledgements  1 Content-​based language teaching: an overview 

ix xii xiii xxi 1

2 Teaching English through Social Studies 

32

3 Teaching English through Science 

71

4 Teaching English through English Language Arts 

101

5 Teaching English through Mathematics 

133

6 Challenges and limitations of content-​based instruction 

166

Appendices

182

Author index  Subject index 

252 254

Appendix A PowerPoint Slides for Chapter 1: Relevant to Questions 7–​10 in Section 7.1  184 Appendix B PowerPoint Slides for Chapter 2:Teach English through Social Studies  192 Appendix C PowerPoint Slides for Chapter 3:Teach English through Science  208 Appendix D PowerPoint Slides for Chapter 4:Teach English through English Language Arts  222 Appendix E PowerPoint Slides for Chapter 5:Teach English through Mathematics  239

viii

 ix

Detailed contents

Support Material  Preface 

xii xiii

Acknowledgements 

xxi

1  Introduction  xiii 2  Suggestions for the instructor  xvi 3  Recommendations for the student  xix

1 Content-​based language teaching: an overview  1  Introduction  1 2 What is content-​based language teaching?  2 3 Theoretical bases for content-​based language teaching  3 4  Evidence for content-​based language teaching  8 5  Key design considerations for the learning activities  13

1

5.1 Text and reading  14 5.2  Form-​focused instruction  17 5.3  Provision of information on linguistic forms  19 5.4  Repetition and iteration  21

6  Conclusion  23 7  Exercises  24 7.1  Multiple-​choice and other questions  24 7.2  Discussion/​reading response questions  26 7.3  Problems of application  27

2 Teaching English through Social Studies  1  Introduction  32 2  Getting ready  33 3  Learning standards for Social Studies and ELA  34 4  Learning activities  39 4.1  Pre-​reading activities  40 4.2  During-​reading activities  45 4.3  Post-​reading activities  50

5  Ideas for differentiation  57 6  Additional language teaching ideas  59 7  Conclusion  65 8  Exercises  66 8.1  Multiple-​choice questions  66 8.2  Discussion/​reading response questions  67 8.3  Problems of application  68

32

x

x  Detailed contents

3 Teaching English through Science 

1  Introduction  71 2  Getting ready  72 3  Learning standards for Science and ELA  72 4  Learning activities  76

71

4.1  Pre-​reading activities  77 4.2  During-​reading activities  82 4.3  Post-​reading activities  86

5  Ideas for differentiation  91 6  Additional language teaching ideas  94 7  Conclusion  96 8  Exercises  97 8.1  Multiple-​choice questions  97 8.2  Discussion/​reading response questions  98 8.3  Problems of application  99

4 Teaching English through English Language Arts  1  Introduction  101 2  Getting ready  102 3  Common Core State Standards for ELA  103 4  Learning activities  106

101

4.1  Pre-​reading activities  106 4.2  During-​reading activities  110 4.3  Post-​reading activities  114

5  Ideas for differentiation  121 6  Additional language teaching ideas  123 7  Conclusion  127 8  Exercises  128 8.1  Multiple-​choice questions  128 8.2  Discussion/​reading response questions  130 8.3  Problems of application  131

5 Teaching English through Mathematics 

1  Introduction  133 2  Getting ready  134 3  Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and ELA  135 4  Learning activities  138 4.1  Pre-​reading activities  139 4.2  During-​reading activities  141 4.3  Post-​reading activities  147

5  Ideas for differentiation  154 6  Additional language teaching ideas  156 7  Conclusion  160 8  Exercises  161 8.1  Multiple-​choice questions  161 8.2  Discussion/​reading response questions  163 8.3  Problems of application  163

133

 xi

Detailed contents  xi

6 Challenges and limitations of content-​based instruction  1  Introduction  166 2  Review  167 3  Challenges and limitations  169

166

3.1  Difficulty of content-​based instruction  169 3.2  Language limited by content and context  171 3.3  Challenges posed by a content-​centric curriculum  173 3.4  Restricted coverage of language in content materials  174

4  Conclusion  175 5  Exercises  176 5.1  Multiple-​choice questions  176 5.2  Discussion/​reading response questions  178 5.3  Problems of application  179

Appendices

182

Author index  Subject index 

252 254

Appendix A PowerPoint Slides for Chapter 1: Relevant to Questions 7–​10 in Section 7.1  184 Appendix B PowerPoint Slides for Chapter 2:Teach English through Social Studies  192 Appendix C PowerPoint Slides for Chapter 3:Teach English through Science  208 Appendix D PowerPoint Slides for Chapter 4:Teach English through English Language Arts  222 Appendix E PowerPoint Slides for Chapter 5:Teach English through Mathematics  239

xii

Support Material

This book includes resources in the form of PowerPoint slides, which are available on the Routledge website and in the Appendix of the book. The PowerPoints are ready for immediate use to teach language and content in each discipline to students.The sets of PowerPoints cover each content area and include clear objectives, discussion questions for students, instructional strategies, and exercises. You can access these downloads by visiting www.routledge.com/​9780367521134. Then click on the tab that says “Support Material” and select the files.They will begin downloading to your computer.

 xiii

Preface

1  Introduction This textbook is concerned with teaching language in content settings. It is written first and foremost for teachers of English as a Second Language (ESL) who have the dual roles to provide language and content instruction and those ESL teachers who push into content classes and support the content and language learning of English learners (ELs). It is also written for content teachers who work with ELs among other students and are called upon to teach language in addition to content and develop content-​area literacy. Though this book is intended as a method textbook, it can be used for professional development of all teachers as the EL population continues to grow and non-​native English-​speaking students make up an increasing part of every class in elementary, middle, and high schools. As a textbook introducing language instruction in content settings, this book articulates what it means to teach language through content and illustrates, through carefully constructed learning activities, not just what to teach, but also how. The primary focus of this book is on language instruction, even though content teaching is discussed and the learning activities we showcase here are based mainly on textbooks used to teach four core school subjects: English Language Arts (ELA), Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. We demonstrate how to teach language and how to integrate language teaching with instruction in these four content areas. The impetus for this book stems partially from review of materials intended for content instruction in the K-​12 setting in the US and partially from observations of instructional practices. Examination of content materials reveals that not much attention is paid to the development of content-​area literacy and even less English language proficiency. Where language is touched upon, the focus tends to be on vocabulary. But even this focus is narrow, limited often to terminology –​as opposed to the general-​use academic vocabulary identified in Coxhead (2000) –​and restricted frequently to definitions or meanings –​as opposed to use. This lack of attention to language in content materials presents a challenge for content teachers who wish to develop students’ disciplinary literacy but whose education and experience are limited to teaching a particular subject. Our observations suggest that it poses a challenge even for ESL teachers who are prepared to offer English language instruction. We see, not infrequently, that content instruction replaces –​rather than complements –​language instruction, due to factors such as the pressure to teach content, the difficulty of teaching both, and a lack of understanding of what it means to teach language through content. If ESL teachers are to truly teach English through content and if content teachers are to meaningfully develop content-​area literacy called for by the learning standards such as the Common Core standards, they need to learn what it means to teach language through content, to identify language-​teaching opportunities in content materials, and to link language development with content learning. This textbook is written for this purpose. It uses content materials as a

xiv

xiv Preface starting point and illustrates how such materials can be exploited for language as well as content teaching and shows how the two can happen side by side and support each other. This textbook includes six chapters: an introductory chapter, four chapters each discussing teaching language through one content subject, and one conclusive chapter. The introductory chapter defines content-​based language teaching (CBLT), reviews research on CBLT, and articulates key principles that guide the design of learning activities to be discussed in Chapter 2 through Chapter 5.This chapter not only provides the background and the research findings that form the bases for teaching language through content, but also highlights the principles, assumptions, and relations that underlie the instructional activities discussed in coming chapters. Chapters 2–​5 each focus on one content area –​starting with Social Studies, followed by Science, ELA, and then Mathematics –​and discuss six learning activities designed with ELs and other K-​12 students in mind. These instructional activities are developed from materials intended for content instruction. The materials for three chapters come directly from K-​12 textbooks; the chapter on teaching English through mathematics features a selection from a New York Times best seller written for the lay audience by an expert in mathematics.This selection is intended to highlight non-​traditional resources that teachers can and should consider for language and content instruction, resources other than textbooks and other curricular materials intended for K-​12 students. These four chapters each open with an introduction followed by a Getting Ready section. This section calls on readers to get hold of and become familiar with relevant content and language standards and the instructional materials from which the learning activities are developed. It urges them to start considering and imagining the learning activities.To facilitate this process, this section provides guiding questions for students to consider as they read content and language standards and encourages them to identify the language and content to be taught and the standards that can guide this decision-​making process. Following this, Section 3 identifies and discusses the content and language standards that inform the design of instructional activities we discuss in Section 4.This section develops knowledge of relevant standards, explaining what they mean, what goals they set for students and what teachers are expected to teach. In addition, we explain how different standards relate to one another, where expectations for different grades differ, and what the standards imply or assume, but not state explicitly. Section 4 of these four chapters discusses the learning activities based on the instructional materials. These activities are presented in the form of PowerPoint slides, which are included towards the end of this textbook on pages 192–251. These slides spell out what to teach with respect to language and content. They also describe how, with clearly articulated steps spelling out the sentences and passages, examples, questions, and exercises used and the actions to be taken by the instructor and his/​her students. These PowerPoint presentations are constructed with the intention that they can be used directly with students. Not included in these presentations are rationales for the language and/​or content targeted, reasons for selecting particular tasks or for organizing instructional steps in particular ways, potential variations to the proposed implementation of activities, and relations of the proposed learning activities to relevant language and content standards. These points and issues, that is, those not discussed in presentations, are taken up in Section 4 and directly addressed. This section describes in detail how the proposed activities are to be enacted including variations to some of the tasks or steps suggested in the slides. It develops students’ understanding of the crucial steps to be followed in implementing each activity. More importantly, this section discusses why a particular language feature or structure or a particular content point is targeted for instruction, why certain steps are proposed and why they are sequenced in particular ways, and how the activities address the various language and content standards discussed in Section 3.

 xv

Preface  xv Following Section 4, Section 5 tackles the issue of differentiation. K-​12 classes are increasingly composed of learners with mixed English language proficiencies. Teachers in charge of these classes are looking for strategies to differentiate instruction and address the needs of ELs with language competence below that of their peers.We take up this issue in Section 5.Taking one activity discussed in Section 4 (often one which, we estimate, is likely to be the most challenging), we discuss in detail ways to scaffold the instruction so that even these ELs can participate and thrive in this activity.To highlight the rich potential for language teaching, Section 6 presents language teaching ideas beyond those in Section 4. These ideas are inspired by and come from the same content materials as those in Section 4.They target aspects of the English language ranging from individual words to phrasal expressions and from clause and sentence structures to discourse features and patterns. They are included in this section to provide you with even more language features and structures you can target for language instruction. We end each of these four chapters with a summary, which reiterates key points discussed. Chapter 6 concludes this book by offering a review and discussing the challenges and limitations in implementing CBLT. This review reiterates key ideas and principles and underscores important characteristics of the proposed learning activities including their underlying connections. More importantly, this chapter identifies and addresses four limitations to content-​based language instruction and explores ways to overcome these limitations. This chapter is intended to strengthen your understanding of what it means to teach language through content and how this should be carried out and to help you avoid the pitfalls in using CBLT as a model to deliver language and content instruction. At the end of each of the six chapters, we offer three types of exercises: a) multiple-​choice and other questions; b) discussion/​reading response questions; and c) problems of application. The ten multiple-​choice and other questions target different parts of the chapter and are designed to encourage students to read and re-​read each chapter and its associated PowerPoint (relevant only to Chapter 2 through 5) and reinforce understanding. The three discussion questions are more open-​ended questions. They focus on key parts of each chapter and are designed to extend or deepen students’ understanding of them. These questions can be used to lead a class discussion or be assigned as questions for students to write a reading response on. In using these questions for reading responses, consider asking your students to choose one question and construct one single-​spaced page in the form of a four/​five-​paragraph mini-​essay. We find the process of writing a short reading response not only strengthens understanding but also increases participation in class discussions that follow and renders them more productive. The three problems of application offer students an opportunity to practice constructing or evaluating content-​based instructional activities. Most of these problems ask students to create learning activities. A smaller number of them engage students in analyzing and evaluating existing resources such as textbooks that integrate content learning with language development. This book differs from textbooks on TESOL methods we know of in three key ways. First, rather than offering isolated ideas on what to do and how, and illustrating them with limited examples, this textbook showcases complete learning activities through PowerPoint presentations.These presentations spell out in detail the steps to be taken, identify the passages to be read, listened to, and/​or discussed, and provide the questions to be asked and examples and exercises to be used. In addition, many of the proposed activities form connected activities that can be implemented consecutively, starting with pre-​reading activities, followed by during-​reading activities and ending with post-​reading activities. These activities, when considered as a whole, show how to design and enact not just one or two activities but a mini-​ unit of instruction, meaning a series of lessons that build on one another to further students’ English language development and extend their content learning. In this regard, this textbook

xvi

xvi Preface is quite different from other method textbooks that review and synthesize research and offer limited suggestions on what to teach and how to teach. This book is distinct in a second way. It concerns the use of K-​12 content materials to develop, exemplify and discuss teaching language through content.This decision is intentional. ESL or content teachers responsible for language and content instruction often do not have the choice to select the content materials they use, because these decisions are often made at the school or district level. Though they may have the option to supplement materials, they have to ensure that the information presented in the selected content materials is understood and grasped by students. For this reason, textbooks and other materials selected for content instruction often form the core curriculum for content as well as language instruction. This is certainly the situation facing many of the teacher candidates and ESL host teachers we worked with. Coupled with this reality is the restricted coverage of language in content materials. These two factors mean that ESL and content teachers need to develop the capability themselves if they are to teach language through content or to develop discipline-​specific literacy of all students in their classes. This capability includes the ability to identify language teaching opportunities in content materials, the ability to design and carry out appropriate learning activities, and the ability to teach language without sacrificing content or vice versa. The best way to accomplish this goal, we believe, is to take content materials, to have students consider and develop language and content instruction using these materials and to show them how this can be done through concrete, carefully constructed learning activities, activities directly designed for ELs and other K-​12 students. This book sets itself apart from other textbooks on methods in another way. It is not intended as a read-​and-​present or read-​and-​discuss textbook, even though it can be used this way. As Section 2 below makes clear, this book, Chapters 2–​5 in particular, is designed as a hands-​on “workbook” in some sense. We do not think that it is advisable for instructors to assign a chapter of this book for your students to read, and then present and/​or discuss what the chapter says.This approach to instruction robs them of the opportunity to practice developing content-​based language instruction. In presenting Chapters 2–​5, the instructor should consider giving students an opportunity to read standards documents and content materials, to identify the relevant standards and the language and content to be taught and to construct learning activities themselves prior to reading PowerPoint presentations and chapters. Only after your students have a chance to engage in these activities are they asked to examine and discuss the presentations and chapters. This approach offers your students a hands-​on opportunity to practice learning to create content-​based language instruction and compare what they come up with themselves with those in this book. This approach can also increase your students’ interest in and deepen their understanding of the book.

2  Suggestions for the instructor As mentioned earlier, we provide three types of exercises at the end of each chapter. Two types –​multiple-​choice and discussion questions are designed to extend and deepen students’ understanding of the chapter content. But the third type, that is, what we call problems of application, expects students to design content-​based language instruction. To prepare students to undertake this task, we recommend taking a hands-​on, problem-​based approach to instruction when you use this textbook. Rather than treating the book just as a source of information and sharing the information by presenting it or having students read and discuss it, the instructor should view the tasks teachers face in delivering content-​based language instruction as problems to be solved. In other words, conceive method instruction as developing problem-​solving abilities rather than just information sharing. Even though there is nothing wrong with providing relevant and important information, it is not all your students

 xvi

Preface  xvii need. To be effective teachers, they need to apply the information in designing and enacting instruction for their students. In short, they need skills as well as knowledge. So what are the problems confronting teachers tasked with teaching language through content? Broadly speaking, there are three key problems that they need to solve. First, they need to learn to read content and language standards and look to these standards for guidance on content and language instruction. They need to identify the standards pertinent to specific content materials, understand the spirit of what the standards intend, and determine on the basis of this understanding the long-​term goals and short-​term objectives for student learning and the instruction to be offered. Second, they need to learn to identify the language as well as the content to be taught from content materials and base the decision on standards and student needs. We stated earlier that content materials tend to provide limited coverage of language, if they cover it at all. A major challenge facing ESL teachers tasked with teaching English through content or content teachers tasked with developing subject-​area literacy is to determine what language to target for instruction. The third, most challenging, problem is to develop and enact appropriate and effective instruction, instruction that is informed by standards, addresses student needs, and teaches the targeted language and/​or content.There are, of course, other challenges such as classroom management, but they are not specific to CBLT. As our experience of using this textbook suggests, none of the three tasks is easy. Things can go wrong easily with these tasks and where they intersect. For instance, teacher candidates we worked with often have trouble understanding standards –​especially what they intend in spirit –​and identifying the relevant language and/​or content standards. They also need assistance in understanding how different standards relate to one another, where expectations vary for different grades and what is not stated overtly by the standards.With respect to determining what to teach, a frequent issue we see is that the features of language prevalent in a text and useful to students are not noticed and targeted for instruction. Candidates tend to pre-​determine what language to teach on the basis of what they feel comfortable teaching without seeing the content materials in front of them. This is reflected in the choice to teach adjectives using materials full of phrasal verbs or target punctuation or the conjunction and in content texts rich with possibilities for language instruction. As our candidates are majors in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), they also find it hard to decide what content is and what content needs to be taught. Probably, the most challenging problem is to develop appropriate instructional activities. The issues that come up with this task include misinformation (i.e. providing inaccurate information on, say, a grammatical structure), missing instruction (not offering information where appropriate), failure to provide modelling or guided practice, missing, limited or wrong examples, problems with sequencing (i.e. demand students to do something without first showing how), etc. We do not mean to trash our students in bringing these challenges to the open. The difficulties that they experience are real and understandable, especially in light of content materials that provide limited guidance on language instruction or subject-​area literacy development and teacher preparation that is highly compartmentalized. We identify the difficulties for two reasons. First, they underscore the challenge of teaching language through content, a challenge that is sometimes trivialized by the fly-​by-​night professional development workshops that purport to introduce CBLT in a couple of hours or in an one-​day workshop. The second, more important reason for discussing these challenges is that these issues come up only if students directly engage in the three tasks. They are less likely to show up if your students only read and discuss what is presented in this book. It is for this reason that we advocate an approach to instruction that offers students hands-​on practice in engaging in the three tasks and solving the problems that arise out of the need to teach language through content. What do we mean by a hands-​on, problem-​solving approach? Recall that Chapters 2–​5 each include a Getting Ready section, that is, Section 2. This section encourages students to

xvi

xviii Preface read the standards documents and the content materials used to develop learning activities and to identify the relevant language and content standards and the language and content to be taught. To assist them with this task, we provide four questions for them to consider as they read. As the instructor, you can give your students these questions before they read the PowerPoint presentations and chapters first. Make available to them the relevant standards documents and content materials used in each of the four chapters. Ask them to read the standard documents and content materials at home and start identifying the standards relevant to the content materials, and determining the language and content to target for instruction. When they return in the next class, place them in groups of three or four and ask them to jointly come up with three or four features of language and content to be taught. In addition, urge them to determine the standards that inform their decisions. Do not ask your students to come up with learning activities at this point. This task is challenging and intentionally separated out and reserved for the next group activity. Give your students 15 to 20 minutes for the group discussion. Then ask each group or selected groups to report to the class on what they come up with. As they present their ideas, lead a discussion, asking them to explain why they select a particular language or content point to teach, what about content materials leads to the selection and what standards inform their decisions, etc. Use this discussion also to offer other language or content points to teach and to expand and deepen their understanding of what is worth teaching. This group activity offers your students an opportunity to read and understand the standards and content materials and determine for themselves what they should teach and what informs their decisions, that is, hands-​on practice in solving the first two problems when tasked with teaching language through content. Moreover, as your students engage in these tasks, you can gain an understanding of what they understand and struggle with and use it to inform the presentation and discussion of the PowerPoint presentations and chapters. Once the class discussion is over, return your students to their original groups. This time, ask them to select one or two language or content points they came up with in their group and develop a learning activity together. Push them to be as thorough as possible in constructing the learning activity. This means articulating each step of the activity, identifying the passages to read, listen to or discuss in class where relevant, spelling out the instructional information to be shared, providing questions or examples where appropriate, and creating exercises for guided and individual practices, etc. Tell your students to write down the activity on black/​ white boards or big Post-​It notes so that they can be shared with the class later. Allocate 25 to 30 minutes to this group activity. After this group activity, call on each group or selected groups to present their learning activities. Lead a class discussion of the reported learning activities and ask them to evaluate what is reported. Through this discussion, develop their ability to create content-​based language instruction. This group activity engages students in the third task and offers direct, hands-​on practice in developing appropriate and effective content-​based language instruction. At the end of this discussion, assign your students to read the presentation and chapter at home. Tell them that this chapter takes the same content materials and constructs six instructional activities. The reading and discussion of Chapters 2–​5 take place only after students have a chance to try to identify the relevant language or content standards and the language or content to be taught, and to develop learning activities in a group. When your students return in the next class, then present or have your students present the PowerPoint and chapter and lead a discussion. Help your students understand not just what to teach and how, but also why. The “why” includes why a particular language or content is targeted for instruction, why an activity is structured the way it is, why particular examples or exercises are selected or created, etc. In short, we recommend devoting at least two to three separate times to each of these four chapters, starting with making available the standards documents and content materials to read

 xix

Preface  xix and ponder in the first class, followed by a second class devoted to the two group activities and ending with the discussion of the presentation and chapter in the same class, if time permits, or in the third class. It should be obvious why we advocate this way of approaching these four chapters. The two group activities engage students directly in identifying the standards, determining the language or content focus, and developing learning activities. They offer hands-​on practices and develop students’ knowledge and abilities to solve problems that confront teachers when tasked with teaching language through content. This way of approaching the four chapters provides some of preparation and support your students need to tackle the problems of application. Our experience in using the book suggests that students are able to engage in these tasks from the start, especially if they happen in a collaborative group setting and are offered appropriate scaffolding and guidance on your part. They may struggle at the beginning. But if you persist with this method from chapter to chapter, their confidence will improve, and their abilities to make sense of standards, to determine relevant language or content to be taught and to create appropriate and effective instruction will improve. For your information, we offer additional resources for this textbook at Routledge. com/9780367521134.These resources include original presentations for Chapter 2 through 5 (PowerPoints you can open and project onto a screen for instruction and discussion), standards documents, sample student work, and other materials. In addition, feel free to contact the author at [email protected], should you need additional information or discuss matters related to this textbook.

3  Recommendations for the student This textbook is designed to provide you with hands-​on practice in developing content-​ based language instruction. Through the PowerPoint presentations, this book shows not just what it means to teach language through content but also how. Through the discussions and explanations in each chapter, this book develops your understanding of why a particular language or content point is targeted for instruction, what standards inform the proposed instruction, and why the activities take the form they do. It does not just provide information. It is designed to cultivate your ability to create and implement effective content-​based language-​ focused instruction for ELs and other students. For this reason, it is not sufficient only to read the book, take notes, or participate in discussions, etc.You need to involve yourself in creating, implementing and evaluating content-​based language instruction. To prepare you to undertake these tasks, we have made recommendations at various points of Chapters 2–​5. These recommendations encourage you to read and determine the standards yourself, to choose the language or content to be taught from content materials, and to start imagining the instruction to be offered before you read the relevant sections of these chapters. It is important that you have a chance to engage in these tasks before you read how they are done in this book. Following this recommendation will slow you down. You may struggle with the task of determining the language or content to teach.Your ideas may be sketchy and need further development. But it is important that you try. In addition, push yourself to be as thorough as possible when you engage in these tasks. Do not just identify a language or content point to teach. Consider why you target this point or what standards help you make the decision. Try to identify the passage for students to read, decide on the examples you intend to use, formulate the questions you plan to ask, and construct the exercises for students to practice, etc. Once you have a chance to engage in these tasks yourself, then go to the PowerPoint presentations and relevant sections to see how these tasks are approached in the book. When reading the book, try to understand what is presented.To check and deepen your understanding,

xx

xx Preface consider answering at least some of the multiple-​choice and discussion questions at the end of each chapter, whether or not you are asked by your professor. In addition, make a conscious effort to compare your ideas with those in the book, determine what is different and shared, evaluate and question what is presented, and imagine how your activities or those proposed in the book can be done differently and more effectively. Clearly, to learn to teach language through content, you need to create and, if situations permit, enact content-​based language instruction. Take a close look at the problems of application. And when your professor asks you to take content materials and create learning activities based on them, use it as an opportunity to gain practice and experience. Put simply, our central recommendation for you is to get involved in actively “doing” content-​based language teaching, not just passively receiving information.

 xxi

Acknowledgements

This textbook has been eight years in the making. You might find it odd, but it started with New York State Education Department adopting the educative Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA) as a test for teacher certification. As an assessment, edTPA in English as an additional language measures not only a teacher candidate’s ability to teach English, but also his/​her capability to teach English through content. This focus on content-​based language teaching (CBLT) likely stems from two key factors. First, it grows out of a recognition of the needs of English learners (ELs) to learn English while acquiring disciplinary knowledge and skills in subjects such as Mathematics, Science and Social Studies. Second, it reflects years of research into second language education that acknowledges the benefits and advantages of CBLT. In working with teacher candidates who major in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) at my university, I came to realize that this task –​teaching English language through content –​is much more challenging than it appears. Candidates need instruction and support in content-​based language instruction. In particular, they need to understand what it means to teach English as an additional language, what it means to teach content, and what it means to teach English through content. Even more importantly, they should be able to take content materials and develop and enact language-​focused, content-​based instruction for ELs. For me, this meant that I should be able to develop and demonstrate through examples what CBLT looks like in practice. This recognition led me to start working on this textbook in Spring, 2014. Then in Fall, 2015, I was lucky enough to be granted a semester-​long sabbatical by my university. This sabbatical gave me the time I needed to complete a draft version of this textbook. Following the completion of the first draft, I started experimenting with using this textbook in my TESOL methods courses. In addition, my colleague, Professor Jean Ann, also tried two chapters in her TESOL methods course. When Routledge expressed an interest in this book in 2019, I started rewriting this textbook on the basis of feedback from my students, Professor Ann, and her students. Thanks to a year-​long sabbatical (August, 2021 to June, 2022) I was granted, I was able to work on and complete a substantial, final revision of this textbook. I would like to thank, first and foremost, my students. Their struggles, questions, reactions, comments, and feedback started me on this journey. They have taught and continue to teach me what their strengths are and what they struggle with. It is through working with them that I first became inspired in writing this textbook and in determining what to focus on, what to include, and how to structure this book. I would also like to thank Professor Ann for giving this book a chance, for trying selected chapters of this book with her students, and for soliciting feedback from her students for me. Her and her students’ feedback were invaluable in guiding the rewriting of this book. Of course, this textbook would not have been written without the two sabbaticals. I would thank my department (Curriculum & Instruction),

xxi

newgenprepdf

xxii Acknowledgements School of Education, and State University of New York, Oswego for supporting my sabbatical applications and giving me the time needed to work on this book. My thanks go to the three anonymous reviewers for my textbook proposal. Their critical and constructive comments and suggestions were invaluable as I undertook the revision of this textbook. It is their feedback, for example, that inspired me to add to Chapters 2–​5 a discussion of how to differentiate instruction to address the needs of ELs with different language proficiencies. My appreciation also goes to Karen Adler, senior editor at Routledge/​Taylor & Francis Group, and editorial assistant, Emily Dombrovskaya. Karen first contacted me for a meeting at the TESOL 2019 conference. It is this meeting and Karen’s interest in the book that motivated me to rewrite it. Over the last three years, Karen and Emily have repeatedly answered my questions, addressed my concerns, and guided and supported me through the book-​publishing process.Without their steadfast encouragement and assistance, this book would have continued to languish as a manuscript. Finally, I am deeply indebted to my professors and teachers for the education and training I received, without which I would not have been able to write this textbook. I majored in English as a Foreign Language at Chongqing University in the People’s Republic of China in 1978 to 1982. It is there that I learned English. But perhaps more importantly, I also saw how English was taught and taught effectively. Several instructional ideas for this textbook were inspired by what I experienced as a learner of English at Chongqing University. In 1985, I started my MA in TESOL at English Department of Northern Arizona University (NAU) in Flagstaff, where I was, for the first time, introduced to theoretical and applied linguistics including, of course, research and scholarship on TESOL methodology. The graduate courses I took at NAU provided the crucial foundation for me to write this textbook. They also spurred me to pursue a PhD in theoretical linguistics at University of Arizona (U of A) in Tucson.Writing this book takes knowledge of TESOL methodology as well as linguistics.The graduate studies that I did at NAU and U of A provided that knowledge. For that, I would like to express my gratitude to all of my professors, in particular, my NAU professors, Susan Foster, Bill Grabe, Fredricka Stoller, and Jean Zukowski/​Faust.

 1

1  Content-​based language teaching An overview

1  Introduction This chapter introduces Content-​Based Language Teaching (CBLT), an approach to language instruction that advocates embedding the learning of an additional language in the study of content subjects. This approach is also known variously as teaching language through content, content-​based language instruction, or simply content-​based instruction. In Europe, this approach to language and content instruction is referred to as Content and Language Integrated Learning or CLIL. This chapter examines CBLT, a term we will mainly use from now on, with a focus on three key questions. What is CBLT? What are its theoretical bases? What is the evidence in support of it? Through this examination, we review some of the history of CBLT and consider its resurgence as an approach to language instruction in K-​12 schools in the US. Following this overview, this chapter considers the four principles –​text and reading, formed-​focused instruction, provision of information on targeted language forms, and repetition and iteration –​that guide the design of the learning activities in Chapters 2–​5, activities constructed to illustrate how materials in content subjects can be used to teach language and integrate it with content learning. This chapter underscores the point that CBLT is purposeful instruction, which is rooted in content materials, intentionally targets language and content, and is enacted by instructional activities that systematically integrate language and content learning. CBLT is not a “two-​for-​one” approach that nets you language and content goals automatically when you teach content or do so with a focus on vocabulary or subject-​specific terms, or when language teachers push into content classes and interpret or translate content information in a language accessible to second language learners (Lightbown & Spada, 2006; Snow, 2014: 443). Effective language instruction via content does not happen by accident. It is done by design through careful planning and coordination (Bigelow et al., 2006). This chapter is organized into six sections including an introduction and a summary. Following this introduction, we explain what CBLT is and how it is defined. We then discuss what theories inform and underpin CBLT in Section 3. Section 4 considers the evidence for CBLT and issues and concerns that arise in implementing CBLT. We shift to the focus of this book, which is to illustrate what content-​based language instruction looks like and how they can be implemented. To provide a context and help you understand the considerations behind the learning activities discussed in Chapters 2–​5, we spell out in Section 5 the four principles and examine the research behind them, principles that are informed by research on CBLT and inform the activities in coming chapters. Though we start with this chapter, you may find it helpful to look ahead at some of the activities while or before you read Section 5. Seeing some examples first can facilitate and deepen your understanding of this overview, in particular, the considerations that underlie and unify the design of instruction showcased. DOI: 10.4324/9781003081005-1

2

2  Content-based language teaching

2 What is content-​based language teaching? Learning language while studying content is not a recent phenomenon. When Latin was first studied as a second or foreign language, it was done through the study of Roman civilization (Mohan, 1986: 3). But systematic integration of subject-​matter teaching with second language learning started in the 1960s in French immersion programs in Quebec, Canada, where native English-​speaking students studied some content subjects through French, their second language. CBLT, as it is currently used, is a cover term for a variety of curricular approaches from immersion to sheltered instruction and theme-​based models, all of which, according to Snow (2014: 439), “share a common point of departure –​the integration of language teaching aims with content instruction.” Crandell and Tucker (1990: 187) define CBLT as “an approach to language instruction that integrates the presentation of topics or tasks from subject matter classes”. Davison and Williams (2001: 57) describe it as a label “for a diverse group of curriculum approaches which share a concern for facilitating language learning broadly defined, through varied but systematic linking of subject matter and language”. For Brinton et al. (2003: 2), CBLT is instruction which has at its core “the integration of particular content with language teaching aims”. Tedick and Cammarata (2012: S28) define CBLT as “a curricular and instructional approach in which nonlinguistic content is taught to students through the medium of a language that they are learning as a second, heritage, indigenous, or foreign language.” They further emphasize that CBLT “focuses on language use and strives to integrate language learning and cognitive development.” To be clear, the “language” of content-​based language instruction is not always English. It can refer to teaching any language as an additional language, whether it is a second, foreign, heritage or indigenous language to learners, as Tedick and Cammarata’s definition has made it clear. As a matter of fact, CBLT in its various forms has been tried in myriad contexts in teaching a wide variety of languages as an additional language (see Lyster & Ballinger, 2011, for a clear and concise description of divergent contexts in which CBLT is implemented). In the K-​12 context of USA, the “language” in CBLT is often identified with English and CBLT refers to English language instruction for students whose first language is not English, students that are known as English learners or ELs.There are schools and school districts in the US that offer bilingual programs in which native English-​speaking students not only learn a second language such as Spanish and Chinese in a stand-​alone language course but also are immersed in the second language by studying some content subjects through it. In such contexts, the language of CBLT is a language other than English such as Spanish or Chinese. The subject matter or the “content” of content-​based instruction refers to different things in different contexts. In US K-​12 settings, content refers primarily to subjects like Mathematics, Science and Social Studies, with the latter two covering a range of disciplines: biology, chemistry, physics for Science and geography, civics and history for Social Studies. CBLT in this context means teaching language (English mainly) through Mathematics, Science and Social Studies. There is, of course, English Language Arts (ELA), apart from Mathematics, Science and Social Studies. It is assumed, of course, that the English language is the target of study in ELA classes and thus is not “content” in the same sense as Mathematics or Science is content. So, for some at least, teaching English via content does not include ELA. This, however, is not the case. A core component of the ELA curriculum is British and American literature. ELs need English language support, especially in understanding English literature. ELA instruction can focus on literature without addressing students’ language needs, especially those of ELs, as our observations have revealed. For these reasons, we have repeatedly seen teachers of English as a Second Language (ESL) push into ELA to provide language teaching and support for ELs (see Holten, 1997, for arguments for treating literature as content). At the college or university level, content refers to a much wider range of fields of study from history, psychology and law

 3

Content-based language teaching  3 to geography, biology, business, and engineering. CBLT has also been employed outside the school or college context to deliver language instruction to, say, adult refugees learning English in the US. In this context, the subject matter to be learned can be narrower, such as US customs and laws, immigration policies and basics of the US government, information needed to pass, say, the US citizenship test. CBLT, as it is defined by various scholars earlier, stresses two key attributes of content-​based instruction. One is the integration or “systematic linking” of language and content instruction, suggesting that language instruction in content contexts is an intentional act, carried out by design. At the administrative level, integration can take several forms. Content and language courses can be formally linked, with the content course offering subject-​matter instruction in a second/​foreign language and the language course teaching the second/​foreign language and providing language support for content learning. The teaching of content and language can also be combined into one course, with ESL teachers pushing into content courses taught by content specialists or with teachers dually certified in ESL and a content area offering content and language instruction in the same classroom. Integration at the instructor level can mean two or more teachers working together to offer content and language instruction or one teacher teaching content and language. Collaboration and coordination at the administrative and instructor levels are obviously important. But this is not what is meant by integration and does not guarantee meaningful and effective language and content instruction (Creese, 2005; Tedick & Cammarata, 2012). This brings us to the second attribute stressed by the definitions, which is that CBLT is a curricular or instructional approach to language instruction. As such, it is critical that language is taught alongside subject-​matter instruction and that integration between language and content teaching is effected at the curricular or instructional level. CBLT is not instruction in which you teach content some times and language other times. Nor is it instruction where language teachers review what subject specialists have taught, or where ESL teachers translate for the ELs or provide content instruction with some focus on vocabulary and terminology. CBLT is not the “submersion” of language instruction in subject-​matter teaching, in which the language learning needs of students are subordinated to or replaced by the goals and concerns of content subjects (Creese, 2005: 192). These instructional practices, which we and others have observed in supposedly content-​based classrooms, are not what CBLT is about. For effective language instruction to occur in the content context, language teaching cannot be merely incidental or opportunistic, relying only on the natural opportunities that arise in the course of content instruction. There must be an intentional focus on language and, in particular, language use (Lyster, 2007; Lyster, 2015). The teaching of language should be supportive of and supported by subject-​matter teaching. The two need to be meaningfully and systematically linked. This book, through the learning activities discussed in the next four chapters, is an attempt to articulate in various ways what this integration looks like at the level of instruction. These activities, which start with content materials, show what language to teach, how to teach it, and how to link it with the study of content, all areas which, we find, are challenging for teachers, even for teachers with training in linguistics and language instruction.

3 Theoretical bases for content-​based language teaching There are a variety of content-​based models that range from total and partial immersion to sheltered instruction and theme-​based language instruction. Some models such as immersion prioritize content over language learning. Others are much more language-​driven, with language instruction organized around content themes. CBLT in various forms has been gaining popularity as an approach to provide English language instruction to language minority students in US elementary and secondary schools.This is evidenced by the increasing adoption

4

4  Content-based language teaching of content-​based models such as SDAIE, short for Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English, and SIOP, short for Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol. SDAIE and SIOP recognize the challenges that the English language, in particular, academic English, poses for non-​native English speakers as they acquire disciplinary knowledge and skills. They seek to make grade-​level subject-​matter information accessible to ELs by encouraging teachers in content areas to use strategies and techniques such as articulating and posting content and language objectives, building background knowledge, pre-​teaching core academic vocabulary, modifying and simplifying academic texts and the use of such texts, and utilizing manipulatives, graphic organizers and visual tools. They are designed primarily to facilitate and advance the acquisition of content knowledge and skills by addressing the language demands and difficulties confronting the non-​native English speaking student population (see Echevarrı́a et al., 2008, for a comprehensive discussion of SIOP including what it is and how it is implemented). There are a number of key factors that drive US schools and school districts to incorporate content-​based models for language and content instruction. On the one hand, the learning standards such as the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) call on language arts and content-​area teachers to promote the language and literacy development of all students. For example, New York State P-​12 Common Core Learning Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy (2011) intentionally separate the reading standards for informational texts from those for literature. As texts in content areas such as Science or Social Studies form a substantial portion of information texts, these standards set the expectation that ELA teachers need to be concerned with content-​area literacy. Also stated separately in this document are the standards for History/​Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects (Pages 72–​79), learning goals to be implemented by content teachers in these areas. It is not only ELA standards that call on all teachers to foster students’ language growth. The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States 2013), for example, embrace a view of science instruction that includes the development of language and content-​area literacy as a core component. These standards push for the integration of literacy and content instruction (Duguay et al., 2013: 2) and place students’ language and literacy development at the center of concerns for all teachers, not just language teachers. According to these standards, ELA or Science teachers cannot just teach literature or science without addressing the language needs of students. CBLT is appealing because its goals are both disciplinary learning and language and literacy development. The impetus for CBLT, on the other hand, comes from a number of practical factors such as the shortage of certified ESL teachers for a rapidly growing EL population, the difficulty with providing mandated hours of ESL instruction, the increasing presence of ELs in all classes and the problems with removing them from content classes for language instruction, and the lack of language teaching preparation for content teachers. If, for instance, ESL teachers can teach content as well as language or if they push into content classes, then ELs do not have to be removed from content classes, and content-​based instruction can qualify as ESL instruction, addressing or ameliorating the issue of mandated hours, the lack of certified ESL teachers, and the need to train content teachers to teach the English language. Even ELs, according to the ESL teachers we worked with, prefer language instruction that is integrated with the study of content, partially because they need to pass high-​stake tests in ELA, Mathematics, Social Studies, and Science (see Creese, 2005, for similar student reactions in the British context). The increasing adoption of CBLT, whether driven by standards or practical concerns, arises likely from a growing recognition and understanding of the challenges that content learning and literacy development pose for all students including ELs. The learning standards such as CCSS and NGSS reflect the findings of decades of research on content and language learning, literacy development and second language acquisition. So, you might wonder what areas of research have contributed to CBLT and influenced its development. What are the theoretical bases for CBLT?

 5

Content-based language teaching  5 In reviews of content-​based models, Snow (2001 & 2014) suggests that this approach to language teaching is informed mainly by research and practice in two key areas: educational and cognitive psychology, and second language acquisition. With respect to educational and cognitive psychology, Snow, following Grabe and Stoller (1997: 10–​11), suggests that Anderson’s work on learning theory, in particular, his research on depth of processing, lays some of the formal foundation for situating the learning of language in disciplinary studies. Citing Anderson (1990) and others, Grabe and Stoller state that learners recall better when the information is coherent and meaningful, when it is related to other information, and when it is presented to learners in small dosages. CBLT meets all three of these conditions. In content-​based models, the curriculum is organized around a particular subject or discipline and thus the information it presents is likely to be far more meaningful and coherent than information in a non-​content-​based model where the curriculum is organized around grammatical structures and where language learning is often devoid of content and disconnected with meaning-​making and communication. In content-​based models, the study of content is linked with the learning of the language through which content information is conveyed. And language learning is also diffused in the studies of different content subjects rather than concentrated in one language course. For Grabe and Stoller, these research findings support “CBI, an approach that, by definition, promotes extended study of coherent content and relevant language learning activities.” Integrated language learning also derives its support from findings in neuroscience research. The advancement of technology, especially in the area of brain imaging, enables researchers to peer inside the brain and investigate the physical structures, properties and activities of the brain. The findings of this research yield significant insights on how we learn, store and process language. In a review of brain research, Kennedy (2006: 479) identifies a number of key takeaways for language learning and teaching, four of which are particularly relevant. They are: a) “Enriched environments promote neuronal development”; b) “The brain stores information based on functionality and meaningfulness”; c) “Attention drives learning and memory”; and d) “Repetition is necessary but it requires novelty with regard to instructional design…” These and other findings lead Kennedy (2006: 480) to assert: The finding of plasticity, and the growing understanding that brain activities are directly linked by networks of neurons that simultaneously perform a variety of operations, suggests that education must broaden its scope to integrate language learning across the entire school experience. The tendency of the brain to consider the entire experience and to search for meaningful patterns calls for thematic, content-​based interdisciplinary language instruction at all levels. Research and practice in four key areas of second language learning and teaching also provide the basis for integrating language and literacy development with content learning. One area is English for Specific Purposes (ESP). English for Specific Purposes refers to English used in the performance of specific occupations such as English for business, English for tourism, or English for engineering. As a course or program, ESP is offered typically to international and immigrant students studying at a college or university or those already employed. ESP is designed to address the specific language needs of these students so that they can work and interact effectively in their chosen line of work. This approach to teaching English as an additional language starts by identifying the language needs for a particular vocation and organizes the curriculum around these needs. Needs, say, for those who are or major in business, may include communicating via a formal business letter or memo, conducting and writing an analysis of a company’s operations and performance, or constructing quarterly and annual reports. An English-​for-​business course takes these needs into account and designs language

6

6  Content-based language teaching instruction that is geared towards these tasks. In such a course, the instructor might reinforce key business terms, highlight the discourse features of business writing and provide samples of such writing, and offer students opportunities to practice writing business letters, company analyses and reports. A business English course can operate independently of or in conjunction with, say, a marketing course. When operating jointly, they can have shared assignments, with each focusing on their area of expertise. Regardless of what form ESP takes, they operate from three key ideas. Different occupations have different language needs. The language used in different lines of work varies. Language instruction can address the needs of students without worrying about their overall English language development. As pointed out by Snow (2001: 303), CBLT is “in keeping with the English for Specific Purposes (ESP) tradition”. The impetus for both CBLT and ESP comes from the recognition that language instruction should not be removed from the needs and contexts of real language use (Johns, 1997: 363). Like ESP, CBLT subscribes to the idea that to gain access to content in English, students need competency in English, competency that is not developed to the extent desired, say, by traditional language courses. CBLT is also similar to ESP in recognizing that the language required for the study of academic subjects, just like the language needed in a particular vocation, possesses unique linguistic features and that situating language teaching in the study of this discipline or occupation can further students’ mastery of such features. But unlike ESP, CBLT is much broader in its goals. It is concerned with content learning in addition to language development. Its concern with language is also much broader. It is designed to develop overall language competence, rather than prepare students for a particular line of work. A second area of research and practice that has influenced CBLT is English for Academic Purposes (EAP). EAP refers to an English language program whose goal is to advance competencies in academic English. EAP, like ESP, is offered usually to international and immigrant students in a higher-​education setting. It addresses the English language needs of these students as they study a variety of disciplines. Like ESP, EAP recognizes that the English used in an academic setting can be distinct from, say, the English used in everyday interactions and that it possesses different features in areas such as lexical choices, sentence structures and discourse.These features of academic English can be challenging for non-​native English speakers, hinder comprehension and limit writing abilities. EAP assesses the language needs of students in the academic setting and structures the instruction around these needs, with a focus on academic English, English needed to complete degree programs. EAP, unlike ESP, supports students’ academic –​not vocational –​aspirations, even though the two can overlap. Snow (2001: 303) points out that CBLT “has a strong English for Academic Purposes (EAP) orientation,” because both teaching English via content and EAP are concerned with students’ ability to handle academic English. What distinguishes the two is that content-​based models are concerned with content learning as well as language learning and overall language proficiency. They view academic language as an integral part of overall language competency. In spite of their differences, these three models –​CBLT, ESP, and EAP –​underscore the importance of linking language learning with the needs and concerns of particular disciplines or occupations. All three subscribe to the ideas that language demands differ for different vocations and content subjects, the language itself can vary depending on the context, and language courses designed to address those needs can further students’ abilities to handle the language demands that their content subjects, disciplines, and employment require. Krashen’s (1984) theory on second language acquisition has a significant impact on language teaching in general and content-​based language instruction. His theory, the Input Hypothesis in particular, claims that language learning takes place when learners are provided with comprehensible input. Input refers, of course, to language input. Chief among the

 7

Content-based language teaching  7 language input for ELs is the content information, conveyed usually through textbooks, and the related instruction and classroom discussions of content topics and interactions with teachers and students. Also contained in that input are the various linguistic features that characterize academic discourse. If learners need input to learn a language and if they need to acquire content-​area literacy, then they need input in the form of academic language. Infusing language instruction in the study of content exposes ELs to the academic language input they need and allows language and content teachers to draw attention to and teach the language features and uses emblematic of academic discourse. Krashen’s Input Hypothesis has a direct impact on content-​based models such as SIOP. SIOP, for instance, treats comprehensible input as one of eight key principles that guide the design of content lessons for ELs and advocates that content teachers make subject matter information comprehensible to ELs through “speech appropriate for students’ proficiency levels,” “clear explanation of academic tasks,” modelling, and by employing techniques such as body language, realia, graphic organizers, pictures and other visual tools (Echevarrı́a et al., 2008: 80–​84). While Krashen is concerned with input, research on communicative approaches to language instruction has come to the conclusion that input alone, even lots of it, is not sufficient to ensure the development of students’ productive –​speaking and writing –​capabilities. To develop communicative competence, learners not only require lots of comprehensible input, but also need repeated opportunities to use the language in speaking and writing in a variety of settings. In other words, output as well as input is crucial to language learning. This finding has led many practitioners of content-​based models to emphasize collaborative group work to maximize interactions among ELs and between native and non-​native English speakers in the classroom (see Duff, 2014, for a recent synthesis of Communicative Language Teaching). Findings in this area have also revealed that even extended exposure to the target language through immersion programs does not guarantee that learners can communicate effectively and that language accuracy, as opposed to fluency, poses a problem. This finding stems from a lot of studies. Chief among them are the large-​scale studies of Canadian immersion programs (Swain, 1985 & 1993). It is this finding that indicates that attention to certain linguistic features and explicit teaching of them must be a crucial component of effective language programs. In other words, we cannot rely exclusively on content instruction as a vehicle for language learning. And language instruction in content contexts cannot depend only on incidental or natural opportunities that emerge in the course of content instruction (see, i.e. Lyster, 2007 & 2015). Effective content-​based language instruction must draw students’ attention to the language features or structures and offer them opportunities to use them.This is why content-​ based models such as SIOP make it a requirement that teachers spell out content and language objectives for each lesson so that teachers and students know the language as well as content expectations. To summarize, we can draw a number of key insights from research in psychology and neuroscience and studies on second language learning and teaching, ideas that have shaped and influenced CBLT. First, it is clear that language learning needs input. Second, learners need repeated exposures to and interactions with that input.Third, the language input learners receive needs to be rich in meaning, engaging, challenging yet comprehensible. Fourth, content provides just the kind of language input learners need, input that is not only meaningful, engaging, challenging, and accessible with instructional support, but also features the language expressions, structures and uses students must acquire. Finally, to acquire communicative competence, learners need attention to and explicit instruction of language and engage in repeated communicative practices.These insights, we show in Section 5, inform and shape the principles that guide the design of learning activities in the coming chapters.

8

8  Content-based language teaching

4  Evidence for content-​based language teaching We have just reviewed the findings from years of investigations in psychology, neuroscience, and second language learning and teaching.The results provide insights into the necessary and optimal conditions for language learning and language education practices that are in keeping with CBLT. A central question to ask is: What is the evidence that CBLT is effective? This question can be divided into three sub-​questions in (1), key questions that research in this area is concerned with. (1) Key questions addressed by research on content-​based language instruction a. How does content learned through a second language compare with that learned through the first language? b. How does the first language (in particular, reading and writing) of students studying content through a second language compare with the first language of students studying content through their first language? c. How does the second language of students who learned content through a second language compare with the second language of students who did not? The first question concerns subject matter learning. The second focuses on first language learning, the ability to read and write, and asks whether learning content through a second language impacts reading and writing in the native language.The question in (1c), perhaps the most important for second language researchers, addresses second language learning, that is, whether learning content through a second language enhances second language acquisition. There has been extensive research of the effects of various content-​based models following the implementation of French immersion programs in Quebec in the 1960s, programs in which native English-​speaking students engaged in content learning through French, their second language. Since then, content-​based instruction has been tried in teaching a range of languages as an additional language in a wide variety of settings and extensively studied (Stoller, 2004; Lyster & Ballinger, 2011, Tedick & Cammarata, 2012, & Snow & Brinton, 2017). By comparing students learning content subjects via a second language or through their mother tongue, these studies attempt to answer the questions in (1). In what follows, we review the research in this area, with a focus on large-​scale studies of immersion in Canada, which, in our opinion, provide some of the most compelling evidence for content-​based instruction. Our review here is not intended to be comprehensive or exhaustive. For such reviews, readers are referred to Genesee (1987), Grabe and Stoller (1997), Lightbown and Spada (2006), Lyster (2007), Saunders et al. (2013), and selected articles in Celce-​Murcia (2001) and Celce-​Murcia, Brinton, and Snow (2014). Our goal in this section is to highlight research findings that provide the key evidential bases for CBLT. With regard to content learning in (1a) and first language acquisition in (1b), our intuition suggests that students who learn content through a second language rather than their stronger, native language may be at a disadvantage, because content learning is more likely to be limited by learners’ weaker, second language. It is natural to question whether second language learners acquire content to the same extent and at the same quality as those whose content learning relies on their more proficient, first language. Similarly, for students who rely on the non-​native language as the medium of instruction, instructional time for learning to read and write in the native language is reduced as it is devoted to content learning in the non-​native language. One wonders whether this has a negative impact on learning to read and write in the first language. Extensive investigations over more than forty years have shown repeatedly that these intuitions are not supported. Second-​language-​mediated content learning is similar to that achieved through the first language. Moreover, students’ first

 9

Content-based language teaching  9 language reading and writing achievements are comparable to those whose content learning is carried out in their mother tongues. Consider, for example, the analysis Turnbull et al. (2001) conducted of a province-​wide test program given to all Grade 3 students in Ontario in 1998–​99. This program assessed three areas: reading, writing (both in students’ native language, English), and mathematics. Students could take the math test in English or use a version of test translated from English to French. These tests were curriculum-​and criterion-​based. They included a variety of questions such as reading different types of texts and answering questions, writing two texts, and solving math problems, writing responses to math questions, and answering multiple-​choice questions. Students’ performances were evaluated and assigned one of four levels: Level 4 (exceeding the provincial standard), Level 3 (representing the provincial standard and a high level of achievement), Level 2 (approaching the provincial standard), and Level 1 (significantly below the provincial standard). They compared the test results of students in French immersion programs (that is, those who studied content through French, students’ second language) with those in non-​immersion programs (that is, those who studied math through English, their first language). They tried to determine whether the test results for mathematics (content) and for reading and writing in the native language (first language acquisition) are different between immersion and non-​immersion students. This study shows that immersion students perform equally or better in some areas than non-​immersion students. With respect to math, the results for immersion students are 10.1% for Level 4 and 50.1% for Level 3, as opposed to 11.5% and 49.3% for non-​immersion students. Regarding reading in English, 7.6% of immersion students score Level 4 and 47.2% score Level 3, compared with 5.2% and 42.9% for non-​immersion students. In the writing test, and 7.7% and 51.3% of immersion students receive Level 4 and Level 3, respectively. For non-​immersion students, the percentages are 6.0% for Level 4 and 48.1% for Level 3. These data are clear. Immersion and non-​immersion students are roughly equal in math and writing. Immersion students are better than non-​immersion students in first language reading. This result is all the more remarkable, considering that some immersion students received no formal instruction of English and some only one year of instruction before the reading and writing tests. This study confirms the findings of a number of previous studies including Lambert and Tucker (1972), Swain and Lapkin (1982), and Genesee (1987 & 1992). Genesee (1992) focused on students with academic and linguistic challenges, showing that the findings regarding content and first language learning also hold for the at-​r isk student population. Turnbull et al. (2001) looked at native English-​speaking students, for whom French is a second language. Consider another study, which investigated students who learn English as a second language. Song (2006) researched two groups of ESL students (770 in total) in one college who were enrolled as first semester freshmen from Spring, 1995 to Spring, 2000. One group, 385 in all, enrolled in a semester-​long content-​linked ESL program. The second group, also 385 in total, participated in the regular, non-​content-​linked ESL program. As students had a choice in selecting the content-​linked ESL program, all of the 385 participants were volunteers and represented all of the students who participated in the content-​linked program during the time period. The remaining 385 students in the control group, that is, in a non-​ content-​linked program, were a subset of ESL students selected to match those in the content-​ linked program. The students in both groups speak a variety of mother tongues including Russian, French/​Creole, Chinese, Spanish, Arabic, and Polish. Students in the content-​linked program took an ESL course on reading and writing (eight credits), a speech course (three credits), two student development courses (one credit each) and a linked content course in psychology, sociology, history, or health and physical education (three credits each). Song examined their GPA (a reflection of learning in content areas), graduation rates, and three measures of English proficiency (a reflection of students’ second language learning), years after

10

10  Content-based language teaching they exited the ESL program and graduated from the college. Thus this study was concerned with the long-​term effects of content-​based instructional models. Song (2006) found that students in a content-​ linked program average 2.83 in GPA, compared to 2.51 for non-​content-​linked students. As the GPA reflects primarily the accumulative performance of students in their majors, this finding suggests that content-​linked students perform better in disciplinary learning than the comparison group. In addition to GPA, Song examined the graduation rates of these two groups. The findings indicate that content-​linked participants are more likely to graduate with a degree and to graduate within four years. Over 151 content-​linked students, representing 39%, graduated with a degree, as opposed to 119 (31%) non-​content-​linked students. In addition, a higher percentage of content-​linked students graduated within four years. The statistics are 139 (36%) for content-​ linked students vs. 91 (24%) for the comparison group.We will discuss student performance in English, when we consider the impact of content-​based models on second language learning. These two studies –​Turnbull et al. (2001) and Song (2006) –​differ in key ways. Apart from the obvious differences between these two studies (i.e. Grade 3 vs. university students, native languages, French vs. English as a second language), they vary in one other way. Turnbull et al. (2001) examined the effects of content-​based language instruction on student performance at one point in time (Grade 3). Song (2006) investigated the long-​term effects, years after students exited the ESL program. In spite of these differences, we see that their findings are similar in highlighting the positive impact of content-​based language instruction. It is clear, contrary to what intuitions might tell us, that content learning and first language acquisition are not negatively impacted by the use of a second language as the medium of instruction. Results for content-​based models and non-​content models are comparable and reveal, in selected areas, a slight advantage for content-​based models in so far as content learning and first language development are concerned. Let’s turn now to (1c), the question concerned with second language learning. We should predict, following our intuition and consistent with the central goal of such programs, that learners who study content through a second language develop better second language proficiency than those who study content through their native language. The reason is simple. Learners who study content through a second language have more time learning and using the second language than those whose exposure is limited to the second language classroom. This prediction turns out to be correct. Take for instance Swain and Lapkin’s (1982) large-​ scale study of French immersion programs in Ontario, Canada. In different areas of Ontario, native English-​speaking students had the option of studying content through French in a variety of bilingual programs from early total immersion (starting in kindergarten and receiving 4450–​4985 hours of instruction in French) to early partial immersion (starting in Grade 1 and receiving 3330 hours of instruction in French) and late partial immersion (starting in Grade 6, 7 or 8 and receiving 625–​2145 hours of instruction in French). Among the questions Swain and Lapkin addressed is the learning of French as a second language. Swain and Lapkin (1982: 42–​45) found that native English-​speaking students in early total immersion programs perform in French as well as native French-​speaking students by Grade 8 on two separate tests concerned with reading and listening comprehension. The averages of the two measures are 15.0 and 19.9 for early total immersion students, similar to 14.5 and 19.6 for francophone speakers. Early total immersion students perform significantly better than early partial immersion and late partial immersion students. The rates are 13.0 and 17.86 for early partial immersion and 8.82 and 13.60 for late partial immersion.These findings demonstrate that Anglophone students can reach native-​like proficiency in French by Grade 8 through a content-​based language learning model. In addition, these results reveal, perhaps unsurprisingly, that second language proficiency decreases as hours of instruction in a second language decrease. We can draw from this the inference that

 11

Content-based language teaching  11 learners who study content through a second language will perform better than those whose exposure to the second language is limited, say, to the second language class, because of the increased exposure to the second language provided by content-​based models. Returning to Song (2006) discussed earlier, recall that this study compared two groups of 770 university students learning ESL: one group of 385 students in a content-​linked ESL program and a second group of 385 students in a non-​content-​linked program. Song looked at three different measures of English: a) grades of the ESL course; b) ACT English Proficiency Test (used to determine if students can exit the ESL program and join the mainstream college courses); and c) GPA in two credit-​bearing English courses (freshmen composition) and one English course with a literature focus. With respect to the ESL course, content-​linked students perform better than non-​content-​linked students. About 156 (40.5%) content-​linked students received an A and 134 (34.8%) students received a B, compared to 109 (28.3%) and 101 (26.2%) for non-​content-​linked students. The two groups also differ in ACT English Proficiency Test. The findings reveal that more students in the content-​linked program passed the reading and writing tests. The numbers for the content-​linked group are 235 (61%) for reading and 238 (62%) for writing. For the comparison group, the results are 206 (54%) and 170 (44%). Finally, with respect to the three credit-​bearing English courses, the mean GPA is 2.68 for the content-​linked group, slightly better than 2.63 for the non-​content-​linked group, even though this difference is not statistically significant. This suggests that the performances of the two groups are comparable in the three credit-​bearing English courses. Taken together, these results suggest that participants in a content-​linked ESL program have a higher level of performance in their second language than non-​content-​linked students, as measured by GPA in the ESL course and pass rates based on ACT English Proficiency Test, even though the mean GPAs in credit-​bearing English courses show that they are only slightly better. These findings, which suggest a superiority for content-​based models, are mostly supported by studies in a variety of settings including CLIL in the European context (see, for example, Tedick & Cammarata, 2012, for a more recent synthesis of research on CBLT). Even though students in content-​based programs excel in language fluency and communication, examination of their second language reveals issues in areas like vocabulary and language accuracy. For instance, Harley (1992) found that the French vocabulary of immersion students is limited, constrained to domains characteristic of their school experiences.They tend to rely on high-​frequency verbs rather than morphologically or syntactically complex verbs. According to Harley et al. (1990), immersion students are similar to native French speakers of the same age in areas such as discourse competence. But their performance on most grammatical measures is worse than that of comparable native French speakers. Moreover, their performance on sociolinguistic measures is also significantly different. Immersion students’ French reveals, for example, much less use of singular vous and conditional verb forms to express politeness. On the basis of an extensive review of studies of immersion, Lyster (2007: 16) characterizes second language speakers as those “who are relatively fluent and effective communicators, but non-​target-​like in terms of grammatical structure and non-​idiomatic in their lexical choices and pragmatic expression –​in comparison with native speakers of the same age.” Together, these studies demonstrate that the second language acquired in a content context can be limited in lexical range, grammatically inaccurate, and socially inappropriate reflected in non-​native-​like uses of linguistic and sociolinguistic features. These and other studies have prompted a call to emphasize form in content-​based language instruction. It is clear that learning content via a second language does not result automatically in gains in all areas of a second language. As Swain (1988) explains, a typical content class, because of its emphasis on content/​meaning, is limited as a language learning environment in three ways. First, the input students receive is functionally restricted, that is, certain uses of language either do not occur naturally in a content-​based classroom or only occur to a

12

12  Content-based language teaching limited extent. Second, owing to the focus on meaning, teacher-​student interactions tend to be limited, with students producing mostly short (one word, phrase or sentence) responses to teacher questions. Elaborate responses to teacher prompts are rare. In other words, students’ output is limited. Third, a typical content-​focused class tends to offer learners “inconsistent and possibly random information about their target language use.”These limitations regarding second language use in content-​based classrooms, combined with the observation that there is little language teaching in typical content classrooms (Swain, 1996), have led researchers such as Swain to conclude that learning content through a second language, while it provides a rich environment to use the second language, is not sufficient (see also Creese, 2005, Nikula, 2015, etc.). They advocate form-​focused instruction in a content-​based context, teaching that focuses students’ attention directly and explicitly on the target language, in particular, language use. There has also been extensive research of form-​focused instruction in content-​based contexts. These studies suggest that second language learners benefit from targeted teaching of linguistic and sociolinguistic features, especially when this instruction happens in a content-​ rich environment where students have ample opportunities to use the target language for meaning-​making communicative activities. Consider the study by Doughty and Varela (1998), who examined the effect of form-​focused instruction on Grade-​6-​to-​8 ESL students in two science classes in the US. The students are mostly native Spanish speakers with one to two students speaking Portuguese, Chinese, or Vietnamese as their mother tongues. They range in age from 11 to 14; their English language proficiency was intermediate at the time of study. Doughty and Varela compared two groups. The treatment group, an intact class of 21 students taught by Varela, received science instruction with a focus on form.This focus took the form of corrective recast on the use of past tense and conditional past, which involved the teacher repeating the student sentence with errors, recasting it using past or conditional past and having students repeating the teacher recast. The control group, a second intact class of 13 students taught by a different science teacher, did not receive corrective recast in their science instruction. The two groups were tested orally and in written form three times: a) a pretest before the instruction started; b) a posttest administered six weeks later; and c) a delayed posttest administered two months later.The findings indicate that the treatment group not only showed more improvement in the posttest but also maintained the learning in the delayed posttest. In contrast, the control group did not reveal significant change. For example, the target-​like medians of the oral tests for the treatment group were 11.11 (pretest), 57.4 (posttest), and 65.69 (delayed posttest), as opposed to 33.33 (pretest), 42.86 (posttest), and 26.14 (delayed posttest) for the control group. This study reveals that even an implicit focus on form by way of recast has a significant effect on language learning. See Valeo (2013) for the similar impact of form-​focused instruction on adults learning English as a second language in a content-​based context. In a more recent article, Lyster (2015) reports an investigation into the effects of form-​ focused instruction on 128 students in six French immersion classrooms in the Montreal region. This study was conducted of 5th-​grade, 10-​or-​11-​year-​old students in Language Arts, Social Studies, and Science classes. Incorporated into these subjects is instruction on form, with a focus on grammatical gender in French, an area that is challenging for learners of French as an additional language. Instruction on grammatical gender took several forms, such as identifying the gender of key words in a story or supplying the definite or indefinite articles before nouns in a passage.The intervention totaled 8 to 10 hours and was infused in the study of content topics over the course of five weeks. The findings, based on three tests (pretest, immediate posttest, delayed posttest), reveal that those receiving form-​focused intervention significantly outperformed their peers in classes with no such instruction. They also show more long-​term gains in language accuracy, that is, the accurate use of grammatical gender.

 13

Content-based language teaching  13 Let’s consider one other study, Grim’s (2008) study of 152 students studying French as a second language in a content-​enriched program in a US university. In this program, the learning of French is linked with topics on geography, population or politics in two French-​speaking countries –​Belgium and Senegal. This study compared the effects of three treatments: a) focus on form is pre-​planned with lexical and grammatical features highlighted and with explanations provided throughout the lessons; b) focus on form is incidental, with explanations provided in response to student questions; and c) focus on form is nonexistent, with instruction entirely focused on meaning. Grim concludes that learners who received the treatment in a) –​pre-​planned instruction on form –​made greater gains in content and second language. In a synthesis of research on form-​focused instruction, Spada and Lightbown (2008) concluded that form-focused instruction is beneficial to second language learning. They classify form-​focused instruction into two types: integrated and isolated. Integrated form-​focused instruction refers to instruction in which form-​focused activities are integrated with content learning and emphasize sense-​making and communication. Isolated instruction refers to language instruction that is not concerned with content learning and embedded in communicative practice. They conclude from their review that both can be beneficial, depending on the language feature, the learner characteristics and learning conditions. Integrated form-​ focused teaching is particularly effective in developing fluency and automaticity because of its emphasis on use and communication. Isolated language instruction can help students overcome effects of L1 transfer, that is, aspects of second language that learners are oblivious to due to interference from their first language (see also Spada, 2018). Three implications emerge from these studies on language teaching in a content setting. First, form-​focused instruction can promote language learning. Second, form-​focused instruction, either via an intentional focus on language or via incidental exposure, can increase language awareness, accuracy in language use, and communicative competence. Third, form-​ focused instruction that is purposeful, pre-​planned, and sustained is likely to lead to larger gains in the target language than instruction that relies on incidental, natural opportunities in the course of content learning. To summarize the research surveyed in this section, content learning remains similar, regardless of the medium of instruction. First language acquisition –​reading and writing in the mother tongue –​is not negatively impacted by learning content through a second language. Moreover, learners’ second language proficiency, in particular, their communicative competence, is significantly better than that of students whose second language learning is limited to a language class, because of the increased use of the second language afforded by a content-​r ich environment. This research also highlights problems with content-​based models, issues in areas like restricted lexical variety and language accuracy. These problems, together with the limitations a content setting can impose on language use and the scarcity of language teaching in content classrooms, suggest the need for form-​focused instruction.

5  Key design considerations for the learning activities Starting in Chapter 2, we will introduce and discuss instruction or learning activities designed to illustrate what it means to teach language through content. These activities target the teaching of English as an additional language in the context of four school subjects: Social Studies, Science, ELA, and Mathematics. This focus stems from research as well as our own observations that language instruction in the content context is often limited by and subordinated to the goals and concerns of subject-​matter learning. We design the proposed instruction on the basis of four premises. First, language learning in a content setting must be rooted in subject-​matter materials. Second, these materials, because of their content focus, are

14

14  Content-based language teaching at best restricted in language coverage or at worst non-​existent, posing significant challenges for language and literacy development (More on this in Chapter 6).Third, teachers and teacher candidates, whether their specialty is ESL or a content subject, need to acquire the ability to identify language teaching opportunities from disciplinary materials and design and implement instruction that targets language and integrates content learning. Fourth, to develop this ability, they need to see and practice constructing and enacting instruction that integrates what language to teach with how to teach it, which means complete and concrete examples of instructional activities, not isolated suggestions such as an idea for what to teach here or a recommendation for a technique there. The learning activities showcased in this textbook are constructed with these premises. In what follows, we examine the key ideas that underpin and guide the design of learning activities in Chapters 2–​5. These four ideas, which are stated in (2), are informed by research on content-​based instruction we just discussed as well as research on effective instruction in general. (2) Key design principles a. Effective content-​based language instruction must be centered around text and reading. b. Effective content-​ based language instruction must be form-​ focused as well as meaning-​focused. c. Effective content-​based language instruction must provide information on targeted language forms. d. Effective instruction must be repetitive and iterative. These principles are not specific to a particular content area or learning activity.They underlie most, if not all, of the proposed activities.We discuss these ideas here to explain what they mean and what they are based on, highlighting the research-​based findings that are cornerstones of effective instruction for ELs and for all learners. The objectives of this discussion are also to make explicit what unifies the learning activities and to provide a foundation for you to build on to understand the content-​integrated, language-​focused instruction in coming chapters. Before or as you read this section, you might find it helpful to take a look at one or two learning activities. Some familiarity with these activities can help you understand the principles and see how these considerations manifest in and guide the proposed instruction. 5.1 Text and reading Subject-​matter knowledge is constructed and conveyed mainly by written texts. In elementary and secondary schools in the US, this knowledge is shared with students mainly through textbooks supplemented by a variety of other written, audio, visual, and multi-​media materials. The worldwide web plays an increasingly important role in supplying much of the supplementary materials that teachers can use for content and language learning. Even though content information can be communicated to students by a variety of other means such as teacher presentations, classroom discussions, hands-​on tasks, TED Talks, films, and YouTube videos, written texts remain one of the principal channels through which students gain content knowledge and skills. As written text is accessed mainly through reading, teaching language through content means that text and reading form crucial components of content-​based language instruction. In addition, texts in different subjects are written in languages that differ from oral languages. They exhibit patterns of language use that vary from one discipline to another (Schleppegrell, 2004; Schleppegrell et al., 2004; Fang & Schleppegrell, 2010). If students are to access content and develop their literacy skills, they must be exposed to such

 15

Content-based language teaching  15 texts and acquire the ability to make sense of academic language, language used to construct and communicate knowledge in school subjects. For these reasons, it is crucial not only to center language instruction on content texts but also to provide repeated and sustained opportunities for students to engage with such texts through close reading, analyses, and discussions, etc. In “Letting the Text Take Center Stage: How the Common Core State Standards will transform English Language Arts Instruction,” Shanahan (2013) emphasizes the centrality of text and spells out three key implications this focus has for ELA instruction. First, it is important for teachers to help students “grapple with challenging texts,” rather than match them to books. They should support students to make sense of difficult texts, rather than shy away from them. Second, instead of devoting a lot of instructional time to preparing students to read, teachers should engage them in “actually reading” texts. Third, understanding main ideas and key details, while important, are not the end goals.Teachers should help students integrate what they read with other knowledge and ideas. Although Shanahan’s article addresses specifically what the CCSS standards mean for ELA instruction, it has wider implications for English language instruction including content-​ based instruction for ELs. English language instruction for ELs is increasingly guided by the standards for ELA. In New York State, for example, ESL teachers were expected to follow the CCSS standards for ELA. These standards specify the goals and the content for ESL instruction, not just ELA instruction. Furthermore, the CCSS standards for literacy in history/​social studies, science and technical subjects provide guidelines that inform the curricular direction and substance of content-​area literacy instruction. Shanahan is not alone in stressing the importance of engaging students in reading age-​appropriate, grade-​level texts. Researchers working with ELs have come to similar conclusions. Wong Fillmore and Fillmore (2012), for example, advocate the use of difficult texts. In addressing the challenges that such texts present for ELs, they recommend that teachers devote twenty minutes each day to the analysis of a complex sentence from challenging texts and develop students’ ability to handle, not avoid, such texts. Complex text is also identified as key to advancing ELs’ academic language by Pritchard and O’Hara (2013) in their survey of experts. Let’s consider what is meant by challenging texts. Obviously, what is difficult for one group of students may not be for another. In selecting texts for students to read, teachers should keep their grade level, English language proficiency and needs in mind. These researchers are not urging the use of, say, college-​level academic texts for ELs with beginning proficiency or students in lower grades. By challenging texts, they mean that selected texts must be above what students are currently reading in complexity and difficulty. At the same time, they must be appropriate with respect to students’ age, grade and proficiency level, that is, texts that students can understand with teacher support. There is, therefore, a place for using simplified texts to ensure that even beginning students start to access content and further their language development as soon as possible. However, simplified texts are not the end goal. There is no simplified text in colleges or universities or outside the education setting. Nor can academic texts be simplified without dumbing down the expectations and content which students are supposed to learn (Schleppegrell et al., 2004: 89). There is another issue. Some so called “simplified” texts are not necessarily simple. Consider, for example, some of the familiar strategies to simplify a text. One involves using the more familiar, shorter phrasal verbs in place of the more formal academic vocabulary: e.g. put out vs. extinguish a fire or set up vs. establish a system. Another strategy simplifies sentence structures by relying on simple rather than complex sentences with, say, relative or adverbial clauses. The meanings of phrasal verbs are arguably harder to figure out because they are often ambiguous. The longer, supposedly more difficult academic vocabularies such as extinguish or establish are more precise and arguably easier to understand.

16

16  Content-based language teaching Restating a complex sentence in simple sentences can make structures simpler, but they can render the semantic relation between the two ideas more opaque. The main point here is that reading simplified texts is not the ultimate objective of reading or content instruction. Simplified texts are only a tool or a “bridge” to grade-​level, age-​ appropriate academic texts.The sooner teachers move away from simplified texts and use texts that students will actually encounter in schools and colleges, the better. We stress this point here for a reason. We have seen through observations an overuse of simplified texts with ELs. While this is done with good intentions and can even help some students pass high-​stake tests, they do not always advance language competence, especially, ELs’ academic English proficiency. Therefore, teachers need to be extremely judicious, emphasizing “challenging” in text selection and “support” in instruction rather than simplification and easiness. In recognition of the centrality of text and reading, we have framed the learning activities in Chapters 2–​5 as reading activities. Following Grabe and Stoller (2001: 191–​192), we have organized the learning activities into three stages: pre-​reading, during-​reading, and post-​reading. Goals, instruction, and methods vary, depending on whether activities are pre-​ reading, during-​reading, or post-​reading. Pre-​reading instruction, according to Grabe and Stoller, “helps students access background information that can facilitate subsequent reading, provides specific information needed for successful comprehension, stimulates student interest, sets up student expectations, and models strategies that students can later use.” Note that nowhere in this list of goals is telling students what the text actually says. This goal is left for during-​reading and post-​reading activities. Too often, pre-​reading instruction provides the very information that students are supposed to obtain from texts. This defeats the purpose of and the need for reading and robs students of the opportunity to gain the information themselves, even when this is done with good intentions. This is why Shanahan (2013) stresses the importance of having students actually read rather than spend a lot of time preparing them to read. As you see from Chapters 2–​5, the pre-​reading activities tend to consist of fewer steps and take less instructional time.These activities, whether designed to generate interest, provide background, or pre-​teach challenging language, are not intended to tell students what the text says. This information is withheld intentionally from pre-​reading instruction so that students have a reason to read and obtain the information through reading and analyses in the during-​ reading and post-​reading phases of instruction. The goals of during-​reading instruction are different, according to Grabe and Stoller. Instruction at this stage “guides students through the text, often focusing on understanding difficult concepts, making sense of complex sentences, considering relationships among ideas or characters in the text, and reading purposefully and strategically.” Note that the goal is not to read for them or to tell them what the text says. To guide students through the text, teachers must have students visit or revisit selected portions of a text in class. Instructional time is precious and limited. Consequently, a large chunk of class time cannot and should not be allocated for students to read a whole text or an extended portion of the text in class.Teachers should have students read “purposefully and strategically.” Reading purposefully means that instruction must align with the goals, which, in the context of CBLT, should refer, first and foremost, to the content and language goals. What is it that you want students to learn from the text with respect to content? What do you want them to learn about English? These goals should guide you in selecting the part of text for students to read or reread, to listen to or for you to explain or help them make sense of in class. Reading strategically means being selective. You cannot and should not explain every word, phrase or clause or sentence that students do not understand. Target “difficult concepts,” “complex sentences,” or “relationships among ideas or characters in the text,” among other things. In designing during-​reading activities, we advocate strategically selecting sentences, paragraphs or short passages, that is, those chunks of the text that carry important content concepts and possess targeted language features and

 17

Content-based language teaching  17 structures. You will see from coming chapters that our during-​reading activities always have a content focus with or without a language focus. This is because texts carry content information. Instruction that supports students in accessing these texts should make sure that this information is understood and grasped by students. Post-​reading instruction, according to Grabe and Stoller, “extends ideas and information from the text while also ensuring that the major ideas and supporting information are well understood.” One goal of post-​reading instruction is to build on during-​reading instruction and ensure that important concepts and information are grasped by students. If students have not fully understood something from during-​reading instruction, post-​reading activities should make sure that they do. Note that the emphasis here is not on understanding everything about the text. The “something” we talk about here refers to the main and significant information. A more important instructional goal of the post-​reading phase, however, is to extend learning beyond the text. The operative word here is “extend.” This means that post-​ reading instruction should not be limited to understanding the text. It should help students to integrate knowledge and skills gained from the text with other ideas and information, something called for in Shanahan’s third implication. Students can integrate what they learn from the reading with what they know, and with what they have learned from this and other subjects. In designing post-​reading instruction within the CBLT context, we take this goal to refer not just to disciplinary knowledge, which is clearly important. We take it to mean language learning. For this reason, all of our post-​reading activities target English, with or without a concomitant content aim.These activities home in on language use, with the goal to expand students’ linguistic resources so that they can use them to construe meaning and construct knowledge in content subjects. Placing language instruction mostly in the post-​reading stage and after during-​reading activities reflects our belief that making sense of meaning and gaining content knowledge come first in content-​based language instruction. Let’s be clear. Framing learning activities as reading-​related activities does not entail that all of them involve students actually reading a text. Grabe and Stoller’s conception of reading instruction is much broader. They specify the goals of reading instruction in the three stages. They do not prescribe how they should be achieved. Take, for instance, the pre-​reading objective of assisting students in accessing background information. Obviously, background knowledge can be shared with students via a separate reading on the topic. But there are other ways of making this information available to students that do not involve reading, such as orally presenting the information, watching a video or film, or conducting a teacher-​led discussion of the topic. In viewing content-​based language instruction through a reading lens, we wish to underscore the critical role that text and reading play in accomplishing CBLT’s dual goals: content and language learning. 5.2  Form-​focused instruction CBLT must attend to form as well as meaning. Form, as used in this context, refers broadly to language and meaning to communication. Form-​focused or meaning-​focused instruction is another way of talking about instruction that is either language-​oriented or communication-​ oriented. In the literature on second/​foreign language teaching methodology, form-​focused instruction is often associated with explicit, direct teaching of language, even though it can be implicit, such as in the form of recast as we see in Doughty and Varela (1998). Explicit teaching of form refers to instruction that draws students’ attention to language features and structures (especially those useful for communication) and shows how they are used for communicative purposes. Form, as used in form-​focused instruction, does not just mean grammar or syntactic structures. It can refer to vocabulary and phrasal expressions, discourse features and structures,

18

18  Content-based language teaching pragmatics (sociocultural rules or conventions of language use), and disciplinary uses of language. Others have argued for an even broader conception of form-​focused instruction, suggesting that this instruction needs to include the teaching of a metalanguage (language used to talk about language). Palincsar and Schleppegrell (2014) and Schleppegrell (2013 & 2016), for example, show that “a meaning-​and content-​oriented metalanguage” based on Systemic Functional Grammar provides a tool for students to talk about text and the language of text, link form with meaning, and infer patterns of language and language use. They argue that such instruction not only deepens text comprehension and advances content learning, but also raises students’ language awareness, especially, of how language is used to construct and communicate disciplinary knowledge. We emphasize form for a reason. There is a long-​ held belief that ELs can pick up the language naturally (as people do with their first language) or as “an incidental by-​product” from learning content (Snow 2014: 443), as long as they are presented with lots of comprehensible input through listening, speaking, reading and writing activities. While input and activities matter to language development, there is clear evidence that language learning does not happen to the extent desired, as we showed earlier and will show shortly. Focus on form does not mean neglecting communication or content learning. Nor does it mean teaching grammar for grammar’s sake. For instance, we do not advocate teaching all sixteen tenses of English as described in traditional grammars of English. Such an approach ignores the fact that some tenses such as present, past or present perfect are used much more frequently and consequently more useful. Given the limited instructional time, CBLT must target those features, structures, and uses of language that are essential to content learning and linguistically challenging and expand ELs’ linguistic resources and enable them to communicate effectively. Effective communication requires two parties. Participants in communication must not only have the ability to understand through listening and reading, but also possess the language to convey ideas through speaking and writing. Attention should not just be paid to knowing or understanding what a word, a sentence, or a passage says or means. In the instruction we have observed, there is not enough emphasis on use or communication and too much attention on knowing or understanding, reflected in language teaching that focuses only on word meanings or content terminology. This trend has been and continues to be noted by researchers who look into actual teacher practices in a content-​based setting (see Nikula, 2015, Troyan et al., 2017, & O’Hara et al., 2020, for some recent examples). It is not sufficient for ELs or students in general to know a word, a sentence structure, or discourse feature.They must be able to apply this knowledge in communication (Swain, 1993; Snow, 2014). Regardless of what is targeted –​vocabulary, syntactic structures, discourse or pragmatics –​the ultimate aim of form-​focused instruction must be language use. So what do researchers say about explicit teaching? Swain (1988) examines immersion programs in Ontario in which native English-​speaking students learn content through French. She concludes that “not all content teaching is necessarily good language instruction” (p. 68). She challenges the belief that students can acquire language incidentally just by learning content and suggests the need for targeted form-​focused instruction. Lyster and Ranta (1997: 41) state: “Subject-​matter teaching does not on its own provide adequate language teaching. Language used to convey subject matter needs to be highlighted in ways that make certain features more salient to L2 learners.” In “What Teachers Need to Know about Language,” Wong Fillmore and Snow (2000: 22) are even more blunt in stating: What do teachers have to know and do to provide such instructional support? They need to know something about how language figures in academic learning and to recognize that all students require instructional support and attention to acquire the forms and structures associated with it. This is especially true for English language learners.

 19

Content-based language teaching  19 Often explicit teaching of language structures and uses is the most effective way to help learners. Teachers must recognize that a focus on language, no matter what subject they are teaching, is crucial. Note that Wong Fillmore and Snow are talking about all teachers, not just ESL teachers. They point out that all learners, not just ELs, benefit from explicit instruction. For them, all teachers have a responsibility to know and teach language and suggest “explicit teaching of language structures and uses” as “the most effective way to help learners.” Research on this point clearly suggests that explicit instruction of linguistic forms is beneficial to all learners and to ELs, in particular. Earlier in Section 4, we reviewed studies of the positive effects of form-​focused instruction on second language learning in a content-​ based context. Let’s consider two more large-​scale reviews of research on ELs. The research reviewed here is not concerned exclusively with explicit teaching in a content-​based model. Nevertheless, they show the benefits of language-​focused instruction. Goldenberg (2008) examines two large-​scale reviews of research on ELs till 2006 conducted by the National Literacy Panel and by the Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence (CREDE). He identifies three key research findings, the second of which is “What we know about good instruction and curriculum in general holds true for ELLs” (p. 17). One effective instructional practice Goldenberg discusses in some details is “explicit teaching of the components of literacy, such as phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, comprehension, and writing” (see also Rayner et al., 2002, Neuman & Wright, 2014, Goldenberg, 2013, & Sohn, 2020). More recently, in a review of six research syntheses including meta-​analyses, Saunders et al. (2013) make fourteen recommendations for instruction that is aimed at advancing ELs’ English Language Development (ELD). According to Recommendation 6, “ELD instruction should explicitly teach forms of English (e.g., vocabulary, syntax, morphology, functions, and conventions” (p. 18). This recommendation is based on the finding that “explicit instructional approaches were more than twice as effective as implicit approaches” (p. 19). Informed by the need and benefit of form-​focused instruction, the learning activities showcased in Chapters 2–​5 not only build in steps for students to listen, speak, read, and write, but also make the explicit teaching of language including form, meaning and use a priority. This applies, in particular, to during-​reading and post-​reading activities.As we explained earlier, the goal of pre-​reading instruction is to facilitate subsequent reading of the text. Consequently, the pre-​reading activities with a focus on language tend to stop at the meaning stage. Use is more emphasized in during-​reading and post-​reading activities. You will see that many during-​reading and post-​reading activities not only draw attention to form but also include steps for students to use the language features and structures, both under teacher guidance and independently. The language we teach is selective, targeting those features and structures that are central to content and linguistically complex and provide ELs with the means to communicate and express increasingly complex ideas. For example, we present a learning activity designed for 3rd graders in Chapter 2.This activity targets the use of where as a relative pronoun (e.g. John’s family moved to Boston where his uncle and aunt live) in a Social Studies text and teaches them how to express two ideas in one sentence using this type of relative clauses. As we show, this type of activity not only expands students’ linguistic resources but can also promote content learning, which, in this case, is understanding the reasons for migration. Note that the relative clause where his uncle and aunt live implies a reason for migration. 5.3  Provision of information on linguistic forms Form-​focused instruction, in particular, explicit teaching of language, entails providing information on the targeted piece of language. Put simply, teachers must teach. Withholding

20

20  Content-based language teaching information from students, whether intentional (in the hope that they can pick it up through exposure) or not, is neither ethical nor effective.We mentioned earlier that explicit teaching of language can focus on many things from words and phrases to clause and sentence structures and from discourse structures to genre-​specific features and conventions of language use. But regardless of the focus, it is important that learners receive the relevant information on the selected piece of language. Being explicit about language does not literally mean drawing attention to it. It means more than that. It refers to teaching, that is, letting students know the relevant information on targeted linguistic forms, including, in particular, how and where they are used. Note that teaching is not equal to lecturing. Nor does this mean that the teacher’s role is necessarily that of the “sage on stage.” Information on form can be shared with students deductively. By that, we mean that teachers first present, say, a grammatical rule, then demonstrate this rule through example sentences and finally have students practice it by constructing sentences. It can also be presented to students through an inductive approach in which teachers provide examples illustrating a rule and give students a chance to arrive at the generalization before telling them (Larsen-​Freeman, 2001: 264; Saunders et al., 2013: 18–​19). Whether a deductive or inductive method is used, the language examples used –​that is, input –​may be enhanced by highlighting targeted linguistic features, say, in bold or color. Teachers may also choose to “flood” students with examples through what is called input flooding, in the hope that they cannot help but notice the pattern. Input enhancement and input flooding are some of the techniques that can be used to promote noticing (Sharwood Smith, 1993; Larsen-​Freeman, 2001: 257; Leow et al., 2003; Lee, 2007). But at some point, teachers need to step in and teach the targeted forms, even if it only involves summarizing, repeating, restating, or reviewing what students have come up with on their own (Frodesen, 2001: 234; Larsen-​ Freeman, 2001: 251; Saunders et al., 2013: 18–​19). That is, teachers need to supply information, information such as how the targeted language feature or structure is formed, what it means, where it is used, and how it differs from other competing expressions or structures. We emphasize providing information on targeted linguistic forms separately from form-​ focused instruction for a reason. Some teachers, in particular, preservice and new teachers, tend to see the role of teaching as that of an activity conductor or an event organizer. In a sense, they view teaching as providing students with activities and making sure that they go according to the plan. This is reflected in lesson plans we have seen and instruction we have observed in which crucial information on the targeted language is left out. Take vocabulary and grammar instruction for instance. We have seen and it has been reported that the definition of a word or a grammar rule students come up with is quickly accepted without the teacher explaining or modifying or correcting, even when it is inaccurate or incomplete. Or the instruction ends at the word or sentence meaning without explaining and illustrating how it is used, even when the stated objective is use (see Ford-​Connors & Paratore (2015: 53) for references cited there). With those who are new to teaching, this is understandable, likely due to insecurity, lack of or incomplete knowledge, inaccurate assessment of what students know or do not know, etc. However, let’s be clear. Once you decide to teach an aspect of language, you have the responsibility to know it and the obligation to decide what about that piece of language should be shared and to share it with students. Research on this is clear and consistent. This research does not just come from studies of ELs such as those cited earlier. They also come from investigations of effective instructional practices for all learners. In “Putting Students on the Path to Learning: The Case for Fully-​ Guided Instruction,” Clark et al. (2012) argue for explicit instruction of new content and skills. They challenge the claim of partially guided instruction such as discovery learning, problem-​based learning, inquiry learning or constructivist learning that students can learn as

 21

Content-based language teaching  21 effectively through implicit approaches as explicit approaches. Based on a synthesis of research from 1980s to today, they conclude: Decades of research clearly demonstrate that for novices (comprising virtually all students), direct, explicit instruction is more effective and more efficient than partial guidance. So, when teaching new content and skills to novices, teachers are more effective when they provide explicit guidance accompanied by practice and feedback, not when they require students to discover many aspects of what they must learn. As we will discuss, this does not mean direct, expository instruction all day every day. Small and independent problems and projects can be effective –​not as vehicles for making discoveries, but as a means of practicing recently learned content and skills. (p. 6) Note that by “fully guided instruction,” they mean direct and explicit teaching of new content and skills. What they do not mean is lecturing or what they call “direct, expository instruction.” By “explicit guidance accompanied by practice and feedback,” they mean that teachers must teach, engage students in applying what is taught through practice, and offer corrective feedback on practice. Research on effective language instruction also highlights the advantages of direct and explicit instruction. For example, in a synthesis of research on vocabulary instruction published between 1985 and 2013, Ford-​Connors and Paratore (2015: 74) conclude that one major source of word learning comes from direct instruction of key vocabulary, an outcome that applies to monolingual and bilingual students. They state: … there is widespread agreement that direct instruction of selected, key words improves vocabulary knowledge. Such instruction may be especially important in disciplinary learning, which typically dominates instruction during later elementary, middle, and secondary school. According to them, there is “widespread agreement” that explicit teaching of key words builds word knowledge and that such instruction is “especially important in disciplinary learning” –​ learning content subjects such as Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. We draw our inspirations from these studies in designing the form-​focused instruction. These studies show that sharing –​not withholding –​information on targeted language forms is essential. The proposed learning activities, especially those in during-​reading and post-​ reading phases, not only incorporate guided and independent practice of targeted language forms as part of instruction. They also include a step whereby teachers share information with students. These activities often start by showing examples from a content text that highlight particular words and phrases or a sentence structure and asking students to examine and describe what they see. But regardless of what students notice or can figure out, these activities incorporate as a crucial step the presentation of information on targeted language forms by the teacher. This is done to ensure that all students, not just those who can come up with an answer, have the necessary and right information. 5.4  Repetition and iteration Effective teachers provide repeated and iterative exposures to the knowledge and skills which students are expected to acquire. By repetition, we mean repeated instruction of, say, the language targeted for instruction. Repeated instruction can take a variety of forms: preview,

22

22  Content-based language teaching direct instruction, guided and independent practice, summary, and review, etc. These instructional strategies may differ in means, but they target the same learning goals repeatedly. We do not intend to suggest by repetition that you should teach the same thing in exactly the same manner repeatedly, even though this is sometimes called for and effective such as repeatedly reading the same story to young children. Iteration, a term borrowed from Blythe and Sweet (2008), stresses the importance of providing repeated exposures over time, that is, over multiple steps in one activity, over multiple activities and lessons, over multiple units of instruction, and even over multiple years. Developing an understanding and command of core concepts and skills such as critical thinking and writing can take years. Few, if any, of us, acquire things with one or limited exposures. Effective instructors incorporate in the design repeated and sustained instruction of key knowledge and skills. Earlier in Section 3, we mentioned Kennedy (2006), who highlights the importance of repetition (qualified with novelty in instruction design) as one of the key takeaways of her syntheses of research in neuroscience. Educational researchers talk about repetition and iteration in various ways. For instance, in a review of years of research, Rosenshine (2012) identifies ten principles of instruction that all teachers should know. (3) Ten effective principles of instruction a. Begin a lesson with a short review of previous learning. b. Present new material in small steps with student practice after each step. c. Ask a larger number of questions and check the responses of all students. d. Provide models. e. Guide student practice. f. Check for student understanding. g. Obtain a high success rate. h. Provide scaffolds for difficult tasks. i. Require and monitor independent practice. j. Engage students in weekly and monthly review. These principles talk about different ways to ensure that learning takes place. A theme underlying and unifying eight of the principles (apart from (3f) and (3g)) is repetition and iteration. Review, whether it is daily (3a), weekly, monthly (3j) or even yearly, is an attempt to visit and revisit the key concepts or skills targeted for instruction. Similarly, whether teachers present information (3b), ask questions (3c), provide models, scaffolds and guided practice (3d, 3h & 3e), or demand independent student practice (3i), they are but different ways of achieving the same learning goals. These principles of effective instruction and the concepts of repetition and iteration do not just apply to students at a particular age group. For example, citing studies that suggest that as many as 24 repetitions are sometimes needed for preschool children to acquire a new word, Neuman and Wright (2014: 9–​10) conclude that children need repeated exposure to acquire vocabulary and elevate it as one of their five principles of effective vocabulary instruction. Similarly, in explaining the success of educational programs such as Sesame Street and Blue’s Clues for pre-​school children, Gladwell (2000: 124–​127) points to repetition as a key ingredient. He reports that producers of these shows learned through research that young children enjoy watching and re-​watching the same show and they gain something new from each viewing.This finding led producers to intentionally broadcast the same episode of shows such as Blue’s Clues each day for five days before moving on to a new episode. Blythe and Sweet (2008) discuss the need to keep college lessons C.R.I.S.P, which stand for Contextualize, Review, Iteration, Summary and Preview. By “Contextualize,” they refer to the need for instructors to distill the instruction of a lesson into one central and unifying concept (a crisp

 23

Content-based language teaching  23 concept or idea, one that is clear and concise) so that students can understand and remember it easily. To ensure that this concept is internalized by college students, they emphasize the need for iterative instruction via review, summary, and preview. These studies underscore the critical role that repetition and iteration play in learning, especially, difficult concepts or skills that take time to develop. Our learning activities reflect the principle of repetition and iteration. The during-​and post-​reading instruction we proposed includes multiple steps. These steps target the same language or content point, frequently through direct instruction, discussion, guided, and independent practices. The multiple-​step activities are designed to introduce and re-​introduce the same content or language and ensure learning by all students. However, we did not try to link one learning activity to another, not because it is not important. One goal of this book is to showcase as many different content-​based language learning activities as possible. This goal necessitates identifying distinct language features or structures that can be taught through content materials. Let’s stress that it is important to relate one learning activity to another, one lesson to another and one unit of instruction to another. As the research cited here shows, effective instruction is instruction that is linked and unified by the same goal, with this goal targeted repeatedly and iteratively by a variety of instructional activities.

6  Conclusion This chapter provides an overview of CBLT. Through a review of research in the last few decades, we explain how teaching language through content is defined, justified formally, and supported empirically. Content-​based language instruction takes many forms from total and partial immersion to sheltered instruction and theme-​based and task-​based models. It is characterized as an approach that integrates subject-​matter learning with learning an additional language, one in which content instruction and language teaching are complementary and mutually supportive, carried out to achieve both content and language goals. Content-​based models draw inspiration and support from a variety of sources. They include Anderson’s theory on learning and cognitive processing, research in neuroscience, and research and practice in second language acquisition. Research on ESP, EAP, Krashen’s Input Hypothesis and work on communicative competence have all influenced CBLT, providing the formal support for linking language and content learning. The studies in these areas recognize that the language in each discipline can differ, it can be challenging and a barrier to content learning, and language instruction is a necessary component of disciplinary teaching.They emphasize the crucial role of input, affirming that cognitively engaging, meaningful and challenging input in the form of content is not just essential to content learning but also to the development of competence in an additional language. Research on communicative approaches to language teaching highlights the critical role of output, that is, the importance of engaging students in speaking and writing and immersing them in communicative practices. There has been extensive empirical research of content-​based models, comparing it with non-​content-​based models or different forms of content-​based instruction. This research has shown, contrary to our intuitions, that attainment in content and in first language reading and writing is not negatively affected by using a second language as the medium of instruction. Evidence also reveals, consistent with our expectation, that students who studied content through a second language develop a significantly stronger command of the second language, especially in language fluency and communicative competence. This research also uncovers problems related to language accuracy and points to the need for form-​focused instruction within content-​based models. This and other research, we believe, provides the

24

24  Content-based language teaching push for learning standards such as CCSS to include subject-​area literacy standards, for content teachers to address the literacy needs of all students and for teacher licensure tests (such as edTPA for English as an Additional Language) to evaluate language teachers’ ability to teach language through content, not just their ability to teach language. Apart from reviewing research, this chapter has devoted a significant portion of the discussion to the four principles that underpin the learning activities to be unveiled in coming chapters. These principles highlight the centrality of text and reading, the necessity for form-​ focused instruction and explicit sharing of information regarding targeted language features and structures, and the importance of repeated and iterative instruction.This discussion makes clear why the learning activities take the form they do and how they are related to one another at a deeper level. As you read the coming chapters, we hope that you will ask yourselves how these principles are reflected in and guide the design of the proposed learning activities and revisit Chapter 1 when necessary.

7  Exercises 7.1  Multiple-​choice and other questions This section includes ten questions: nine multiple-​choice questions and one fill-​in-​the-​blank question. These ten questions are based on Chapter 1 and a PowerPoint presentation and an assessment on pages 182–191 to showcase the kinds of learning activities you will encounter in Chapter 2 to Chapter 5. They are designed to encourage you to read carefully, reflect on what you read, make connections, and to provide a quick check of your understanding. You should read this chapter and, if necessary, review relevant sections before and while attempting these questions. The multiple-​choice questions have four or more choices. There might be more than one correct choice for some multiple-​choice questions, but your task is to select the best one. (1) Section 2 of Chapter 1 reviews how CBLT is defined. Examine the definitions and the explanations of the definitions. According to this section, what should CBLT target? a. b.

content primarily and language secondarily language primarily and content secondarily

c. language and content equally d. content mostly

(2) In defining CBLT, the researchers cited in Section 2 emphasize: a. b.

teaching language sometimes and content other times embedding language instruction in content teaching

c.

teaching language before content d. teaching content before language

(3) Section 3 considers the research and practice that have influenced and shaped content-​ based language instruction. Which of the following does this section identify as having contributed to CBLT? a.

Anderson’s theory of learning

b.

research in neuroscience

c.

Krashen’s Input Hypothesis

d. English for Specific Purposes e. English for Academic Purposes f. The Communicative Approach

g. CCSS h. All of them i.

(a) through (f)

 25

Content-based language teaching  25 (4) Research on CBLT addresses three central questions. One question concerns content learning and asks whether content learned via a second language is comparable to content learned via the native language. The second questions whether first language learning is diminished by studying content through a second language. The findings reveal that neither content nor first language learning is reduced by studying content via an additional language. One study cited in Section 4 is Turnbull et al. (2001). Which one of the following provides the evidence for the conclusion on content and first language learning? a. Math Reading Writing

Immersion Level 4 Level 3 11.5% 49.3% 05.2% 42.9% 06.0% 48.1%

Math Reading Writing

Immersion Level 4 Level 3 10.1% 50.1% 07.6% 47.2% 06.0% 48.1%

Math Reading Writing

Immersion Level 4 Level 3 10.1% 50.1% 07.6% 47.2% 07.7% 51.3%

b.

c.

Math Reading Writing

Non-​immersion Level 4 Level 3 10.1% 50.1% 07.6% 47.2% 07.7% 51.3%

Math Reading Writing

Non-​immersion Level 4 Level 3 11.5% 49.3% 05.2% 42.9% 07.7% 51.3%

Math Reading Writing

Non-​immersion Level 4 Level 3 11.5% 49.3% 05.2% 42.9% 06.0% 48.1%

d. None of the three choices (5) In Section 4, we address whether using a non-​native language as the medium of instruction to study content has a negative impact on first language learning. To measure first language learning, researchers focus on reading and writing in the first language, not on listening and speaking. What is the reason for measuring reading and writing, not listening and speaking? a. Listening and speaking in the first language are not important. b. Learners acquire the ability to listen and speak in their native language before they start formal schooling. They learn to read and write in schools. c. Reading and writing are easier to assess than listening and speaking. d. None of the above. (6) Section 4 addresses a third question, that is, whether learning content through a second language enhances second language learning. The results show that it does. One study cited in this section is Swain and Lapkin (1982). Read the summary of this study and complete the table below by supplying the statistical results.

Reading Listening

Early Total Immersion

Early Partial Immersion

Late Partial Immersion

Francophone speakers

_​_​_​_​_​_​ _​_​_​_​_​_​

_​_​_​_​_​_​ _​_​_​_​_​_​

_​_​_​_​_​_​ _​_​_​_​_​_​

_​_​_​_​_​_​ _​_​_​_​_​_​

26

26  Content-based language teaching (7) Questions 7–​10 concern the two learning activities shown in the PowerPoint presentation and an assessment on pages 182–191. These two activities and the assessment are based on the “I have a dream” speech delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963. This speech is frequently studied as part of the ELA curriculum by high school students in the United States. It is therefore part of ELA content. In Section 5.1, we discuss Grabe and Stoller (2001), who divide reading instruction into three phases: pre-​reading, during-​reading, and post-​reading. Read this section and LA1 concerned with the…of… metaphor and determine how this activity should be classified. Is it _​_​_​? a.

pre-​reading

b.

during-​reading

c.

post-​reading

d. both during-​and post-​reading Hint:You need to understand the goals of pre-​reading, during-​reading and post-​reading activities and determine which goals this activity most aligns with. (8) What does LA1 target? a.

language

b.

ELA content

c.

both

d. neither

(9) Section 5 discusses the four principles that underpin the learning activities discussed in Chapter 2 through Chapter 5. These principles are: i) text and reading, ii) form-​ focused instruction, iii) provision of information on linguistic forms, and iv) repetition and iteration. Which ones of these four principles are reflected in and guide the design of LA1? a.

ii and iii

b.

i, ii and iii

c.

ii, iii, and iv

d. All four

(10) Read LA2 concerned with the not…but… construction. Determine how it should be classified. Is it pre-​reading, during-​reading or post-​reading? In addition, what does this LA target? a. b.

post-​reading; language during-​reading: ELA content

c. during-​reading: ELA content and language d. pre-​reading: language

7.2  Discussion/​reading response questions (11) Question 6 asks you to supply the numerical data from Swain and Lapkin (1982). Note that this study did not directly compare second language learning of students in three different content-​based, immersion models with that of students in a non-​content-​based model, that is, students who study a second language through a traditional language program such as by taking a second language course. Examine the table you complete in Question 6 and consider whether the data from Swain and Lapkin demonstrate that content-​based models are superior to non-​content-​based models in increasing second language achievement. Regardless of your answer to this question, explain why. Base your explanation on the statistical data. (12) Section 3 discusses the research and practice that underpin CBLT. Read or re-​read this section and identify the key insights of this research and practice which have contributed to the development of content-​based models. Then consider the learning standards for ESL or ELA in your state. Discuss how these insights have influenced the ESL or ELA learning standards. Identify at least two connections between the insights and the standards.

 27

Content-based language teaching  27 (13) Consider LA2 in the PowerPoint on pages 189–191. Determine the key steps of instruction (review, preview, summary, direct instruction, modelling, scaffolding, guided practice, group and individual practice, etc.) and how they are sequenced. Discuss whether and how this LA builds repetition and iteration into its design. 7.3  Problems of application (14) Problem 1: There are ESL textbooks that attempt to integrate language and content learning. Examine one such textbook by applying what you learn from this chapter. For example, consider the Quest series by Hartmann and Blass (1999). This series has two parts, one focusing on reading and writing and the other on listening and speaking. Select any chapter of this series such as Chapter 1 of Book 3 (Quest: Reading and Writing in the Academic World). This chapter is concerned with Cultural Anthropology. Read this chapter and examine how it relates language learning to content understanding. Use these questions to guide the analysis. a. Chapter 1 of Book 3 provides three readings. What determines their inclusion in this chapter? How are these passages ordered in this chapter? What appears to determine the order? b. This chapter includes extensive exercises. Examine them to determine what they target. Content, language, both or neither? Explain how they target content, language or both. c. Focusing on exercises that concern language, identify what these exercises target. Is it vocabulary, phrasal expressions, clause or sentence structures, discourse, pragmatics? Do they focus on meaning, use or both? d. How does this chapter integrate content and language learning? Consider this question in relation to the four considerations in Section 5. For instance, does this chapter base content and language instruction on text and reading? Is it form-​ focused? Does it provide information on meaning and use? Does it build in repetition and iteration? e. Finally, do you see any limitation or problem with this chapter? For example, are there aspects of language that are not targeted, but should be? Are there exercises that should be included but are not? (15) Problem 2: Consider LA1 presented in the PowerPoint on pages 184–188. Analyze how this LA teaches the English language and embeds content learning. Address these questions in your analysis. a. Examine LA1. What aspects of language does this LA target? Vocabulary, grammar, discourse, metalinguistic skills, etc.? b. Determine the ways in which content instruction is integrated with language teaching. What are they? c. Analyze what key steps this LA involves and how these steps are organized. What principle seems to guide the organization? Does this LA build in repetition and iteration? d. Consider how this LA can be further strengthened by adding additional steps, by re-​organizing the steps, by selecting different passages to focus on, by developing different forms of practice, etc. (16) Problem 3: On the basis of your understanding of this chapter, develop one learning activity that can be implemented in 30 to 40 minutes. Base this learning activity on the

28

28  Content-based language teaching “I have a dream” speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Note that this speech can easily be located online) and relate it to a content area such as ELA or Social Studies. Spell out this activity using PowerPoint along the line of the PowerPoint presentation on pages 184–191.Your PowerPoint presentation should include the paragraphs/​passages to read or listen to, the questions to be asked, the information to be shared with students, the exercises/​practice to engage students with, etc. Articulate what the teacher and the students are expected to do in each step of this learning activity. Follow these guidelines in developing the activity. a. Focus on some aspect of language other than vocabulary.That is, target units of language that are larger than individual words to teach. b. Link language learning with content learning in this activity. c. Build in explicit teaching of language, guided and independent practice as part of the steps. d. Create an assessment to measure the impact of this activity on student learning.This can be an in-​class assessment or a homework assignment. Prepare this assessment as though it is something that can be given to students to do. For an example, see the individual assessment on pages 182–183.

References Anderson, J. R. (1990). Cognitive psychology and its implications (3rd ed.). W. H. Freeman. Bigelow, M., Ranney, S., & Dahlman, A. (2006). Keeping the language focus in content-​based ESL instruction through proactive curriculum-​planning. TESL Canada Journal, 24(1), 40–​58. Blythe, H., & Sweet, C. (2008). Keeping your classroom C.R.I.S.P.: Unity of purpose as an organizing principle. Advocate, 26(2), 5–​8. Brinton, D. M, Snow, M. A., & Wesche, M. (2003). Content-​based second language instruction. University of Michigan Press. Celce-​Murcia, M. (2001). Teaching English as a second or foreign language (3rd ed.). Heinle & Heinle. Celce-​Murcia, M., Brinton, D. M., & Snow, M. A. (2014). Teaching English as a second or foreign language (4th ed.). Heinle Cengage Learning. Clark, R. E., Kirschner, P. A., & Sweller, J. (2012). Putting students on the path to learning: The case for fully guided instruction. American Educator, 36(1), 6–​11. Crandell, J., & G. R. Tucker. (1990). Content-​based instruction in second and foreign languages. In A. Padilla, H. H. Fairchild, & C. Valadez (Eds.), Foreign language education: Issues and strategies (pp. 180–​ 191). Sage. Creese, A. (2005). Is this content-​based language teaching? Linguistics and Education, 16, 188–​204. Davison, C., & Williams, A. (2001). Integrating language and content: Unresolved issues. In B. Mohan, C. Leung, & C. Davison (Eds.), English as a second language in the mainstream:Teaching, learning and identity (pp. 51–​70). Longman. Doughty, C., & Varela, E. (1998). Communicative focus on form. In C. Doughty & J. Williams (Eds.), Focus on form in classroom second language acquisition (pp. 114–​138). Cambridge University Press. Duff, P. A. (2014). Communicative language teaching. In M. Celce-​Murcia, D. M. Brinton, & M. A. Snow (Eds), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (4th ed., pp. 15–​30). Heinle Cengage Learning. Duguay, A., Massoud, L., Tabuku, L., Himmel, J., & Sugarman, J. (2013). Implementing the Common Core for English learners: Responses to common questions (Practitioner Brief). Center for Applied Linguistics. Echevarria, J.,Vogt, M., & Short, D. J. (2008). Making content comprehensible for English learners: The SIOP model (3rd ed.). Pearson Education, Inc. Fang, Z., & Schleppegrell, M. J. (2010). Disciplinary literacies across content areas: Supporting secondary reading through functional language analysis. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(7), 587–​597. Ford-​Connors, E., & Paratore, J. R. (2015).Vocabulary instruction in fifth grade and beyond: Sources of word learning and productive contexts for development. Review of Educational Research, 85(1), 50–​91.

 29

Content-based language teaching  29 Frodesen, J. (2001). Grammar in writing. In M. Celce-​Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (3rd ed., pp. 233–​248). Boston, Heinle & Heinle. Genesee, F. (1987). Learning through two languages: Studies of immersion and bilingual children. Newbury House. Genesee, F. (1992). Second/​foreign language immersion and at-​r isk English-​speaking students. Foreign Language Annals, 25, 199–​213. Gladwell, M. (2000). The tipping point: How little things can make a big difference. Back Bay Books, Little, Brown and Company. Goldenberg, C. (2008). Teaching English language learners: What the research does –​and does not say. American Educator, 32(2), 8–​23 & 40–​44. Goldenberg, C. (2013). Unlocking the research on English learners: What we know –​and don’t yet know –​about effective instruction. American Educator, 37(2), 4–​11 & 38. Grabe, W., & Stoller, F. L. (1997). Content-​based instruction: Research foundations. In M. A. Snow and D. M. Brinton (Eds.), The content-​based classroom: Perspectives on integrating language and content (pp. 5–​21). Longman. Grabe, W., & Stoller, F. L. (2001) Reading for academic purposes: Guidelines for the ESL/​EFL teacher. In M. Celce-​Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (3rd ed., pp. 187–​204). Heinle & Heinle. Grim, F. (2008). Integrating focus on form in L2 content-​enriched instruction lessons. Foreign Language Annals, 41(2), 321–​346. Harley, B. (1992). Patterns of second language development in French immersion. Journal of French Language Studies, 2, 159–​183. Harley, B., Cummins, J., Swain, M., & Allen, P. (1990). The nature of language proficiency. In B. Harley, P. Allen, J. Cummins, & M. Swain (Eds.), The development of second language proficiency (pp. 7–​25). Cambridge University Press. Hartmann, P., & Blass, L. (1999). Quest: Reading and writing in the academic world (Book 3). McGraw-​Hill College. Holten, C. (1997). Literature: A quintessential content. In M. A. Snow & D. M. Brinton (Eds.), The content-​based classroom: Perspectives on integrating language and content (pp. 377–​387). Longman. Johns, A. M. (1997). English for specific purposes and content-​based instruction: What is the relationship? In M. A. Snow & D. M. Brinton (Eds.), The content-​based classroom: Perspectives on integrating language and content (pp. 363–​366). Longman. Kennedy,T. J. (2006). Language learning and its impact on the brain: Connecting language learning with the mind through content-​based instruction. Foreign Language Annals, 39(3), 471–​486. King Jr., M. L. (1963). I have a dream. A speech delivered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963. www.americanrhetoric.com/​speeches/​mlkihaveadream.htm. Krashen, S. D. (1984). Immersion:Why it works and what it has taught us. Language and Society, 12, 61–​64. Lambert,W., & Tucker, R. (1972). Bilingual education of children:The St. Lambert experiment. Newbury House. Larsen-​Freeman, D. (2001). Teaching grammar. In M. Celce-​Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (3rd ed., pp. 251–​266). Heinle & Heinle. Lee, S. (2007). Effects of textual enhancement and topic familiarity on Korean EFL students’ reading comprehension and learning of passive form. Language Learning, 57(1), 87–​118. Leow, R. P., Egi, T. A., Nuevo, M., & Tsai, Y. (2003). The role of textual enhancement and type of linguistic item in adult L2 learners’ comprehension and intake. Applied Language Learning, 13, 93–​108. Lightbown, P. M., & Spada, N. (2006). How languages are learned (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. Lyster, R. (2007). Learning and teaching language through content: A counterbalanced approach. John Benjamins. Lyster, R. (2015). Using form-​focused tasks to integrate language across the immersion curriculum. System, 54, 4–​13. Lyster, R., & Ballinger, S. (2011). Content-​based language teaching: Convergent concerns across divergent contexts. Language Teaching Research, 15(3), 279–​288. Lyster, R., & Ranta, L. (1997). Corrective feedback and learner uptake: Negotiation of form in communicative classrooms. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 19(1), 37–​66. Mohan, B. A. (1986). Language and content. Addison-​Wesley.

30

30  Content-based language teaching Neuman, S. B., & Wright, T. S. (2014). The magic of words: Teaching vocabulary in the early childhood classroom. American Educator, 38(2), 4–​13. NGSS Lead States. (2013). Next generation science standards: For states, by states.The National Academies Press. Nikula, T. (2015). Hands-​on tasks in CLIL science classrooms as sites for subject-​specific language use and learning. System, 54, 14–​27. O’Hara, S., Bookmyer, J., Pritchard, R., & Martin, R. (2020). Mentoring secondary novice teachers to develop the academic language of English language learners. Journal of Educational Research & Practice, 10(1), 26–​40. Palincsar, A. S., & Schleppgrell, M. J. (2014). Focusing on language and meaning while learning with text. TESOL Quarterly, 48(3), 616–​623. Pritchard, R., & O’Hara, S. (2013). Framing the teaching of academic language to English learners: A Delphi study of expert consensus. TESOL Quarterly, 51, 418–​428. Rayner, K., Foorman, B. R., Perfetti, C. A., Pesetsky, D., & Seidenberg, M. S. (2002). How should reading be taught? Scientific American, 286(84), 1–​9. Rosenshine, B. (2012). Principles of instruction: Research-​based strategies that all teachers should know. American Educator, 36(1), 12–​19 & 39. Saunders, W., Goldenberg, C., & Marcelletti, D. (2013). English language development: Guidelines for instruction. American Educator, 37(2), 13–​25 & 38–​39. Schleppegrell, M. J. (2004). The language of schooling: A functional linguistics perspective. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Schleppegrell, M. J. (2013). The role of metalanguage in supporting academic language development. Language Learning, 63, 153–​170. Schleppegrell, M. J. (2016). Content-​based language teaching with functional grammar in the elementary school. Language Teaching, 49(1), 116–​128. Schleppegrell, M. J., Achugar, M., & Oteiza, T. (2004). The grammar of history: Enhancing content-​ based instruction through a functional focus on language. TESOL Quarterly, 38(1), 67–​93. Shanahan, T. (2013). Letting the text take center stage: How the Common Core State Standards will transform English Language Arts instruction. American Educator, 37(3), 4–​11 & 43. Sharwood Smith, M. (1993). Input enhancement in instructed SLA: Theoretical bases. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 15(2), 165–​179. Snow, M. A. (2001). Content-​based and immersion models for second and foreign language teaching. In M. Celce-​Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (3rd ed., pp. 303–​318). Heinle & Heinle. Snow, M. A. (2014). Content-​based and immersion models for second/​foreign language teaching. In M. Celce-​Murcia, D. M. Brinton, & M. A. Snow (Eds.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (4th ed., pp. 438–​454). Heinle Cengage Learning. Snow, M. A., & Brinton, D. M. (2017). The content-​based classroom: New perspectives on integrating language and content. University of Michigan Press. Sohn, E. (2020). At war over reading: Separating fact from fiction to teach kids the basics. Science News, April 25, 22–​26. Song, B. (2006). Content-​based ESL instruction: Long-​term effects and outcomes. English for Specific Purposes, 25, 420–​437. Spada, N., & Lightbown, P. M. (2008). Form-​focused instruction: Isolated or integrated? TESOL Quarterly, 42(2), 181–​207. Spada, N. (2018). Isolating or integrating attention to form in communicative instruction: A dilemma? Babel, 53(1), 7–​13. Stoller, F. L. (2004). Content-​based instruction: Perspectives on curriculum planning. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 24, 261–​283. Swain, M. (1985). Communicative competence: Some roles of comprehensible input and comprehensible output in its development. In S. M. Gass & C. G. Madden (Eds.), Input in second language acquisition (pp. 235–​256). Newbury House. Swain, M. (1988). Manipulating and complementing content teaching to maximize second language teaching. TESL Canada Journal, 6(1), 68–​83.

 31

Content-based language teaching  31 Swain, M. (1993).The output hypothesis: Just speaking and writing aren’t enough. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 50, 158–​164. Swain, M. (1996). Integrating language and content in immersion classrooms: Research perspectives. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 52, 529–​548. Swain, M., & Lapkin, S. (1982). Evaluating bilingual education in Ontario:A Canadian case study. Multilingual Matters. Tedick, D. J., & Cammarata, L. (2012). Content and language integration in K-​12 contexts: Student outcomes, teacher practices, and stakeholder perspectives. Foreign Language Annals, 45(S1), S28–​S53. Troyan, F. J., Cammarata, L., & Martel, J. (2017). Integration PCK: Modeling the knowledge(s) underlying a world language teacher’s implementation of CBI. Foreign Language Annals, 50(2), 458–​476. Turnbull, M., Lapkin, S., & Hart, D. (2001). Grade 3 immersion students’ performance in literacy and mathematics: Province-​wide results from Ontario (1989–​1999). The Canadian Modern Language Review, 58, 9–​26. University of the State of New York and the State Education Department. (2011). New York State P-​ 12 Common Core Learning Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. www.p12.nysed.gov/​ciai/​ common_​core_​standards/​pdfdocs/​p12_​common_​core_​learning_​stadards_​ela.pdf. Valeo, A. (2013). The integration of language and content: Form-​focused instruction in a content-​based language program. The Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 16(1), 25–​50. Wong Fillmore, L., & Fillmore, C. J. (2012). What does text complexity mean for English learners and language minority students? Stanford, CA: Stanford University, Understanding Language. http://​ell. stanf​ord.edu/​sites/​defa​ult/​files/​pdf/​aca​demi​cpap​ers/​06LWF%20CJF%20T​ext%20Com​plex​ity%20 FINA​L_​0.pdf. Wong Fillmore, L., & Snow, C. E. (2000). What teachers need to know about language. http://​peo​ple. ucsc.edu/​~ktel​lez/​wong-​fill-​snow.html.

32

2  Teaching English through Social Studies

1  Introduction This chapter discusses language teaching in the context of Social Studies. According to the National Council for the Social Studies in the US, Social Studies is the “integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence.” As a name, Social Studies refers to a subject studied in American elementary and secondary schools. For example, in New York State (NYS), Social Studies covers five key areas: US and NYS history; world history; geography; economics; and civics, citizenship, and government. Because of its focus on history and other subjects, the Social Studies curriculum relies on texts that are language-​r ich. This presents a challenge and an opportunity for English learners (ELs) in the process of learning the language. Language-​heavy texts, while challenging, can be exploited for language teaching, not just content instruction. As a matter of fact, experimentation with content-​ based language instruction frequently involves integrating language instruction with the study of social sciences and humanities such as history, psychology and sociology and geography (Mohan, 1986; Song, 2006; Hardwick & Davis, 2009; Short et al., 2011b; Valeo, 2013, etc.). Thus, the Social Studies class offers an important forum for K-​12 teachers to develop and strengthen all students’ English proficiency. In this chapter, we present six learning activities that target language as well as content. They are constructed from two lessons of a unit entitled People in Communities on Pages 74–​ 79. This unit is part of a Social Studies textbook designed for Grade 3 students published by Pearson (Pearson Education, 2003). These two lessons include five short passages with these titles: Moving to a New Community, We Come from All Over!, Why People Move, Learning New Customs, and Moving to a New Country. These passages explore a variety of topics including places people migrate from and to, things and customs left behind, new things and customs to be learned, anticipation, anxiety and fears about the new community or country, and reasons for migration. They start to develop students’ understanding of the history and geography of migration central to the American experience. As is typical of textbooks for elementary school students, this book makes use of a number of familiar strategies to support student learning, strategies such as the use of simplified language and visuals. We demonstrate that even a simplified text offers many language teaching opportunities. At the vocabulary level, this 3rd-​grade text still includes many abstract, academic vocabulary such as community, custom, freedom, system, immigrant, rural, and follow (as in follow a religion).To avoid longer, more challenging vocabulary, simplified texts like this one use shorter phrasal verbs in place of multi-​syllabic words (i.e. set up rather than establish systems of laws). They also bypass less frequently used words with fixed meanings, relying instead on more frequently used words with multiple meanings (i.e. make choices in place of choose or select or like in place of similar to). As a result, students have to learn to disambiguate words with multiple meanings such as make and like in discourse context. This simplified text highlights a variety of sentence structures as well, including different tenses (present, present progressive, and past), DOI: 10.4324/9781003081005-2

 33

Teaching English through Social Studies  33 use of infinitive clauses to express a reason or purpose (i.e. People move to find a better life for themselves or their children), relative clauses, and sentence types such as declarative sentences, yes-​no questions, wh-​questions, etc. At the discourse level, this 3rd-​grade text offers at least three features for instruction. One feature is that the five passages are written in first, second persons. They can be used to develop students’ audience awareness and the writer’s relation to the text he/​she is writing. A second feature is the frequent use of personal pronouns as cohesive devices to relate one sentence to another and one paragraph to another, that is, to create cohesion. A third feature, which is related to cohesion, is discourse organization. Even though this 3rd-​grade text is shortened significantly, they possess the typical structure of a paragraph with topic and supporting sentences. They can be utilized to develop students’ understanding of paragraph organization. In what follows, we introduce and discuss six learning activities that are developed from these two Social Studies lessons. These activities articulate what language to teach and illustrate how it can be taught. They show that teaching language via content even in earlier grades does not have to mean teaching only vocabulary or discipline-​specific terms. Language instruction at this level can and should target clause and sentence patterns and discourse organization. Such instruction, which expands students’ language capacity, is not only beneficial to ELs, but also to native English speakers. This chapter, like other chapters in this book, is concerned primarily with language teaching, but carefully-​designed language instruction, we demonstrate, does not have to sacrifice content learning. It relies crucially on content for meaning making and communication.

2  Getting ready The six learning activities showcased here are based on a Grade 3 Social Studies textbook. Like other textbooks, this one communicates what it considers to be important to teach through the objectives it states, the reading materials it uses, the questions it asks and the exercises and assessments it supplies. Thus, information regarding what to teach, especially with respect to content, can be gleaned from the book. As you read these two lessons, pay attention to what the book states explicitly and implicitly as information for students to acquire. However, textbooks and other curricular materials have limitations. Most content materials we have reviewed focus almost exclusively on content. They rarely target the language, even language central to content understanding. When language is targeted, it is often restricted to vocabulary and discipline-​specific terminology. Even this vocabulary or term focus is narrow, ignoring, for example, the general-​use academic words identified by Coxhead (2000). This neglect of language in content textbooks, especially of units of language larger than individual words or terms, poses a significant challenge for teachers to teach language through content. This is why this book is written and why you need to develop the ability yourself to identify the language to be taught. For this reason, we start with learning standards. As a K-​12 teacher in the US, your teaching is guided by learning standards set by your respective state. To be an informed and effective teacher, you need to learn to read these standards for guidance on what to teach in your subject area. As a preparation for what you need to do as a teacher, we start this chapter by encouraging you to get hold of and review the relevant standards on Social Studies and English language instruction. For the purpose of this book, we use standards set by NYS, even though you can and should examine relevant standards in your own state. In NYS, five standards govern Social Studies, with one for each of the five areas. A document entitled New York State P-​12 Learning Standards for Social Studies: Resource Guide with Core Curriculum (1999), developed by the University of the State of New York and the State Education Department, elaborates on the five standards, that is, what students are expected to learn grade by grade from kindergarten to 12th grade. As the

34

34  Teaching English through Social Studies two lessons are for 3rd graders, pay close attention to what the core curriculum says about the expectations for Grades 2–​3. English language instruction is guided by New York State P-​12 Common Core Learning Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy (2011). Apart from the standards on language and listening and speaking, pay close attention to Grade 3 standards for informational texts. Examine the standards with an eye on what they say should be taught with respect to English. (Note that both of these documents from New York State are available online and can be obtained easily by searching the titles directly) As you read, use these questions as a guide. (1) Questions to consider as you read a. What, according to Social Studies: Resource Guide with Core Curriculum, are Grades 2–​3 students expected to learn? b. What, according to New York State P-​12 Common Core Learning Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy, are the relevant standards that guide the language instruction? c. What is it we can teach with respect to Social Studies? d. What is it we can teach with respect to the English language? Clearly, the decision regarding what to teach and how should be guided not just by what the standards say, but also what the textbook offers and what you see as the students’ needs, in particular, those of ELs. But as far as we are concerned here, try to identify the standards and statements relevant to Social Studies content and English language instruction and determine what you can teach on the basis of the two Social Studies lessons. Focus on determining what aspects of English to target for language instruction. Once you have a chance to look at the relevant sections of these two standards documents, proceed to the next section for a discussion of the relevant standards we identify as relevant.

3  Learning standards for Social Studies and ELA Social Studies, as a subject in NYS, develops K-​12 students’ understanding in five key areas with a standard for each of the areas.These standards determine what students are expected to know upon graduation from high school. Two standards most relevant to the two lessons are concerned with History of the United States and New York (S1) and Geography (S3). Note that S is short for Standard. (2) Two most relevant Social Studies standards a. S1. Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in the history of the United States and New York. b. S3. Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the geography of the interdependent world in which we live –​local, national, and global –​including the distribution of people, places, and environments over the Earth’s surface. These standards are extremely broad, as you see. All five standards, including the two in (2), stress students’ use of “a variety of intellectual skills,” which refers primarily to the ability to think critically and analytically and problem solve. S1 focuses on the history of the United States and New York and calls on teachers to develop students’ understanding of major developments that shape the history of the United States and NYS. S3, which is concerned with geography, targets students’ understanding of “the distribution of people,” among other

 35

Teaching English through Social Studies  35 things. Migration within and from outside the United States affects the distribution of people. It has been and continues to be a major issue that shapes the history and experiences of the United States. These two lessons about migration and communities are clearly part of what the two standards are about. As these standards are broad, we need to examine Social Studies: Resource Guide with Core Curriculum for the goals for Grades 2 and 3. In its overview, this document spells out eight “Dimensions of Teaching and Learning.” Dimension 4, entitled Unity and Diversity, states that students should “understand diversity and the multicultural context of American society. This includes the study of the various immigrations which have created the diverse nature of American people …” As immigration is central to the American history and experience, the Social Studies curriculum starts to develop students’ understanding of migration and immigration earlier on. In Grade 2, the focus is on “My Community and Other United States Communities,” which is in turn divided into eight areas. One area, entitled “My community and region today,” expects students to locate their own community on a map and understand that communities can change over time due to factors such as migration and immigration. A second area that Grade 2 students need to understand concerns “Rights, responsibilities, and role of citizenship.” Grade 2 students should learn that “Citizens can participate in decision making, problem solving, and conflict resolution.” Building on this understanding of U.S and local communities, the Grade 3 curriculum expands it to “Communities Around the World –​ Learning About People and Places.” As the two lessons we focus on form the onset of Grade 3, they address topics that bridge the expectations for the two grades. Four of the five passages in the two lessons concern migration and communities in the US; the last passage, which discusses the Haitian community, transitions to a community outside the US. For guidance on English language instruction, we turn to New York State P-​12 Common Core Learning Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. Unlike the standards for Grades 6–​ 12, this document does not list separately the standards for literacy in History/​Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects for P-​5 grades. But it does separate standards for informational text from those for literature. As students gain knowledge of Social Studies mainly via informational text, we rely on the standards for informational text for guidance on reading and writing. (3) Relevant reading standards for informational text for Grade 3 (Page 21) a. S1. Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers. (Key Ideas and Details) b. S2. Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea. (Key Ideas and Details) c. S3. Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-​specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 3 topic or subject area. (Craft and Structure) d. S7. Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key events occur). (Integration of Knowledge and Ideas) S1 and S2 in (3a&b) are part of Key Ideas and Details. S1 asks teachers to develop students’ understanding of a text. To demonstrate comprehension, Grade 3 students should be able to pose and answer questions on a text, with their questions and answers based on that text. This requirement on text-​based questions and answers is intended to strengthen students’ reading comprehension and develop an appreciation of the centrality of texts –​not personal opinions or heresy –​as the source of information (Shanahan, 2013; Duguay et al., 2013). According to S2, Grade 3 students should be able to identify main ideas and key details and understand how main ideas are supported by key details. S3 in (3c), a standard under Craft

36

36  Teaching English through Social Studies and Structure (meaning language craft and structure), is concerned with students’ ability to understand meanings of words or phrases in a text. As most words and phrases have more than one meaning, it is important that Grade 3 students have the ability to determine word and phrasal meanings through context. S7 in (3d) emphasizes understanding visual illustrations and integrating them in understanding informational text. To develop this ability, teachers need to draw students’ attention to visual information and develop their ability to use visual information to make sense of the written word. Perhaps it is helpful to pause a moment and compare Grade 3 standards with those for higher grades. For example, let’s consider similar reading standards for Grade 8, which, as you will see in Chapter 3 on teaching language through Science, set significantly higher expectations. S1 for Grade 8 requires students to “Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.” What mainly distinguishes Grade 8 from Grade 3 is that Grade 8 students are expected to make inferences and back them up with textual evidence.With respect to S2, Grade 8 students are expected to extract the central idea, analyze its development in the text and provide a summary. S2 for Grade 3, in contrast, makes no reference to the analysis and summary. Moreover, according to S2, Grade 8 students should be able to construct a written summary as a way to show understanding of key ideas and details, but Grade 3 students are only expected to determine main ideas and “recount” key details, implying that oral summaries are permissible. The different expectations make sense. Grade 3 students are just beginning to learn to read and write. Their ability to read and write is limited. Their abilities to make inferences, to support inferences with text analyses, and to construct a written summary are likewise restricted, hence the lowered requirements for Grade 3. There are a number of writing standards that pertain to the two Social Studies lessons. In (4), we list the six most relevant standards for Grade 3. This may seem a lot. But it is partially because each writing standard targets an aspect of writing, whether it is the writing type, purpose, quality or frequency. As a result, two or more standards may apply to the same piece of writing. Moreover, four of the six activities to be discussed in Section 4 are related to or incorporate writing as a way to deepen content understanding and foster language learning. (4) Relevant writing standard for Grade 3 (Page 28) a. S2. Write informative/​explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly. (Text Types and Purposes) b. S3.Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. (Text Types and Purposes) c. S4. With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose. (Production and Distribution of Writing) d. S7. Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic. (Research to Build and Present Knowledge) e. S8. Recall information from experiences or gather information from print and digital sources; take brief notes on sources and sort evidence into provided categories. (Research to Build and Present Knowledge) f. S10. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-​specific tasks, purposes, and audiences. (Range of Writing) S2 and S3 in (4a&b) address the types of writings students are required to produce. They must write to inform, to explain, and to narrate real or imagined experiences, suggesting that Grade 3 students must not write only stories, which tend to dominate what students in

 37

Teaching English through Social Studies  37 earlier grades produce. They must engage in informative and explanatory writings. S4 in (4c) is concerned with the quality of writing, according to which student writings must show a development of ideas and effective organization appropriate to the writing task and purpose. S7 and S8 in (4d&e) focus on research and its role in knowledge acquisition. According to these two standards, Grade 3 students must learn to collect information from a variety of sources including recalling from personal experiences and gathering information from print and digital resources. In addition, as students read these sources, they must learn to take notes and sort the collected information into categories, all part of the research process. S10 in (4f) targets what it calls “Range of Writing,” which specifies how often students must write and for whom. It states that students must produce short and long writings on a range of topics and for a variety of audience. It stresses the need for students to write often and to have time for revision and reflection. In short, these writing standards emphasize that students must write often and over extended periods of time and with a variety of purposes, they must conduct research and gain information from a range of sources to build knowledge, and they must produce writings with well-​developed ideas and effective organization. Let’s turn to the listening and speaking standards in (5) that inform the learning activities in Section 4. Students in earlier grades such as those in Grade 3 are usually more advanced in listening and speaking than reading and writing. This is true of native English speakers in particular. But even for ELs, especially for those born in the US or those who come to the US at a young age, listening and speaking abilities develop sooner and faster than reading and writing abilities. In designing activities for younger students, we need to take advantage of this strength to help them make sense of written texts and to strengthen their oral skills. (5) Relevant speaking and listening standards for Grade 3 (Page 33) a. S1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-​on-​one, in groups, and teacher-​led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly. (Comprehension and Collaboration) b. S2. Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally. (Comprehension and Collaboration) c. S3. Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail. (Comprehension and Collaboration) d. S6. Speak in complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification. (Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas) Three standards in (5) come from the domain of Comprehension and Collaboration. S1 in (5a) is concerned with collaboration. This standard states that students need to engage in a variety of collaborative conversations and discussions.To collaborate in conversations means to build on and incorporate others’ ideas as well as present one’s own. S2 in (5b), which is related to comprehension, is the listening and speaking equivalent to S2 for reading in (3b). According to this standard, students must have the ability to understand and extract the main ideas and details from information presented orally with and without visuals. S3 in (5b) focuses on the abilities to ask and answer questions on oral information. Grade 3 students are expected to elaborate and provide details such as the context or reason for a question or the information upon which an answer is based. This standard discourages short questions or answers typical of children’s utterances at this age such as “Yes”, “No” or “Why”. S3 is related to S6 in (5d) in that both focus on the language spoken by students and push them to say or explain more by using language appropriate for the speaking task. S6’s emphasis on complete sentences is consistent with S3, because elaboration and clarification require units of language larger than individual words and phrases.

38

38  Teaching English through Social Studies Let’s turn now to language standards for Grade 3 in (6). Consider S4 in (6b) first, a standard concerned with vocabulary acquisition and use. S4 states that Grade 3 students must have the ability to determine and clarify meanings of unknown words and phrases using context and morphological clues (that is, clues from how words are formed) and using tools such as dictionaries, encyclopedia, Wikipedia and other reference materials. This standard is related to S3 in (3c), even though one is concerned with vocabulary and the other is concerned with reading. (6) Relevant language standard for Grade 3 (Page 38) a. S1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. (Conventions of Standard English) h. Use coordinating and subordinating conjunctions. i. Produce simple, compound, and complex sentences. b. S4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-​meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate. (Vocabulary Acquisition and Use) Returning to S1 in (6a), we see that this standard focuses on the command of English grammar and usage. In specifying what this requirement means for Grade 3, this document identifies nine areas important for Grade 3 students to acquire in English.Two of these nine areas, which appear as (h) and (i) in the standards document, are shown under (6a). By Grade 3, students should have the ability to construct simple sentences and converse on topics appropriate for their age and grade. Thus teachers of Grade 3 are expected to extend beyond the simple-​ sentence stage and develop students’ ability to use more complex sentence structures. For this reason, this standard calls on teachers to develop students’ ability to use coordinating and subordinating conjunctions to form compound and complex sentences. Coordinating conjunctions such as and, or, and but are used to join two or more independent clauses or sentences to form a compound sentence. Two examples of compound sentences joined by coordinating conjunctions are presented below, with (7b) taken from one of the passages of the two Social Studies lessons. (7) Two examples of compound sentences joined by coordinating conjunctions highlighted in italics. a. You can go home or you can go to school. b. I was worried about going to a new school, but I felt better when I got to my new school. As you can see, what appears on either side of or and but are independent clauses. By independent clauses, we mean that they can appear alone and still be grammatical. In other words, they are sentences on their own. We can say You can go home without what follows or you can go to school without what precedes it. Subordinating conjunctions are a category of words or expressions that introduce dependent clauses and connect them to independent clauses to form complex sentences. Examples of more common subordinating conjunctions include because, if, as, though, when, and while. Two examples of complex sentences introduced by subordinating conjunctions because and as appear below. A third example is shown in (7b), where the part following but is a complex sentence with a dependent clause introduced by when.

 39

Teaching English through Social Studies  39 (8) Two examples of complex sentences joined by subordinating conjunctions highlighted in italics. a. You cover your ears because the engines are so noisy. b. As you go higher, you can see the airport get smaller and smaller. In (8), the underlined parts are dependent clauses; the parts not underlined are independent clauses or sentences. Dependent clauses cannot appear on their own. They are dependent on the rest of the sentence to form a grammatical sentence. There are many more subordinating conjunctions, something students have to learn in multiple grades. One other type of subordinating conjunctions are relative pronouns such as that, who, when, where, and which that introduce relative clauses (a type of dependent clauses) and connect them to independent clauses. What (h) and (i) of S1 in (6a) call for is to develop students’ abilities to produce longer, more complex sentences, sentences that contain more than one clause, so that they can express complex ideas. This language standard is consistent with the listening and speaking standards that require students to elaborate, clarify, and provide other appropriate details when they speak, because longer and more complex sentence structures offer students the means to express complex ideas. To summarize, we have introduced and discussed a range of Social Studies and ELA standards that guide the design of learning activities we present next. These standards set the goals for content and language instruction. Now that you are familiar with the standards and the two lessons, we encourage you to pause a moment and imagine what kind of learning activities can achieve the content and language goals set by the standards. For example, the language standard we just discussed calls on teachers to develop 3rd graders’ ability to use coordinating and subordinating conjunctions to form compound and complex sentences. Ask yourself what type of activity develops this ability and what it looks like. Or consider what activity can teach students to determine and clarify word and phrasal meanings in a context, that is, to achieve the goals of S3 in (3c) and S4 in (6b).

4  Learning activities This section discusses the implementation of six learning activities designed to further students’ language development as well as content understanding. One pre-​reading activity discussed in Section 4.1 exploits the visuals –​maps, photos and pictures –​in the two lessons to stimulate student interest in reading. It relates visual information to the written word and strengthens oral skills, both of which are goals specified by the ELA standards. The other pre-​reading activity targets two words with more than one meaning and pre-​teach what they mean. The two during-​reading activities, discussed in Section 4.2, are concerned with the reasons for and thoughts, fears and anxieties about migration. One links understanding the reasons for migration with learning expressions of reason. The other relates thoughts, anxieties and fears about migration with the use of questions to express these thoughts and feelings. As questions are typically used to request information, this activity expands this understanding by showing a second use of questions, that is, to express thought processes in a narrative. Two post-​reading activities are considered in Section 4.3. One targets a clause structure, specifically, the use of where as a relative pronoun (a subordinating conjunction), and teaches its use in forming complex sentences with dependent clauses. The other zeroes in on paragraph organization, a discourse concern. Though all six activities teach language to varying degrees, content understanding remains part of the focus. We encourage you to first look at the PowerPoint slides on pages 192–207 to see what each activity is about and how it is set up. After reading the PowerPoint presentation, consider how you might use the

40

40  Teaching English through Social Studies proposed activities to teach and then see how they can be implemented according to this chapter. 4.1  Pre-​reading activities This section explains the implementation of the two pre-​reading activities presented in Slides 2–​10. Consider LA1 in Slides 2–​5 first. This activity is designed to generate interest in reading via visuals. Textbooks tend to use visuals –​photos, pictures, maps, graphs, diagrams and ­tables –​to convey information and facilitate understanding. This is particularly true of materials designed for young children, because their ability to read is limited. Because of their limited reading ability, they may not be as interested in reading as adults. Visuals can generate interest in reading. And they can ease comprehension. Photos, pictures, and other visual information can help readers visualize the written text, make abstract concepts concrete, and render complex information in a form that is easier to understand. For young readers, this role of visuals is not something they grasp naturally.Visuals, if interesting at all, are objects to look at in themselves. Their relation to the written word is not usually something children think about. Teachers, therefore, need to help students relate the two, something highlighted by the reading standard S7 in (3c). The first activity we discuss here develops visual literacy. It capitalizes on maps, pictures, and photos to ask students what they see and how they are related to the text. Apart from helping students understand relations between image and text, this activity strengthens their oral skills through repeated questioning and increases interest in the text through questions. As one goal of pre-​reading activities is to create excitement about reading according to Grabe and Stoller (2001: 191–​192), this activity is classified as a pre-​reading activity. LA1 can be implemented in three steps, with each step focusing on different images. Step 1 starts by drawing attention to the picture of a school bag next to the first passage on Page 74. The teacher can ask the questions in (9) to guide students. (9) Step 1 of LA1: Ask questions about the picture of the school bag a. What do you see? What kind of an object is it? b. What does this object contain? What kinds of things are in this object? c. Why is this object placed next to the text? That is, what does this object tell you about the passage? Can you tell what this passage is about? The questions in (9a&b) are placed before (9c) for a reason. They are questions that can be answered by looking at the picture. Students need to know what kind of object the picture depicts before determining how it is related to the text in (9c). (9c) cannot be answered by looking at the picture. Students must read the passage. These questions achieve two goals: to arouse interest in reading the passage (because answers depend partially on what the passage says) and to develop an understanding of the image-​text relation. To ask the questions in (9a&b), the teacher may begin with the entire picture and ask students to identify the object it depicts and then move on to the objects in the school bag. Or the objects contained in the school bag can be the starting point, with the questioning moving gradually to what kind of object is used to carry pencils, books and notebooks. These questions may seem simple, but remember that we are dealing with Grade 3. They may not be as easy as they appear to you. Apart from helping students identify the pictured object, these questions get students talking and develop their oral skills. To achieve this objective, keep pointing to different parts of the picture –​pockets, zippers, pencils, notebooks, etc. –​ and ask repeatedly “What is this?” and “What does this show?” Repeat these questions until all objects are identified. Remember that the goal is to encourage students to speak. As an

 41

Teaching English through Social Studies  41 added requirement, you might insist on the use of complete sentences when students answer questions. Encourage them to use sentences such as “I see a school bag” or “That is a notebook” and longer sentences such as “There are pencils in the front pocket of the school bag.” Once the objects depicted in the picture are exhausted, ask the questions in (9c) and encourage students to guess, but do so without confirming their answers. The questions serve as a hook to read the passage. You can tell students that there is a connection between this image and the text, but not say what the connection is.Tell them that you do not want answers right away. Instruct them to read the passage first and then answer why a school bag picture appears by the passage. There are two ways to do this.You can ask students to read the passage at home. When they return next time, you can pose the questions in (9c) again and discuss what the passage is about and why the picture is placed next to it. This way of implementing the activity treats it as a pre-​reading activity because everything that has been done in class –​ asking and answering questions about the picture –​happens before and does not involve reading yet. Alternatively, reading can take place in class, after the questions in (9a&b) are answered. You can read the passage on Page 74 aloud to them or have them read it silently. Once students finish reading, ask the question in (9c) to help them see that the school bag image is a clue to the main idea of the passage, that is, schooling. Doing this in class can serve as a model to students as to what you expect them to do when they read the passages in relation to the next two steps at home. Step 2 moves on to the images of the map of the US and the blown-​up map of Indiana with Fort Wayne highlighted. These maps appear under the heading “Lesson 1” at the top left corner on Page 74. Again, direct students to the maps and ask these questions, essentially repeating Step 1 with different images and different questions. (10) Step 2 of LA1: Ask questions on the two maps a. What is this? What is this a picture of? (Pointing to the picture on the left) b. What is this? What do you see? (Pointing to the picture on the right) c. Why do these pictures appear next to each other? How are they related? d. How are these two maps related to the passage? Or why are they provided for this passage? These questions are similar to those in (9) except that they are directed at the maps. They achieve similar goals as well: a) to engage students in teacher-​directed talks and strengthen their speaking ability; b) to understand the relation between the maps and the written text, and c) to interest them in reading, as answers to (10d) require reading the next passage. The questions in (10c) target the relations between the two maps. The connection between the US map and the map of Indiana is unlikely to be clear for most Grade 3 students. That is why the questions in (10c) are posed. What needs to be pointed out to students is that an US map cannot provide enough details about where Fort Wayne is. That is why a blown-​up map of Indiana, which is quite often enclosed in a circle with the circle indicating zooming, is shown so that readers can see where Fort Wayne is located in the state of Indiana. Apart from developing language proficiency, (10a) through (10c) and the ensuing discussion develop students’ map literacy, part of the geography goals required by the Social Studies standards.The questions in (10d) target the relation between the maps and the written text. In this case, the maps help students visualize where a student comes from, a key detail of the next passage.The image of the school bag and the two maps illustrate two ways in which visuals are used to facilitate comprehension: to clue readers in on a main idea or to help them visualize a key detail, the geographic location of Fort Wayne. With regard to implementation, questions such as those in (10a&b) should be asked and asked repeatedly about the maps so that a lot of students have a chance to speak. Teachers can point to different parts of the maps, the

42

42  Teaching English through Social Studies location of a particular state like New York, shapes of states, colors, names, etc. to keep students observing and speaking. Once students have an understanding of the maps, then move on to the question on the relation between the two maps. Once again, tell students that there is a relation between the maps and the passage on the next page. Instruct them to read the passage on the next page at home. Ask them to answer the question on the relation between maps and the text in (10d), only after they have a chance to read the passage on the next page. Check their answers when they return to class next time. Step 3 of LA1 highlights yet another set of visuals, the photos of a Haitian market, fruit and houses on Page 79. These photos provide some indications of how Haitians live and the community left behind when they immigrate to the United States. Just like Steps 1 & 2, the photos and questions are used to encourage students to talk and to develop an understanding of the relations between the photos and the written text. In (11), we provide the questions that can be asked, which are similar to those in (9) and (10). (11) Step 3 of LA1: Ask questions on the photos a. What do you see in the pictures? What do they show? (Repeat these questions until most objects depicted in the photos are identified) b. How are these photos related to the passage? What do they tell you about the passage? The goals of this step and the implementation are similar to those of the first two steps. For this reason, we will not repeat what we said earlier. We estimate that this activity can take 20 to 30 minutes to implement, with roughly 7 to 10 minutes for each step. This, of course, depends on how long it takes for the question-​and-​answer part of each step. Clearly, more time is needed if this activity is implemented as a during-​reading activity and the reading of the passages takes place in class. This activity builds in content understanding and language learning. With respect to Social Studies, Step 2, which focuses on the maps, develops map literacy, which is a goal emphasized by the content standards. One requirement of the content standards is that Grade 2 students must be able to locate their own communities on a map. Step 3 furthers students’ understanding of how different communities live, also something emphasized by the content standards. LA1’s relevance to language learning is obvious.Two areas of the ELA standards most relevant to this activity are those concerned with reading, and those concerned with speaking and listening. S2 in (3b) requires students to identify the main idea and key details of a text. S7 in (3d) requires students to use visuals to make sense of the text. This activity addresses both of these standards on reading informational text. Step 1 of LA1 requires students to identify the main idea of a passage while Steps 2 and 3 expect them to pick out key details in relation to the visual images. With respect to speaking and listening, this activity engages students in the repeated answering of the teacher-​led questions on the visuals, thus addressing S1 in (5a) and S3 in (5c), which calls on teachers to engage students in collaborative discussions and questioning and answering activities. Mentioned earlier, students can be directed to answer questions using complete sentences. Incorporating this requirement addresses S6 in (5d), which is concerned with using appropriate language such as complete sentences to elaborate and provide details. Let’s turn now to LA2, an activity concerned with vocabulary in Slide 6 through 10. In this activity, we focus on two words make and follow, which appear repeatedly in the two lessons. In the case of make, we see two uses. One is seen in expressions such as make friends and make choices. The other means “cause” as in make their children’s future better. The two lessons also include repeated use of follow as in follow a religion or follow the community’s laws. As the primary meaning of follow is “come, go or leave after”, the use of follow in follow a religion or follow the community’s laws, which means “act according to or obey”, is different and worth pointing out. Students need to learn that words can have more than one meaning.They need to learn to use

 43

Teaching English through Social Studies  43 contexts to determine word meanings, which is why two separate standards target this ability. LA2 develops this ability. As this LA supports reading comprehension by pre-​teaching key vocabulary, we classify it as a pre-​reading activity. There are two steps to LA2. Step 1 elicits what students know about these expressions. It starts by showing the sentences in (12), all of which, except for (12c), are taken from the two lessons. (12c) highlights the primary meaning of follow, which is not seen in the lessons. To help students learn that this word means something else in the two lessons, we add it as a comparison. (12) Step 1 of LA2: Project these sentences for students to see a. They might get jobs, go to school, and make friends there. b. When everyone obeys the laws, they make their community a safer place in which to live. c. Nicole followed Tom into the classroom. d. They also have to follow the community’s laws. To elicit what students know, start this step with reading. There are a number of ways to do the reading. First, you can read aloud each sentence to students. Consider saying each sentence multiple times. The first read-​aloud should be slow and deliberate and accompanied with a stick/​cursor following what is read; the second read-​aloud can be faster and accompanied by pointing, and the third read-​aloud can be done at normal speaking speed. If time permits, consider asking students to repeat after you a couple of times so that they have a sense of how pronunciations match with print and develop the ability to say printed words, phrases and sentences. Alternatively, if you have a group of strong readers, it might be appropriate to have students read each sentence silently first before you read it aloud to them. What is not appropriate is to ask students to read aloud each sentence first, before they know what each sentence means and before you offer any instruction. A key assumption beneath this LA is that students do not know the expressions in question, which is why this LA targets them before engaging students in reading the passages. We stress this point for a reason.We have repeatedly observed novice teachers asking students to do the read-​aloud first before any instruction, presumably as a strategy to shift responsibility away from themselves out of fear or discomfort. Asking students to read aloud first may be appropriate if it is a review, in other words, students have been exposed to them before. But it is not appropriate for most students, especially ELs and young readers who are just learning to read and who do not know how print translates into pronunciation. As or after a sentence is read, draw attention to the words in bold and solicit from students what make and follow mean and whether they differ in meaning between (12a) and (12b) and between (12c) and (12d). The actual questions that guide teacher questioning, which appear in Slide 7, are not repeated here because they essentially question what make and follow mean in each sentence context and how they vary in meaning. Questioning can take place after the read-​aloud by the teacher and before having students repeat after you so that they have a sense of what they are saying. As we said earlier, the reason for the questions is to elicit what students know, to provide speaking opportunities, and to build on what they know. Third graders must have seen the word make as in make a car or a toy. They may know the primary meaning of follow. These questions draw out what they know and serve as a comparison with how these words are used in the lessons. This ends Step 1 of LA2. Step 2 offers direct instruction. In this step, the teacher builds on student responses and points out that make in make friends means something different from make in make their children’s future better. In the former, make friends with someone means “become a friend with someone”; make choices is synonymous with “choose” or “select”. But in make their children’s future better or

44

44  Teaching English through Social Studies make their community a safer place, make is similar in meaning to “cause”. It is also important to point out the structural difference between the two uses of make below. (13) Step 2 of LA2: Teach the two meanings of make and follow Make Noun Phrase Make Noun Phrase Adjective/​Noun Phrase make friends make their children’s future better (AP) make more choices make their community a safer place… (NP) As (13) shows, in make friends and make choices, make is followed by one noun phrase. But in make their children’s future better or make their community a safer place, two phrases are required: a noun phrase and an adjectival phrase better or another noun phrase a safer place.These structural clues need to be pointed out, because students may find it easier to differentiate the two usages with these clues. This structural difference also highlights the different ways in which make is used, which students need to learn if they are to use them.The other part of Step 2 is to teach what follow means. As this is similar to explaining what make means, you can rely on Slide 10 to see what information should be presented. Depending on how you implement this activity, we anticipate that this activity can take anywhere between 15 and 25 minutes. We end LA2 at the point of sharing the meaning information. A key reason for this is that we conceive this LA as a pre-​reading activity. One main goal of pre-​reading activities according to Grabe and Stoller (2001: 191–​192), you might recall, is to prepare students to read and support reading comprehension. Critical to reading comprehension is knowing what key words mean in a written passage. Expressions that mean different things in different contexts can be challenging for elementary school students, whose vocabulary knowledge is limited and whose reading ability is yet to be developed. For this reason, this LA is designed to pre-​teach these two words before reading. But if we were to design this activity as a post-​reading activity, we would take a step further in teaching the various ways to use make and follow and engaging students in using them. For instance, in the case of make, it is helpful to point out that you can not only make friends and choices. You can also make a desk, a sentence or a drawing. You should not only make your children’s future better or make a community a safer place. You can also make your parents proud, make your school a great place to study, and make your grandparents take you to a movie (with make followed by a noun phrase your grandparents and a verb phrase take you to a movie). With respect to follow, it is important not only to follow laws and religions, but also to follow directions, follow orders or follow what your parents tell you as well. In other words, illustrate the myriad of ways in which make and follow can be used, linking what you teach to what they know and expanding them to new uses. As a post-​reading activity, students need to use these expressions to make meaning and communicate. Consequently, a step needs to be built into this LA in which students practice using the expressions by, say, making sentences or writing a paragraph. As a pre-​reading activity focused on vocabulary with more than one meaning, LA2 primarily addresses language development. It teaches that words can mean different things in different contexts and advances students’ ability to identify word meanings through sentence and discourse contexts. Thus, this LA addresses two key standards. One is the reading standard S3 in (3c) that is, “Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-​specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 3 topic or subject area.” The other is the language standard S4 in (6b). According to S4, 3rd graders need to “Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-​meaning words and phrases by using context clues…”. By focusing on make and follow, each with two or more meanings, this LA begins to address these standards.

 45

Teaching English through Social Studies  45 4.2  During-​reading activities The two during-​reading activities discussed here aim at language and Social Studies content. One teaches three expressions of reason: for, because of, and because, all of which appear in the two lessons. This activity shows how these expressions are used to express reasons for migration. The second activity is concerned with the use of interrogative sentences to express thoughts and feelings in a narrative rather than their typical function, which is that of asking questions. Grade 3 students should have some knowledge of interrogatives as a sentence type. This LA highlights a different use of questions. Despite the focus on language, they embed content understanding. One focuses on reasons for migration and the other on the anticipations, concerns and anxieties about migration. Both expose students to selected passages of the lessons and introduce the issues and concerns involved in migration. These activities deepen text comprehension besides teaching language. For this reason, we treat them as during-​reading activities. LA3, which appears in Slides 11 to 15, comprises five steps. Step 1 begins by projecting the sentences in (14) for students to see. Apart from showing how for, because of, and because are used in the two lessons, these sentences highlight some of the reasons for moving, an important content point to be learned by students. (14) Step 1 of LA3: Project these sentences for students to see a. Many people move to a new city or country for a better job or a new opportunity. b. Throughout its history, many people have come to the United States for many of these same reasons. c. You just read that Tom’s family moved to Boston because of his father’s job. d. Some people move to the United States because they are seeking freedom. Read each sentence aloud so that students can hear as well as read it. Say each sentence multiple times at different speeds and have students repeat after you a couple of times if time permits. After reading each sentence, pause and ask what they understand, focusing on the reasons for moving. Keep a record of the reasons such as jobs, a new opportunity and freedom by listing them on board, to maintain the focus on content. In addition, pointing to the emboldened and underlined expressions, ask what information the expressions in bold introduce. Building on what students say, the teacher articulates the points in (15), illustrating the points by relating back to (14). (15) Step 1 of LA3: Articulate these points a. for…, because of… and because… tell us the reasons why someone moves. b. They can often be used interchangeably to express the reasons for some actions. c. for … and because of… introduce a phrase while because… introduces a clause. Make clear to the students that the underlined expressions in (14) provide the reasons for why people move. For example, (14d) tells us that people move to the US in order to be free. This concludes Step 1 of LA3. In Step 2, the teacher models how these expressions are used and used interchangeably. We emphasize “used interchangeably” because a key goal of language learning is to expand students’ expressive capacity and offer them multiple ways to express the same idea. This is critical for ELs as they tend to have limited linguistic means. To model the use, project the sentences in (16) and illustrate how they can be rewritten with the three expressions.

46

46  Teaching English through Social Studies (16) Step 2 of LA3: Present the sentences below a. Some people move to the United States. They are seeking freedom. b. Some people move to the United States. They need to feel safer. c. Some people move to New York. They want to be closer to their relatives. In (17), we show three ways of how (16c) can be rewritten by using the three expressions of reason. (17) Step 2 of LA3: Model how the sentences in (12) can be rewritten a. Some people move to New York for their relatives or because of their relatives. b. Some people move to New York because they want to be closer to their relatives. In discussing (17), link your modelling to the points in (15).These points are: a) for and because of introduce reasons and they can be specific reasons such as “freedom” or “a better job” or unspecified reasons such as “for this reason” or “for many reasons,” b) both introduce a noun such as “freedom” or a noun phrase such as “their relatives,” and c) because introduces a clause such as “they want to be closer to their relatives”; In other words, review the points in (15) and exemplify them with concrete examples. Repetition and exemplification are critical if students are to understand (15). Note also that while Step 2 models language use directly, the sentences used reiterate reasons for migration, thus linking content with language learning. Once students have a chance to learn how the expressions are used through teacher modelling, it is time for students to practice using them. Step 3 creates such an opportunity. Ask students to use the three expressions to talk about why they or their family came to the United States or how they end up where they are in the US. This talk can occur in a small group of three or four students. Ask each group member to share the reasons, have them compare how the reasons may be similar or different, and assign one member of each group to take notes so that they can report the group discussion to the class later. As selected groups share the reasons with the class, they can be added to the list of reasons on board started in Step 1. Step 4 engages students in listening to one of five passages entitled “We Come from All Over!”. The teacher can read aloud the passage, play a recording of it or do both. ELs need to learn to listen to and understand a variety of voices, presented at different speeds and via different media. Doing both can get students used to listening to different voices. Ask students to put away their textbooks and rely on listening alone to understand.To provide a focus, pose the questions in (18) before you read or play the recording of the passage. (18) Step 4 of LA3: Consider these questions as you listen to the passage. a. What is this passage about? Or what is the main idea? b. Why did Tom’s family move to Boston? The first question focuses on the main idea and the second on a key detail. This step of LA3 serves two goals. First, it replays a passage in the lessons and reinforces students’ understanding of content, as these passages present content information. Second, rather than having students read the passage again, this step introduces it through listening and strengthens their listening ability. To complete this step, ask the questions in (18) after listening. Check what students know and do not know and reinforce the main idea and key details where necessary. The fifth and final step of LA3 engages students in research. Ask them to interview their families or relatives about why their families end up where they are in the US. Ask them to identify two to three reasons. To aid students in this task, remind them of the list of reasons generated earlier and ask them to see which ones apply to their family.To report their research, students can construct a paragraph and use at least two of the three expressions of reason.This

 47

Teaching English through Social Studies  47 should be assigned as homework. The reasons for this step are obvious. It provides a motive for students to use the three expressions, to start developing their research ability, to learn a bit more about their own family history and understand who they are and why they are here, and finally to make connections between self and text.We anticipate that this activity can take around 45 minutes, with roughly 10 minutes for each of the first four steps and 5 minutes to explain the research and writing assignment in Step 5. LA4, presented in Slides 16–​20, targets the use of questions to express thoughts and feelings in narrative writings. It expands students’ view of what interrogatives are used to communicate. This LA can be implemented in five steps. Step 1 opens by showing this paragraph to students. (19) Step 1 of LA4: Show this paragraph to students Will the other children look at you when you enter the room? Where will you sit? What will you do during lunchtime? Read this paragraph aloud so that students can hear it. Following the read-​aloud, ask these questions. (20) Step 1 of LA4: Ask these questions a. Do you notice anything different about this paragraph? b. Why does the writer suddenly use a series of questions? Start with (20a) to see if students notice anything different about this paragraph. If they do not see the questions, draw attention to the rising intonation and question marks. Remind them that most writings are made up of declarative sentences by pointing to an example. Underscore that this paragraph stands out because it uses questions. Once students realize the difference, proceed to (20b). Building on student responses, make the points in (21). (21) Step 1 of LA4: Building on student responses, articulate the following points. a. The writer uses questions here to express what the writer or characters are thinking about. b. The writer uses questions sometimes to express the worries or concerns as well. c. In this paragraph, the writer shows through questions the worries that “you” might have when “you” move to a new place. This concludes the first step. To deepen reading comprehension and content understanding, Step 2 returns to a passage in the lessons entitled “Learning New Customs”. Either ask students to read the passage silently or read it aloud to them. Before reading, tell them to concentrate on what “you” in the passage thinks about, a key detail at the end of the text. After reading, check student understanding by asking what “you” is thinking about when approaching a new place. In addition, encourage them to make inferences by asking how old “you” is likely to be and which part of the text leads to the inference. Is “you” likely an adult or a child? The passage is not completely conclusive on this, but the question “How will you make friends?” offers a hint that “you” is a child. Inferential questions such as this one are important to ask because students need to get the unspoken, deep meanings, not merely the literal, surface meanings of what they read. Make sure that students can back up their inferences by referring to specific parts of the text and justifying their answers, something called for by the reading standards. Step 3 of LA4 turns to language use. The two lessons offer a chance to review or teach how yes/​no and wh-​questions are formed. To do this, start by projecting these two sentences.

48

48  Teaching English through Social Studies (22) Step 3 of LA4: Show these two sentences a. Will the other children look at you? b. Where will you sit? Compare these sentences with corresponding declarative sentences.To do this, consider asking students to generate the declarative versions of the questions in (22a) and (22b). Record what students write side by side with the questions, as in (23). (23) Step 3 of LA4: Compare these questions with corresponding declarative sentences a. The other children will look at you. a’ Will the other children look at you? b. You will sit in the front. b’ Where will you sit? Use the comparisons to see if students can identify the structural differences between declarative sentences and questions. Incorporate student responses and make the following points on structural features of interrogatives. (24) Step 3 of LA4: Build upon student responses and articulate these points a. In forming yes/​no questions, the helping verb will is moved to the beginning of the sentences. b. In forming wh-​questions, the question word such as where replaces in the front (as the location is being questioned) and placed at the beginning of the sentence. c. In addition, the helping verb will is also moved and placed after the question word where. When making the points, exemplify them with examples in (23) so that students see what you mean. How elaborate this step should be depends on students’ background. If they are new to yes/​no or wh-​questions or both, this step should include much more details than what is presented here. For instance, if students do not know either yes/​no questions or wh-​questions, these sentence types need to be taught separately and illustrated with lots of examples. We assume here that students know these question types and this is mostly a review. The new information for students is the use of questions to express mental processes such as thoughts and feelings in narrative writings. Following Step 3, it might be helpful for students to practice turning declarative sentences into yes/​no or wh-​questions as a review. Step 4 does just that. In (25), we present a couple of sample sentences that can be used for practice. To add more, you can take existing declarative sentences from the lessons or make up new ones yourself. In selecting sentences from the passages, consider using those that highlight key Social Studies points such as (25b). (25) Step 4 of LA4:Turn these sentences or others of your choice into yes/​no and wh-​questions a. Your parents will take you to your new school. b. People move to find a better life for themselves or their children. c. … This practice can take place in different ways, depending on how much class time you have and what background students have on the use of questions. If time is tight, you can do this as an oral, whole-​class activity. Ask individual students to tell you how to turn a sentence, say, (25a), into a yes/​no question. As students speak, you write their answers down on board next to declarative sentences to further reinforce the structural differences. Or if time permits, you can ask students to work in groups first before reporting them to the class. However you choose to implement this step, use it to review and reinforce the points in (24).

 49

Teaching English through Social Studies  49 The final step, Step 5, provides an opportunity for students to conduct research by interviewing parents or relatives about their thoughts before arriving at a new place and to use the collected information to produce a paragraph. Make the use of questions part of the requirement for the writing assignment. As this involves returning home and talking with parents or relatives, it should be assigned as homework. Once students complete the assignment, it is important not only to collect and evaluate student work, but also to provide an opportunity for them to share their research with the class. You can ask for volunteers or pick selected students to read aloud their writings to the class and ask the class to listen for the thoughts or feelings described by students’ writings. Once a student finishes presenting his/​ her writing, ask what thoughts are identified and compare them with the textbook passages. The reasons for this step, just like Step 5 of LA3, are to give students a chance to use questions in interviewing and expressing mental processes, to conduct research, and to relate the experiences of their own families to those of others.This activity can take roughly 45 minutes to implement, with 10 minutes for each of the first four steps and 5 minutes for the final step. The relations of LA3 and LA4 to content and language are obvious. Consider content first. S1 and S3 of the Social Studies standards in (2) state that students must understand major developments in the US and New York and geography including the distribution of people on earth. Along these lines, the grade-​specific guidelines for Grades 2 & 3 expect them to understand their own and other communities. Migration and immigration continue to shape the distribution of people in different communities in states like NY. Understanding migration including its causes and the issues it raises is critical. LA3 and LA4 have students revisit the lessons, answer questions about them, and relate their experiences to others and to the text, all with the aim to develop an understanding and appreciation of the causes of migration and the complex feelings and thoughts involved in moving from one place to another. LA3 and LA4 address a number of ELA standards as well. Consider the standards for reading, speaking and listening. One major reading and listening requirement is that students develop the ability to comprehend written or auditory information. S2 in (3b) and S2 in (5b) identify main ideas and key details as important things to understand in reading and listening. In addition, S1 in (3a) and S3 in (5c) emphasize developing students’ ability to ask and answer questions on materials they read or hear and back up questions and answers with textual evidence. LA3 and LA4 build in steps for students to listen or read, to respond to questions on main ideas and key details, and to support their responses with textual evidence. These steps check students’ comprehension and offer practice in answering questions. Furthermore, opportunities are provided for students to talk with each other, with teachers, and with their parents and relatives, addressing S1 in (5a), concerned with engaging students in collaborative talks. The writing standards in (4) are addressed to varying degrees. Step 5 of LA3 asks students to write a paragraph on reasons for moving. LA4 in its final step requires a narrative piece about thoughts and feelings. These writing assignments are what S2 and S3 in (4a&b) demand. S7 and S8 in (4d&e) require Grade 3 students to conduct research and collect information from a variety of sources, print, digital, and personal experiences, etc. LA3 and LA4 offer just such a research opportunity through the writing tasks in Step 5. S4 in (4c) is concerned with the quality of writing, stating that the development of ideas and the organization of the writing must be congruent with the writing task and purpose. This standard can be addressed in at least two ways through Step 5 of both activities. First, prior to having students research and write about reasons or thoughts, the teacher can provide writing samples and discuss how a paragraph develops its ideas around a central topic and how it should be organized. For an example of such an activity, see LA6 discussed in Section 4.3. Second, after students hand in their writings, the teacher can use them to discuss what makes an effective paragraph, addressing topics such as idea development and paragraph organization. According to S10

50

50  Teaching English through Social Studies in (4f), students should write often and produce short and long pieces. Clearly, this standard cannot be addressed by one or two writing assignments. But if every lesson or unit of instruction includes some writing tasks over the course of a year, they can achieve the goal of writing often and over an extended period of time. 4.3  Post-​reading activities LA5 and LA6 target language for instruction. LA5 is concerned with the use of where to introduce relative clauses, a type of dependent clauses; LA6 focuses on paragraph organization. Even though one activity teaches a sentence pattern and the other discourse organization, they share a focus: both develop discourse competence to some extent. As we show, the relative clause construction provides a means of connecting one sentence to another and creating cohesion (or relatedness, in other words). For this reason, the two activities have a similar focus on discourse. Consider LA5 first, an activity on the use of where as a relative pronoun. Even though 3rd graders are likely to know where as a question marker, they may not be familiar with its use as a relative pronoun and a cohesive device. It is something new to learn. Relative clauses including those introduced by where are not easy even for native English speakers, partially because they do not appear in spoken English as often as other simpler sentence constructions. Native English-​speaking university students we have worked with tend to shun relative clauses or make mistakes in writings. For ELs, relative clauses are even more challenging and worth teaching. In addition to these reasons, there are two other reasons for teaching where as a relative pronoun. According to the language standard in (6a), Grade 3 students need to learn to use subordinating conjunctions to form complex sentences. As a relative pronoun, where is, in a sense, a subordinating conjunction, because it is used to combine a dependent, relative clause with an independent clause to form a complex sentence, the very function of subordinating conjunctions. Finally, these two lessons, though written for 3rd graders, exhibit the repeated use of relative clauses of different types. If students are to understand the passages, they need to know the relative clauses in them. For these reasons, we target one type of relative clauses, that which is introduced by where and used to modify place or location expressions. LA5, shown in Slides 21–​25, includes five steps. It starts by presenting these two sentences for students to read, both of which come from the two lessons, with the page numbers indicating where they come from. (26) Step 1 of LA5: Present these two sentences for students to see a. Then they put their stickers on places where they had lived. (Page 75) b. We moved to a neighborhood where other immigrants from Haiti lived. (Page 79) Make sure that students understand these sentences first by asking the questions in (27). (27) Step 1 of LA5: Check student understanding by asking a. Do you know what a sticker is? b. Do you know what kind of places to put stickers on? c. Do you know what neighborhood and immigrant mean? d. Do you know what kind of a neighborhood “We” moved to? (27a) and (27c) elicit what students know about sticker, neighborhood, and immigrant and what the sentences in (26a) mean. It serves as a review. As a post-​reading activity, students should have encountered these two sentences via reading.These questions are to ensure that students know the meanings of the two sentences and one key reason for moving, that is, to be with

 51

Teaching English through Social Studies  51 other Haitians. This paves the way for understanding the function of relative clauses. Once students know what the sentences mean, ask (27b) and (27d). Use the questions and student responses to point out the function of relative clauses introduced by where, which is to modify the locational expressions –​places and a neighborhood –​that precede where. By “modify”, we mean “adjust” or “make more specific”. To modify a locational expression, that is, a noun phrase, is to provide more detailed information about this noun phrase, adjust its meaning and make it more specific. This function of relative clauses, that is, modifying a noun phrase, is similar to adjectives, when they are used to modify nouns as in a clever boy. If you say a boy, we do not know its attributes except for his age and gender. But if you say a clever boy, we know at least that one of his attributes is that he is smart. Adding an adjective and using it to modify a noun makes the expression a boy more specific. We are now talking about a smart boy, not just any boy. A relative clause, like an adjective, modifies a noun phrase, adjusting its meaning and making the noun phrase more specific. For this reason, a relative clause is sometimes referred to an adjectival clause because of its shared function with adjectives. To help students understand the function of relative or adjectival clauses in (26), explain that stickers were placed not just on any place on the map according to (26a). They were attached to the places they had lived in, as opposed to, say, places they had visited or just passed by. In (26b), we did not move to any random neighborhood. We moved to a neighborhood where other Haitians lived. Such explanations are necessary for students to understand the function of relative clauses. Once students understand the function of the where relative clauses, it is important to teach by offering the information in (28) about the use of where in this type of relative clause construction. (28) Step 2 of LA5: Teach the use of where by offering this information a. Expressions such as where they had lived tell you more about the places. They are not any places such as places they had visited. They are places they had lived in. b. The word where is used as a pronoun like we, them, I. It is called a relative pronoun, to be precise. As a pronoun, it is used to refer to other things. As a place pronoun, where is used to refer to and stand in for places or locations. It is connected to the expressions places and a neighborhood in (26). c. It is called a relative pronoun because it relates or connects two clauses. where allows us to combine two simple sentences and make a complex one. d. The use of where prevents us from repeating words such as places and a neighborhood in the sentences in (26) by replacing them in the second clauses. In making the points in (28), illustrate them with examples. For instance, students might not know what a clause is. They might need reminding. You can do this by pointing to the two clauses in each of the two sentences in (26) and explain that each clause has one subject and at least one verb, that the sentences in (26) each have two clauses and that the two clauses are connected by using where. To help them understand (28c) and (28d), consider showing students a version of the two sentences written without relative clauses (i.e. Then they put their stickers on places. They had lived in those places). By showing how these two sentences can be combined into one by using where, you help students see what (28c) and (28d) mean.This also sets students up for Step 3 of LA5. To highlight the use of where and make the points in (28) even more concrete, Step 3 of LA5 models how to use where to combine two independent clauses or sentences. To do this, present sentence pairs such as those in (29). You can construct more if additional examples are necessary. Note that these sentences continue to embed content by repeating some of the reasons for migration such as the sentence in (26b).

52

52  Teaching English through Social Studies (29) Step 3 of LA5: Show how to combine the following pairs of sentences using where. a. Nicole’s family moved to Boston, Massachusetts. They felt safer in Boston. b. Nicole’s family moved to Boston, Massachusetts where they felt safer. c. Some people move to the United States. They can have freedom in the United States. d. Some people move to the United States where they can have freedom. e. Tom’s father migrated to Boston. He got a job there. f. Tom’s father migrated to Boston where he got a job. Use (29a), (29c) and (29e) to underscore the point that they are two separate sentences. Then show how they can be combined into one sentence by using where, which are shown in (29b), (29d) and (29f). Point out that where replaces the second mention of Boston, United States and there in (29a), (29c) and (29e). Hence we say that where is used to avoid repetition and to create cohesion. As a word category, pronouns are used to reduce repetition and create cohesion (See Section 6 for an explanation of cohesion). Relative pronouns are similar to regular pronouns in this regard. Step 3 is carried out mostly by the teacher. Step 4, however, offers students a chance to use where to join two sentences under teacher guidance. Additional sentence pairs such as those in (30) can be given to students to practice using where as a relative pronoun and a cohesive marker. Two pairs are included in (30). More appear in Slide 24. (30) Step 4 of LA5: Guide students to use where to combine sentence pairs such as the following a. Some people move to Florida. There are beautiful beaches there. b. Many people move to a new city or country. There are job opportunities in the new place. This guided practice can take place in a small group in class. Students can be divided into pairs to rewrite the sentences using where. The teacher can rotate around different groups, check what students come up with, affirm correct answers, point out mistakes and offer other assistance where necessary. At the conclusion of this group activity, have each pair post or write one or two of their rewritten sentences on board. Go over what students come up with, and re-​teach where necessary, as the class examines what each group produces. By Step 4, students have received direct instruction through Step 2 and teacher modeling through Step 3 and worked in pairs through Step 4. The last step, Step 5, is an opportunity for them to do sentence combining independently without teacher guidance. They should be able to carry out this task on their own. For this reason, this step can take place at home without using class time. The sentences for this exercise, which are shown in Slide 25, are similar to those in (29) and (30). For this reason, they are not repeated here. Once students hand in their homework assignment and you have a chance to assess them to see what they get and where mistakes are made, re-​teach the points where most mistakes are made. We estimate this activity will take 30 to 35 minutes to implement. Step1 and Step 2 can take 10 to 15 minutes together; Step 3 and Step 4 can each take 10 minutes. Step 5 takes place at home. This activity is designed primarily to teach a likely new and complex sentence construction called relative clauses in English. It extends students’ understanding of where not just as a question marker but also as a relative pronoun and cohesive device. It is informed by and addresses S1 in (6a), a language standard that calls on teachers to teach subordinating conjunctions and complex sentences. As we demonstrate here, where functions as a subordinating conjunction joining simple sentences and producing complex sentences. Despite its overt focus on language, this LA embeds content learning to some extent. Social Studies content

 53

Teaching English through Social Studies  53 such as reasons for migration is reflected in (26b) and in the sentences for the sentence-​ combining in Steps 3–​5. To combine the sentences using where, students must read them, thus reviewing and reinforcing what they learned. Some of you might wonder whether relative clauses are too difficult for 3rd graders and whether the teaching of this sentence construction should be delayed to a time when students are older and more mature. This is a reaction we often get from our teacher candidates when we present this LA to them. Our response is No. First, whether relative clauses are complex or not, they appear in this 3rd grade text. We have in fact seen this sentence construction in texts designed for 1st graders. If students are to understand the text, they need to learn this type of sentence construction. Second, as the Grade 3 language standard indicates, students need to learn to use subordinating conjunctions to form complex sentences.We are, however, mindful of the complexity of this sentence construction in the design of LA5. For example, to ease student learning, we have restricted the scope of instruction to one sub-​type of relative clauses. As a sentence type, relative clauses are highly complex. They fall into two broad types: restricted and unrestricted relative clauses. With each type, a number of relative pronouns such as that, who, when, where, which, and whose can be used to introduce relative clauses. And they involve somewhat complex structural changes such as the fronting of relative pronouns.This LA limits the instruction to one relative pronoun and one sub-​type of relative clauses. In addition, this LA builds in direct instruction, modelling and guided practice, all with the aim to ease student learning. For this reason, we believe that 3rd graders can handle this sentence construction. But to ease this concern, we revisit this LA in Section 5 and explore ways to differentiate instruction and make it accessible to even more students. Let’s turn now to LA6, which develops students’ discourse competence. As a term, discourse refers to units of language larger than individual sentences. A piece of discourse can be a paragraph, a section, an article or essay, a chapter of a book, or an entire book. To develop discourse competence, we can teach cohesive devices, tools writers use to connect one sentence to another, one paragraph to another, one section to another, even one chapter to another. We can also teach how these units of discourse are organized. In addition, there are different types or genres of discourse from letters and newspaper articles to academic writings and literary works, with each discourse genre consisting of many sub-​types. For example, the literary genre includes novels, plays, poems, biographs, etc. Developing discourse competence involves teaching the features of these discourse types, including how they are structured. As teachers of ELs, you need to start developing their discourse competence earlier. A good place to start is paragraph, which is the smallest unit of discourse and the easiest to learn. Students need to know that a well-​written paragraph is not a series of sentences that happen to land in the same paragraph. It has a structure, often organized around a main idea, with this idea developed or supported by key details. In order for students to read and write well, they need to acquire the ability to identify the main idea and key details, something demanded by both reading and listening standards. In other words, they need to be discourse aware. LA6, which appears in Slides 26–​30, develops this discourse awareness, focusing on the structure of a paragraph. There are four steps to this LA. To start Step 1, the teacher projects the paragraph in (31) from the passage entitled “Why People Move” and asks the questions in (32). (31) Step 1 of LA6: Project this paragraph for students to read Some people move to the United States because they are seeking freedom. They want to be free to help choose the government or to follow a religion. They hope that in the United States they will be able to make more choices that will make their children’s future better.

54

54  Teaching English through Social Studies (32) Step 1 of LA6: Pose these questions on the paragraph a. What is this paragraph about? Is it about moving to the US or reasons for moving to the US? b. How can we tell what this paragraph is about? As a post-​reading activity, students should be familiar with the passage in (31).To re-​introduce this paragraph to students, you can project it on the slide and have students read it silently.You can train students’ listening by reading it aloud first without the slide and then show the paragraph on the slide.You can also ask selected students to read it aloud to the class. Following the reading, raise the questions in (32). (32a) checks whether students can identify the main idea. To make this question easier, we present students with a choice: moving to the US or reasons for moving to the US.To determine which one is the answer, students need to understand not only the main idea expressed by the first sentence but also how this main idea is developed and supported by the two following sentences, which is the focus of (32b). These two sentences spell out what freedom they are seeking. These freedoms –​to choose the government, to follow a religion and to make choices –​are why people move to the US. For this reason, this paragraph’s main idea is reasons for moving. This idea is supported by the two sentences that follow, which elaborate on what freedom they are seeking. Step 2 of LA6 builds on Step 1 to introduce the concepts of topic and supporting sentences and to relate them to main ideas and key details. The central point for students to acquire is that a paragraph has a structure or organization. This organization consists of a topic sentence and supporting sentences, that is, sentences that develop the topic sentence. This development or support can take many forms such as spelling out what the topic sentence means such as what we see in (31), providing examples or definitions of what the topic sentence means, supplying reasons for the assertion by the topic sentence, articulating the similarities claimed by the topic sentence, etc. (33) Step 2 of LA6: Introduce topic and supporting sentences a. This paragraph is about why people move to the US. Specifically, its first sentence says that people come to the US for freedom. b. We call this first sentence a topic sentence. A topic sentence is a sentence the whole paragraph is about. c. The topic sentence tends to appear at the beginning of a paragraph, even though it can also appear in the middle or at the end of a paragraph. d. This paragraph is about reasons for moving to the US, because of the second and third sentence. These two sentences tell us three things people want to be free to do: free to choose a government, free to follow a religion, and free to make choices. As they focus on freedom, we can conclude that this paragraph is about the reasons for moving to the US. e. We call these two sentences supporting sentences. A supporting sentence is a sentence that supports a topic sentence, meaning that it is related to and gives additional details on the topic sentence. To help 3rd graders visualize paragraph organization, consider comparing it to something they are familiar with such as a tree. Relate the topic sentence to the tree trunk and supporting sentences to its branches. Just as branches are connected to and held together by a tree trunk, supporting sentences are related to and held together by the topic sentence. In Slide 28, we show a graph that helps students visualize the relation of the topic sentence to its supporting sentences. To help students see the tree, say that the graph in Slide 28 depicts a tree that has fallen and lain horizontally on the ground.The topic sentence represents the trunk and the two

 55

Teaching English through Social Studies  55 supporting sentences are its two branches. The main point here is to help 3rd graders understand that a paragraph is not a random string of sentences, but a series of related sentences, sentences connected by the topic sentence. It is clearly not sufficient to analyze one paragraph. To develop discourse competence, students need repeated exposures. Step 3 does just that. This step introduces another paragraph, shown in (34). This paragraph is similar to the one in (31). Its first sentence is the topic sentence, supported by the two following sentences, which identify five ways of what it means to be part of a community –​get jobs, go to school, make friends, follow laws and respect other people. What is different about this paragraph is that it has a fourth sentence, which explains why it is important to follow the community’s laws. In other words, the second supporting sentence or the third sentence of the paragraph is itself supported by another or the fourth sentence. To use the tree metaphor, we can say that the second branch (second supporting sentence) has a branch of its own. (34) Step 3 of LA6: Project a second paragraph for students to read and analyze When people join a new community, they become a part of it. They might get jobs, go to school, and make friends there. They also have to follow the community’s laws and respect other people. When everyone obeys the laws, they make their community a safe place in which to live. Steps 1 & 2 are mostly teacher-​directed. To implement Step 3, the teacher should shift the responsibility more to the students. One way to do this is to divide students into groups of three or four and ask them to read and analyze the above paragraph. To guide the group discussion, ask them to consider the questions in (35). (35) Step 3 of LA6: Pose these questions to guide group discussion a. What is this paragraph? Is it about how one joins a community or what it means to be part of a community? b. How can we tell what this paragraph is about? c. Which sentence is the topic sentence? d. Which sentences are the supporting sentences? (35a) and (35b) are similar to the questions in (32). (35c) and (35d) are asked to see if students can use what they have learned in the first two steps to determine the main idea or the topic sentence and the key details or supporting sentence. Once the group activity is completed, consider asking some groups to report their discussion to the whole class. As selected groups report to the class, the teacher can use this opportunity to reinforce student answers, to correct misunderstandings and to review and reteach where necessary. With direct instruction in Steps 1 & 2 and group practice in Step 3, it is time to engage students in individual practice and assess what they understand. Step 4 introduces two more paragraphs for students to read and analyze individually. These paragraphs, shown in (36), are similar in organization to the two paragraphs in (31) and (34), with minor differences. In both paragraphs, the first sentence is the topic sentence. This topic sentence is developed by two following sentences in the first paragraph and the three following sentences in the second paragraph. In the first paragraph of (36), the two supporting sentences articulate the things that will happen today, while the three supporting sentences of the second paragraph spell out three similarities to support the topic sentence’s assertion that some things here are the same as in Haiti. In addition, the first paragraph has a final sentence –​Then what? –​which acts as a transition to the next paragraph.

56

56  Teaching English through Social Studies (36) Step 4 of LA6: Present these two paragraphs for students to read and analyze individually You know some of the things that will happen today.Your parents will take you to your new school. Someone will bring you to the classroom. Then what? Some things here are the same as in Haiti. My school here is almost like my old school. I play soccer in the park, just like I used to. We ride buses and telephone our friends … You can assign the reading and analyzing of these paragraphs as an assignment to be completed individually by students at home. One way to do this is to create an exercise consisting of a series of multiple-​choice questions. These questions can be designed to assess students’ understanding of the two paragraphs and their ability to identify topic and supporting sentences. In (37), we provide two examples of multiple-​choice questions that can be asked on the first paragraph in (36). (37) Step 4 of LA6: Have students read the paragraphs in (36) and respond to the questions below A. What is the main idea of the first paragraph? Which sentence expresses the main idea? a. Sentence 1 b.  Sentence 2 c.  Sentence 3 d.  Sentence 4 B. What kind of sentence is Sentence 2 in the first paragraph? a. Topic sentence b.  Supporting Sentence c.  Neither (a) nor (b) As you can see from these examples, multiple-​choice or other types of questions can be constructed to target comprehension and assess to what extent students can identify topic and supporting sentences. In designing the questions, you can provide three or four choices, depending on student ability. Clearly, more choices make a question more challenging. For this reason, you can use the number of choices to adjust the level of difficulty. Once you have evaluated student responses to the multiple-​choice questions, consider going over what they do, identify what they do well, point out common mistakes and use this as an opportunity to review and reteach. Developing students’ discourse competence is a long-​term goal. It is not something that can be accomplished via one activity, in one class or even in one year. It is a skill that takes multiple years to develop. Even if students do not fully understand what you are trying to teach at the end of this LA, it is still important to engage them in this type of instructional activity because they deepen reading comprehension, increase knowledge of discourse and ultimately advance writing abilities. We estimate that this LA can take 35 to 40 minutes, with Steps 1 & 2 taking 15 minutes, the group activity via Step 3 taking 15 to 20 minutes and 5 minutes for Step 4. With its focus on reading and analyzing written discourse, LA6 addresses mostly directly the reading standards in S2 and S1 in (3b) and (3a). According to S2, students need to “Determine the main idea of a text, recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.” This is exactly what LA6 is concerned with. In addition, this LA builds into its design multiple steps for questioning and answering and identifying text-​based evidence, as called for by S1. The writing standard S4 in (4c) is addressed to some degree, according to which 3rd graders need to generate “writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task and purpose.” Although LA6 does not directly engage students in writing, it does develop their knowledge of what this standard mandates. Instruction on paragraph organization, with its focus on topic and supporting sentences, is an attempt to teach students effective development and organization of ideas. Even with its overt language goal, this LA advances, to some extent, the content goals of Social Studies in (2). Because this LA requires students to revisit selected paragraphs and analyze them, this activity can be used to strengthen content

 57

Teaching English through Social Studies  57 understanding, if you select the passages carefully. For example, re-​reading and analyzing the paragraph in (31) reinforces students’ understanding of reasons for migration and causes of distribution of people, something the two Social Studies standards in (2) are concerned with. The paragraph in (34), which explains what it means to be part of a community, is a lesson on civics, also part of Social Studies. In other words, content learning is clearly part of this LA, in spite of its overt emphasis on paragraph organization, a language topic.

5  Ideas for differentiation K-​12 classrooms in the US are increasingly made up of students from different language backgrounds and with mixed English proficiency levels. This raises the question of whether the LAs discussed in Section 4 are too difficult and, if so, how they can be adapted to address the needs of all ELs, especially those with below-​grade proficiency levels. This section takes on these two questions. We use one activity, LA5, as an example and explore ways to make it accessible to more students. Recall that LA5 is concerned with the use of where as a relative pronoun to introduce a relative clause and create a complex sentence with a main and a subordinate clause. When this type of LA is presented to teachers and teacher candidates, responses we are often greeted with suggest that either they think that it is too difficult or students have not grasped simpler structures. How do you expect me to teach complex sentences with relative clauses if they have not learned simple sentences? It is important to stress that a thorough command of simple sentences is not a pre-​condition for learning complex sentences. The two can proceed in parallel. More importantly, the right move is to teach the structure, rather than avoid or delay doing so for two reasons. First, it is part of the Social Studies text students are expected to read and understand. Second, it is what the learning standards require. Rather than running away from this structure, teachers should provide the instruction and support necessary so that students can understand it and learn how to use it. This is what Chapter 1 means by helping students grapple with challenging text, text made more challenging partly by its use of grammatical structures like relative clauses. The answer to the first question is, therefore, that this structure is not too difficult for students to learn and for teachers to teach. To assist students in understanding and acquiring the where relative clause, we have built into LA5’s design a number of mechanisms that make it accessible. First, this LA focuses on one sub-​type of relative clauses, rather than relative clauses as a whole, thus narrowing its focus and simplifying what is to be learned. Second, learners are bombarded with examples of this structure, which eases learning. Third, repeated exposures to the where relative clause are provided, starting with the original sentences from the text, followed by direct instruction, modelling, guided practice and individual practice. Finally, this LA incorporates a lot of scaffolding before students are expected to use it on their own.This scaffolding takes the form of direct instruction, modelling and guided practice. These design elements are intentionally built into LA5 to reduce the difficulty and render it accessible to more students. But, of course, there is more we can do. This is what we consider next. Recall that LA5 comprises five steps. Step 1 introduces the two sentences with where relative clauses from the text in (26) and checks whether students understand what they mean. If some students have trouble understanding the sentences, one way is to make their meanings visual by acting out what they say. Both sentences can be illustrated via body language. To show what the sentence in (26a) means, post a map of a city where your students live on the board. Ask a couple of students where they live in that city and as students respond, demonstrate by putting a sticker on the places where your students live. As you do so, keep repeating to students that I just put the stickers where Tom, Jane and Susan live. You can also illustrate

58

58  Teaching English through Social Studies what (26b) means by focusing on a particular student in the class, identifying the area where this student is seated as his/​her neighborhood, and modelling what the sentence means by moving to the area or neighborhood where this student is seated. To put it simply, you can act out the two sentences to facilitate comprehension. Another strategy is to unpack each sentence in (26) into two separate clauses/​sentences as in (38a) and (38b). (38) Alternative to Step 1 of LA5: Restate (26a) and (26b) as two separate sentences a. They had lived in certain places. They put their stickers on those places. b. Other immigrants from Haiti lived in a certain neighborhood. We moved to that neighborhood. There are two benefits to unpacking complex sentences by rewriting them as simple sentences. First, it is easier to understand simple sentences. But more importantly, it enables students to see that the original sentences each pack two sentences/​clauses and two ideas into one. You can use (38) to point out that to express the original sentences in two separate sentences, you need to repeat the locations expressions, places in (38a) and neighborhood in (38b). In the combined complex sentences with relative clauses in (26), the relative pronoun where replaces one of the two place expressions and joins two sentences into one. (38) not only makes the original sentences easier to understand but also paves the way for Step 2 of LA5. Step 2 offers direct instruction of the where relative clause, sharing with students three pieces of information: a) what this structure is called; b) what kind of information it expresses; and c) what functions it serves (to specify and to avoid repetition). Three aspects of direct instruction can be challenging for ELs and 3rd graders: a) understanding grammatical terminology –​ relative pronoun and relative clause; b) understanding relating as a concept; and c) understanding the concept of specificity. With respect to grammatical terminology, it is important to realize that each term refers to a specific language feature or structure and is easily exemplified. An effective strategy is to associate a term with the language feature or structure it refers to, not to define or explain what it means. In other words, link the term relative pronoun with where and relative clause with where they had lived. Supplying definitions on grammatical terms is less helpful than associating them with examples, especially for young learners. This association can be further strengthened by creating wall posters on which where relative clauses are underlined and the labels relative clause and relative pronoun are linked with examples. These posters can remind students of what the terms mean and reinforce the associations between the names and the language features they refer to. Turning to relating as a concept, consider linking the adjective relative of relative clause or relative pronoun to the verb relate. Tell students that to relate is to connect, which can be shown via body language. For example, you can model relating or connecting by creating a hook with the index finger and connecting the two hands via the two index fingers. Building on that, point out that the relative pronoun is a word that relates or connects the two clauses. A relative clause is a clause that is related or connected to another clause and provides additional information on that clause. Students might know relative as a noun as in She is a relative of mine. This is an opportunity to make connections with and reinforce what they know by reminding them that relative, when used as a noun, refers to a person you are related to. This is what we mean by teaching language, that is, intentionally relating instruction to the language they know or diving into word relations and morphology, where appropriate. The primary function of a relative clause is to make the noun phrase it follows and modifies more specific by supplying additional information on this phrase. For this reason, students need to understand the concept of specificity. One strategy is to have students compare expressions

 59

Teaching English through Social Studies  59 such as that boy and that boy by the door and ask which one is clearer and what makes the phrase clearer. Then build on student responses and say that the prepositional phrase by the door provides more specific information about the boy by telling us where he is, thus rendering that boy by the door clearer. Once students understand the function of this prepositional phrase, compare relative clauses to by the door and say that relative clauses perform the same function by supplying more specific information about preceding noun phrases. In Section 4.3, we suggest making relative clauses easier by relating them to adjectives. Here we suggest relating them to prepositional phrases. Both are simpler structures and likely easier for students to understand. In addition, by linking the function of relative clauses to that of adjectives and prepositional phrases, you enable students to see that different structures can serve the same function and express the same idea, which expand their linguistic resources. Steps 3, 4 and 5 of LA5 model how to use where to combine sentences and provide guided and individual practice. These steps are unified by one objective, to develop students’ ability to use this structure to express more complex ideas. These steps can be simplified and made accessible to more students by turning sentence combining into a hands-​on, manipulative activity. Our idea is inspired by a technique called Syntax Surgery presented in Herrell and Jordan (2016: 132–​135). To help students identify grammatical errors, they advocate writing each sentence with a grammatical error on a large strip of paper (so that students can see), identifying the error on the sentence strip, physically cutting out the error with a pair of scissors or performing a sentence surgery, and replacing it with the correction. We can adapt this technique for you to model the use of the where relative clause in Step 3 and for students to practice sentence combining in Step 4. To turn these two steps into a manipulative, write the two sentences, say, in (29a), on two separate sentence strips. Place the two sentence strips side by side and have students read them and identify the expressions that refer to the same place. Using scissors, cut out the first or second place expression and replace it with where and then place where at the beginning of the sentence from which the place expression is cut out. Finally, combine the two sentences together by placing the where relative clause right after the remaining place expression. These steps are essentially directions for sentence combining. Illustrate each step or direction as you model sentence combining. Following the modelling, you can post these directions on board for students to follow when they practice sentence combining in a group in Step 4. They can also be included as part of the directions for the individual take-​home assignment in Step 5. To summarize, there are many tools to differentiate instruction and make it accessible to more students. They include making the information visible through body language, making modelling and student practice physical and hands-​on by turning them into something students can manipulate, and making instruction easier to comprehend by illustrating it with examples, by associating grammatical terms with language structures, and by relating them to simpler structures. These strategies underlie the alternatives we suggest to the implementation of LA5. What we do not advocate is to avoid or delay the teaching of this structure.

6 Additional language teaching ideas We have introduced and discussed six learning activities designed to teach the English language and integrate it with content learning. These activities target units of language from vocabulary and phrasal expressions to sentence patterns and paragraph organization. Some develop students’ listening and speaking; others emphasize reading and writing. Five of the six activities integrate Social Studies content into language learning. In this section, we suggest additional language features you can teach. The goal here is not to present fully developed learning activities and discuss their implementation, as we did in Section 4. It is to recommend other features that can be targets of language instruction. The central point is that even texts

60

60  Teaching English through Social Studies designed for 3rd graders, that is, texts that are drastically shortened and simplified, are replete with potentials for language teaching. Let’s start with ideas for teaching vocabulary and phrasal expressions. In LA2, a pre-​reading activity, we focus on two expressions with more than one meaning –​make and follow –​and teach 3rd graders to recognize word meanings from context. LA3, a during-​reading activity, ties reasons for migration with learning three expressions of reason –​for, because of, and because. You might wonder what other vocabulary and phrasal expressions can be taught. We consider three here. One idea, suggested by the teachers’ manual for this Social Studies textbook, is to teach vocabulary such as opportunity (opportunidad), religion (religión), community (communidad), law (ley), and respect (respetar). This manual further recommends relating these words to their Spanish cognates (provided in parentheses) and help students see that -​ity in English is manifested as -​idad in Spanish, if your students are Spanish speakers. As these words are central to the understanding of the Social Studies content, they are clearly worth teaching. While we agree that these and other words are important, they represent an extremely narrow class of vocabulary to teach. Except for respect, which is used as a verb in the two lessons, the remaining four words are all nouns. They are all single words, not phrasal expressions. As we cannot communicate just with nouns and individual words, vocabulary instruction cannot afford not to target vocabulary of other categories, phrasal expressions and collocations. We make this point here because language instruction in or outside content contexts tends to focus on nouns (as content terms tend to be nouns) and individual words. This overemphasis on nouns and individual words is seen in textbooks for content. For example, the only mention of any language is related to vocabulary and these five words in the first two lessons.This narrow focus on terms is also seen in ESL textbooks and in actual ESL classes. In selecting vocabulary for instruction, it is critical to teach words of other categories, phrasal expressions, and collocations (DeCarrico, 2001; Ford-​Connors & Paratore, 2015; Peng, 2019).We do not communicate only with nouns or with individual words. Nouns need to be combined with other words to form phrases and sentences. A narrow focus on nouns and individual words is neither helpful nor useful. For this reason, we consider two other targets for vocabulary instruction. One concerns prepositions, the other targets phrasal expressions. Mentioned earlier, the two lessons include five passages concerned with moving and migration. As these topics involve places and locations, we see repeated use of prepositions to introduce locations in the passages. As a result, they offer a wonderful opportunity to introduce and teach a variety of place prepositions and how they differ in meaning. In (39), we list the place prepositions that appear in the five passages. (39) Vocabulary Instruction Idea 2: Place prepositions a. to your new school/​the classroom/​Boston/​a new city or country/​the United States/​a new home/​a neighborhood/​the park b. near my old town c. on stickers/​places d. all over the map e. from far away/​Haiti f. in our community/​the United States/​an airplane/​the air/​your new country/​the Caribbean Sea/​Haiti g. out of the window h. beneath the plane i. into a country As this list shows, these two lessons feature a large number of prepositions used to introduce a range of place expressions. The prepositions express a variety of meanings, with the meanings

 61

Teaching English through Social Studies  61 directly related to the topics of moving and migration. When we discuss migration, we talk about where people are from, where they move to, where they settle in, etc. The repeated use of prepositions like to, in and from is thus not an accident and worth drawing students’ attention to. You can design an activity to highlight their differences in meanings as several represent antonyms: e.g. to vs. from, over vs. beneath, into vs. out of. There are other reasons for teaching prepositions. Many languages have limited prepositions or no prepositions at all. Some have post-​positions. Post-​positions appear after place expressions, unlike prepositions, which appear before location expressions. English, unlike many languages, has many prepositions that convey a range of meanings. They are used frequently and often idiomatically. For all these reasons, ELs find prepositions challenging. It is an important category of words that vocabulary instruction should focus on. In addition to nouns such as opportunity and location prepositions, you can target phrasal expressions or collocations (DeCarrico, 2001: 292–​294). By phrasal expressions or collocations, we mean a string of words that tend to be used together and have a fixed or sometimes idiomatic meaning. Phrasal expressions and collocations often include a preposition together with other categories of words such as verbs and adjectives. One example you have seen in LA3 is because of, used to introduce a noun phrase as a reason. These two lessons feature a number of other phrasal expressions that are worth teaching. They include set up, be worried about, be the same as, and be different from, as they are used in sentences in (40). (40) Vocabulary Instruction Idea 3: Phrasal expressions a. They set up systems of laws. b. I was worried about going to a new school, but I felt better when I got to my new classroom. c. Some things here are the same as in Haiti. d. My neighborhood now is different from where I lived in Haiti. What makes phrasal expressions or collocations worth teaching is that they must be used together and can have an idiomatic meaning, that is, meaning that cannot be derived from individual words that make up phrasal expressions. To set up systems of laws is to establish systems of laws. It cannot be set on or set aside. When you express what you are worried about, it has to be worried about, not worried on, even though about and on are sometimes used interchangeably. Some things are the same as –​not same like –​in Haiti. For this reason, these phrasal expressions have to be learned as though they are a fixed package. English has many such phrasal expressions. When you encounter them in a text, it is worth pointing out so that students learn what they mean and how they are used. Moving on to units of language larger than individual words and phrases, let’s consider clause and sentence structures as the focus of language instruction. In LA5, we showcase the use of where to introduce a relative clause. These two lessons feature another type of relative clauses introduced by the relative pronoun that in (41a). In this type of relative clause, that serves as the subject of the relative clause and introduces a dependent clause, like the relative pronoun where. Another example of this type of relative clauses appears in (42d), where that will make their children’s future better is a relative clause with that as a relative pronoun and where it modifies the noun phrase more choices. In terms of structure, this is probably the simplest relative clause. If you find the where relative clause too hard for 3rd graders, then teach the that relative clause in (41a) and (42d). (41) Two ideas for teaching subordinating conjunctions and complex sentences a. You know some of the things that will happen today. (relative clause) b. Will the other children look at you when you enter the room? (adverbial clause) c. As you go higher, you can see the airport get smaller and smaller. (adverbial clause)

62

62  Teaching English through Social Studies Mentioned earlier, relative pronouns are subordinating conjunctions in the sense that they introduce a subordinate clause and join it with an independent clause to create complex sentences. There is another type of subordinating conjunction in the two lessons, that is, the use of when and as to introduce dependent clauses and provide time information as in (41b) and (41c). Like because discussed in LA3, which introduces a dependent clause of reason, when and as also introduce dependent clauses. All three are used to modify verbs by providing additional information on when or why an action happens.They are similar to adverbs in function, which is why they are referred to as adverbial clauses. Adverbial clauses modify verb phrases, unlike relative or adjectival clauses which modify noun phrases. Adverbial clauses of time provide another tool for students to express time that takes the form of a clause as opposed to a noun (yesterday), a noun phrase (two minutes ago) or a prepositional phrase (in two years). They allow students to express more complex ideas. For this reason, they are worth teaching. Apart from teaching subordinating conjunctions and complex sentences, there are other possibilities for teaching sentence patterns. For example, the five passages feature the repeated use of infinitive clauses (in bold in (42a) and (42b)) introduced by the infinitive marker to.The infinitive to is different from the preposition to in that the former introduces a verb phrase, while the latter introduces a noun phrase. In these five passages, we see at least two uses of infinitive clauses: either as an object of the verb need in (42a) or as an expression of purpose or reason in (42b). (42) Four other ideas for teaching sentence structures a. They formed new communities here because they needed to feel safer than they had felt before. (infinitive clause) b. People move to find a better life for themselves or their children. (infinitive clause) c. Forming new communities gave people the chance to better their lives. (gerund) d. They hope that in the United States they will be able to make more choices that will make their children’s future better. (a complement clause introduced by that) e. My neighborhood now is different from where I lived in Haiti. (a complement clause introduced by where) f. A map on the wall had a sticker near my own town, Fort Wayne, Indiana. (parenthetical expression) g. We are from Haiti, a country in the Caribbean Sea. (parenthetical expression) Besides infinitive clauses, these two lessons also include some use of gerunds, as (42c) illustrates. A gerund is a verb that is turned into a noun by suffixing -​ing. Gerunds appear in places reserved for noun phrases and can serve as the subject, as the object, and as the complement of a preposition. One example is going to school in (40b), which serves as the complement of the preposition about. Forming new communities in (42c) functions as the subject of the entire sentence. This is an example of nominalization, a grammatical process that turns a verb (form) into a noun (forming). One way to create a noun in English is by adding -​ing to the verb and turning it into a gerund. Schleppegrell et al. (2004) and Fang and Schleppegrell (2010) identify nominalization as a key feature of academic texts in Social Studies. According to them, this feature of academic language is particularly hard to understand for students including ELs. By representing a process (verb) as a thing (noun), nominalization can package a lot of information into a small phrase, rendering an expression denser and more abstract. Teachers should consider unpacking such expressions when they appear in a text and help students understand what they mean.

 63

Teaching English through Social Studies  63 These five passages also show complement clauses in (42d) and (42e) and parenthetical expressions in (42f) and (42g). A complement clause is a clause that appears in places reserved for noun phrases, similar to gerunds. A complement clause can be the object or complement of a verb as in (42d) or as the complement of a preposition as in (42e). A complement clause is also a dependent clause. Thus, its presence renders a sentence complex. A parenthetical expression is one that is inserted into a sentence to provide additional information on the immediately preceding phrase. For example, we do not know what my own town refers to in (42f), without the parenthetical expression Fort Wayne, Indiana. By adding it after my own town, we know what it refers to. Third graders may not know what Haiti refers to and where it is located. The addition of a country in the Caribbean Sea clarifies that for them. A parenthetic expression is not considered to be part of the sentence, which is why it is set apart from the rest of the sentence with a comma. It can also be set apart by dashes –​and parentheses (), hence the name parenthetical expressions. Parenthetical expressions take many forms and appear frequently in academic texts.You have seen and used them without knowing the name of the structure. In Chapter 5, we discuss an activity (LA5) designed to teach parenthetical expressions. If you wish to learn more about it, check out this chapter. The presence of infinitives, gerunds, complement clauses and parenthetical expressions increases the complexity of sentence structures. As (41) and (42) demonstrate, even texts that are simplified for elementary school students include a range of complex syntactic structures. If students are to make sense of these texts and communicate effectively, they need to learn these structures. For this reason and for the reason that these structures provide crucial linguistic tools to express a much wider array of ideas, you need to consider teaching them. Moving on to discourse, you might wonder what else we can teach in addition to paragraph organization. Here are two recommendations. One idea is concerned with which person a piece of discourse is written in. Out of the five passages in the two lessons, two are written in the 1st person. An example is presented in (43a), where the repeated use of I, my, me, we and us underscores the point that this passage is written in the 1st person or by the author about herself.Three are written in the 2nd person. (43b) is an example, where the use of you and your makes it clear that the writer is talking directly to readers and helping readers imagine what it is like to take your first trip in a plane. (43) Ideas for developing discourse competence a. Hello! I’m Nicole. My family moved to Boston, Massachusetts. We’re from Haiti, a country in the Caribbean Sea. In Haiti, we spoke Haitian Creole. We moved to a neighborhood where other immigrants from Haiti live. An immigrant is a person who moves into a country and lives there. My new neighborhood friends helped us learn about living in the United States. They helped me learn English. We still follow some customs from Haiti. A custom is a way of doing things. b. It’s your first trip in an airplane. You strain to see out of the window. You cover your ears because the engines are so noisy. You’re up in the air now! As you go higher, you can see the airport get smaller and smaller. Then you see the whole island far beneath the plane. It’s getting farther and farther away. As soon as we leave these two lessons, we also see passages written in the 3rd person, where the writer is writing neither about him/​herself nor to you as readers. We can thus exploit these passages to develop students’ awareness of the different perspectives writers can write from and their relationship with the people or objects they are writing about.You can relate this feature to different genres of writings. For example, an autobiography is written in the

64

64  Teaching English through Social Studies 1st person by the writer about him/​herself or his/​her own family. A biography is written in the 3rd person, that is, written by the author about a third person and persons. Instructional manuals, cookbooks, recipes, etc. are often written in the 2nd person, with the author telling readers how to assemble or use something or how to cook a dish. Another way you can develop students’ discourse competence is to teach students how a writer creates cohesion through the use of cohesive devices (Frodesen, 2014: 246–​248). Cohesion is a feature of discourse or a marker of effective discourse. A cohesive piece of discourse is one in which all of the sentences and the ideas they express are tightly related to one another. For this reason, you can think of cohesion as relatedness. One way to create cohesion or relatedness is through cohesive devices. One type of cohesive devices is pronouns and other reference words such as this, that, these and those, a class of expressions whose meanings are derived from the person or thing they refer to. The use of personal pronouns as cohesive devices is evidenced by the repeated use of 1st person pronouns in (43a) and 2nd person pronouns in (43b).The recurrence of I, my, me, we and us in (43a) creates a sense that all of the sentences that make up the two paragraphs are related to and about the same thing. A second type of cohesive device involves the use of identical words or expressions, synonyms, and semantically or morphologically related words to create a sense of relatedness. This type of cohesive devices is called lexical devices. We see the use of lexical cohesive devices in (43a), where there is repeated mention of Haiti and Haitian.We also see such devices being deployed in (43b) through the reference to airplane, plane and airport, which together convey a sense that this piece of writing is centered on planes. The third type of cohesive devices, which are not seen in (43), are conjunctions and conjunctive adverbs such as and, but, therefore, in addition, and for example. Conjunctions and conjunctive adverbs highlight sentence relations and are used by writers to indicate how one sentence is related to another in a piece of discourse, whether this relation is oppositional, cause-​effect, claim-​example, assertion-​evidence, statement-​reason, etc. Of course, cohesion cannot be achieved just via the use of cohesive devices. If a piece of writing does not have a main idea and if this main idea is not systematically developed by relevant details, it cannot be cohesive even if lots of cohesive devices are used. In this sense, LA6, which is concerned with paragraph organization, and this recommendation on teaching cohesive devices are related in that both achieve the same goal, that is, teach students how to generate a cohesive piece of discourse. Cohesive devices are worth teaching because they develop students’ understanding that a paragraph or larger piece of writing is about a main idea and this idea is systematically developed and reinforced by the use of cohesive devices. Cohesive devices are also worth teaching because they are rarely the targets of language or writing instruction. To summarize, these two lessons on Social Studies present many possibilities for language teaching.We have made a number of recommendations here as to what to teach, from vocabulary and phrasal expressions to sentence patterns and discourse features. The point here is not to suggest that you should teach all of them.You cannot. If you do, you will never move beyond these two lessons. The goal of this section and this chapter is to highlight the rich potential for language instruction. If you teach just two features every two lessons, you will have covered a large number of language features over the course of a year. Remember that whether you are a Social Studies teacher or an ESL teacher responsible for teaching language through content, you need to teach language as well as content. Without the language, students cannot make sense of the Social Studies content.This is clearly true of ELs. But it also applies to native English-​speaking students. At Grade 3, students, whether they are ELs or not, have not acquired the academic register of English. Many are not exposed to this register of English at home, especially if they come from working class backgrounds. Consequently, ELs

 65

Teaching English through Social Studies  65 as well as native English-​speaking students can benefit from language instruction suggested in this chapter.

7  Conclusion Six LAs are showcased in this chapter: two pre-​reading, two during-​reading and two post-​ reading. They target language explicitly, whether the targets are oral skills (LA1), words with more than one meaning (LA2), expressions of reason (LA3), the use of questions (LA4), the where relative clause (LA5) or paragraph organization (LA6). These activities provide listening, speaking, reading and writing practices. But as we pointed out in Chapter 1, engagement with the four skills without an overt focus on language form is not sufficient, especially for ELs. Effective language instruction must engage with form. For this reason, five of the six activities (apart from LA1) focus directly on form. They range from vocabulary and phrasal expressions (i.e. expressions such as for or because of and verbs such as make and follow) to clause and sentence structures (i.e. questions as a means to express thoughts and the where relative clause) to discourse (e.g. paragraph organization). While some of these activities aim at understanding, others develop students’ ability to use the targeted language features. In addition, we have introduced a range of ideas for vocabulary, sentence and discourse instruction in Section 6. Despite the focus on language, content is part of most activities. In LA1, we use visuals to activate knowledge of the passages students are about to read. These visuals link to either the main idea or key details of a passage. LA3 and LA4 introduce or reinforce content by using sentences that embed content, by having students listen to or re-​read passages they read before, and by engaging them in researching their family histories and making personal connections to the passages they read. Even LA5 and LA6, with their focus on form, use sentences and paragraphs that embed the Social Studies content. As we show here, content does not have to be sacrificed at the expense of language. Language and content instruction can happen side by side, with each complementing and supporting the other. Two other features of the activities are worth highlighting here. One feature concerns the reliance on visual and auditory means to access information. Remember that the two lessons and the activities based on them are designed for Grade 3 students. At Grade 3, students, whether they are native or non-​native speakers of English, are just starting to read and write. In light of this developmental fact, the activities proposed here explore visual and auditory means for students to access written texts. For this reason, LA1 intentionally uses pictures, photos and maps to get students talking and build interest in and knowledge about the passages before they read. Rather than having students re-​read sometimes, LA3 and LA4 re-​introduce the passages through listening. The second feature concerns the sequencing of questions in the pre-​reading activities and the timing of steps in the during-​reading and post-​reading activities. For example, in LA1, the harder, inferential questions are asked after easier factual questions. LA3, LA4 and LA5 begin intentionally with direct instruction, follow it with teacher modelling and guided practice and end with independent work. The sequencing of questions and the timing of steps are not accidental. They are by design. They reflect the findings and recommendations of education research that show that presentation of new information needs to be gradual, starting with something easy and moving to increasingly difficult things (Clark et al., 2012; Rosenshine, 2012, etc.). Our design of the activities abides by this principle as teacher support is gradually withdrawn and difficulty is gradually increased. We hope that you will keep these considerations in mind when designing learning activities for all students, but especially for ELs and students in earlier grades.

66

66  Teaching English through Social Studies

8  Exercises 8.1  Multiple-​choice questions This section includes ten questions, which are based on Chapter 2. Some questions refer to sections in Chapter 1. They are designed to encourage you to read closely, to reflect on what you read, make connections, and provide a quick check of your understanding. You should read this chapter and, if necessary, review relevant sections before and while attempting these questions. These questions have four or more choices. There might be more than one correct choice for some multiple-​choice questions, but your task is to select the best choice. (1) Section 3 discusses the reading standards for informational text for Grade 3. To make clear the expectations for Grade 3 as opposed to Grade 8, this section provides a brief examination of the different requirements for the two grades. According to this section, what distinguishes Grade 8 requirements from those for Grade 3? In other words, Grade 8 students are expected to …, which are not required of Grade 3 students. a. b.

make inferences from the text analyze a text and extract evidence

c. produce written summaries d. all three

(2) The Grade 3 language standard in (6a) calls on teachers to develop students’ ability to use coordinating and subordinating conjunctions and produce simple, compound and complex sentences. Now examine S4 and S7 in (4c) and (4d). Are these standards written in …? a. b.

simple sentences compound sentences

c. complex sentences d. both compound and complex sentences

(3) LA1 includes three steps, with each step posing two-​to-​four questions about the visual images. These questions are sequenced as they are for a reason. Determine why the last question in (9) to (11) is asked after other questions in each step. a. b. c.

Responses to the last questions depend on knowing answers to the questions that precede them. Questions in each step are organized according to ease. Easier questions are asked first, before harder questions. The last question in each step requires students to read the relevant passages and make connections between image and text.

d. Both (a) and (b) e.

Both (b) and (c)

f.

All three

(4) We suggest that LA2 be implemented in two steps. Step 1 starts with reading followed by teacher-​directed questions. This is then followed by direct instruction in Step 2. Ordering teacher-​directed questions before direct instruction is not unique to this LA. As a matter of fact, many LAs discussed in this book start with teacher-​ directed questions followed by direct instruction. What are the key advantages for this ordering? a. b. c.

This ordering saves instructional time. Teacher-​directed questions develop students’ oral skills. These questions offer teachers an opportunity to check what students know and build instruction on student background.

d. Both (a) and (b) e. Both (b) and (c) f. Both (a) and (c)

 67

Teaching English through Social Studies  67 (5) LA3 comprises five steps. Examine each step and determine which one of the following is not part of the instruction outlined in this LA. a. b. c.

Direct instruction Teacher modelling Group practice

e. Teacher-​directed questioning f. Individual practice g. None of the five choices

(6) LA4 can be implemented in five steps according to Section 4.2. Excluding Step 5 for now, which two steps of this LA most directly focus on form as opposed to meaning? In other words, which two steps offer form-​focused instruction and practice? Hint: Read or review the discussion of form-​focused instruction in Section 5 of Chapter 1. a.

Steps 1 & 2

b.

Steps 2 & 3

c.

Steps 3 & 4

d. Steps 1 & 4

(7) Though LA5 targets the use of where to introduce relative clauses, an overt language focus, this activity attempts to reinforce content understanding as well. How does LA5 embed content learning? a. b. c. d.

By asking students to revisit selected passages that highlight content. By using sentences from readings or creating sentences that highlight content. By having students research content-​related issues. By asking students content-​related questions.

(8) Even though LA6 targets paragraph organization and develops students’ discourse competence, it does engage students in practicing some of the four skills. Which skill do students practice most directly and extensively via this LA? a.

Listening

b.

Speaking

c.

Reading

d. Writing

(9) At least four LAs discussed in this chapter concern teaching language through Social Studies. Which LA most directly addresses the language standard for Grade 3 in (6a)? a.

LA2

b.

LA3

c.

LA5

d. LA6

(10) Most of the LAs discussed in this chapter address the learning of Social Studies content to some extent. Which one least directly targets the Social Studies content? a.

LA1

b.

LA2

c.

LA3

d. LA5

8.2  Discussion/​reading response questions (11) Section 3 presents four reading standards for Grade 3 in (3) and four listening and speaking standards in (5). Examine these standards (note that it helps to read the original CC standards document). Identify three connections between the reading standards and listening and speaking standards. Determine what they are. Discuss how they are related and what distinguishes the two types of standards. (12) This chapter discusses six learning activities designed to teach language through Social Studies. Take any two of the last four activities –​that is, LA3 through LA6 –​and discuss what language they target and how they teach it. In addition, determine what language function (i.e. define, question, explain, compare, contrast, exemplify, etc.), what skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing), and what competence (grammatical, discourse, pragmatic, and metalinguistic) these two activities target. Note that language function, skill and competence are terms used in edTPA for Teaching English as an Additional Language. They are concepts that edTPA assesses and expects you to grasp as a teacher of English to speakers of other languages.

68

68  Teaching English through Social Studies (13) LA6 targets paragraph organization for instruction and develops 3rd graders’ discourse competence. Read the discussion of this activity in Section 4.3 and analyze how paragraph organization is taught according to the PowerPoint presentation and the discussion in Section 4.3. As you analyze this LA and its proposed implementation, consider how this LA can be enacted differently (from what is recommended) to encourage even more collaboration and group work by students called for by S1 in (5a), a listening and speaking standard. 8.3  Problems of application (14) PROBLEM 1: In its final step, LA3 engages students in research by interviewing their family members about reasons for migration. They are expected to write a paragraph reporting on what they learn. Develop this step further. Make sure that your response includes these components. a. Develop the directions for this research and writing assignment for your 3rd grade students. In the directions, spell out the requirements for content and language. Include as part of the directions a worked example so that you can use it to show students what you expect them to construct. Tailor your instructions including the worked example for 3rd graders. b. Develop an assignment rubric which you can use to assess this assignment. In this rubric, specify how content (i.e. three reasons for migration) and language (i.e. expressions of reasons) is assessed. In addition, state how you intend to assess spelling and grammatical errors. Prepare this rubric on a separate page from the instructions. c. Develop a follow-​up learning activity, the focus of which is to use the writings produced by 3rd graders and your assessment to drive further instruction. Present this follow-​up activity in the form of a PowerPoint presentation. Articulate the key steps of this activity in the PowerPoint presentation. For examples, see how learning activities are presented via PowerPoint in this chapter. (15) PROBLEM 2: LA5 teaches the use of where to introduce dependent, relative clauses and combine simple sentences into complex sentences.This activity includes a step whereby students are given an opportunity to practice using where to combine simple sentences. This step is conceived mostly as a written exercise in Chapter 2. Develop an oral learning activity, an activity that engages students in using where in speaking. Here are the requirements for this oral activity. a. Present this activity in PowerPoint form. In this PowerPoint, state the steps, complete with all of the relevant information such as directions, questions and examples. For examples, see the PowerPoint presentation for teaching language through Social Studies at the end of this textbook. b. Relate this activity to the Social Studies content. In other words, try to create an activity through which students use the where relative clauses to communicate about the issues related to migration. (16) PROBLEM 3: The six LAs in this chapter are based on Lesson 1 of a Social Studies textbook for 3rd graders. The follow-​up lesson, Lesson 2, is concerned with the Spanish influence on the US. It includes five passages entitled: a) A Spanish Community, b) The Spanish in Florida, c) The Fight for Florida, d) St. Augustine Today, and e) Cádiz, Spain. Both lessons are part of a unit entitled “History of Communities”, with Lesson 2 providing an example of a community and its history in the United States. Read this lesson

 69

Teaching English through Social Studies  69 and develop a learning activity that targets language as well as content. Spell out this activity in the form of a PowerPoint presentation, including the paragraphs/​passages to read or listen to, the questions to be asked, the information to be shared with students, the exercises/​practice to engage students with, etc. Make clear what the teacher and the students are expected to do in each step of this activity. Alternatively, relate this problem to what teacher candidates are learning. Choose or have them choose a Social Studies lesson and develop a learning activity. Follow these guidelines. a. Target any aspect of language other than vocabulary and phrasal expressions. That is, you can teach anything from sentence structures to discourse features. Consider reading or re-​reading Section 5 for additional language teaching ideas. Try to develop an activity to teach something you are not comfortable with or used to. Use this activity to learn about the language feature you choose to teach. b. Build into this activity direct instruction, guided group practice, and individual practice as part of the steps. c. Integrate the language learning with the Social Studies content that students are supposed to learn in Lesson 2 (or materials you or your students select). Link this activity with one of the six learning activities presented in this chapter so that students continue to learn the language in question, whether it is the expressions of reasons, the function of questions in narrative writing, the use of where as a relative pronoun and discourse connector, paragraph organization, etc. Clearly, this may not be possible, if you or your students select the different Social Studies materials, in which case your students should be directed to construct a learning activity that builds on what they taught before. The key reason for this requirement is to develop students’ ability to design connected learning activities, ones that are built on prior learning.

References Clark, R. E., Kirschner, P. A., & Sweller, J. (2012). Putting students on the path to learning: The case for fully guided instruction. American Educator, 36(1), 6–​11. Coxhead, A. (2000). A new academic word list. TESOL Quarterly, 34(2), 213–​238. DeCarrico, J. S. (2001).Vocabulary learning and teaching. In M. Celce-​Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (3rd ed., pp. 285–​299). Heinle & Heinle. Duguay, A., Massoud, L., Tabuku, L., Himmel, J., & Sugarman, J. (2013). Implementing the Common Core for English learners: Responses to common questions (Practitioner Brief). Center for Applied Linguistics. Fang, Z., & Schleppegrell, M. J. (2010). Disciplinary literacies across content areas: Supporting secondary reading through functional language analysis. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(7), 587–​597. Ford-​Connors, E., & Paratore, J. R. (2015).Vocabulary instruction in fifth grade and beyond: Sources of word learning and productive contexts for development. Review of Educational Research, 85(1), 50–​91. Frodesen, J. (2014). Grammar in second language writing. In M. Celce-​Murcia, D. M. Brinton, & M. A. Snow (Eds.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (4th ed., pp. 238–​253). Heinle Cengage Learning. Grabe,W., & Stoller, F. L. (2001) Reading for academic purposes: Guidelines for the ESL/​EFL teacher. In M. Celce-​Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (3rd ed., pp. 187–​204). Boston, Heinle & Heinle. Hardwick, S. W., & Davis, R. L. (2009). Content-​based language instruction: A new window of opportunity in geography education. Journal of Geography, 108, 163–​173. Herrell, A., & Jordan, M. (2016). 50 strategies for teaching English language learners (5th ed.). Pearson Education, Inc. Mohan, B. A. (1986). Language and content. Addison-​Wesley.

70

70  Teaching English through Social Studies Pearson Education. (2003). Social Studies: Communities (Teacher’s Edition). Savvas Learning Company. Peng, L. (2019, March 12–​15). Shifting the paradigm of vocabulary instruction from “telling” to “discovering” [Conference presentation]. TESOL 2019, Atlanta, GA, United States. Rosenshine, B. (2012). Principles of instruction: Research-​based strategies that all teachers should know. American Educator, 36(1), 12–​19 & 39. Schleppgrell, M. J., Achugar, M., & Oteiza, T. (2004). The grammar of history: Enhancing content-​based instruction through a functional focus on language. TESOL Quarterly, 38(1), 67–​93. Shanahan, T. (2013). Letting the text take center stage: How the Common Core State Standards will transform English Language Arts instruction. American Educator, 37(3), 4–​11 & 43. Short, D. J.,Vogt, M., & Echevarria, J. (2011b). The SIOP model for teaching history-​social studies to English learners. Pearson Education, Inc. Song, B. (2006). Content-​based ESL instruction: Long-​term effects and outcomes. English for Specific Purposes, 25, 420–​437. University of the State of New York and the State Education Department. (1999). New York State P-​12 Learning Standards for Social Studies and Resource Guide with Core Curriculum. www.p12.nysed.gov/​ ciai/​socst/​ssrg.html. University of the State of New York and the State Education Department. (2011). New York State P-​12 Common Core Learning Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. www.p12.nysed.gov/​ciai/​ common_​core_​standards/​pdfdocs/​p12_​common_​core_​learning_​stadards_​ela.pdf. Valeo, A. (2013). The integration of language and content: Form-​focused instruction in a content-​based language program. The Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 16(1), 25–​50.

 71

3  Teaching English through Science

1  Introduction This chapter considers language instruction in the context of science teaching. Using a chapter entitled Simple Invertebrates, we discuss how it can be used to teach not only science, but also the English language. This chapter comes from a textbook published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston in 2002. It is part of the Holt Science & Technology series designed for Grade 8 science instruction. Science writings, like other informational texts, exhibit unique linguistic features. We identify some of them and explore ways to teach them to advance students’ content understanding, language competence and science literacy. You might wonder what language features characterize science texts. At the word level, science texts, like writings in other fields of study, are filled with terminology. These terms are often common words or phrases that have developed discipline-​specific technical meanings and usage. To explain science, scientists tend to define, classify, hypothesize, compare, contrast, explain, argue, justify, etc. As a result, it is not uncommon to find in science texts expressions performing these functions. This chapter on simple invertebrates, for example, includes a variety of words or phrases that express similarities and differences. In stating scientific findings or conclusions, scientists often need to indicate the degree to which they are certain of their findings or conclusions. To do so, they rely on what Palincsar and Schleppegrell (2014: 620) call expressions of likelihood such as may, possibly, the potential value or there is a possibility that… or what others refer to as hedges (Frodesen, 2014: 247). In so far as clauses and sentences are concerned, science and technical writings are known to use more passive voice, timeless present tense, and complex sentences with subject, object, relative/​adjectival, adverbial, and conditional clauses. In addition, science discourse, just like Social Studies texts in Chapter 2 and other disciplines, frequently relies on parenthetical expressions to supply additional information such as a definition, a name, a date, a pronunciation, a reason, or an example. This chapter on simple invertebrates is replete with parenthetical expressions. The organization of science and technical discourse is often made more obvious, with sections and subsections delineated by numbering, heading, spacing, font size, color, and location. They tend to include whole paragraphs that are dedicated to defining, classifying, comparing, contrasting, etc. Ideas, concepts, and theories in science are not easy to grasp. For this reason, science writers do not rely just on language to communicate. They use visual images or figures such as photos, pictures, drawings and graphs to communicate complex concepts and make abstract ideas concrete, a feature which Fang and Schleppegrell (2010) refer to as multimodality.This chapter includes quite a number of figures and a variety of expressions that point readers to these figures. These and other features of science texts present a lot of possibilities for language teaching. This chapter discusses six content-​based, language-​focused learning activities. They target features ranging from terminology, puns, the language of comparison, and expressions of figures to tense and chapter organization. This chapter has two aims. Our first goal is to show DOI: 10.4324/9781003081005-3

72

72  Teaching English through Science how standard science texts can be exploited for language teaching. Our second objective is to demonstrate that even in activities with an overt focus on language, science content does not need to be sacrificed. Science teaching and language instruction are not incompatible. They can go hand in hand, with the two supporting and enriching each other.

2  Getting ready Before you proceed further, it might be helpful to obtain a copy of the chapter on simple invertebrates (Pages 28–​31) and glimpse through it so that you are familiar with its content. Once you have an idea of what the chapter is about, consider taking a look at the relevant standards that can guide the content and language instruction. In New York State, The Living Environment Core Curriculum, developed by University of the State of New York and the State Education Department (1996), sets the standards on biology instruction. In this document, standards are further elaborated by key ideas and associated performance indicators. English language instruction is guided by New York State P-​12 Common Core Learning Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy (University of the State of New York and the State Education Department, 2011). In reading this document, focus on Grade 8 standards for informational texts as well as the slightly more specific Grade 8 literacy standards for science and technical subjects. Both documents can be obtained easily from the website by searching the titles directly. As you read these documents, consider these questions. (1) Questions to ponder as you read a. What key ideas and related performance indicators are relevant to this chapter on simple invertebrates with respect to science content? b. What ELA standards are relevant to this chapter on simple invertebrates with respect to language teaching? c. What is it we can teach with respect to the science content? d. What is it we can teach with respect to the English language? The questions in (1a) and (1b) ask you to identify the content and language standards. The two remaining questions are concerned with what to teach, whether it is science or English. To respond to these questions requires familiarity with the chapter on simple invertebrates and the two standards documents. Take a look at these materials to see whether what you select matches the key ideas and standards we discuss in Section 3.

3  Learning standards for Science and ELA In what follows, we discuss science and ELA standards that pertain to this chapter on simple invertebrates. Our discussion of science standards is based on The Living Environment Core Curriculum adopted by the University of the State of New York and the State Education Department.The Core Curriculum documents the standards that guide K-​12 science instruction in New York State. Invertebrates and vertebrates are part of the study of animals within zoology, which in turn comes under biology. Biology is studied under The Living Environment. For this reason, we examine The Living Environment Core Curriculum for guidance. Unlike the standards for ELA and mathematics, the Core Curriculum does not spell out the standards grade by grade. It is “an elaboration of the science content of the mathematics, science, and technology learning standards document and its Key Ideas and Performance Indicators” (Page 3). According to this document, key ideas “are broad, unifying, general statements of what students need to know.”The performance indicators for each key idea “are statements of

 73

Teaching English through Science  73 what students should be able to do to provide evidence that they understand the Key Idea.” The Core Curriculum’s articulation of science content is broad and does not directly refer to invertebrates. Nevertheless, Standard 4 and two of its key ideas apply to this chapter. Standard 4 states that students “will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of ideas in science.” This standard is elaborated by seven key ideas, two of which are pertinent. (2) Key Ideas 1 and 6 of Standard 4 of The Living Environment Core Curriculum a. Key Idea 1: Living things are both similar to and different from each other and from nonliving things. (Page 9) b. Key Idea 6: Plants and animals depend on each other and their physical environment. (Page 17) Key Idea 1 is concerned with living things. It expects students to know what they are, what they share, and how they differ from each other, and from nonliving things. Simple invertebrates refer to a broad type of living things. As this chapter shows, there are sub-​types of invertebrates, and they exhibit similarities and differences. Key Idea 1 is clearly what this chapter addresses. Key Idea 6 focuses on the interdependence of animals, plants and the physical environment. To understand how plants and animals depend on each other and the environment, students need to know different species of animals, their shared characteristics and differences, and their relationship to their habitats. This chapter on invertebrates is clearly an attempt to develop students’ understanding of Key Idea 6. New York State P-​12 Common Core Learning Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy set the guidelines for English language instruction. This document specifies two sets of reading standards relevant to science texts: the broader standards for all informational texts and the slightly more specific literacy standards in science and technical subjects. In (3) and (4), we present the four standards for informational texts for Grade 8 and the corresponding science literacy standards for Grades 6–​8. These standards are most relevant to the six learning activities we consider later. (3) Relevant reading standards for informational text for Grade 8 (Page 50) a. S1. Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text. (Key Ideas and Details) b. S2. Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text. (Key Ideas and Details) c. S4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts. (Craft and Structure) d. S5. Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structure an author uses in his or her exposition or argument, including whether the structure makes points clear, convincing, and engaging. (4) Relevant reading standards for literacy in science and technical subjects for Grades 6–​8 (Page 75) a. S1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts. (Key Ideas and Details)

74

74  Teaching English through Science b. S2. Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; provide an accurate summary of the text distinct from prior knowledge or opinions. (Key Ideas and Details) c. S4. Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-​specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 6–​8 texts and topics. (Craft and Structure) d. S5. Analyze the structure an author uses to organize a text, including how the major sections contribute to the whole and to an understanding of the topic. (Craft and Structure) S1 and S2 in (3) and (4) come from the domain of Key Ideas and Details. S1 is concerned with students’ ability to identify key details and use them as evidence to back up analyses and interpretation of informational texts including science and technical texts. According to S2, students must be able to identify main ideas and express them through summaries. These standards cover two important aspects of reading comprehension: understanding main ideas and key details. Note that the emphasis is not on knowing everything about a text, but understanding those parts of a text that are critical. We demonstrate in Section 4 that the two during-​reading activities address these two standards directly. One activity, LA3, develops students’ ability to obtain key ideas, while LA4 targets key details. Most words have more than one meaning. Their precise meanings are determined by the context in which they appear. To address S4 in (3c) and (4c), which come under Craft and Structure (meaning language craft and structure), the teacher needs to engage students in close reading and analysis of a text to determine what it says and identify the precise meanings of words in that text. What is not sufficient, according to S4, is to have students look up a dictionary for word meanings. A dictionary provides a list of possible meanings for each word, but it is not useful to identifying the specific meaning of a word in a sentence or discourse. That determination has to be made by readers. LA3, as we show in Section 4, intentionally targets expressions that have two meanings and asks students to determine what they mean by analyzing what the text says. This LA develops students’ ability to determine word meanings via context and advances their reading comprehension. S5 in (3d) and (4d), which also comes from Craft and Structure, is concerned with analyzing the structure of a text and determining its effectiveness. Unlike S4 that focuses on vocabulary, S5 hones in on discourse, calling on teachers to engage students in the analysis of discourse structure. This includes how a piece of writing is organized into sections and sub-​sections and how sections and sub-​sections form an organized whole in advancing the author’s view. We showcase in LA6 a learning activity designed to develop discourse competence called for by S5. S4, a reading standard, is connected to language standards, which we turn to next. In (5), we list the four language standards, three of which come from the domain of Vocabulary Acquisition and Use. This is because four of the six activities in Section 4 target words and phrases important for Grade 8 students to know and acquire.The remaining language standard comes from Conventions of Standard English, which concerns grammatical knowledge such as the verb tense. (5) Relevant language standards for Grade 8 (Pages 66–​67) a. S1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. (Conventions of Standard English) b. S4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-​meaning words or phrases based on grade 8 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies. (Vocabulary Acquisition and Use) i. Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence or paragraph; a word’s position or function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.

 75

Teaching English through Science  75 c. S5. Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings. (Vocabulary Acquisition and Use) i. Interpret figures of speech (e.g. verbal irony, puns) in context. ii. Use the relationship between particular words to better understand each of the words. iii. Distinguish among the connotations (associations) of words with similar denotations (definitions) (e.g., bullheaded, willful, firm, persistent, resolute). d. S6. Acquire and use accurately grade-​appropriate general academic and domain-​ specific words and phrases; gather vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression. (Vocabulary Acquisition and Use) According to S1 in (5a), teachers have the responsibility to teach grammar and ensure that students “demonstrate command” of grammatical rules.This standard emphasizes use, meaning that students must be able to apply grammatical rules in speaking and writing. Just knowing the rules is not sufficient.This standard pertains to LA4 discussed in Section 4, which targets a frequently used tense (present tense) and highlights its use in informational texts. As a language standard, S4 in (5b) is related to the reading standard S4 in (3c) and (4c). Both are concerned with understanding the meanings of words, terms and expressions through context. However, S4 in (5b) is broader. Our ability to figure out word meanings is not just dependent on context. S4 expects students to ascertain vocabulary meanings through a variety of means. S5 in (5c) is concerned with understanding figurative language such as irony and puns. It is also concerned with word relations. These relations may be semantic or related through meaning.They can be morphological in that they are related through roots and affixes. They can be historical, with many English words coming from Latin and Greek. Knowledge of these relations provides students with tools to determine word meanings and acquire new words and expressions. In addition, S5 pivots from knowing literal meanings or denotations to understanding nuances in meaning, connotations, and domain-​specific technical meanings. While S4 and S5 concentrate on understanding vocabulary meanings, S6 in (5d) emphasizes expanding vocabulary, both “general academic” and “domain-​specific” words and phrases. General academic vocabulary refers to those academic words and expressions that recur in multiple disciplines (see Coxhead, 2000) for a list of general academic vocabulary). Domain-​ specific words are those used in specific domains or disciplines. Together, these Vocabulary Acquisition and Use standards identify broad goals for vocabulary instruction, according to which it is not enough to know literal meanings or how to use dictionaries. Teachers need to target non-​literal meanings and develop metalinguistic skills, skills that enable students to determine meanings through a variety of tools and acquire new words.Vocabulary expansion is a key objective, with the focus on both general academic vocabularies and discipline-​specific terms.We demonstrate in Section 4 that four activities (LA1, LA2, LA3 and LA5) address these vocabulary standards. The six activities we present in Section 4 focus more on reading and vocabulary. They are less about writing, listening and speaking, even though steps are built into the activities to target these three skills. In (6), we present the two relevant writing standards: one related to informational texts for Grade 8 in (6a) and the slightly more specific writing standard for Literacy in Science, and Technical Subjects for Grades 6–​8 in (6b). (6) Two relevant writing standards for Grade 8 a. S2. Write informative/​explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content. (Text Types and Purposes) (Page 55) i. Develop the topic with relevant, well-​chosen facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples.

76

76  Teaching English through Science ii. Use precise language and domain-​ specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic. b. S2.Write informative/​explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/​experiments, or technical processes. (Text Types and Purposes) (Page 78) S2 specifies the type of written texts students must produce. Students must write informational pieces, whose goals are to inform or explain. (6ai) and (6aii) further specify the criteria such informative pieces must meet: developing a topic through a variety of tools and using precise language. It is important to note that (6ai) intentionally excludes personal opinions as a way to develop a topic, something inexperienced writers tend to do. It emphasizes the use of “relevant, well-​chosen facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples”. Included in informative or explanatory texts are writings that summarize or compare and contrast. As we demonstrate later, writing is intentionally built into some of the learning activities to deepen students’ content understanding and develop their writing skill. Finally, consider the listening and speaking standards, two of which are relevant here. (7) Two relevant speaking and listening standards for Grade 8 (Page 62) a. S1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-​on-​one, in groups, and teacher-​led) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly. (Comprehension and Collaboration) b. S2. Analyze the purpose of information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g. visually, quantitatively, orally) and evaluate the motives (e.g., social, commercial, political) behind its presentation. (Comprehension and Collaboration) According to S1 in (7a), students need to engage in discussions on topics, texts and issues. In these discussions, students should demonstrate the ability not only to express one’s own ideas or opinions but also to listen to, understand and incorporate others’ ideas and opinions. S2 is concerned with understanding and integrating information presented in a variety of formats and determining the purpose of the information.This reading on simple invertebrates, like scientific and technical writings in general but unlike most literary works, includes visual information. The LAs we discuss in Section 4 take advantage of the visual information to develop students’ ability to guess word meanings (LA1) and teach the expressions that direct readers to visual resources (LA2).They present an opportunity for students to analyze visual information, determine its purpose, and build on it for text comprehension. We have just highlighted the science and ELA standards that guide the instruction on simple invertebrates.The content standards come from The Living Environment Core Curriculum. NewYork State P-​12 Common Core Learning Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy provide the guidelines for English language instruction. As the learning activities we present in Section 4 are skewed more to reading and vocabulary, this discussion focuses more on reading and vocabulary standards, though some standards for writing, listening and speaking are considered as well. Before you proceed to Section 4, we encourage you to pause a moment and consider what kind of instructional activities can be developed on the basis of this chapter on simple invertebrates. Determine for yourself how it can be used for content and language teaching. The activities we present next are not the only activities. You are strongly urged to identify other aspects of content or language as targets and develop the instruction accordingly.

4  Learning activities The six learning activities presented here target language, with some integrating language teaching with science content. The two during-​reading activities –​LA3 and LA4 –​target

 77

Teaching English through Science  77 content more directly while the four remaining activities build in content instruction to varying degrees. All six target the English language, with four focused on vocabulary and expressions, one on grammar and one on discourse. The four vocabulary-​focused activities highlight four different types of vocabulary and expressions: terms, puns, the language of figures, and expressions of similarity and identity. These vocabulary activities highlight a variety of vocabulary and expressions that instruction can and should focus on, whether the activities are pre-​reading, during-​reading and post-​reading. While it may be appropriate to limit vocabulary instruction to word meanings at some stage of instruction such as at the pre-​reading stage, vocabulary learning should not stop at the level of meaning and understanding. Vocabulary instruction should aim, more broadly, at word relations and formation and, more deeply, at word use, as we demonstrate in this section. As in other chapters, we urge you to look at the accompanying PowerPoint presentation on pages 208–221 before and while you read and consider (or perhaps discuss with your peers) how the learning activities sketched out in the slides can be enacted. Doing this can strengthen your understanding of the discussion that follows and help you envision how they can come alive in a classroom. 4.1  Pre-​reading activities A frequent pre-​reading activity involves identifying and teaching key vocabulary or terms prior to reading. One key reason for this is the importance of vocabulary to reading comprehension. There are always terms, words or phrases central to a text. Pre-​teaching them can “facilitate subsequent reading” and provide “information needed for successful comprehension”, both pre-​reading goals, according to Grabe and Stoller (2001: 191–​192). A second, less obvious, but nevertheless important reason for pre-​teaching vocabulary is to introduce or reinforce content information without seeming to do so. Vocabulary instruction is often seen as distinct from content instruction; it tends to happen in isolation and independently of content instruction. In teaching language through content, even when the instruction targets vocabulary, teachers need to consider linking the instruction to content. In what follows, we showcase two learning activities, which embed content instruction in vocabulary instruction to different degrees. LA1, outlined in Slides 2–​ 5, focuses on five academic words of importance to the reading: bilateral, radial, symmetry, re-​form and regenerate. These five words are selected partially because they describe the characteristics of simple invertebrates and how they differ from one another, which is key content information for students to grasp. Three words –​bilateral, radial, symmetry –​describe physical attributes of simple invertebrates, while the two verbs –​re-​ form and regenerate –​describe more dynamic properties of simple invertebrates. All five words appear frequently in disciplines outside science and are therefore general academic vocabularies. For instance, lateral, symmetry, form and generate are frequently used in linguistics. In addition, these words illustrate word formation processes that are important for students to learn. For these reasons –​relevance to content, recurrence in multiple disciplines, and word formation, they are targeted for instruction. This activity comprises three steps. Step 1 introduces the five words in original sentential contexts, that is, using sentences where they appear in the text. These sentences are re-​printed here with the targeted vocabulary highlighted in bold. (8) Step 1 of LA1: Ask students to read the sentences and guess the meanings and categories of highlighted words a. An animal with bilateral symmetry has a body with two similar halves. b. In an animal with radial symmetry, the body parts are arranged in a circle around a central point.

78

78  Teaching English through Science c. If a sponge’s body is broken apart by being forced through a sieve, the separate cells will come back together and re-​form the same sponge. d. Unlike most animals, a sponge can also replace its body parts, or regenerate. Ask students to look at one sentence at a time and guess the grammatical category and meaning of the highlighted words in each sentence. As students guess the meanings of the words, the teacher can record the guesses on the board so that they can be checked for accuracy later. This concludes Step 1 of LA1. But before moving on to Step 2, let’s highlight two points about the selected sentences. First, each of the sentences carries important content information. This is indicated by some of the content questions students are expected to answer in the chapter. By removing these sentences from the original text and asking students to read them, this activity offers a preliminary exposure to this information, thus embedding content in vocabulary instruction and addressing, to a limited extent, Key Idea 1 in (2a). Second, the targeted vocabularies are presented in sentence contexts. They are not presented to students in a list and taught in isolation of the sentences in which they appear, as often is the practice in vocabulary instruction we observed. One advantage of showing words in sentential contexts is that content information can be introduced with targeted vocabularies. There are two other advantages. Listing words removes the opportunity for students to guess the meanings of vocabulary through context, a metalinguistic skill important for students to develop according to the ELA standards. Often the sentence or larger discourse context reveals clues to word meanings. This is the case with the four sentences in (8); each provides at least a partial clue to the meanings of the targeted vocabulary. For instance, “bilateral symmetry” and “radial symmetry” are defined to a large extent by “two similar halves” and “arranged in a circle around a central point”, while “come back together” and “replace its body parts” provide at least a clue to what “re-​form” and “regenerate” might mean. As a result, these sentences offer an excellent opportunity for students to guess the meanings of the highlighted words (see Clarke & Nation, 1980 for a strategy to guess word meanings). A third advantage of introducing words in sentential contexts is related to the fact that most English words have more than one meaning. Having students check dictionaries or explaining words in isolation does not help them know what they mean in the text they read. How are they supposed to know which meaning is relevant to a particular sentence or paragraph? For these reasons, it is crucial to anchor vocabulary teaching in sentence or even discourse contexts. This approach to vocabulary instruction allows students to link content with vocabulary learning, to guess and determine word meanings through context, and to see how the targeted words are used. Once students have a chance to read the sentences and guess the meanings of the targeted vocabularies, the teacher can move on to Step 2 and direct students to the pictures of an ant and sea anemone on Page 29 of the textbook, which provide images of invertebrates with bilateral symmetry and radial symmetry. Ask them to take a close look at the image and use them to guess the meanings of bilateral, radial, and symmetry. Jot down student responses and compare them with their earlier guesses. Only after students have a chance to guess word meanings by using contextual and visual clues should the teacher explain what the words mean, building upon student guesses and drawing attention to the parts of sentences and pictures that provide clues to word meanings. This step –​having students examine visuals in the text and guess word meanings through pictures –​is crucial. It highlights the role of visual images in cluing readers as to what the writer tries to say. Science texts use a lot of different visuals –​tables, charts, graphs and pictures –​to communicate abstract and difficult concepts. Students need to learn to use them to make sense of written texts. This step offers students practice to examine the pictures and

 79

Teaching English through Science  79 integrate them with the written text, something called for by S2, the listening and speaking standard in (7b). A lot of the vocabulary instruction we have observed stops at word meanings. Students are rarely taught other aspects of vocabulary such as grammatical category, word relation and word formation. But these aspects of vocabulary are important if students are to acquire and use new words (DeCarrico, 2001: 287). It is thus important not to limit instruction just to meaning. Three words –​bilateral, re-​form and regenerate –​are morphologically complex forms and illustrate two word-​formation processes in English. The word asymmetrical is used alongside symmetry in this chapter on invertebrates. These words present an opportunity to relate re-​form to regenerate and asymmetrical to symmetry, and highlight the patterns of word formation so that students learn not just these five words but a group of similarly formed words. Step 3 of this activity is designed to teach word relation and formation. To highlight the patterns, we present the targeted vocabulary and other similarly formed words in columns as in (9). (9) Step 3 of LA1: Highlight and discover patterns of word formation a. Adjective Adjective b. Verb Verb lateral bi-​lateral form re-​form weekly bi-​weekly generate regenerate lingual bi-​lingual view review annual bi-​annual write rewrite c. Noun Adjective Adjective symmetry symmetrical asymmetrical type typical atypical politics political apolitical theory theoretical atheoretical One way to use (9) is to have students examine each column and identify the systematic properties. For instance, with respect to (9a), the teacher can guide pattern discovery by asking these questions. (10) Step 3 of LA1: Highlight and discover patterns of word formation a. What do the four words in the left column have in common? b. Where is the affix bi-​attached? What is bi-​called? c. What meaning does bi-​add? d. What is the grammatical category of the words in the right column? These questions draw attention to how the words are formed and force students to look and notice the patterns in meaning and category. To make the pattern discovery task harder, you may initially leave out the category information at the top. Have students identify the grammatical categories and then put that information in after students have a chance to discover them first. The ultimate benefit of such instruction is to teach students that there are patterns to how words are formed and that such patterns can be useful to guessing and acquiring unfamiliar words such as bi-​centennial, bi-​syllabic, or bipolar. As we conceive LA1 as a pre-​reading activity with the objective to facilitate reading comprehension, we stop the instruction at Step 3. If this were conceived as a post-​reading activity, we would continue beyond this step and focus on teaching students how to use the targeted vocabularies. It is important to stress that vocabulary instruction should not cease at teaching word meaning, category and formation. It should aim at use. Knowing what words mean, what grammatical categories they belong to, and how they are formed may help students with reading comprehension. It does not make them part of students’ productive vocabulary.

80

80  Teaching English through Science Effective vocabulary instruction should encourage students to use these words in spoken or written communication. To teach use, the teacher should model how they are used and create opportunities for students to use them in, say, completing a cloze passage, making sentences or writing a summary of the chapter. In Section 4.3, we provide an example of vocabulary-​ focused post-​reading activity that targets use as well as meaning. We stated earlier that LA1 is pertinent to the science content, that is, Standard 4 and its Key Idea 1 in (2a) and the listening and speaking standard –​S2 –​in (7b) which requires students to analyze a variety of information (text, visual or quantitative, etc.) and integrate them in the understanding of written texts. As this activity is fundamentally about vocabulary, it addresses the three language standards and one reading standard concerned with vocabulary. Steps 1 & 2 of this activity encourage students to guess, interpret and clarify meanings of words and phrases via both the text itself and visuals, something called for by the language standard in (5b) and the reading standard S4 in (3c) and (4c). Step 3 of LA1 targets word relations and teaches the patterns of word formation, thus addressing S5 in (5c), a standard that requires students to understand word relations. Finally, as this activity expects students to learn and acquire the meanings and categories of words and terms, it addresses, to a limited extent (as it does not target use), the vocabulary-​related language standard S6 in (5d). Let’s turn now to LA2.This LA, shown in Slides 6–​10, also prepares students for reading by focusing on a feature characteristic of science writings, that is, the expressions science writers use to point readers to visual images such as Figure 2 shows, shown in Figure 2 or as shown in Figure 2. LA2 zeroes in on such expressions and the visual images for two reasons. First, this LA focuses attention on visual images and the role they play in helping readers understand the written text. Inexperienced readers tend to see image and text as separate and unrelated.They tend not to see or understand the relation between image and text. LA2 can help students see the link between the two. As this chapter on invertebrates is the first one, it is important to alert readers to the visual resources in the textbook earlier on, resources that can ease and deepen their understanding of science. Second, this chapter shows a variety of ways science writers use to introduce visual images and the punctuation and capitalization conventions associated with such expressions. Pre-​teaching them helps 8th graders understand what they mean when encountering them in readings and gives them the linguistic tools to introduce visual images in their own communications. LA2 can be implemented in two steps. In Step 1, the teacher projects the sentences with underlined expressions in (11), sentences taken directly from the original text. (11) Step 1 of LA2: Ask students to examine the sentences below, drawing attention to underlined expressions a. Figure 1 shows one of the ganglia, the brain, and nerve cords of a leech. b. This space is the coelom (SEE luhm), shown in Figure 2. c. As shown in Figure 3, they come in beautiful colors and a variety of shapes. d. Most sponges have a skeleton made of needlelike splinters called spicules, as shown in Figure 4. Direct students to read the sentences and find the relevant visual images in the text. Encourage them to study the images and their relations to what the sentences say.To create a focus for this task, the teacher can provide the guiding questions in (12) from Slide 7. (12) Step 1 of LA2: Questions to guide the examination a. What does “figure” mean? What does it refer to? b. What is the textbook writer trying to communicate via “Figure 1”, “Figure 2”, etc.?

 81

Teaching English through Science  81 c. Why is the word “Figure” always capitalized? d. What do you notice about the locations of the underlined expressions and their punctuation in the sentences? As you can see, (12a) is concerned with the technical meaning of the word “figure” in science texts. To get at the technical meaning of this word, the teacher can ask whether students have seen it before such as in an art class and what it means in art. Then ask them to consider what it means in this chapter and how it differs in meaning, that is, the question in (12b). The teacher can also relate “figure” to “figurative” as in figurative language in ELA and ask them how they relate or vary in meaning. (12c) and (12d) focus on the form of these expressions, where they appear in a sentence, what form they take, and what capitalization and punctuation conventions are followed. Paying attention to such details is important if students are ever to use them in their own writing. This first step can be conducted in a number of ways, depending on the goal and time available. For example, if time permits, students can examine the sentences and images in pairs or a small group. Give students five to ten minutes to look at each sentence and the corresponding visual image and come up with their answers. Once students have a chance to discuss, ask them to report back to the class. Pick at least two groups to respond to each question to encourage broader participation. Alternatively, if time is limited, the questions can be presented directly to the class. The teacher can ask a number of volunteers for answers to each question to give more students an opportunity to participate and speak. This concludes Step 1 of LA2, a step that draws students’ attention to the language of figures and encourages them to discuss, respond to teacher questions and discover answers to questions on their own first. The teacher should, of course, be ready with answers of his/​her own. Thus the points in Slides 8–​10 should be discussed with students as part of Step 2.This can be done after students respond to each of the questions as part of Step 1. Apart from explaining what “figure” means and what it refers to in the text (the points in Slide 8), the teacher needs to emphasize the different ways a figure is introduced in a written text. This chapter shows three ways, which are shown in Slides 9–​10, and repeated here. (13) Step 2 of LA2: Three ways to introduce a visual image in a text a. Treat expressions such as Figure 1 as the subject of a sentence: Figure 1 shows one of the ganglia, the brain, and nerve cords of a leech. b. Add expressions containing figures at the end of a sentence: This space is the coelom (SEE luhm), shown in Figure 2. c. Add expressions containing figures at the beginning of a sentence: As shown in Figure 3, they come in beautiful colors and a variety of shapes. In addition to highlighting (13a), (13b) and (13c), the teacher should note the punctuation conventions such as the use of a comma to separate shown in Figure 2 and as shown in Figure 3 from the rest of the sentence. The teacher should also note that the word “figure” is always capitalized because Figure 1, Figure 2 and Figure 3 are treated as names for the corresponding visual images. This is the same as identifying a room or person as Room 201 or Prisoner 390. In addition, the teacher should consider pointing out that shows in (13a) is in active voice form, but in passive form shown in (13b) and (13c).Though the textbook writer uses the word show in all three expressions (it is likely that the textbook writer or publisher intentionally limits word choices because the book is written for 8th graders with limited vocabulary), the teacher can tell students that this is not the only verb that can appear here. Verbs such as

82

82  Teaching English through Science illustrate, depict or demonstrate can be used in place of show. Explain to students that all three example sentences in (13) can be rewritten as follows: (14) Show that the three sentences in (13) can be rewritten with illustrate a. Figure 1 illustrates one of the ganglia, the brain, and nerve cords of a leech. b. This space is the coelom (SEE luhm), illustrated in Figure 2. c. As illustrated in Figure 3, they come in beautiful colors and a variety of shapes. Teaching the three expressions in (13), discussing punctuation and capitalization, talking about different word choices as in (14) –​these are what we mean by teaching language. Note that this step extends well beyond teaching only what “figure” means. The goals of this instruction are to draw attention to visual images in the text and the expressions of figures, to facilitate comprehension, and, most importantly, to extend students’ linguistic abilities so that they can talk and write about visual images in speaking and writing. As we conceive LA2 as a pre-​reading activity designed to support students in using visual resources to understand what they read, we stop this LA at Step 2. But if this were conceived as a post-​reading activity, it is important to provide opportunities for students to use these expressions. This can be done in many ways, such as, by creating speaking and writing tasks with the requirement that students use some visual images and underlined expressions in (11) and (14). Unlike LA1, LA2 is more focused on language. It does not address the science content standards directly, though some sentences touch on some content details students are expected to know.With a focus on the meaning of “figure” in science texts and words related to “show”, this LA targets the reading standard S4 in (3) and (4) and the language standards –​S5 and S6 –​in (5). S4 and S5 are both concerned with understanding the meanings of words and phrases as students read. S6 is concerned with learning and acquiring new vocabularies. If Step 1 of this LA is implemented with group discussion, it also addresses the listening and speaking standard S1 in (7a), which calls on teachers to engage students in collaborative group activities and discussions. 4.2  During-​reading activities The two activities discussed here are concerned with content and language. LA3 focuses on three sub-​section headings, which are puns, and helps students understand their connections to what these sub-​sections are about, which are characteristics of simple invertebrates. LA4 asks students to read specific passages of the chapter and draws their attention to content as well as language. As these activities build in reading or re-​reading and strengthen the understanding of the chapter, they are classified as during-​reading activities. In addition to content, both activities teach language as well. LA3 explains what puns are and provides some exposure to this literary device. LA4 homes in on the use of the timeless present tense in science writings. LA3, presented in Slides 11–​13, targets these sub-​section headings: No backbones here! Getting a head and Don’t you have any guts? Step 1 explains what puns are and what they are used for. As some students may know a pun or two, the teacher can start by asking if they know the term pun and if they can provide an example. If a pun is volunteered by some student, ask whether anyone knows its two meanings. Then incorporate student responses and point out that a pun is a word, a phrase or sentence that has more than one meaning and is used to amuse, entertain or make you laugh. To ensure that all students understand, the teacher should exemplify the explanation with a couple of puns.The worldwide web provides lots of examples of puns. One website is provided in Slide 11, which the teacher can use to exemplify puns. Two or three examples from the website can help students understand what a pun is and why it is funny.

 83

Teaching English through Science  83 Once the class understands what a pun is, continue to Step 2 by projecting the three sub-​ section headings. Take one heading at a time and ask if they realize that it is a pun and if they can come up with two meanings for each heading. Students are likely to come up with at least one meaning. If they know the literal meaning, then explain the non-​literal meaning via sentences such as the following. (15) Step 2 of LA2: Explain the non-​literal meanings of the headings with these sentences a. The president has no backbone when it comes to the Congress. b. He is always trying to get ahead. c. You have no guts. What are you so afraid of? Explain to students that (15a), for example, does not literally mean that the president does not have a backbone. It means that the president is weak or not strong enough to stand up to the Congress. Obviously, if students do not know the literal meaning, you have to explain what backbone means. The objective here is to ensure that students know that a pun has more than one meaning and understand why it is funny. That is, they need to appreciate the fact that while one meaning is intended by a pun, it has a second meaning which the writer or speaker hopes you can pick up and be amused by. Once students know the two meanings of each heading or pun, move on to Step 3, which is to figure out which meaning –​literal or non-​literal –​each sub-​section refers to. This is where content instruction comes in.The teacher can direct students to re-​read the sub-​section entitled No backbones here! and then determine which meaning is meant by the sub-​section. To lead students to the answer, the teacher can engage students in a discussion of what the sub-​section is about (that is, determine its central ideas) after they read it and understand what characteristics simple invertebrates have. Repeat Step 3 with the two remaining headings to deepen the understanding of both sub-​section headings and content. This LA, we estimate, can be implemented in 40 to 50 minutes, with 10 minutes for Step 1, 10 minutes for Step 2 and 10 minutes each for three headings. To save time, the teacher can discuss two of the three headings/​puns and assign the third as homework for students to figure out. This type of reading-​related activities is useful for a couple of reasons. The meaning of an expression is determined by its discourse context. Understanding what an expression means requires reading and analyzing the larger discourse and determining what it says, thus deepening reading comprehension and content understanding. This LA also teaches what a section heading is and how it relates to the section. By asking students to determine what a heading means, this LA shows what a heading is supposed to capture. To summarize, this LA advances science understanding by asking students to determine what each sub-​section heading/​pun means on the basis of what that sub-​section is about. As these subsections discuss the characteristics of invertebrates including their similarities and differences, Standard 4 and its Key Ideas 1 and 6 in (2) are addressed. Recall that this standard and its two key ideas expect students to understand living things and their relations to other living and nonliving things. In addition, students need to learn how animals, plants and the environment are mutually dependent. LA3’s focus on language is also obvious. It targets the understanding of puns, part of figurative language that S5 in (5c), a language standard, deals with. Built into LA3 are steps that engage students in reading or re-​reading specific sections. These steps accomplish what is required by the reading standard S4 in (3c) and (4c) and the language standard S4 in (5b). Both standards are concerned with understanding words, terms and phrases as they are used in a text. This activity also addresses the reading standard S2 in (3b) and (4b), which is concerned with determining main ideas. By asking students to figure out what each heading means in relation to its sub-​section, LA3 is essentially an attempt to get at the main idea of that sub-​section.

84

84  Teaching English through Science While LA3 is concerned with what the three sub-​sections are about, LA4 in Slides 14–​18 focuses on specific paragraphs. These paragraphs are selected carefully to develop students’ understanding of key details about simple invertebrates and highlight another use of the present tense. An example of a paragraph is reprinted here. (16) Step 1 of LA4: Re-​read this paragraph Complex animals have a special space in the body for the gut. This space is the coelom (SEE luhm), shown in Figure 2.The coelom allows the gut to move food without interference from the movements of the body. Other organs, such as the heart and lungs, are also in the coelom, but they are separated from the gut. This paragraph discusses the coelom and its function, a key detail that students need to learn, as evidenced by questions posed in the chapter. It also highlights the use of the present tense to communicate scientific findings, findings that are true, regardless of time. For this reason, this use of the present tense is referred to as the timeless present tense.The present tense is used frequently in academic writings to report findings of a literature review, analysis or experiment. It is a feature of academic English that should be taught because even native English-​speaking university students have difficulty using it, as we have observed repeatedly through student writings. They tend to use future or future progressive tense where present tense is more appropriate. It is thus beneficial to all students to teach this use of the present tense. After students read the paragraph via Step 1, the teacher can move on to Step 2 and target content understanding by asking the class whether they know what the coelom refers to and what it does on the basis of this paragraph. Draw their attention to Figure 2 to see what the coelom looks like.Then ask them to identify the sentence that explains the function of the coelom. If they cannot, highlight the third sentence and make sure that they understand the expression without interference from the movements of the body. Step 3 shifts the instruction to the timeless present tense, a language concern. Ask the class to take another look at the paragraph and determine what tense is used. Questions such as those in (17) can be posed. (17) Step 3 of LA4: Sample questions to be asked of the class as they re-​examine the paragraph in (16) a. What tense is used in this paragraph? b. Can you identify some examples of the tense used? c. Why is the present tense used? Why isn’t future, future progressive or past tense used? (17a) asks students to identify the verb tense. (17b) requires them to back up the answers using evidence from the paragraph. Clearly, the questions in (17c) are the most important. They get at use. If students are to learn what tense is used, they need to have information on when to choose the present tense. This LA introduces one use of the present tense common in science discourse. If students cannot identify the tense, one way to help them is to highlight the verbs in bold as is done in (18) and then ask what tense is used. This is what is called input enhancement in the literature on ESL methodology (Leow, Egi, Nuevo, & Tsai 2003; Lee, 2007; Larsen-​ Freeman, 2014). In other words, enhance or highlight in bold the relevant expressions –​ present tense forms of verbs in this case –​so that students cannot help but notice the tense used. (18) Step 3 of LA4: Re-​show the paragraph with tensed verbs highlighted in bold Complex animals have a special space in the body for the gut. This space is the coelom (SEE luhm), shown in Figure 2. The coelom allows the gut to move food without

 85

Teaching English through Science  85 interference from the movements of the body. Other organs, such as the heart and lungs, are also in the coelom, but they are separated from the gut. Once students have a chance to respond, the teacher needs to articulate the points in Slide 17, which are as follows. The present tense is used here to report scientific discoveries such as findings about the function of the coelom. These findings are not bound or restricted by time; they hold true regardless of time. The convention of English is to use the present tense to convey facts and findings that are not bound by time. This use of the present tense is nicknamed the timeless present tense. If class time permits, the teacher can continue this step and identify two or three more paragraphs for students to read, answer content questions and determine the tense used. Slide 18 includes some recommendations as to where to look for such paragraphs and what questions to ask students. Paragraphs that show tense shift, say, from present to past or from present to present perfect, are particularly important to highlight so that questions such as why the present tense is or is not used can be discussed. For your information, one aspect of verb tense that is most difficult for students is when to use what tense. For this reason, it is critical to focus on paragraphs that involve tense shift. This step, if done in class, can be implemented as a collaborative group work. The goal is to create a chance for students to re-​read parts of the chapter and engage in close reading and discussion of a text to get at content while demonstrating the timeless present tense.You can also assign this as work for students to complete at home. But do revisit it in the next class so that they know that you are serious and check what they do at home. Step 4 of LA4 offers students an opportunity to use the timeless present tense. Ask students to write a summary of the chapter.You can use the questions in (19) as a guide.This summary can be one to two paragraphs and be assigned as homework. (19) Step 4 of LA4: Have students construct a summary addressing these questions a. What are simple invertebrates? b. How many types of simple invertebrates are there? What are they? c. What are their similarities? d. What are their differences? This assignment serves two goals. It causes the students to review the chapter, further strengthening their content understanding. It also provides an opportunity for students to use the present tense and for the teacher to check whether they know where to use this tense. Depending on how many paragraphs are discussed in class in Step 1 through Step 3, we anticipate that this activity can take 30 to 40 minutes of class time. LA4, like LA3, has a content aim. It highlights selected paragraphs that contain important science content and requires students to read them, answer questions on them, and write a summary.With its focus on the timeless present tense, LA4 furthers students’ command of one aspect of English conventions, something required by the language standard S1 in (5a). As this activity requires students to re-​read selected paragraphs and answer content-​and language-​ related questions (function of the coelom, tense used), students must pinpoint the parts of the paragraphs that provide answers. This is what S1 in (3a) and (4a), a reading standard, demands, that is, cite the textual evidence to back up one’s answers. The last step of LA4 builds in a summary writing task and develops, to some extent, students’ ability to write informative texts called for by the writing standard S2 in (6a). Finally, if class time permits, steps can be built in to engage students in collaborative dialogs, addressing the speaking and listening standard in (7a). In Section 5, where ideas for differentiation are considered, we take this LA up again and

86

86  Teaching English through Science discuss how it can be adapted to meet the needs of students who you think may not be ready for the proposed instruction. 4.3  Post-​reading activities You know by now that this chapter describes types of simple invertebrates, their similarities and differences. As a result, it is replete with words and phrases that express similarities and differences. LA5 targets this aspect of the English language with the goal of instruction to expand students’ capacity to express relations, similarities and identities in multiple ways. One challenge facing many ELs is that they have limited language. They have ideas, but they have limited means to express them. Activities like LA5 broaden their linguistic range. There is a second reason for focusing on the language of comparison. Many high-​level questions students are asked are concerned with relations between things and ideas, their similarities and differences. For example, in an excerpt from the book entitled Principles of Instruction: Research-​ Based Strategies that All Teachers Should Know, Rosenshine (2012: 14–​15) recommends that teachers ask a large number of questions of the types in (20). (20) Types of high-​level questions to ask of students a. How are _​_​_​ and _​_​_​ alike? b. What is the main idea of _​_​_​? c. What are the strengths and weaknesses of _​_​_​? d. In what way is _​_​_​related to _​_​_​? e. Compare _​_​_​ and _​_​_​ with regard to _​_​_​. f. What do you think causes _​_​_​? g. How does _​_​_​tie in with what we have learned before? h. Which one is the best _​_​_​, and why? i. What are some possible solutions for the problem of _​_​_​? j. Do you agree or disagree with this statement: _​_​_​? k. What do you still not understand about _​_​_​? Note that five of the eleven questions –​(20a) and (20d-​g) –​are concerned with relations. If students are to answer such questions successfully, they need to develop the language to talk about relations, similarities and differences. For these reasons, this activity focuses on expressions of relation, similarity and identity. LA5, presented in Slide 19 through 23, starts by asking students to examine the sentences in (21), sentences taken directly from the chapter. (21) Step 1 of LA5: Project these sentences in front and draw students’ attention to highlighted expressions a. But one thing invertebrates have in common is that they don’t have backbones. b. The differences and similarities among all animals, including invertebrates, can be compared by looking at several characteristics. c. An animal with bilateral symmetry has a body with two similar halves. d. If you were to draw an imaginary line across the top of a sea anemone, you would see that both halves look the same. e. Bath sponges are similar to silica sponges, but they lack spicules. As you can see, a number of sentences in (21) convey the science content. Hence content is embedded to some extent in LA5 even in an activity with an overt language aim. It is also worth pointing out that phrases –​rather than individual words –​are highlighted in some

 87

Teaching English through Science  87 sentences in (21). For example, in (21e), the phrase –​are similar to –​is highlighted as opposed to just the word similar in (21c).This is intentional because the phrase illustrates a different use of similar, even though it shares the meaning and category with (21c). In (21c), similar is used as an adjective modifying the noun halves. In (21e), it is part of a larger expression that serves as the predicate of the sentence and expresses how one thing is related or similar to another. To put it another way, are similar to functions as a verb. This is important. If ELs are to learn how to use words such as similar in different situations, they need to acquire their different uses. Introducing the whole expression highlights a different use of similar. Too often, we see vocabulary instruction focuses narrowly on individual words rather than phrases, making it difficult for ELs to know how they combine with other words. The importance of teaching phrases rather than isolated words cannot be overstated if the objective is for students to use them in speaking and writing (DeCarrico, 2001: 292–​294). Read aloud or have students read aloud each sentence and draw attention to the expressions in bold. Ask if they know what the sentences and highlighted expressions mean. As each sentence is discussed, create a list of words or phrases that express similarity and identity on the board. At the end of this discussion, ask the class if they can come up with other such words or phrases and add them to the list. Expand the list to include words such as like, alike, identical, share, and comparison. It may not be obvious to ELs that some of these words such as like express similarity or identity. Show how they are used through examples such as An animal with bilateral symmetry has a body with two like halves. Once a list is generated, it might be helpful to have students sort the words and phrases according to category, similarity and identity. Consider using graphic organizers such as the one below to further vocabulary learning (Haynes & Zacarian, 2010: 64–​66; Honigsfeld & Dove, 2013). As (22) shows, the expressions can be classified according to what category they belong to and whether they express similarity (or partial identity) or identity (or complete identity). (22) Step 2 of LA5: A graphic organizer for students to sort words and expressions of similarity and identity Category

Similarity

Identity

Noun

similarity, comparison

identity, sameness

Adjective

similar, like, alike, comparable

same, identical

Verb

be similar to, be like

share, have …in common, be the same as, be identical to

We have completed much of the graphic organizer to show what the end result looks like. (Note that words or phrases in a cell are not necessarily identical in meaning or use. They are placed together because they are either equivalent in category or identical in expressing similarity or identity.) If this is used as an exercise for the students, you might keep some examples in the table and use them to illustrate what students are expected to do, as in (3) of Slide 20. Students can fill in the remaining expressions as an exercise. This step, if it takes place in class, can be implemented as a group activity. Encourage students to discuss each word or phrase and illustrate its use with example sentences before placing it in a cell. This type of activity highlights meaning relations, reveals subtle or not so subtle differences in meaning and use, and, most importantly, expands students’ linguistic repertoire. Step 3 of this activity progresses from knowing meanings and categories to use. The objective of this step is to model how the expressions of similarity and identity can be used interchangeably. To do this, the teacher needs to show sentence pairs such as those in (23).

88

88  Teaching English through Science (23) Step 3 of LA5: Demonstrate how expressions of similarities and identities can be used interchangeably a. They have one trait in common.  They share one trait. b. (2 x 2) is the same as (2 +​2).     (2 x 2) is identical to (2 +​2). c. This shape is similar to that shape.   This shape is like that shape. Explain how the phrasal expression such as have…in common can be used interchangeably with the verb share. Underscore the differences in their usages. For instance, the word same in (23b) tends to be used with the and as while identical requires the preposition to. The word like in (23c) is a preposition and does not need a following preposition, but similar, as an adjective, requires the preposition to if a noun phrase follows. These points of usage need to be pointed out to ELs. Once students are shown how the words and phrases are used, it is time to have them use these expressions. One way for them to practice is to present sentences such as the following and have them rewrite or paraphrase them. (24) Step 4 of LA5: Rewrite the following sentences using other words or phrases that express similarity or identity a. The scientists conducted two experiments. Both experiments generated one identical result. b. Simple invertebrates have one thing in common: none of them has backbones. c. Simple invertebrates are similar: none of them has backbones. The goal is for students to produce sentences such as Simple invertebrates are alike: none of them has backbones as equivalent to (24c). Even though this exercise seems simple, it is not. Students are likely to make mistakes because each expression is used differently. For example, though like has the same meaning as similar and alike and can serve as an adjective, it cannot replace alike in the rewritten sentence. We cannot say Simple invertebrates are like: none of them has backbones. Consequently, it is important to go over the sentences produced by students and re-​teach where necessary. This step can be done in class or at home or both. While Step 4 has students use the expressions in rewriting sentences, Step 5 engages them in using these expressions to construct a written discourse. Students can be asked to develop a description of three types of simple invertebrates as a homework assignment. In this description, students must include at least two similarities, which can be similarities between two of the three types of simple invertebrates. As a language requirement, students must use four or more expressions of similarity and identity in the list generated. The goals of this assignment are to strengthen content understanding and use the language of comparison to generate a larger piece of writing. We anticipate that this activity can be accomplished in 30 to 40 minutes depending on how many expressions are targeted and whether Step 4 takes place in class or not, with 10 minutes roughly for each of the four steps. This LA targets expressions of relation, similarity and identity. Even with its overt language focus, science content is incorporated in two ways: through the selection of sentences which convey content and through the writing task in Step 5, which requires students to review the content covered and write a comparison and contrast piece. This activity strengthens, to some extent, students’ knowledge of one main type of living things, something required by Standard 4 and its two key ideas in (2). This activity is relevant to a number of ELA standards. Unlike LA1, which stops at understanding word meanings and relations, LA5 aims at use. It guides students through five steps from seeing the expressions of similarity and identity in use to utilizing them to write sentences or paragraphs. This activity, more than LA1 and LA3, addresses S6 in (5d), which states that students need to acquire and use grade-​appropriate general

 89

Teaching English through Science  89 academic words and phrases. Note the emphasis on use. LA5 targets the use of general academic words and phrases. Step 2 of LA5, which asks students to sort the expressions of similarity and identity according to categories and meanings, is an attempt to address S5 in (5c), which is concerned with word relations, among other things. With the writing task in Step 5, this activity addresses the two writing standards in (6), according to which students must write informative pieces. Finally, collaborative discussions can take place at the various stages of this activity such as in filling in the graphic organizer in Step 2 or in rewriting the sentences using different expressions of similarity and identity in Step 4, addressing the listening and speaking standard in (7a). Let’s turn now to LA6, an activity that takes aim at chapter organization. This LA focuses on developing students’ discourse competence, unlike LA5, which is concerned with syntactic competence. Like most information-​oriented textbooks, this one is organized into chapters, with its chapters divided into sections and sections into sub-​sections. Because this chapter on simple invertebrates is the first one of this science textbook, we believe it is important that students be made aware of how it is organized so that they know how the rest of the book is structured. Knowledge of chapter organization can facilitate the learning of science. Chapter organization is worth noticing for another reason.This textbook uses font sizes, colors and line locations to signal sections and sub-​sections. They may not be as obvious as using numbers such as 1 for Section 1 and 1.1 for Sub-​section 1. It is unlikely that most students see the subtle differences in font sizes, colors and line locations as clues to chapter organization. For this reason, it is important for students to be aware of the structure of an information text and understand how science information is chunked and organized into smaller pieces. LA6, shown in Slides 24–​28, consists of three steps. In Step 1, the teacher directs students to Pages 28–​31 of the textbook and asks them to determine the organization of Chapter 1 by identifying what sections and sub-​sections it has. As this is a post-​reading activity, students should have some knowledge of the chapter content. Re-​examining the headings can help them review what the chapter is about. To focus attention, the teacher can project all of the headings onto the screen for students to look at, as we have done in Slide 24. Note that we have preserved the original font size relations and colors to highlight the similarities and differences through the slide.To frame the examination and discussion by students, the teacher can raise the questions in (25). (25) Step 1: Pose these questions as students attempt to determine the chapter organization a. What do you notice about the colors, font sizes and locations of the section names or headings? Do they have the same colors, font sizes and locations? b. What is the textbook writer trying to tell you through the different colors and font sizes? c. What is the name or title of the entire chapter? What are the clues? d. How many sections does this chapter have? What are the clues? e. How many sub-​sections does each section of this chapter have? What are the clues? f. Why does the textbook organize the chapter into sections and sections into sub-​sections? These questions target the chapter structure, asking students to determine the sections and the sub-​sections for each section. In addition, students are asked for clues, thus drawing their attention to the font sizes, colors and line locations of headings and sub-​headings, features of a text that most students do not normally pay attention to. As they attempt to answer the questions, ask them to review the relevant text under each section, thus deepening their content understanding. As awareness of chapter organization hinges on knowledge of the information presented in each section and sub-​section, this activity is classified as a post-​reading

90

90  Teaching English through Science activity. A key feature of post-​reading activities is to extend student learning, learning they have acquired via during-​reading activities. This activity, by focusing on chapter organization, extends students’ understanding by considering how the information they have learned is packaged by the writer. Step 1 of LA6 can be implemented in a number of ways. If time permits, the teacher can implement it as a think-​pair-​share activity, where students are first asked to think and come up with answers to questions individually, then grouped into pairs to discuss their answers, and finally given a chance to share answers with the class. If time is limited, the think part of the think-​pair-​share can be removed.That is, students can engage directly in examining the chapter and answer the questions in a group. If time is really tight, this can be a teacher-​led activity where questions in (25) are posed to the entire class. Clearly, implementing this step as a think-​ pair-​share activity encourages more student participation, giving each student an opportunity to analyze chapter organization and providing a forum for group discussions. The think-​pair-​ share strategy has another advantage for ELs. It gives them time to compose what they intend to say, making it more likely for them to participate in a group and class setting. Building on the think-​pair-​share activity, Step 2 ensures that students know how the chapter is organized and what the clues are. We present the key points to be shared with students, points from Slides 26 and 27. (26) Step 2: Building on student responses, articulate these points a. “Simple Invertebrates” is the name or title of the entire chapter. There are two clues. It has a bigger font than all other headings. It is placed at the beginning of the chapter. b. This chapter has two main sections entitled: No Backbones Here! and Sponges. There are three clues that they are the two main sections: i) they have a green color; ii) they are smaller in font size than the chapter title but bigger than sub-​section headings such as “Body Plans” and “Getting a Head”; and iii) unlike subsection headings, they are placed on a separate line from the text that follows them. c. The two main sections each have three sub-​sections. The section entitled “No Backbones Here!” has these three subsections: Body Plans, Getting a head and Don’t You Have Any Guts? The section entitled “Sponges” also has three subsections: Kinds of Sponges, Re-​form and Replace, and How Do Sponges Eat? d. Two clues suggest that they are sub-​section headings. They appear in the smallest font size. They are located on the same lines as the texts that follow. e. The textbook writer organizes a chapter into sections and sections into sub-​sections to divide the information into smaller pieces and make it easier for readers to digest what is presented. We do not mean to suggest reading this list to students. These points are here because you, as the teacher, need to know ahead of time how you intend to respond to the questions you raise. This information can be presented in the share portion of the think-​pair-​share activity, once individual groups have a chance to report what they figured out. For some questions, students may know the answers, in which case you only need to reiterate the relevant points. For questions that students are not able to answer, you need to provide the relevant information. As a post-​reading activity, we believe it is important for students to practice what they have learned. One way to do that is to have them analyze the organization of another chapter, such as Chapter 2. This is what Step 3 is all about. As LA6 is the final activity concerned with Chapter 1, this step can also serve as a preview to the next chapter, thus linking the instruction of one chapter to the next. Key questions such as those in (25) can be used to frame the

 91

Teaching English through Science  91 group or class discussion if this is done entirely in class. Alternatively, the teacher can create an exercise that consists of five to ten multiple-​choice questions for students to take home. Two sample multiple-​choice questions are shown in (27). (27) Two sample multiple-​choice questions targeting chapter organization How many sections does Chapter 2 have? a. One b. Two c. Three d. Four How does the writer signal the main sections of Chapter 2? a.  Font size b. Color c. Location d.  All three When students return next time, go over student responses in class before starting Chapter 2. If this type of practice is repeated for multiple chapters, students can develop the habit of noticing the chapter organization. We anticipate this activity will take between 20 and 30 minutes, depending on whether Step 3 is done in class or as a homework assignment. LA6 develops discourse awareness. It is focused mostly on language, not science as content, even though to conduct an analysis of chapter organization requires review of chapter content. This LA addresses S2 in (6a) most directly, a writing standard, according to which students need to “write informative/​explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content”. Even though LA6 does not engage students in writing directly, they do have to analyze how information is organized. This type of activity promotes noticing and advances students’ knowledge of how informative texts are structured, knowledge they can deploy in their own writings. This LA, when implemented as a think-​pair-​share activity, also addresses S1 in (7a), a listening and speaking standard, which calls on teachers to engage students in collaborations and discussions.

5  Ideas for differentiation As we did in Section 5 of Chapter 2, we take one LA and explore how it can be adapted and made accessible to as many students as possible. In Chapter 2, we focused on a post-​ reading activity concerned with language learning, that is, the where relative clause. Here we select LA4, a during-​reading activity. Recall that LA4 engages students in close reading of selected paragraphs with a content focus while drawing their attention to the timeless present tense in science writings. This LA aims at both content and language. We show shortly that the adaptations we recommend here have one goal in common. They provide the tools and resources students need to access content and language. They do not bypass what students are expected to learn or be able to do. Consider, for a moment, a familiar strategy of differentiation, which involves giving some students a simplified version of text –​rather than the original grade-​level text –​so that its content is accessible. These students are rarely expected to revisit the grade-​level text, because the simplified text has made available to them the information they would have obtained from the original text. What we are doing here is to deny these students access to grade-​level texts, bypassing what they need to learn, namely, to be able to read and comprehend texts at their grade level. Even though students may have received the same content information from a simplified text, they are likely to face the same difficulty when asked to read other grade-​ level texts, because they are not provided the tools and resources. This strategy, while well-​ intentioned, is short-​sighted and not helpful in the long run.What we advocate here, just as we did in Section 5 of Chapter 2, is to equip students with the tools so that they can handle not just one text but all other grade-​level texts. This is what we mean by helping students grapple with challenging texts in Chapter 1, rather than circumvent them by giving them simplified

92

92  Teaching English through Science versions. It is why we ask you to be careful with using simplified texts in Chapter 1, because it is a short-​term scaffold, not a long-​term strategy. In Section 4.2, we recommend implementing LA4 in four steps. Step 1 asks students to read the paragraph in (16) while Step 2 develops their understanding of it through questions.These two steps can be modified to provide the tools students need to understand the paragraph on their own. But before we consider the modifications, let’s examine the linguistic features that render this paragraph challenging for 8th graders and ELs. At the level of vocabulary, this paragraph, not surprisingly, includes a number of science terms or names for various body parts: body, organ, heart, lung, gut and coelom. Some such as body, heart and gut are likely familiar to most students. Others may be new words, with coelom being most likely a new term. Besides these science terms, this paragraph has a number of general academic vocabularies that are potentially new and important for students to learn.They are interference, movement, separate, and perhaps also, complex and special. As far as syntax is concerned, two structures complicate this text. One involves parenthetical expressions, with three in this short paragraph: (SEE luhm), shown in Figure 2, and such as the heart and lungs. They add clarifying information, supplying the pronunciation for coelom, the location of a figure, and examples. If these expressions are removed as we show in (28), the complexity of the paragraph is significantly reduced, with two simple sentences (1st two), one complex sentence (in bold), and one compound sentence (4th sentence). (28) Paragraph in (16) with parenthetical expressions removed Complex animals have a special space in the body for the gut. This space is the coelom. The coelom allows the gut to move food without interference from the movements of the body. Other organs are also in the coelom, but they are separated from the gut. The other feature that complexifies this text is highlighted in bold. This sentence includes an embedded object clause the gut to move food and an elaborate prepositional phrase without interference from the movements of the body, a phrase that contains within it two more prepositional phrases. This sentence explains the function of coelom, making it critical to understand, in so far as science content is concerned. Let’s consider how these two steps can be modified to support as many students as possible to access the information in this paragraph. With respect to teaching science terms, consider associating words like organ, lung, and coelom with the body parts by making use of visual resources in the textbook.Visuals are provided in this book, indicated by shown in Figure 2. All teachers need to do is to project them on board, point to different body parts and associate the terms with them. This has the further benefit of ensuring that students know that visual resources are there to support reading and understanding and helping them see the relevance of visual images to written texts. You can further strengthen the associations by posting on the wall a picture with body parts clearly marked. Leave the picture on the wall and draw attention to them repeatedly over an extended period of time. More important to teach are interference, movement, separate, complex and special, general academic vocabularies that recur in multiple disciplines. With some of these vocabularies, point out their relations to other words. Link interference with interfere, movement with move (already part of the text), and separate with separation. There are three reasons for this. First, students may know interfere and move, making it easier for them to understand interference and movement. Second, once you relate interference and movement to interfere and move, you can help students understand what they (including separate) mean by acting them out. Third, and most importantly, it teaches how words are formed and gives students a tool to make sense of and acquire new words that are similarly formed. With respect to morphologically simple

 93

Teaching English through Science  93 words like complex and special, it is sometimes easier to explain their meanings by juxtaposing them with their antonyms. Consider contrasting complex with simple and special with common because students might know the antonyms. Even if they do not, you have broadened their horizon by teaching not just two words, but four, and by highlighting word relations and vocabulary pairs that are opposites in meaning. The point is to give students the tools by drawing attention to visual resources, by teaching word formation, and by relating them to words they might be familiar with (DeCarrico, 2001: 287–​289; Hill & Miller, 2013: 86–​98). This way, students can read and comprehend the paragraph on their own, rather than rely on teacher explanations. In discussing additional ideas for language teaching in Chapter 2, we suggested parenthetical expressions as a feature of academic language worth teaching. Most academic texts, if not all, include repeated use of this structure, evidenced by the short paragraph in (16). Parenthetical expressions can provide just about any additional information from name, pronunciation, and date to example, explanation, and illustration, making them highly useful to acquire. To enable students to understand this structure and the information it can convey, consider pre-​teaching it if you have not done so. Chapter 5 introduces just such an activity, LA5, one designed to teach parenthetical expressions in a text concerned with mathematics. I encourage you to look it up. Note that LA5, which is conceived as a post-​reading activity, not only develops students’ understanding of parenthetical expressions, but also teaches how to use this structure. If the goal is to help students parse the paragraph in (16), you can shorten it, creating a pre-​reading activity instead. Let’s consider the sentence in bold in (28). This sentence includes an embedded clause the gut to move food, which functions as the object of the verb allows. It also has a prepositional phrase without interference from the movements of the body. The embedded clause and the prepositional phrase together articulate the function of coelom. One technique to help students make sense of this sentence is to relate the two structures to sentences with similar structures, sentences with more familiar words and with the two structures separated, as we illustrate in (29). (29) Sentences with structures similar to the embedded clause and prepositional phrase a. I would like you to go. b. The teacher wants Tom to raise his hand. c. Susan did her homework without help from anyone. d. That boy bought a bicycle without any money from his parents. Help students interpret the simpler sentences in (29). Then urge them to extend this understanding to the sentence in bold by asking what it means before you step in and explain. Relating the sentence in bold to those in (29) highlights syntactic patterns and offers students the linguistic tool to make sense of sentences with similar structures. LA4 has two more steps. Step 3 re-​introduces the paragraph in (16) and asks students to identify the tense and teach them an additional use of the present tense, which is not to describe present actions and events, but to express events that are true regardless of time. To facilitate this step, consider starting with a review of different tense forms first. You can list the infinitive forms of verbs that appear in this paragraph vertically: e.g. have, be, allow, move, etc. Then add horizontally on top column labels such as present, past, progressive, perfect. Ask students to supply the different tense forms for each of the verbs and place them on corresponding lines. In other words, use the review to create a graphic organizer and remind students of different tenses. Once the review is finished, then have students re-​read the paragraph and identify the tense used. With this review, it should not take long for students to identify the tense used.

94

94  Teaching English through Science Step 4 of LA4 builds on the first three steps and asks students to create a written summary of what they read. The aims of this exercise are to deepen reading comprehension and content understanding and to provide an opportunity for students to use the timeless present tense. Writing is not easy for students, especially ELs and 8th graders. Summary writing has its own challenges, because it hinges partially on strong reading and comprehension skills. One technique to scaffold this writing task is GIST, short for Generating Interaction between Schema and Text, presented in Herrell and Jordan (2016: 300–​304). GIST starts with teacher demonstration. In this step, the teacher selects a paragraph, has students read it, and asks them to come up with one sentence that summarizes what it is about. Following teacher modelling, Step 2 of GIST arranges students into groups and engages them in reading a new paragraph silently in their groups. Following the silent reading, encourage students to discuss what it says and write one joint sentence that summarizes the paragraph before moving on to another paragraph. These steps of GIST can be incorporated into the first two steps of LA4.Towards the end of Steps 1 and 2, model how to summarize the paragraph in (16) by writing one sentence.When students move on to a new paragraph after Step 3, ask them to come up with a sentence about the paragraph. By the time students get to Step 4 of LA4, they have seen the teacher model the summary task and done it themselves.This technique teaches students how to read, encouraging them to slow down, reflect on what they read, and capture their understanding by expressing it in writing. To summarize, we have discussed various ways to differentiate instruction and provide students with the linguistic tools and support so that they can be autonomous readers and learners. The aim of reading instruction is not to read for students, to interpret for them, or to give them simplified texts. The goal should be to foster learner autonomy by decreasing teacher dependence. You can do this by teaching them the language they need, by making them aware of resources available to them, and by providing the kind of scaffolds that teach them how to learn. Keep this goal in mind in determining the appropriate instructional support and modification.

6 Additional language teaching ideas We have just discussed six learning activities designed to teach the English language with targets ranging from terms, puns, expressions of figures and comparison to the timeless present tense and chapter organization. These, however, are not the only ideas for language teaching with this text on simple invertebrates. In this section, we suggest a number of other ideas to show that there are many possibilities for language teaching in science texts. Let’s first consider two other possibilities for teaching word-​and phrase-​level expressions. One possibility is to target phrasal expressions such as make up in (30a) and instead of in (30b). In addition, this text, like most texts, includes a number of other phrasal expressions such as so far, for example, in fact, in addition, etc. Like instead of in (30b), these expressions highlight sentence relations. For instance, for example, in fact, and in addition introduce an example, a fact or additional information on what comes before these expressions. They are cohesive devices or sentence connectors used to link one sentence to another and create cohesion, something we discussed in Chapter 2. (30) Two ideas for teaching vocabulary and phrasal expressions a. Animals without backbones, also known as invertebrates, make up an estimated 97 percent of all animal species. b. Instead of spicules, they have a skeleton made of a protein called spongin. c. Grasshoppers, clams, earth worms, and jellyfish are all invertebrates, and they are all very different from each other. d. Unlike most animals, a sponge can also replace its body parts, or regenerate.

 95

Teaching English through Science  95 Another possibility is to focus on expressions of differences. Even though we focus on expressions of similarity and identity in LA5, we can also target expressions of differences. This chapter repeatedly uses a number of words and phrases that express differences. Two examples of such language are are…different from in (30c) and unlike in (30d). Other expressions of differences in this chapter include difference, different (used as an adjective rather as part of a predicate as in (30c)), separate something from something. You can easily come up with other expressions of differences such as differ, vary, distinct, and in contrast, etc. to expand students’ capacity to express differences. Expressions of differences are also central to this text and useful to learn, because students are often called upon to compare and differentiate. Apart from word-​and phrase-​level expressions, this chapter makes repeated use of a number of sentence-​level structures like the passive construction in (31a), the conditional/​hypothetical clause in (31b), relative clauses such as those in (31c) and (31d), and parenthetical expressions in (31e) and (31f). (31) Four ideas for teaching sentence-​level structures a. These characteristics include the type of body plan, the presence or absence of a head, and the way food is digested and absorbed. (Passive construction) b. If you were to draw an imaginary line across the top of a sea anemone, you would see that both halves look the same. (Conditional/​hypothetical clause) c. All animals except sponges have fibers called nerves that carry signals to control the movements of their body. (Relative clause) d. More complex animals have a brain and a head, where the brain is stored. (Relative clause) e. Another group of sponges have spicules made of calcium and carbonate, the material that makes up the shells of a shellfish. (parenthetical expression) f. The name refers to the thousands of holes, or pores, on the outside of sponges. (parenthetical expression) Each of these sentence-​level structures can be the target of a learning activity. As sentences with these structures show up repeatedly, they can be used to develop activities that both teach language and highlight science content. Finally, this text on simple invertebrates can also be used to develop students’ discourse competence. Apart from the chapter organization targeted by LA6, we suggest two ideas for teaching the discourse structure here. First, the teacher can target how a group of paragraphs are organized around one central idea or what we call a topic sentence. An example is the sub-​section entitled “Body Plans”, which has four paragraphs organized around the topic sentence (Invertebrates have two basic body plans, or types of symmetry). This topic sentence appears as the first sentence of the first paragraph. Two follow-​up paragraphs each discuss one type of body plans and develop the topic sentence. The final or fourth paragraph tells us that one type of invertebrates, sponges, has no symmetry at all. Having students re-​read this sub-​section, guiding them in identifying the topic sentence, and discussing how this topic sentence is further developed by the remaining three paragraphs can further students’ understanding of how a group of paragraphs can be built around one central idea as well as deepen their content understanding. LA6 in Chapter 5 is just such an activity. We urge you to check it out. Another idea to develop discourse awareness is to teach different types of paragraphs and how they are developed. Science texts tend to have a lot of comparison and contrast, definition, and classification paragraphs, paragraphs used to compare and contrast, to define a term, or to classify things. An example of a definition paragraph from this chapter is shown in (32).

96

96  Teaching English through Science (32) An example of a definitional paragraph Most animals have bilateral symmetry. An animal with bilateral symmetry has a body with similar halves. For example, if you draw an imaginary line down the middle of an ant, you see the same features on each side of the line. The primary purpose of this paragraph is to define bilateral symmetry. The writer helps readers understand what this term means in two ways. First, it is defined by the expression “a body with similar halves”. Then the writer provides an ­example –​ant –​to explain what the term means. There are of course other ways to help readers understand a term by classifying, by using synonyms, and by explaining what it is not, etc. Teaching how a writer develops a definition paragraph can help students generate ideas and learn to write similar paragraphs themselves. The purpose in discussing these ideas is not to suggest that you need to teach all of them. You cannot and should not, because if you were to do so, you would never move beyond this chapter. The goal is to point out the possibilities for language teaching even in a small piece of science text. As we show here, there are word-​and phrase-level expressions, sentence-​level structures, and discourse topics that can be the targets of language instruction, instruction that advances language development and science learning for all students.

7  Conclusion We have presented six learning activities developed from a chapter on simple invertebrates. This chapter comes from a fairly standard science textbook intended for Grade 8 students. A central goal of this chapter is to show how science textbooks can be used not only for content instruction but also for language teaching. The six instructional activities featured in this chapter target academic words (symmetry and re-​generate), puns (Get a head!), expressions of figures (shown in Figure 2), and the language of comparison (are similar to and same as), timeless present tense and chapter organization. Four activities focus on vocabulary and phrasal expressions to varying degrees, while one activity targets grammar (present tense) and one targets discourse (chapter organization). With respect to vocabulary-​related activities, it is worth reiterating the importance of introducing vocabulary in sentential or even discourse contexts, teaching phrasal expressions (not just individual words), and highlighting word relation, formation and use. As our observations reveal, content-​based language instruction, if it happens at all, too often focuses narrowly on the meanings of isolated words presented in a list. Such vocabulary instruction is too limited in its goals, dumbs down the expectations for ELs (whether intentional or not), and, at the end, is unhelpful for students who need the language not just to understand but to communicate. Use, not meaning, must be the ultimate goal of language instruction. LA5, with its focus on the language of comparison, showcases an activity that targets form and use as well as meaning. Apart from the focus on language, four activities, from pre-​reading to post-​reading activities, embed content learning to varying degrees. These activities highlight various ways in which science content and language instruction can happen side by side. In LA1 and LA5, we show that content can be embedded through the careful selection of the vocabulary to be taught and the sentences that carry content information. In LA3 and LA4, we see that the teaching of puns and timeless present tense requires re-​reading and discussing the passages that convey important content information. LA4 and LA5 strengthen students’ content understanding by asking them to write a summary and a comparison/​contrast piece. These activities show that content instruction does not have to happen independently of language teaching.The two can be meaningfully integrated, with one enriching the other.

 97

Teaching English through Science  97

8  Exercises 8.1  Multiple-​choice questions This section includes ten questions, which are based on Chapter 3. Some questions refer to sections in Chapter 1. They are designed to encourage you to read closely, to reflect on what you read, and make connections, and to provide a quick check of your understanding. You should read this chapter and, if necessary, review relevant sections before and while attempting to answer these questions. The ten questions each have four choices. There might be more than one correct choice for some multiple-​choice questions, but your task is to select the best choice. (1) S4 in (3c), S4 in (4c), S4 in (5b) and S5 in (5c) all focus on identifying and understanding the meanings of words and phrasal expressions. What is not emphasized or advocated in these standards when it comes to ascertaining the meanings of words and phrases? a. b.

Use texts in which the words/​expressions appear Use dictionaries

c.

Use word relationships

d. Use context

(2) Language Standard 6 in (5d) and Writing Standard 2 in (6a) share a focus on vocabulary. What do they have in common? They both expect teachers to develop students’ ability to: a. b.

use words and phrases determine word & phrasal meanings

c. learn new words & phrases d. None of the three choices

(3) The edTPA for English as an Additional Language calls on ESL teachers to develop ELs’ competence in four areas: a) grammatical (vocabulary and sentence structures); b) discourse; c) pragmatic; and d) metalinguistic. Which two competences does LA1 most directly target? a. b.

grammatical & discourse discourse & metalinguistic

c. discourse & pragmatic d. grammatical & metalinguistic

(4) LA3, which targets sub-​section headings, comprises three steps. Examine each step and determine which skill is not targeted by this activity. a.

listening

b.

speaking

c.

reading

d. writing

(5) In Section 5 of Chapter 1, we discuss four key considerations that guide the design of learning activities discussed in this and other chapters, one of which is referred to as “Text and Reading”. Review this section in Chapter 1 and then examine LA4. How does LA4 reflect the spirit of this consideration? a. By having students revisit selected passages with a focus on both content and language. b. By providing information regarding where the timeless present tense is used. c. By posing questions on language such as those in Step 3. d. None of the above. (6) Consider the third design consideration: Provision of Information on Linguistic Forms. Analyze the four steps of LA4 and determine in which step information on linguistic forms is provided and shared with students. a.

Step 1

b.

Step 2

c.

Step 3

d. Step 4

98

98  Teaching English through Science (7) Even though LA3, LA4 and LA5 all have a focus on language, LA5, as a post-​reading activity, differs somewhat from LA3 and LA4. What is this difference? What design consideration impacts the design of LA5? a. LA5 has a primary focus on language. It exemplifies form-​focused instruction. b. LA5 has a primary focus on content. It is a learning activity centered on text and reading. c. LA5 is not linked with content. It is an example of form-​focused instruction. d. LA5 does not target language use. It is a learning activity centered on text and reading. (8) Step 3 of LA1 and Step 2 of LA5 have one thing in common. They are both designed to teach: a. b.

word connotations word relations

c. word meanings d. word use

(9) This chapter discusses six learning activities designed to teach language through science. Which two activities most directly address Key Idea 1 of the content Standard 4 in (2a)? a.

LA1 & LA3

b.

LA3 & LA4

c.

LA3 & LA5

d. LA1 & LA5

(10) The edTPA for English as an Additional Language calls on ESL teachers to develop ELs’ competence in four areas: a) grammatical (vocabulary and sentence structures); b) discourse; c) pragmatic; and d) metalinguistic. Which competence does LA6 most directly target? a.

grammatical

b.

discourse

c.

pragmatic

d. metalinguistic

8.2  Discussion/​reading response questions (11) Although the six learning activities target language, they all attempt to embed content learning to varying degrees. Examine them closely and identify at least three different ways in which they, either jointly or separately, integrate content learning with language learning. Provide details from the activities to support your claim. Name specific learning activities and steps and discuss what they advocate. (12) LA1 and LA5 are both designed to teach vocabulary and expressions. Analyze the two activities and identify at least two similarities and two differences in how they teach word and phrasal expressions. Focus your comparison on how they are instructed, not what expressions are targeted for instruction, which differ obviously. Be specific and support your claims about similarities and differences with examples and details from LA1 and LA5. (13) As its final step, LA4 requires students to use timeless present tense to write a summary about simple invertebrates, the different types and their similarities and differences. As the focus of this activity is the timeless present tense, it does not offer instruction on how to write a summary. Instead, we assume that students know what a summary is and how to write it. Now suppose that your ELs do not know what a summary is and need instruction on how to write a summary. Discuss what information you need to share about summary writing and how you might teach it. In other words, brainstorm a learning activity designed to teach summary writing.

 99

Teaching English through Science  99 8.3  Problems of application (14) Problem 1: In Section 5 (Additional language teaching ideas), we suggest that a learning activity can be developed to target expressions of differences –​similar to LA5 that teaches expressions of similarity and identity. Such a LA can develop students’ ability to express differences in a comparison and expand their linguistic resources. Create a LA in the form of a PowerPoint presentation. Model this LA after LA5. Pay close attention to these requirements. a. Brainstorm with your students or bring in additional expressions of differences. In other words, do not restrict your instruction only to words or phrases that appear in Chapter 1. English has expressions of differences that function as nouns, verbs, adjectives, prepositions and adverbs. Make sure that at least one example of each category is included in your instruction. b. Show via your instruction how distinct expressions of differences can be used interchangeably to express differences, like LA5. c. Make sure that students have an opportunity to practice using the targeted expressions of differences, similar to LA5. d. Try to relate this LA to some of the science content this chapter on simple invertebrates is concerned with. (15) Problem 2: According to Key Idea 6 of Standard 4 of the Living Environment Core Curriculum in (2b), “plants and animals depend on each other and their physical environment.” This idea is not addressed as directly as Key Idea 1 by the chapter on simple invertebrates. Identify a reading or a listening material (including video materials) that can be used to strengthen eighth graders’ understanding of Key Idea 6. Develop a learning activity based on the selected reading or listening material. Follow these guidelines in developing this activity. a. Select a reading or listening material that directly discusses the interdependence of animals and plants and their reliance on the physical environment. In other words, what are examples of plants depending on animals? What are examples of animals depending on plants? What are examples of animals or plants depending on physical environments? b. Create an activity that develops students’ understanding of Key Idea 6. At the same time, c. Identify and teach some aspect of language via this activity. In other words, integrate content learning with language acquisition. For examples of such activities, see LA3 and LA4 in this chapter, which have both a content and language focus. (16) Problem 3: The six LAs of this chapter are based on a section of a science textbook for Grade 8 students published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. It is a selection concerned with simple invertebrates. A follow-​up chapter is concerned with birds. Read this chapter closely and develop a learning activity that has language teaching as its primary target. Spell out this activity in the form of a PowerPoint presentation. Follow these guidelines in planning the activity. a. Target any aspect of language, even though ideally this activity builds on one of the six activities in this chapter and targets units of language larger than individual words or phrases. Ground your language focus on this chapter on birds, meaning that this chapter should provide preferably ample examples of the language targeted.

100

100  Teaching English through Science b. Link language teaching with content (that is, the study of birds) if possible. But remember that this activity should be about language primarily. c. Design an activity that targets language use, not just meaning. In other words, your activity should build in steps that involve students in using the targeted aspect of language in communication. d. Include explicit teaching of language, guided and independent practice as part of the steps in this activity. Note that if this textbook is not available, select any science text and have students develop a learning activity on that text.The requirements can be similar to the ones listed in (a) through (d).

References Clarke, D. F., & Nation, I. S. P. (1980). Guessing the meanings of words from context: Strategy and techniques. System, 8, 211–​220. Coxhead, A. (2000). A new academic word list. TESOL Quarterly, 34(2), 213–​238. DeCarrico, J. S. (2001).Vocabulary learning and teaching. In M. Celce-​Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (3rd ed., pp. 285–​299). Heinle & Heinle. Fang, Z., & Schleppegrell, M. J. (2010). Disciplinary literacies across content areas: Supporting secondary reading through functional language analysis. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(7), 587–​597. Frodesen, J. (2014). Grammar in second language writing. In M. Celce-​Murcia, D. M. Brinton, & M. A. Snow (Eds.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (4th ed., pp. 238–​253). Heinle Cengage Learning. Grabe, W., & Stoller, F. L. (2001). Reading for academic purposes: Guidelines for the ESL/​EFL teacher. In M. Celce-​Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (3rd ed., pp. 187–​204). Heinle & Heinle. Haynes, J., & Zacarian, J. (2010). Teaching English language learners across the content areas. ASCD. Herrell, A., & Jordan, M. (2016). 50 strategies for teaching English language learners (5th ed.). Pearson Education, Inc. Hill, J. D., & Miller, K. B. (2013). Classroom instruction that works with English language learners (2nd ed.). ASCD and McREL. Holt, Rinehart and Winston Staff. (2002). Animals (part of Holt Science & Technology series). Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Honigsfeld, A., & Dove, M. G. (2013). Common core for the not-​so-​common learner: English Language Arts strategies Grades 6–​12. Corwin. Larsen-​Freeman, D. (2014). Teaching grammar. In M. Celce-​Murcia, D. M. Brinton, & M. A. Snow (Eds.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (4th ed., pp. 256–​270). Heinle Cengage Learning. Lee, S. (2007). Effects of textual enhancement and topic familiarity on Korean EFL students’ reading comprehension and learning of passive form. Language Learning, 57(1), 87–​118. Leow, R. P., Egi, T. A., Nuevo, M., & Tsai, Y. (2003). The role of textual enhancement and type of linguistic item in adult L2 learners’ comprehension and intake. Applied Language Learning, 13, 93–​108. Palincsar, A. S., & Schleppgrell, M. J. (2014). Focusing on language and meaning while learning with text. TESOL Quarterly, 48(3), 616–​623. Rosenshine, B. (2012). Principles of instruction: Research-​based strategies that all teachers should know. American Educator, 36(1), 12–​19 & 39. University of the State of New York and the State Education Department. (1996). New York State P-​12 Science Learning Standards and Core Curriculum. www.p12.nysed.gov/​ciai/​mst/​sci/​ls.html. University of the State of New York and the State Education Department. (2011). New York State P-​12 Common Core Learning Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. www.p12.nysed.gov/​ciai/​ common_​core_​standards/​pdfdocs/​p12_​common_​core_​learning_​stadards_​ela.pdf.

 101

4  Teaching English through English Language Arts

1  Introduction This chapter explores content-​based language instruction through materials intended for English Language Arts (ELA). A major portion of the ELA curriculum is the study of British, American and world literatures. Until recently, British, American and world literatures constitute almost the whole of what ELA covers. This emphasis on literature has changed with the standards such as the Common Core standards for ELA, which recognize the importance of non-​fiction texts, creating standards for informational texts in addition to literature standards. At first glance, it should not be difficult, so it seems, to teach language through literature. We might even think that it is inevitable to teach language if you teach literature. We are of the view that this is not the case. Our observations reveal that English as a language is often ignored in ELA lessons with a focus on literature. Analyzing the plot in a story or play, examining the conflict, discussing character development, or considering the setting and its impact on characters’ actions, while important, are not necessarily tasks that focus on language. For literature to develop ELs’ language proficiency, the instruction must attend to form. The seeming inseparability of language from literature might lead some to believe that anything you do in a literature lesson is language-​focused. This is not the case. For this reason, we dedicate this chapter to teaching English through ELA. We base this chapter on Chapter 3 of Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (Steinbeck, 1937) and use it to illustrate what it means to teach English through ELA, or, more specifically, through literature. We select this classic American novel for two key reasons. First, it is frequently included as part of the middle or high school ELA literature curriculum. Second, it features language not usually found in Mathematics, Science or Social Studies texts, thus presenting an opportunity to attend to features of English unique to this genre of literature (Holten, 1997). What language features characterize literature or Of Mice and Men? This novel, such as its Chapter 3, includes rich descriptions of human actions and emotions. It is, for example, filled with verbs and phrases of human actions. It is also full of adjectives and adverbial expressions of human physical and emotional states.These are just some of the words and phrasal expressions that can be targets of language instruction. At the sentence level, this chapter features a lot of simple sentences, made more complex by verb phrases joined together by conjunctions like and. Compound and complex sentences consisting of relative clauses are less common.We also see the frequent use of present and past participles to add rich descriptive details. Narratives, whether short stories or novels, often include dialogs and dialog tags (used to introduce dialogs among characters in a story), something that is rare in Mathematics, Science and Social Studies texts. In addition, dialogs, which feature how characters in a story actually speak, can contain informal, colloquial and dialectal features of English, differing from the formal, standard variety of English at both the word and sentence level.Texts with these features can offer students a unique exposure to dialectal and register differences of English and be used to reinforce students’ mastery of formal English. At the discourse level, short stories, novels or plays rarely DOI: 10.4324/9781003081005-4

102

102  English Language Arts make visible through sections or subsections the internal organization of a short story or a chapter in a novel or an act in a play, unlike texts in other subjects. They provide an opportunity for students to study the organization of narrative discourse. These and other language features make the study of literature a unique opportunity for language learning. This chapter presents six learning activities, with four targeting the English language and two ELA content. The four language activities focus on features of colloquial speech, expressions of human actions, present participles and dialog tags, all of which are features characteristic of narratives for storytelling.The two content activities target character development and setting. These two activities, though they teach the English language to a lesser extent, are designed to highlight how literature instruction differs from language instruction.This chapter has one central goal. It develops your understanding of what it means to teach English via ELA. This understanding entails an ability to distinguish: a) what it means to teach ELA and b) what it means to teach English. By posing ELA and English instructions as a dichotomy, we do not mean to imply that the two cannot be combined. The key is to understand that not all ELA instruction is language instruction. ESL and ELA teachers need to understand this difference and attend intentionally to students’ language as well as literature needs.

2  Getting ready The learning activities presented here are based on Chapter 3 of Of Mice and Men, a classic American novel studied as part of ELA in late middle or high schools. Considering the complexity of this work even for native English speakers, we believe that it should be used for those ELs with at least high-​intermediate English proficiency. The activities showcased in this chapter are designed with ELs with high-​intermediate or advanced proficiency in mind. Before proceeding to the next section, you are encouraged to get hold of a copy of NewYork State P-​12 Common Core Learning Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy developed by University of the State of New York and the State Education Department (2011) or similar standards for ELA in your state or country. Focus on literature and language standards for late middle or high school students and read them to get a sense of what standards say you should teach. Then read Of Mice and Men or Chapter 3. Look at it with an eye on how it can be used to teach language. Get familiar with the novel and think about what can be taught and how. Use these questions to guide your reading and thinking. (1) Questions to ponder as you read a. What are the relevant standards that guide the content (that is, literature) instruction? b. What are the relevant standards that guide the language instruction? c. What is it we can teach with respect to literature of this type? d. What is it we can teach with respect to the English language? Of the four questions, the last one is our main focus in this chapter. However, to understand what it means to teach language, you need to know what it means to teach ELA or, more specifically, literature, hence 1c). Clearly, content and language instructions are informed by learning standards, whether they are the CC Learning Standards or other learning standards. For this reason, we pose the questions in (1a) and (1b). Consider reviewing the CC Learning Standards or standards relevant to you. Note that it is not critical that you have thorough answers to the questions in (1). What is important is to start thinking about them as you read the novel. This way you can begin to develop an understanding of what and how you might teach this novel with an eye on language as well as content.

 103

English Language Arts  103

3  Common Core State Standards for ELA New York State P-​12 Common Core Learning Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy divide the standards broadly into three age groups: prekindergarten, kindergarten to Grade 5, and Grade 6 to 12. As Of Mice and Men is studied in late middle or high schools, we focus on the standards for Grades 6–​12. This document first lays out anchor standards which state the overall goals for the three age groups, followed by grade-​specific standards that lay out what students in specific grades are expected to learn. Grade-​by-​grade standards are further divided into four areas: a) reading, b) writing, c) listening and speaking, and d) language. Mentioned earlier, to highlight the importance of informational texts, this document distinguishes the reading standards for literature from those for informational texts. In this section, we discuss mainly the relevant anchor standards. Where appropriate, we also dive into grade-​specific standards for literature, which provide a guide on what students are expected to learn with respect to ELA content, namely, literature. Following the order in the standards document, we start with the anchor standards for reading. There are 11 anchor standards for Grades 6 to 12, which are concerned with five domains: a) Key Ideas and Details, b) Craft and Structure, c) Integration of Knowledge and Ideas, d) Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity, and e) Responding to Literature. There are three anchor standards for each of the first three domains and one anchor standard each for the two remaining domains. Four of the eleven anchor standards are relevant to Of Mice and Men. They are listed in (2), with S short for standard. The domains to which these anchor standards belong are indicated by the headings in parentheses at the end of each standard. (2) Relevant Grade 6-​to-​12 anchor standards for reading and writing a. S1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text. (Key Ideas and Details) b. S3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text. (Key Ideas and Details) c. S4. Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone. (Craft and Structure) d. S6. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text. (Craft and Structure) S1 and S3, concerned with Key Ideas and Details, specify the type of reading to engage students in. It is close reading. The goals of close reading are: understanding what the text says overtly, making inferences (or understanding what the text says implicitly), backing up inferences with evidence from texts, and conducting analyses. These standards encourage students to read a text carefully and multiple times, analyze what it says, and read between the lines. Though close reading can start with skimming or scanning, these standards clearly call for deep reading so that students understand the implied, unspoken and hidden meanings of a text, not just the direct, overt messages. One crucial measure of whether readers understand the overt and covert meanings lies in their ability to cite textual evidence to support their interpretation. In this regard, these reading standards are similar to S9 for writing in (4b), which also require students to provide textual evidence to support their inferences and analysis. S4 and S6 come under the domain of Craft and Structure. S4 is concerned with developing students’ ability to understand word and phrasal meanings. Two things are emphasized by this

104

104  English Language Arts standard. First, it stresses understanding the technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, that is, the non-​literal meanings. Second, S4 emphasizes through “as they are used in a text” the use of reading and text to determine word and phrasal meanings. Non-​literal meanings are determined by the larger discourse context. It is therefore not appropriate nor sufficient for teachers to isolate a word from its discourse context and supply students with a dictionary-​based definition. The deeper, unspoken meanings can only be accessed by close reading of a text. S6, like S3, is concerned with the analysis. S3 focuses on analyzing how individuals, events and ideas change and interact over time. S6 is concerned with analyzing how point of view or purpose determines what is written and how it is written. As you can see, these anchor standards are broad. What do they mean when it comes to literature instruction? In (3), we provide the Grade 8 reading standards for literature related to these anchor standards. (3) Grade 8 reading standards for literature related to S3 in (2b) and S6 in (2d) a. S3. Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision. b. S6. Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created through the use of dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor. a. Analyze full-​length novels, short stories, poems, and other genres by authors who represent diverse world cultures. You see from (3) that Grade 8 students are expected to analyze dialogues or incidents in a story, and characters’ or readers’ points of view. They are expected to determine how they impact characters’ actions or decisions, what they reveal about characters, and how they create dramatic effects. Two things about these standards are particularly relevant to and guide the ELA content activities we present later. First, according to (3a), students need to analyze dialogues and events and determine what they reveal about characters in a story. Second, S6 is the first standard of any grade that specifically mentions that students should read and analyze full-​length novels. For these reasons, our two content activities focus on character development and setting in Of Mice and Men, and develop students’ ability to analyze dialogues and events in this novel to see what they reveal about character traits or analyze the setting for what it reveals about characters or their actions in the novel. Let’s turn now to the anchor standards for writing. There are 11 Grades 6-​to-​12 anchor standards for writing as well. They belong to five domains: a) Text Types and Purposes, b) Production and Distribution of Writing, c) Research to Build and Present Knowledge, d) Range of Writing, and e) Responding to Literature. There are three anchor standards for each of the first three domains and one anchor standard each for the two remaining domains. Two writing anchor standards are relevant here. (4) Relevant Grades 6-​to-​12 anchor standards for writing a. S3.Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-​chosen details, and well-​structured event sequences. (Text Types and Purposes) b. S9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. (Research to Build and Present Knowledge) S3, which comes under Text Types and Purposes, spells out the types of writing that Grades 6 to 12 students should produce, namely, narratives that describe real or imagined experiences or events. This standard also articulates some key attributes of effective narratives such as good use of techniques, careful-​selected details and effective organization. S9 belongs to the domain

 105

English Language Arts  105 of Research to Build and Present Knowledge. This standard expects students to undertake research and be able to identify textual evidence to support their analysis. Mentioned earlier, this writing standard is similar to two reading standards, S3 and S6 in (2), both of which call for research and analysis. Clearly, attending to written texts does not mean that listening and speaking play no role in content-​based instruction. Listening is an important means through which students access content information, while speaking forces students to process information and provides the tool for them to demonstrate their understanding. For this reason, speaking and listening standards are pertinent. There are six anchor standards for Speaking and Listening, which are concerned with two domains: a) Comprehension and Collaboration and b) Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas. Two of the six standards are relevant and listed here. (5) Relevant Grade 6-​to-​12 anchor standards for speaking and listening a. S1. Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. (Comprehension and Collaboration) b. S6. Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate. (Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas) According to S1, part of Comprehension and Collaboration, students must learn to collaborate and engage in dialogs with partners from diverse backgrounds. They must learn to listen closely, make sense and use of others’ ideas, and build their own. They must learn to speak clearly and persuasively, that is, articulating reasons and arguments. S6, part of Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas, targets speaking, focusing on students’ capability to adapt speech to and speak effectively in different communicative settings (e.g. classroom vs. home, a formal presentation vs. a conversation with friends). Although this standard talks about a variety of communicative tasks, its primary concern is with developing students’ mastery of formal English. The ability to speak formal English implies knowing and distinguishing formal from informal English. We demonstrate in Section 4 that this novel presents a wonderful opportunity for students to learn formal vs. colloquial speech. Finally, let’s examine the anchor standards for language. There are six language anchor standards for Grades 6 to 12. They target three domains: a) Conventions of Standard English, b) Knowledge of Language, and c) Vocabulary Acquisition and Use. Three language standards in (6) are relevant. (6) Relevant Grade 6-​to-​12 anchor standards for language a. S1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar when writing or speaking. (Conventions of Standard English) b. S3. Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening. (Knowledge of Language) c. S5. Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings. (Vocabulary Acquisition and Use) S1, related to Conventions of Standard English, is concerned with students’ ability to write and speak correctly according to the rules of standard American English. It requires students to “demonstrate command” of these rules, meaning that knowing rules is not sufficient. They must be able to apply them in speaking and writing. This language standard is related to the speaking standard in S6 in (5b), calling for command of standard English. S3 in (6b), which

106

106  English Language Arts is part of Knowledge of Language, is concerned with developing students’ knowledge of language and its application. They must understand the role language plays in different contexts, adapt their speech or writing for different communicative tasks and to understand more thoroughly what it is they read or listen to. This standard is similar to the reading standard S1 in (2a) and the speaking standard in S6 in (5b). S5 in (6c) belongs to Vocabulary Acquisition and Use. This standard once again focuses on connotative, figurative meanings of words and nuances in word meanings. Even though this language standard focuses on vocabulary, it is related to the reading anchor standards, S1 and S4 in (2a) and (2c), which emphasize reading closely and understanding non-​literal meanings. Though the Common Core lists standards for reading, writing, listening and speaking, and language separately, they are not unrelated. There are a number of themes repeatedly emphasized by these standards such as close reading, understanding of non-​literal meanings, mastery of formal English, and making effective linguistic choices in different communicative settings. As we demonstrate below, these standards, including the themes they stress, inform and guide the design of the learning activities that follow.

4  Learning activities Now that we know what Grades 6–​12 students are expected to learn with respect to language and literature, let’s consider how Chapter 3 of Of Mice and Men can be used to develop the language and content competence of ELs. We showcase through the PowerPoint presentation six learning activities based on this chapter. They outline what to teach and, to some extent, how. In what follows, we explore in greater detail the enactment of and the rationales for the six activities. The two pre-​reading activities target colloquial English and expressions of human actions, aspects of language not just unique to this type of text but potentially challenging for ELs.The colloquial English seen in Of Mice and Men does not follow the conventions of standard American English. For example, double negatives are still interpreted as negative, posing difficulty for understanding. Unlike native English speakers who acquire expressions of human actions through interactions with people, ELs are introduced to these expressions mostly through reading. For this reason, they may not always know what they mean. The two during-​reading activities are concerned with character development and setting. Both are designed to further students’ understanding of character traits and setting and develop their ability to make inferences and read between the lines.The post-​reading activities are concerned with two sentence-​level structures, central to narratives and storytelling. One zeroes in on the present participle construction and its use to provide rich descriptive details; the other draws attention to dialog tags, used to introduce dialogs among characters in a story. Both exhibit unique structural features and are important for ELs to learn if they are to describe real or imagined experiences as called for by the writing standard in (4a). Take a close look at the PowerPoint on pages 222–238 before moving on to Section 4.1. Reading the PowerPoint can facilitate your understanding of the proposed activities as frequent references are made to it in the following discussion. Our goal here is not to repeat the presentation, but to provide missing information and links, including relations between standards and proposed instruction, objectives, rationales, focus (i.e. content vs. language), potential variations to proposed instruction, etc. The goal is to deepen your understanding of proposed instruction for ELs. 4.1  Pre-​reading activities The pre-​reading activities discussed here both have a language focus. They target two linguistic features that are prevalent in this novel and unique to this type of text. They can also

 107

English Language Arts  107 be difficult to understand for ELs. One activity concerns colloquial speech forms; the other focuses on expressions of human actions. As each activity supplies information crucial to comprehension and prepares students for reading, they are classified as pre-​reading activities. As we show, both activities draw attention to features of the English language and equip ELs with the linguistic tools to understand not just this novel but also other novels with similar linguistic features. LA1 is concerned with colloquial speech, a feature this novel is full of. What is unique about the colloquial speech in this novel is that it follows different conventions from those of standard English. Two examples are shown in (7), with more in Slide 3. (7) Two examples of colloquial speech a. “It wasn’t nothing,” said Slim. b. “Say, you sure was right about him…” (7a) is an example of double negatives in colloquial speech. It means that it was not anything. The sentence remains negative, even though it has a double negative structure –​n’t and nothing. In formal speech, this sentence means that it was something, following the rule that two negatives make a positive. (7b) shows the subject you followed by was. In standard American English, were is required by the subject you. This novel is filled with such non-​ standard colloquial forms, something you are unlikely to encounter in texts for other subjects. As colloquial speech forms like (7) are central to this novel and can present difficulty for ELs because they follow different rules, this LA targets them for pre-​teaching, highlighting how colloquial speech may differ from formal speech, discussing where it might be used, and deepening students’ understanding of formal speech. They develop ELs’ awareness that there are different varieties or registers of English and help them make effective linguistic choices when they speak or write, something required by the language standard S3 in (6b). This LA comprises two main steps: a teacher-​led examination of colloquial speech forms and a follow-​up practice by students. It starts by showing a series of sentences like those in (7), sentences that are carefully selected from the novel and highlight structural differences between informal and formal speech. Students are asked to look at each sentence, identify what is odd about the sentence and explain how they might say it themselves. The teacher can write down students’ version and place it right underneath the original sentence from the novel to facilitate comparison, as is shown in Slide 3. Have students compare the two sentences in each pair and identify differences between the two versions. Building on student contributions, point out the differences between the sentences in each pair, differences such as the interpretation of double negatives, subject-​verb agreement (e.g. you was), the use of ain’t in place of isn’t, the use of object pronouns as subjects, and the missing relative pronoun who, etc.That is, make the points in Slide 4.While the above examination focuses on form and meaning, you might want to take a further step and help students understand where such colloquial English might be appropriate to use. Questions like (8) can be asked to frame the discussion on use. (8) Discussion questions on use a. Why does Steinbeck choose to have some of the characters speak a colloquial form of English? b. What does the English the characters speak say about their age, race, class, education or intelligence, etc.? c. Where are the colloquial forms of speech used in writing? Where are they not used? Building on student responses to these questions, the teacher can make the points in Slide 5. These points include: a) the writer is trying to capture how these characters actually speak,

108

108  English Language Arts and b) colloquial speech forms often appear in dialogs and are found in novels, plays, sometimes song lyrics and poems, etc. How a person speaks can tell us a lot about his/​her background, including age, race, class, education, intelligence, etc. Writers use a person’ speech as a tool not just to communicate what is said, but about who the character is, where he/​she comes from, what background he/​she has, whether he/​she is educated or intelligent, why he/​ she acts the way he/​she does in the story, etc. You can use this to foreshadow LA3, which is concerned with character development. This ends Step 1. It is important to follow this teacher-​led discussion with practice in Step 2.You or students can select additional utterances from the novel such as those in Slide 6. Students can be asked to translate them into formal speech and place them side by side with the original sentences. Use these sentences to draw attention to colloquial English and highlight structural differences between informal and formal speech.This task can be assigned as homework or carried out as group work in class, if time permits. Whether this practice step takes the form of a take-​home assignment or collaborative group work in class, it is good instructional practice to spend some class time checking what students have done, especially those sentences students have trouble with. We estimate that this activity can be carried out within 20 to 30 minutes, depending on whether the second step is done in class or not. LA1 is guided by and addresses three standards to different degrees. S6 for speaking in (5b) demands that students show “command of formal English”. S1 for language in (4a) is similar in requiring “command of the conventions of standard English grammar when writing or speaking”. Mastery of formal English implies knowing what is and is not formal English. This activity highlights differences between formal and informal English. Furthermore, some native English-​speaking students may speak at home or with friends a version of English similar to that in the novel. Non-​native English students might make errors that are similar, such as using you was rather than you were. For all these students, this LA can heighten their awareness of the English they speak and how they differ from formal English conventions. This activity is also relevant to S3 for language in (6b), which asks students to use their knowledge of English to “understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style…” LA1 presents an opportunity to discuss where such colloquial speech is appropriate and what the author is intended to communicate about the speakers of such speech, thus strengthening their understanding of how language functions in different contexts and providing them with the information to make informed choices regarding where to use formal vs. informal speech forms. Let’s turn now to LA2, an activity that focuses on expressions of human actions. In (9), we provide two examples of such expressions, with more in Slide 7. (9) Expressions of human actions (highlighted in bold) a. Slim reached up over the card table and turned on the tin-​shaded electric light. b. George looked over at Slim and saw the calm, Godlike eyes fastened on him. This LA targets expressions of human actions like those in (9) for a number of reasons. This novel is replete with them, something you are unlikely to find in non-​fiction texts. They are central to storytelling narratives like this. If students are to construct real or imagined experiences, they must acquire such expressions as part of their productive vocabulary. In addition, ELs may not know what actions these expressions describe. Just ask your ELs to show via body language what reach up over the table means and then watch what they do. Although many such expressions involve simple verbs like reach and look, one feature that makes them difficult to understand is the use of a stack of prepositions such as up over or over at. Ask your students how reach up over the card table differs from reach up the card table or reach over the card table or how look over at Slim is different from look at Slim or look over Slim. You will see that the meaning

 109

English Language Arts  109 differences between these expressions are not always fully understood. ELs are introduced to such expressions mostly through reading. They may not have seen them acted out in real-​life situations.This is different from native English speakers who acquire them through interactions with others. For this reason, they can be challenging and worth pre-​teaching. We suggest implementing this LA in two steps: group work followed by a whole-​class discussion.You can start this activity by dividing students into pairs. Have them read the sentences like those in (9) in Slide 7 carefully. Ask members of each pair to take turns modelling via body language what each expression like reached up over the card table means. Once a team member shows what an expression means, he/​she should ask the other member whether he/​she agrees. Have them discuss and come to an agreement before moving on. If students encounter a word or phrase which they are not sure of, encourage them to go back to the novel and figure out from the context what it might mean, rather than checking a dictionary. Have each pair to record what they know and what they do not know.You can also ask them to come up with a written definition and jot it down, if time permits. As students work in pairs, walk around the room, keeping an eye on how students model the various actions and what they do not understand so that targeted instruction can be provided next. This step essentially engages students in a Total Physical Response (TPR) activity and helps them associate a linguistic expression with a human action (Asher, 1996). Once students have 10 to 15 minutes to work in pairs, move on to Step 2. Call the class back and go over each sentence by asking selected pairs to demonstrate. This way, the teacher can get a sense of whether students know. If one pair is not sure or does not understand precisely, ask other pairs to see whether they can explain. Make sure that students understand each expression by building on what students show and by modelling the action yourself. We estimate that this two-​step activity can take 20 to 30 minutes to implement in class. To reinforce student learning, consider building in a review at the start of next class. Post each expression of human action on board and randomly ask individual students to show what they mean. Alternatively, you can have a student show via body language an action depicted by an expression and ask the rest of the class to tell you what this student has just done. The goal here is to review and ensure students understand. LA2 is informed primarily by two standards related to vocabulary and expressions. One standard, S4 in (2c), states that students should be able to “interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text”. This LA offers students an opportunity to examine words and phrases in sentential contexts and determine their interpretation, something called for by S4. LA2 also targets S5 in (6c), a language standard which encourages students to understand “nuances in word meanings”. In addition to these two standards, LA2 is concerned with S1 in (5a) as well, as Step 1 of this LA engages students in listening and speaking through pair and collaborative work. To summarize, these two pre-​reading activities are designed to prepare students for reading the novel, providing them with tools to understand the novel while drawing attention to linguistic features that characterize this novel. They deepen students’ understanding of differences between formal and informal English, and expressions of human actions. The two LAs share some design features. The targeted expressions are introduced in original sentences, which encourages students to read and guess intended words or linguistic forms from sentential contexts. Both activities start by assessing what students know either through teacher questioning or pair work.This reflects the belief that ELs with intermediate or advanced proficiency have some of the background to derive the knowledge themselves. This step also provides the teacher with insights on what students know or do not know so that more targeted instruction can be provided. Finally, both activities build in a practice step designed to provide multiple exposures to the same instructional content and reinforce student learning.

110

110  English Language Arts 4.2  During-​reading activities In this section, we consider two activities designed to teach content. They are included here to demonstrate what it means to teach content in an ELA course and how it differs from teaching the English language. As we show, while these LAs target primarily content, language is not completely ignored. Language is simply not the major focus of these activities. LA3 focuses on character development or characterization; LA4 is concerned with setting. Characterization and setting are concepts emphasized in the study of short stories, novels or plays. They are content topics covered in ELA (McKay, 2014). Content is presented in texts. To access content, students must read. Most of the reading involving Of Mice and Men should be done by students at home, given the limited class time. Classroom instruction should be devoted to close reading and analyses of selected sections and to deepening text comprehension. According to Grabe and Stoller (2001: 191–​192), during-​reading activities should lead students through the text, examine relations between characters in the text and help students to read “purposefully and strategically”, among other things. LA3 and LA4 are designed with these considerations in mind. Let’s examine LA3 in details. This LA develops students’ understanding of how an author develops characters in a story by having them re-​read selected passages in Chapter 3 of Of Mice and Men and analyze what traits these passages reveal about various characters in a story. It engages students in purposeful and strategic reading and in inference making. LA3 can be implemented in 4 steps. Step 1 begins with a review of the term character development or characterization. High school students, ELs or not, should have had some exposure to this term. Thus, this review starts with checking what character means in the literature context. Rather than stopping at the definition that characters refer to persons, animals, creatures or things in a story, the teacher should strategically review different meanings of this word such as attributes or qualities of a person or written letters or symbols (as in describing characters in Chinese orthography). Help students distinguish different uses of this word. This is what we mean by teaching language, not just teaching content terms or concepts. Broaden the instruction or review intentionally to include other uses rather than limit it to what the word means in a particular discipline. Most words in English have multiple meanings. Technical and domain-​ specific terms often come from such words, except that they acquire discipline-​specific interpretations. Students need to be aware of this and develop the ability to determine word meanings through context. Moving on to development, the teacher should relate this word to its verb root, develop and help students see how words like development are constructed. Ask students what develop means and what it means to develop a character. The word develop, like character, is polysemic. For example, it can mean grow as in develop muscles or create as in developing a character. Tease out its different meanings and help students understand nuances in word meanings. Building on student responses, explain or review what character development or characterization means. As explained in (2c) in Slide 9, this term has two key meanings: a) the process of creating a unique, three-​dimensional character with personality, traits and motivations and b) the change a character undergoes in the course of a story. The instruction on characterization should not cease at defining terms. Knowing terminology is important, but it is not the ultimate goal of content instruction. One main goal of literature instruction is to strengthen students’ understanding of the literature by developing their ability to analyze and evaluate what they read. For this reason, we follow Step 1 by asking this key question in Step 2: What are the ways in which a writer develops a character? Depending on how students respond, the teacher needs to point out that an author can use a variety of tools to imbue a character with traits and qualities. They include: direct description,

 111

English Language Arts  111 dialogs, language, etc. Use student responses to generate and review the list of tools in (4) of Slide 10. Now that students know how a writer develops a character, it is critical to move on to Step 3 and analyze how a writer like John Steinbeck uses these tools to develop the characters in Of Mice and Men. To do this, present students with a passage selected from the novel, such as the one below. (10) Step 3: A passage for the analysis of character development “It wasn’t nothing,” Slim repeated. “Say, you sure was right about him. Maybe he ain’t bright, but I never seen such a worker. He damn near killed his partner buckin’ barley. There ain’t nobody can keep up with him. God awmighty, I never seen such a strong guy” This paragraph is concerned with what the character Slim said about another character in the story. Ask students to read this passage carefully. Following the reading, pose the questions in (6) of Slide 11, which are reprinted below. As students respond to the questions, make sure to ask them to identify what it is in the text that leads to their answer and explain how they make the leap from the text to the inference made. (11) Step 3: Pose these questions on the passage in (10) a. Who is Slim talking about? In other words, who does “he” refer to? b. Is “he” smart, educated, lazy, physically strong, etc. according to Slim? Is Slim’s view of this person positive or negative? c. What does this passage say about Slim himself? Is Slim smarter than “he”? Stronger than “he”? d. What does Slim’s speech say about his background? Is he working class? Highly educated? Down to earth? Arrogant? etc. These questions guide students in analyzing character traits. They help students see what a character like Slim says and how he says it tell us something about himself and others. They show students how John Steinbeck develops his characters via dialogs. This is content, as far as ELA is concerned. S3 in (3a), a Grade 8 reading standard for literature, demands that students “analyze particular lines of dialogue” to see what they “reveal about aspects of a character.” This step and the next engage students in conducting such analyses. Note that the questions in (11) are not fact-​based questions that students can answer easily. They require students to read and re-​read a passage and make inferences. They encourage students to read purposefully and strategically and to get at the covert and deep meanings, not just overt and surface meanings of the passage. It is no easy task to develop students’ ability to make inferences. This ability takes years to develop. For this reason, goals such as these are stated for multiple grades in ELA standards so that they can be cultivated on an ongoing basis. Inference-​making skills vary with the task. Just because one can draw inferences with one passage, it does not mean that he/​she can do the same with another passage. One factor impacting this ability lies in the complexity of the passage itself. In designing instruction targeting skills such as these, a teacher needs to take a long-​term view, use a variety of text types with varying degrees of difficulty (literature vs. informational texts, novels vs. plays, etc.), and provide repeated opportunities to practice these skills. For this reason, LA3 builds in Step 4, which provides students with additional passages to read and analyze. To ensure that this step is implemented successfully, the teacher should pre-​ select some passages. Be sure to select passages varying in length and type (i.e. direct description vs. dialogs in this novel) and use them to guide students in analyzing them. Step 3 is more

112

112  English Language Arts teacher-​directed. Step 4 shifts more responsibility to students, implementing it as a guided group activity. Students can be divided in groups of three or four and asked to read one passage at a time and analyze what they say about the characters in the novel. A series of guiding questions, similar to those in (11), can be provided to guide students as they engage in analyses of pre-​selected passages. This group work can be turned into a formative assessment by asking each group to produce a graphic organizer. In this graphic organizer, students are to identify three to four characters in the story and see what selected passages reveal about, say, their education, intelligence, class, physical strength, etc. Following the group activity, ask selected groups to report back what they have come up with. You can focus on one or two passages and ask one or two groups to tell the class what they have learned about certain characters. This provides you with an opportunity to check student learning and to re-​teach if necessary. As laid out in the PowerPoint, LA3 ends with the group practice in Step 4. But if you want to know how individual students are able to read between the lines and analyze what a passage reveals about the characters in the novel, you can check student learning in a number of ways. An easy and quick way to assess student learning is to select a passage (one not used in Step 3 and Step 4), construct a series of multiple-​choice questions, and ask students to make inferences through these questions. In (12), we use the passage in (10) as an example to show what kind of multiple-​choice questions can be asked. (12) Sample multiple-​choice questions based on the passage in (10) I.

II.

According to Slim, is “he” smart? a. smart b. somewhat smart

c.

not smart

d. not clear from the passage

On the basis of this passage, what does Slim think about his own smartness in relation to “he”? a. smarter b. less smart c. equally d. not clear from smart the passage

III. What does Slim’s speech (how he speaks) tell you about his class background? a. working b. middle class c. elite d. not clear from the class passage (I) concerns what Slim thinks about “he”. The answer is directly stated by Slim and does not require readers to make inferences. But the answers to (II) and (III) are not directly stated in the passage. (II) concerns what Slim says about “he” and what that reveals about Slim’s own intelligence. (III) is on Slim’s speech and what it reveals about Slim’s class background.They do require students to make inferences and read between the lines. Multiple-​choice questions like these can provide a quick check of student learning. Alternatively, to assess students’ analytical ability more wholistically and to engage them in writing, you can ask students to construct a profile of a character on the basis of Chapter 3. To do this, the teacher or the students can select a character. Ask students to construct a written description of this character, identifying and describing his crucial traits or qualities as revealed by Chapter 3.These are just some of the ways you can engage students in close reading and analyses and advance their understanding of character development.We estimate that this activity can take 40 to 50 minutes to implement, with 15 minutes for the first two steps and 25 to 35 minutes to Steps 3 & 4. LA4 is also a content activity designed to teach how an author creates the setting for a story and what setting reveals about the characters and their actions or emotions in a story. Like LA3, this LA engages students in purposeful reading and analyses. It develops their grasp of setting as a literature concept and strengthens their ability to make inferences. LA4 includes

 113

English Language Arts  113 four steps. This LA opens with a discussion or review of the word setting. You can start by asking what setting means in the study of literature. Building on student responses, point out that it refers to the place where a story, a scene or an event takes place. In explaining setting, consider breaking it apart –​the verb set and the nominalizing suffix -​ing –​and show how it is formed. Explain that setting is related in meaning to set when it is used in sentences such as This story is set in such and such a place. As a noun, setting means where a story is set, with set turned into a noun by the suffix -​ing. Show students how similar nouns are formed: e.g. think thinking as in critical thinking or kill killing as in the brutal killings. Do not limit your instruction on terminology narrowly to what a term means in a specific field. It is critical to broaden it to include word formation, where appropriate.This way, you do not just teach one word, but a class of expressions, offering students a tool to make sense of and acquire unfamiliar words in the future. Once students know what setting means, you can, anticipating what is to come, check if they remember where Chapter 3 is set. This ends Step 1. Step 2 revolves around two questions and builds the foundation for Step 3. One question concerns how an author creates the setting for a story; the other questions why it is important to understand the setting of a story. You can pose these questions to see what students come up with first. Then build on their contributions to make the point that an author can create the setting by directly describing it. In addition, the setting can be conveyed by what the characters say about the setting or by how a character speaks (because different dialects are associated with different geographical regions or social, ethnic or linguistic groups). Even the actions of characters in a story can give us clues about the setting. To help students appreciate the importance of setting, emphasize that an author can use the setting to create the mood for a story (i.e. fear, anxiety, excitement, etc.) or to tell us things about the characters and provide insights into the motives or reasons for their actions and emotions. Step 2 is important to Step 3, which asks students to analyze different passages to infer the setting and what it tells us about the characters. Step 3 presents students with a passage, which is shown in (3) of Slide 14 and reprinted below. (13) A sample passage for analysis Slim and George came into the darkening bunk house together. Slim reached up over the card table and turned on the tin-​shaded electric light. Instantly the table was brilliant with light, and the cone of the shade threw its brightness straight downward, leaving the corners of the bunk house still in dusk. Slim sat down on a box and George took his place opposite. This is an example of a direct description, which provides a window into where characters like Slim and George lived. Ask the class to read this paragraph and identify key features of the place. Use the questions in (4) of Slide 14 to direct the analysis.These questions concern what kind of house Slim and George walked into, whether it was well-​lit, and what kind of furniture it had. Most importantly, ask what the house or the setting says about Slim and George, whether they are rich or poor, whether they work for themselves or others, etc. As students respond, jot down on the board the features of the house identified. Don’t accept students’ responses as they are given. Interrogate them further. Follow their responses with further questions. How do you know? Which part of the text gives you the answer or leads you to make the inference you make? We conceive Step 3 as a teacher-​directed analytic activity. It is imperative to provide additional practice in the form of a more student-​centered activity. For this reason, Step 4 selects additional passages from the novel for rereading and analyses. In selecting the passages, consider including a variety of passages, if possible, so that they exemplify the different ways in which an author creates the setting and uses it to tell a story. In (5) of Slide 15, we present

114

114  English Language Arts another passage.This paragraph not only confirms some of the features of the house conveyed in the paragraph in (13) but also provides additional information about, say, who else, besides Slim and George, lived in it. Be sure to question what this tells us about the characters and their circumstances. To implement this step, consider dividing students into pairs. Ask them to read each passage carefully and identify features about the setting in their assigned group. Following the group work, call the students back and ask different groups to report their findings. Use this to monitor student learning and to reteach where appropriate. Steps 3 & 4 should provide the preparation for the individual assignment. As homework, have students compose a description of the setting for Chapter 3. You can have students imagine a scenario in which the novel is being turned into a play or film. It is their job to construct a description of the setting so that set designers can create a physical setting for the play or film. The setting should reflect what is written in the novel. You can also encourage students to draw the setting and tie it with the written description they create. Both tasks –​ writing and drawing –​would force students to re-​read portions of the novel and deepen their understanding of the text. We anticipate that LA4 will take 40 to 50 minutes, with Steps 1 & 2 taking about 15 minutes, and Steps 3 & 4 taking 25 to 35 minutes. We stated at the onset that the two activities set their sight on content, that is, character development and setting. They are guided by the content standards for ELA, specifically, the Grade 8 reading standards for literature in (3). Both standards, S3 and S6 in (3), expect students to analyze literary works for a variety of things including character traits. In addition, S6 in (3b) specifically states that students should start analyzing full-​length novels in Grade 8. LA3 and LA4 both engage students in such analyses. Even with the content focus, the development of English language is not completely ignored. For example, in instruction targeting what the terms character development and setting mean, we broaden it intentionally to include discussions of nuances in word meanings and word formation, addressing the language standard S5 in (6c). According to this standard, students need to understand word relations (semantic and morphological relations at least) and nuances in word meanings (e.g. develop that means grow or develop that means create) among other things. Both activities incorporate collaborative work, encouraging students to work in groups and talk with one another.They build in listening and speaking, addressing S1 in (5a). Finally, both LAs suggest using writing to engage students in further reading and analyses on their own.This suggestion is informed by S9 in (4b), a writing standard, according to which students should be able to extract evidence from literary works to support analysis and research 4.3  Post-​reading activities This section considers the implementation of two learning activities designed to teach language. LA5 focuses on the present participle clause and its use to provide rich, descriptive details in storytelling narratives. LA6 teaches dialog tags, a tool used to introduce dialogs. Both target clause and sentence structures and expand students’ syntactic competence. We target these structures for two key reasons. First, they are central to descriptive discourse and storytelling narratives like this one, which is why this novel offers many examples of these syntactic structures.They are also unique, something unlikely to appear or occur in abundance in texts for other subjects. This novel or others like it thus offer an opportunity to study these structures and link language learning through content. Second, present participles and dialog tags exhibit distinct structural features. They are structurally complex, making them a prime target for language instruction.These two LAs, like LA1 and LA2, target the English language. But unlike them, LA5 and LA6 do not aim just at knowing the meanings of targeted linguistic expressions. Their ultimate goal is use, that is, developing ELs’ ability to use them to communicate. For this reason, these LAs are classified as post-​reading activities. Unlike pre-​reading

 115

English Language Arts  115 activities which help students make sense of what they are about to read and are therefore meaning-​and understanding-​focused, post-​reading activities extend students’ knowledge and competence, including their linguistic knowledge and competence according to Grabe and Stoller (2001: 191–​192). They are more use-​oriented, as we show below. LA5 is concerned with the present participle clause, a structure characteristic of descriptive and narrative discourse. It is a challenging structure. It is not uncommon to see my native English-​speaking college students misuse this structure. They create what is called dangling modifiers, that is, when the subject of the main clause cannot be interpreted as the subject of the present participle, thus stranding or “dangling” the participle modifier. LA5 is thus beneficial to all students, not just ELs. The end goal of LA5 is use. It provides information not just on what meaning this construction expresses. It also teaches form and use. LA5 can be implemented in five steps. Step 1 starts by projecting sentences containing present participles for students to examine. These sentences come from Chapter 3 of Of Mice and Men. Two of them, shown in Slide 17, appear in (14), with present participle expressions highlighted in bold. Note that both examples have the present participle clause following the main clause, because this is the only type we find in Chapter 3. (14) Project these sentences for students to see a. Curley sat down on the floor, looking in wonder at his crushed hand. b. …the cone of the shade threw its brightness straight downward, leaving the corners of the bunkhouse still in dusk. Read each sentence aloud to students. Following the read-​aloud, check student understanding by asking the questions in Slide 18.Two key questions are posed for each sentence. For example, with respect to (14a), you can ask: a) what Curley was doing after or as he sat down, and b) who looked in wonder. The first question draws attention to the participle clause. The second checks whether they know who looked in wonder and focuses attention on the omitted, understood subject of looking and its relation to the main clause subject, Curley. After most of the sentences in Slide 17 are examined, consider asking a follow-​up question, that is, whether they notice anything similar about the bolded expressions. In other words, do they notice the -​ing form of the participle verb? This step engages students in observing a structure and identifying its pattern. For the teacher, this is a chance to learn what students know and see. Step 2 offers direct instruction. Direct instruction, presented in five slides from 19 to 23, starts by informing students what the bolded expressions are called and highlighting their key feature, the -​ing form of the verb. Students should know the name of a grammatical structure like this one and be able to associate it with its structural feature.Teachers should not shy away from telling students, especially students at the high-​school level, key grammatical terms and teaching grammatical concepts. In addition to teaching what the construction is called, make clear that the subject of the participle clause looking in wonder at his crushed hand is Curley, the main clause subject. A key requirement of this construction is that the subject of the participle clause is the same as the main clause subject. In sentences where the main clause subject cannot be the subject of the participle expression, you have a dangling modifier, a mistake often made by native English speakers in writing. We continue the direct instruction by presenting information on form in Slides 20 and 21. This information includes: a) present participle verbs appear with the -​ing suffix; b) a present participle clause can appear in two sentence locations, before and after the main clause; and c) it is separated from the main clause by a comma. In teaching form, that is, what a construction looks like, try to make the information as visual as possible so that students can see the structure. One way to do this is to make a visual like the following. Note that the two example sentences come from Cowan (2008: 559–​560)

116

116  English Language Arts (15) A visual showing the structural features of sentences where the participle clause precedes the main clause Present Participle Clause Subject

Main Clause

Verb + ing …

,

Subject

Verb …

.

Twisting her body sideways Taking the bartender hostage

, ,

Susan the gunman

freed herself from his grip fled into the street

. .

This visual, which appears in Slide 20, displays the structure of sentences with the present participle clause before the main clause. It provides four pieces of information: a) which part is the main clause and which part is the participle clause; b) which part is the subject and which part is the verb in main and participle clauses; c) what is the subject of the participle clause; and d) how the participle clause is punctuated, that is, separated from the main clause by a comma. All four pieces of form information are crucial if students are to use this construction to write. In Slide 21, we provide a similar visual for sentences in which the participle clause follows the main clause. Apart from form, students need to know what meaning the present participle construction expresses and where it is used. According to Cowan (2008: 557–​561), the present participle clause can be used to convey a range of meanings. It can express an action that happens at the same time as the main clause action (concurrent action) or an action that precedes or follows the main clause action (sequential action). In other words, they can be used to tell time, similar in meaning to while, before or after, when they are used to introduce an adverbial clause. It can also state the reason, the instrument (or means) or the condition. Note that time, reason, instrument and condition information for the main clause is often provided by adverbial expressions. This is partly why present participle clauses are classified as adverbial clauses, similar to adverbial clauses introduced by when, because, if, etc. In providing the meaning information, illustrate and support each meaning with an example as we have done in Slide 22. If students are to use a grammatical construction, they need to know where it is used. It is therefore important to teach use, as we have done in (6) of Slide 23, which provides such information. One is that present participles tend to be used in descriptive writings, writings which provide a description or tell a story. It is no accident we find the present participle construction in Of Mice and Men. This is why we recommend teaching it in the context of studying this novel. Second, according to Cowan (2008: 561–​562), this construction differs in its function, depending on the placement of the participle cause. When it appears before a main clause, it is used to paint a vivid scene and lend a sense of immediacy, and/​or to link to information that comes before while introducing a shift in topic. But when it is positioned after the main clause, the participle clause is used to provide additional information or to elaborate. This information tells students where it can be used, but it does not involve students in using it. This is why there are three more steps following Step 2. In Step 3, we revisit the sentences introduced in Slide 17. Have students re-​read each sentence and analyze what meaning the participle clause expresses.That is, is it concurrent action, sequential action, reason, instrument or condition? Additionally, with respect to a sentence like He stood crying, his fist lost in Lennie’s paw, ask students which part is the main clause, which is the participle clause, and who was crying, etc. Student responses to these questions can give you clues regarding to what extent they can ascertain the meaning expressed by the participle

 117

English Language Arts  117 clause, which part is the main or participle clause, and what is the subject of the participle clause.This step serves as a review of the meaning information provided via direct instruction. It engages in students in closer reading and deepens their understanding of the meaning relation between the main clause and the participle expression. Following Step 3, we demonstrate how the present participle construction can be used. Step 4 models the use with sentence combining. Present sentence pairs such as those in (16a) and (16b) (more appear in Slide 25) and show how they can be combined and rewritten as in (16a’) and (16b’). (16) Modelling how to combine sentences using the present participle clauses a. Tom waltzed into the room. As he did so, he sang and danced. a’ Singing and dancing, Tom waltzed into the room. b. He decided not to attend the meeting. He assumed that his proposal would not be considered. b’ He decided not to attend the meeting, assuming that his proposal would not be considered. In modelling the use of present participles, show different ways in which two sentences can be combined into one. With some sentence pairs, the first sentence can be rewritten as a participle clause; with others, the second sentence can be turned into a participle expression. Some sentence pairs can be rewritten in two ways, with a slight shift in meaning and emphasis. In addition, the participle clause can appear before or after the main clause.The goal is to show a variety. Once sentences are combined with a participle clause, ask what meaning the participle clause expresses. In short, use this step to review what you have taught as well. Before we discuss Step 5, let’s pause a moment and discuss why we select sentence combining to demonstrate the use of present participles. First, sentence combining heightens students’ awareness that a sentence with a participle clause includes two clauses. This is why they can be rewritten as two independent clauses. More importantly, sentence combining generates two different ways of saying roughly the same thing. This offers an opportunity to compare and highlight where they are used and used appropriately. As Larsen-​Freeman (2014: 264–​265) notes with regard to teaching use, it is critical for students to learn where one linguistic structure is more appropriate, although both express a similar idea. Take (16a) and (16b) as an example. In (16a), the ideas are expressed in two sentences with no participle clause. The advantage is that they clearly indicate the semantic relation between the two actions, waltzed on the one hand and sang and danced on the other. In other words, they occur concurrently, as indicated by As he did so. However, (16a) is a bit wordy, involving the repetition of the pronoun he and the pro-​verb did so (referring to waltzed). The combined sentence with the participle clause in (16b) avoids the repetitions. It is more concise. But in so doing, the relation between the main clause and the participle is obscured to some extent. The point is that there are discourse contexts where (16a) or (16a’) is more appropriate. If the communicative goal is to make clear the relation between the main and participle clauses, (16a) is more appropriate. But if the objective is to paint a picture and describe what else Tom was doing when he waltzed into the room, (16b) may be preferred. Speakers or writers routinely make these choices, depending on their communicative purpose. For these reasons, we use sentence combining to model the use of present participles and engage students in using them in Step 5. Step 5 of LA5 presents additional sentence pairs for students to rewrite by using present participles. These sentence pairs, presented in Slide 26, are similar to those in (16) and not repeated here. Consider implementing this step as a group activity. Divide students into groups of two students and have them rewrite the sentences using present participles. Some

118

118  English Language Arts sentence pairs can be combined in two different ways. Ask them to do that as they engage in the group activity. Encourage them to consider why they turn one of the two clauses into a participle clause and how the combined sentence differs in meaning and emphasis from the original sentence pairs. Following the group work, have different teams to write on board the combined sentences for the whole class to see. Then using what students produce, go over each combined sentence for each sentence pair, emphasize what they do right, correct mistakes and reteach where appropriate. Alternatively, if you have big Post-​It notes, provide each group with one page and ask them to write the combined sentences on the Post-​It as they work in pairs. This saves time. They can simply post it on the wall when it comes time to share with the class what they have come up with. LA5 ends with Step 5 in the PowerPoint. If you want to check to whether individual students have grasped present participles, you can ask them to construct a description. As a prompt, you can show a scene from a movie. Ask them to watch this scene, jot down some notes, and use the notes to construct a description of this scene. As part of the language requirement, ask them to use two or more present participles in describing what they see.This can be done in class if time permits, or assigned as homework if it does not. Writing such a description gives students an opportunity to use present participles in writing and allows you to check what they have learned. Another way to check student learning is to create multiple-​choice questions such as the following. (17) Two sample multiple-​choice question assessing students’ ability to make effective choices Q1:  …The gunman continued shooting at the customers in the bar. In the meantime, the sirens of the police cars outside were getting louder and louder. _​_​_​_​_​_​ a. Taking the bartender hostage, the gunman fled into the street. b. The gunman took the bartender hostage first. Then he fled into the street. c. The gunman took the bartender hostage before fleeing into the street. d. The gunman fled into the street after taking the bartender hostage. Q2: Police: You were saying earlier you saw the gunman take the bartender hostage. When was that? Witness: _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​ As (17) shows, Q1 provides a narrative as the discourse context and prompt. Q2 presents a context in which the police question an eyewitness.We can use the same four choices for both questions. For this reason, they are not repeated under Q2. Students are asked to determine which of the choices best continues the two discourses, marked by the blank. Three choices frame the idea in one sentence; one states it in two. In three choices, the time relation between the gunman’s two actions is more clearly indicated with words like then, before or after. In one, the sentence with the present participle, the time relation is less clear. Students are asked to select the sentence or sentences that appear in the space above _​_​_​. An advantage of this type of question is that it forces students to evaluate the different ways of expressing the same idea and determine which one is the most appropriate.This is what it means to teach use according to Larsen-​Freeman (2014: 264–​265). Turning now to LA6, this activity targets dialog tags, a feature that is even more prevalent in storytelling narratives than the present participle construction. While we encounter some use of present participles in texts for mathematics and science, dialogs and dialog tags are unlikely to appear in such texts. Dialog tags also exhibit more structural varieties than present participles and involve more variations in punctuation. In studying novels like Of Mice and Men, the teacher should draw attention to dialog tags or other structures that permeate such texts. LA6 takes four steps to enact. We start by showing dialogs and dialog tags taken from Chapter 3 of Of Mice and Men.Three examples are shown below, with dialog tags emboldened.

 119

English Language Arts  119 Dialog tags can appear in three locations within a sentence: before the dialog, after the dialog, and in the middle of it. (18) includes an example of each. Moreover, though said tends to appear in a dialog tag, there are a variety of verbs which can be used to introduce a dialog. We intentionally select tags with other verbs such as went on in (18a) and demanded in (18b). More examples of each type appear in Slide 27 and other slides. (18) Project these sentences for students to see a. Candy went on, “Either you guys got a slug or whisky? I gotta gut ache.” b. “What’s funny about it?” George demanded defensively. c. “They’d nibble an’ they’d nibble,” said Lennie, “the way they do. I seen ‘em.” Instruct students to examine each sentence and use the questions in (2) of Slide 28 to highlight different parts of the sentences. For example, you can ask why parts of (18a) are in quotation, what the quotations signal, and who said what appears in quotations. These questions focus attention on the dialog and the dialog tag.You can also question if students know what different verbs imply and understand the differences in meaning and inference. That is, said tends to imply a statement, demanded often suggests a question, and went on can signal either a statement or question. Besides verbs, it is also worth paying attention to the adverb that modifies the verb in a tag such as defensively in (18b). Check whether students know that adverbs are often used to express a speaker’s physical or emotional state or his/​her attitude towards or view of the person spoken to. To draw attention to the structures of dialog tags, you can ask whether they notice anything different in the location of emboldened expressions and in word order (with respect to the subject and verb of dialog tags).The aims of all these questions are to promote noticing, to check what they see or know, and to develop an interest in and a habit towards language. We believe that with the right prompts from the teacher, high school students are capable of coming up with much of the information about dialog tags on their own, before the teacher presents it in Step 2. Step 2 shifts to instruction. In Slides 29 to 32, we provide a range of information on dialog tags from meaning to form and use. With respect to meaning and use, it is important to tell students that dialog tags are not just used to introduce dialogs between characters. They are used to convey a range of other meanings such as whether the utterance is a statement, a question, or an exclamation, whether it is new or continues what is said before, what state –​ physical or emotional –​the speaker is in, what attitude or view the speaker holds towards the person spoken to, etc. In short, dialog tags are used to introduce a lot more than just dialogs. Turning to form, we show where a dialog tag can appear in a sentence, what parts make up a dialog tag, how the parts are ordered and how they are punctuated. As we mentioned before, it is more helpful to students if you can make the structure of a sentence pattern visible through visuals when teaching form. One way to do this is to create something like (19). (19) A visual showing the internal structure of a sentence in which the dialog tag precedes the dialog Dialogue Tag

Dialogue

Subject Verb

Adverb

,

“ What is said

./​?/​!

”

Lennie

said

breathlessly

,

.

”

Candy

went on

“ He’s brown an’ white jus’ like I wanted “ Either you guys got a slug or whisky? I gotta gut ache

.

”

,

120

120  English Language Arts This visual displays the structures of sentences in which dialog tags appear before dialogs. Similar visuals are presented in Slides 31 and 32 for sentences with dialog tags after dialogs or in the middle. Four pieces of information are highlighted in (19): a) which part is the dialog or the tag; b) what a tag consists of (subject, verb and optionally adverbs); c) what order these parts appear in (subject verb. Note that it can also be verb subject when dialog tags appear after or in the middle of a dialog); and d) what punctuations are used in such sentences. Note that all four pieces of information are needed to write narratives with dialogs and dialog tags. To reinforce students’ understanding, we follow direct instruction with a practice in the form of multiple-​choice questions in Step 3. As Chapter 3 of Of Mice and Men is filled with dialogs and dialog tags, we use them to formulate the questions. Two examples are presented in (20), with more appearing in Slide 33. (20) Two examples of multiple-​choice questions for student practice a. “It wasn’t nothing,” _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​. i.  Slim repeated ii.  repeated Slim iii.  Both i and ii iv.  Neither i nor ii. b.

_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​, “ ‘Yours for success, William Tenner.’  ” i.  Slim read ii.  Read Slim iii.  Both i and ii

iv.  Neither i nor ii.

An advantage of multiple-​choice questions is that choices can be constructed to target different aspects of dialog tags. For instance, the questions in (20) assess whether students know the order of the subject and verb when the tag follows or precedes the dialog.You see in Slide 33 questions that assess the right verb or punctuation to be used. We conceive this step as an individual practice followed by a teacher-​led discussion. Present to the class the questions in Slide 33. Give them 5 to 10 minutes to come up with answers individually and record them on a piece of paper. Encourage students to do this in silence and refrain from shouting out their responses. Following the practice, call the class back. Take one question at a time, select two or three students to tell the class the choice they select and justify their selection, and then tell them the answer. Use this as an opportunity to review what you have taught in Step 2. To provide students with additional practice, we construct a series of cloze questions for students to do in Step 4. Each cloze question presents a sentence with a dialog and a tag. Part of the sentence is left blank marked by _​_​_​. Sometimes, the entire dialog tag is omitted. Student are asked to close or “cloze” the sentence by supplying the tag using the subject and verb provided. In other questions, part of a dialog tag is omitted. Students are required to fill in the missing punctuation or verb, etc. Two examples of the cloze questions in Slide 34 are presented here as an illustration. (21) Two examples of cloze questions for student practice a. _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​“What the hell’s takin’ him so long? …” Subject =​ Whit Verb =​broke out b. “Did I show you this, Slim _​_​” he asked. With respect to (21a), the entire dialog tag including the punctuation must be supplied with the provided subject and verb. (21b) requires filling in the missing question mark. Like multiple-​choices questions, cloze questions can be formulated to target specific aspects of dialog tags and reinforce what is taught. But unlike them, answers in the form of choices are not provided. For this reason, they are likely more challenging, because students cannot guess the answers.You can conduct this practice in a number of ways. One way is to have students work in teams of two or three. Encourage them to answer each question individually first.

 121

English Language Arts  121 Then compare their answers with each other and determine which is the best. Urge them to talk with each other and explain their answers with their team members. If time permits, give students an opportunity to report their answers to the class. Discuss the answers from the students and reteach or review, if necessary. LA5 and LA6 target clause and sentence structures and develop students’ syntactic competence. They address, most directly, S1 in (6a), a language anchor standard, and S6 in (5b), a listening and speaking standard. Both standards state that students need to master the conventions of standard and formal English. The rules that govern present participles and dialog tags are part of these conventions. Both LAs build in steps for students to work in teams and talk and collaborate with each other, addressing S1, the standard for speaking and listening in (5a). At the end of LA5, in (17), to be precise, we suggest giving students exercises in the form of multiple-​choice questions, with the choices forcing students to make effective choices in different discourse contexts.This step, if implemented, develops what the language standard S3 in (6b) calls for, which is: “Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning and style…”

5  Ideas for differentiation Just as we did in Chapters 2 and 3, we select one LA and address how it can be differentiated to meet the needs of students who may find the proposed instruction challenging. We focus on LA4 here, a during-​reading activity concerned with setting. This LA is chosen for three reasons. First, except for LA3, the other LAs assume that students may struggle with certain features of language in Chapter 3 of Of Mice and Men and seek to address these challenges directly. Second, built into LA4 are tasks that at least some students may find challenging, tasks such as relating settings to characters, making inferences, and constructing a description of a setting. Additional support or modification may be needed for these tasks of LA4. Lastly, LA4 is quite similar to LA3, which targets character development. The modifications we suggest for LA4 are relevant to LA3 as well. Recall that there are four steps to LA4. Step 1 develops students’ understanding of the literary term setting. It assumes that this word may be new to some students and purposefully teaches or reviews it first. This step is built into the design of LA4 to provide the necessary language support so that all students understand what setting is. Step 2 offers direct instruction. It starts by asking students whether they know how an author creates a setting. Then building on student responses, the teacher articulates the different ways in which the author develops the setting for a story. These two steps should not be that difficult for students because the assumption behind them is that at least some students may not know what a setting is or how a writer creates a setting, which is why Steps 1 & 2 are included to make sure they do. Step 3 is a teacher-​led activity. In this step, the teacher selects a paragraph such as the one in (13), which is reprinted below. Note that some expressions in the paragraph are highlighted in bold. We will explain why shortly. (22) The paragraph in (13) reprinted here Slim and George came into the darkening bunk house together. Slim reached up over the card table and turned on the tin-​shaded electric light. Instantly the table was brilliant with light, and the cone of the shade threw its brightness straight downward, leaving the corners of the bunk house still in dusk. Slim sat down on a box and George took his place opposite. Students are asked to read the paragraph, then probed via teacher questions for what it says about the setting, and engaged in making inferences about characters on the basis of what

122

122  English Language Arts they know about the setting. This step can be difficult for some students. It is contingent on an understanding of the text and an ability to relate settings to characters, something most of us as readers do not do naturally when we read a story. So what is likely to be challenging with respect to understanding this paragraph? First, there might be words or phrases that are unfamiliar to students, words such as darkening, bunk, tin-​shaded, brilliant, brightness, dusk, cone, reached up over the card table, etc. Second, there might be sentence structures that are difficult such as the 3rd sentence with a present participle. But in so far as the rest of sentences are concerned, they are not that complicated. Two are simple sentences (1st two); one is a compound sentence (4th sentence). Some of these expressions and the sentence with a participle are already dealt with in LA2 and LA5. Given what you have learned from two previous chapters, it should not be hard for you to come up with instruction or modification that can help students overcome these challenges. The harder task for students, we believe, is inference making, which is what we concentrate on here. The task of inference making can be eased by building in more scaffolds before students read the paragraph in (22) and analyze it for what it says about the setting.To scaffold Step 3, consider choosing an interesting picture of a room with furniture and people in them or a scene from a film, something easy to obtain from the worldwide web. Project this picture or scene for all students to see. Ask them to describe what they see. Then shift the inquiry to the people in the picture or scene by questioning what the setting tells us about the people. Do they look old or young? Are they scared or not? Are they poor or rich? Are they educated or not? What does the picture or scene tell us about their age, fear, wealth or education? In other words, you can start with a visual scaffold and get students used to the idea of making inferences through visual images before having them read a written text, constructing the setting in their heads, and making inferences. In addition to developing the inference-​making habit, this scaffold has two other benefits. First, it involves students in talking and develops their listening and speaking skills. Second, it is easier to talk about what you see in a picture or scene and make inferences about what you see. It is likely more interesting as well.We have observed listening and speaking activities which rely on visuals as stimuli. The students tend to be more engaged when asked to talk about a picture or a scene, probably because we can all see. Step 4 of LA4 is designed as a group activity. It offers students additional practice by having them read additional passages, determine what they reveal about the setting, and make inferences. If you followed the suggestion about adding a visual scaffold at the start of Step 2, students would already have two opportunities to make the connection between settings and characters before this group practice. To build in additional support for selected students who struggle with this task, consider highlighting key words or expressions. For these students, give them a copy of the paragraph with key expressions about the setting underscored in bold, as we did in (22). The emboldened expressions focus attention on the bunk house and the fixtures and furniture contained in it, making it easier for these students to identify key features of the setting and make inferences about characters on the basis of setting features. Another thing you can do to make the paragraph easier to understand is to supply definitions in parentheses following vocabularies likely new to these students, something that is not done in (22) but which can easily be added. It is important to stress that these students are not given a different or simplified version of the paragraph to read. They receive an identical paragraph, except for the highlighting and definitions if added. They have to read and make sense of the same paragraph as the rest of the class. At the end of LA4, we suggest asking students to write a description of the setting. This task accomplishes two goals: to deepen reading comprehension and to provide students with a chance to write. There are several things you can do to support students with this challenging

 123

English Language Arts  123 writing task. First, you can provide students with a sample setting description constructed by others. For example, you can take a play and identify one or two descriptions of a scene or a setting in this play for students to read, analyze and emulate. Second, as we alluded to in our description of LA4 in Section 4.2, you can ask students to draw the setting first on the basis of Chapter 3 of Of Mice and Men. Once a visual image of the setting is created, then have students use the visual image to construct a written description. Third, to get students to start writing, you can provide some sentence starters or create a cloze exercise like (22) to scaffold the writing of a setting description. (23) Use a cloze passage to scaffold the writing task Chapter 3 of Of Mice and Men takes place _​_​_​_​_​. This _​_​_​_​_​ has _​_​_​_​_​, _​_​_​_​_​, and _​_​_​_​_​to sit on. Above the table, there is a _​_​_​_​_​. When it is turned on, it lights up _​_​_​_​_​. But the rest of _​_​_​_​_​remains in dark.This chapter suggests that Slim and George are not _​_​_​_​. They probably do not own _​_​_​_​_​_​. They work for others for a living… This cloze passage can be given to selected students who need this scaffold. All they need to do to get started is to fill in the blanks. Tell them that they can write as much as they want in each blank, as long as what they place in the blank is related to what comes before and after. Note that all three scaffolds –​providing a sample setting description, drawing the setting first or supplying sentence starters or a cloze passage –​encourage close reading and strengthen comprehension, because they all require students to read closely and scour what they read for clues about the setting and use them to construct a visual representation or complete the cloze passage. They provide the modifications needed by some students. They also accomplish the key goal of a during-​reading activity, that is, to deepen reading comprehension. To summarize, we have discussed the various ways to differentiate instruction and provide the support needed by some students. The strategies we recommend focus on areas of LA4 these students may find it hard to cope with, areas such as relating settings to characters, making inferences and writing.They provide the scaffolds necessary to these students that they can handle –​rather than bypass –​the demands of LA4.

6 Additional language teaching ideas Section 4 has discussed six learning activities, four of which are aimed at the English language. These four LAs zero in on colloquial English, expressions of human actions, present participles and dialog tags, all features of language central to and permeating Chapter 3 of Of Mice and Men and storytelling narratives. These, however, are not the only language expressions and structures worth learning. In this section, we suggest additional ideas for language instruction, ideas from vocabulary and phrasal expressions to sentence structures and discourse patterns. We start with vocabulary. LA2 in Section 4.1 targets expressions of human actions. We can narrow the lens and teach expressions that describe movement or walking, something this novel is also replete with. Two examples of such words are presented in (24a) and (24b). In conjunction with dialog tags via LA6, we can draw students’ attention to verbs in dialog tags. LA6 has shown the use of said, went on, and demanded in dialog tags. These are not the only verbs. This chapter illustrates the rich variety of verbs used for this purpose, as (24c) shows. A LA can be created to focus on these verbs and have students consider how they might vary in meaning, questioning how ask, beg and demand differ, when used in dialog tags. (24) Ideas for teaching vocabulary a. Lennie crept to his bunk and sat down, trying not to attract attention.

124

124  English Language Arts b. Curley burst into the room excitedly. c. Slim repeated, Slim agreed, Slim asked again, he leaned over and pointed, Carlson insisted, he suggested, George continued, Lennie begged, Candy interrupted him, Lennie broke in, he cried, George yelled again, he apologized d. Lennie said breathlessly, he said sharply, he said softly, Candy said hopefully, he said gently,At last Candy said softly and hopelessly, said Slim shortly, Carlson said casually, Whit said sarcastically, George said wonderingly, he said disgustedly We can also draw attention to adverbs that modify verbs in conjunction with instruction on dialog tags. In (24d), we provide examples of adverbs that appear with the verb said in this chapter. Note how a slight variation in adverbs changes what a dialog tag means, allowing the writer to communicate a variety of physical states, emotions, attitudes or views. Adverbs like these are a crucial linguistic resource and clearly worthy of attention. These three ideas are just some of the possibilities for teaching vocabulary. There are many others besides verbs and adverbs, including, for instance, adjectives that fill writings like this. Recall that LA1, which is concerned with colloquial English, focuses on clause and sentence structures and highlights how they differ from formal English in form and meaning. There are other features of the colloquial English worth paying attention to. One involves how words with omitted sounds are spelt, such as those in (25). (25) Another idea for vocabulary instruction: words with omitted sounds a. I would of had to drowned most of ‘em anyways. b. Jus’ tell Lennie what to do an’ he’ll do it if it don’t take no figuring. There are good reasons for targeting such forms. First, they might hinder comprehension for ELs as some of these spellings, especially those with omitted sounds in word-​initial position, look quite different. Second, students need to learn how to represent real, colloquial speech including speech with dropped sounds if they are to write about real or imagined experiences called for by ELA standards. An activity centered on such forms can ease reading comprehension and show how colloquial speech is captured by writers. We have just recommended verbs, adverbs and forms with omitted sounds as the targets of vocabulary instruction. How about phrasal expressions? What are some of the phrasal expressions that are worth teaching? One idea, mentioned in our earlier discussion of LA2, is the expressions involving the layering of prepositions such as reach up over the card table or look over at Slim. There are many others in this novel, as (26) exemplifies. (26) One idea for teaching phrasal expressions: expressions with the layering of prepositions a. Slim sat down on a box. (cf. Slim sat on a box.) b. One day a bunch of guys was standin’ around up on the Sacramento River. (cf. … standin’ up on the Sacramento River.) c. He walked over with his heavy-​legged stride and looked down at the dog. (cf. He walked with his heavy-​legged stride and looked at the dog.) d. He led the dog out into the darkness. (cf. He led the dog into the darkness.) As a category of words, prepositions are not easy for ELs. Many languages do not have the variety of prepositions English has. Many ELs do not have the familiarity with prepositions as they do for other categories of words through their first language. Expressions with a stack of prepositions are more challenging, because they introduce a subtle shift in meaning. Compare the original sentences from the novel with those in parentheses where one of the prepositions is removed. Ask how that changes the meaning.You will see some students have

 125

English Language Arts  125 trouble distinguishing the two versions. Expressions with a stack of prepositions are often used by writers to describe what happens precisely, and to help readers visualize what is described. They add precision in description and are often found in descriptive or narrative writings. This novel is full of them, providing a prime target for language instruction. Let’s turn now to clause-​and sentence-​level structures. Besides present participles, English also has past participles marked by the -​ed ending on participle verbs. The past participle construction exhibits similar form features (except for the -​ed ending) and expresses a similar range of meanings like its present participle counterpart. It is used in a similar way, that is, to add rich descriptive details, which accounts for its tendency to show up in narrative writings. It is a useful construction to learn. We provide two examples in (27a) and (27b), but there are more in Chapter 3. (27) Three ideas for teaching clause-​level or sentence-​level structures a. George sat entranced with his own picture. b. Slim came in, followed by Curley and Carlson and Whit. c. George went quickly to him, grabbed him by the shoulder and rolled him over. d. He reached over and patted the ancient dog, and he apologized, “I been around him so much I never notice how he stinks.” e. Through the open door came the thuds and occasional clangs of a horseshoe game, and now and then the sound of voices raised in approval or derision. f. Old Candy, the swamper, came in and went to his bunk, and behind him struggled his old dog. Another language structure common in storytelling discourse is illustrated by sentences in (27c) and (27d). We mentioned in the introduction that narrative writings like this one tend to avoid complex sentences involving subordinate clauses such as subject or relative clauses, partly because they are written for the general public. Simple sentences are the norm. When sentences are made more complex in narrative writings, they are often done so with conjunctions such as and, but, so, etc. In (27c) and (27d), we provide two examples of sentences made more complex by a string of verb phrases joined by and. (27d) also shows and used to join two independent clauses and create what is called a compound sentence. This is worth pointing out to students. Now contrast this with the Social Studies materials in Chapter 2. Even though the materials are for Grade 3 and supposedly simplified, they still include relative clauses such as those introduced by where targeted by LA5 in Chapter 2. Sentence structures like the where relative clause are actually rare in this novel. Another structure worth pointing out is exemplified by (27e) and the emboldened part in (27f). Both have the PP-​VP-​NP structure (PP =​prepositional phrase, VP =​verb phrase, and NP =​noun phrase), with the order of the three phrases reversed. The normal order is NP-​ VP-​PP, exactly the opposite. In other words, (27e) normally appears as: The thuds and occasional clangs of a horseshoe game, and now and then the sound of voices raised in approval or derision came through the open door. For (27f), it is …his old dog struggled behind him.The word order is reversed for stylistic and emphatic reasons. One is that English dislikes long subjects at the sentence beginning, moving them to the end when it happens, as is the case with (27e). In (27e), the subject is equivalent to the entire NP that follows came and ends the sentence. Second, it is done to emphasize the PP at the sentence beginning and shift away from the NP subject by moving it to the end. It is also used to maintain focus and sentence flow. Note, for example, that by placing behind him at the beginning, the emboldened part of (27f) maintains the focus on Old Candy in the first part of that sentence, whom him refers to. Sentences like these do not appear often in any text. If they do, they tend to occur in texts such as narrative writings and poetry. Although we find limited sentences like (27e) and (27f), it is worth pointing them out

126

126  English Language Arts to students, because they are unlikely to encounter them in other types of texts and because they need to learn linguistic tools such as this to shift focus and maintain discourse flow. Let’s consider what we can teach with respect to discourse using Chapter 3 of Of Mice and Men. We suggest two ideas for developing discourse competence here. Both are characteristics of narrative writings like this one. Recall that discourse, at the most basic level, consists of a string of sentences which are connected to form a paragraph. The devices used to create a tightly related paragraph are referred to as cohesive devices.According to Frodesen (2014: 246–​ 247), there are three types of cohesive devices, which are lexical devices, reference words, and sentence connectors. Lexical cohesive devices refer to identical or synonymous words or phrases used to connect one sentence with another. Reference words are pronouns and other expressions whose meanings are dependent upon the expressions they refer to. Sentence connectors are conjunctions and adverbs such as therefore, consequently, as a result, in spite of, expressions that highlight meaning relations between sentences. To develop discourse competence at the most basic level, you can have students examine a descriptive paragraph like (28). Ask them to determine what cohesive devices appear in this paragraph and what is missing. To make it more obvious, we have highlighted the cohesive devices in three ways: bold, single and double underlining. Of course, when you give this to students to analyze, the cohesive devices should not be highlighted. (28) An idea for teaching discourse features and structures From his pocket Carlson took a little thong. He stooped over and tied it around the old dog’s neck. All the men except Candy watched him. “Come boy. Come on, boy,” he said gently. And he said apologetically to Candy, “He won’t even feel it.” Candy did not move nor answer him. He twitched the thong. “Come on, boy.” The old dog got slowly and stiffly to his feet and followed the gently pulling leash. Two types of cohesive devices are used, according to what is highlighted. One is lexical devices, as evidenced by the repeated references to thong, the old dog, and Candy in this paragraph. The other is reference words, more specifically, the pronouns he, him and it. The pronouns he and him, except for the double underlined He, refer to Carlson in the first sentence. The double-​ underlined He refers to the old dog. The first use of it connects back to thong in the first sentence. The second, the double underlined it, refers back to the previous conversation between Carlson and Candy, that is, the killing of the old dog. In short, these cohesive devices string the sentences together into a tightly connected or cohesive paragraph. What is missing from this description is sentence connectors, expressions that highlight sentence relations such as reason, cause and effect, concession, etc. As a matter of fact, sentence connectors are not that common in descriptive writings. If you think about it, there is a good reason for it. In an argumentative or analytic piece of writing, it is important to clarify relations between ideas, but this is not the case with descriptive writings. In writings used to describe a scene or tell a story, the relations among different ideas are rarely important and often left vague. They are left to readers to figure out, which is why you do not see the use of sentence connectors that much. This is a feature of descriptive discourse, something worth knowing, if students are to develop the ability to create descriptions and tell stories. A second discourse feature worthy of attention is the internal organization of Chapter 3. Of Mice and Men, like many novels, is divided into chapters. This is often the extent to which authors make clear the organization of a novel. The internal structure of a chapter within a novel is often not clearly marked, unlike a textbook chapter and a scientific paper. This type of writing presents an opportunity for students to analyze and make visible the structure of a descriptive discourse. For example, you can ask students to re-​read Chapter 3 and analyze it into sections. Ask them to determine where one section ends and the next begins and

 127

English Language Arts  127 explain their reasons. This type of tasks not only brings to surface the hidden organization of a descriptive discourse, but also engages students in close reading and analysis, deepening reading comprehension and furthering analytic abilities. To summarize, we have made a variety of recommendations for language teaching on the basis of Chapter 3 of Of Mice and Men. These recommendations range from individual words and phrasal expressions to sentence structures and discourse patterns. Some ideas are for students with advanced language proficiency such as analyzing the organization of Chapter 3. Others are more appropriate for students with a lower proficiency such as having students identify cohesive devices. These are not the only ideas. But they should give you some inspiration for language instruction. It should be clear from this discussion that content materials like this present rich opportunities for language teaching. We contend that if you draw students’ attention to language consistently and systematically as you teach content, you not only strengthen their content learning but also advance their language competence, giving them the tools to handle other challenging texts.

7  Conclusion Six learning activities are examined in this chapter. Two are pre-​reading activities with a focus on colloquial English and expressions of human actions designed to prepare ELs to read the novel.Two are during-​reading activities that engage students in close reading and analyses and develop their understanding of character development and setting as literary concepts. Two are post-​reading activities that target present participles and dialog tags and advance students’ grammatical competence. Of the six, four activities zero in on language and develop language proficiency. Two LAs are concerned primarily with ELA content, engaging students in close reading and inference making. All activities ground the instruction on Of Mice and Men, targeting language features that are central to and permeate this novel. The proposed activities also build in opportunities for collaborative group work, for listening and speaking, and for writing. In addition to a detailed examination of the six activities, we have presented in Section 6 a wide variety of suggestions for language teaching, recommendations from individual words and phrasal expressions to sentence structures and discourse organization. Together, these ideas should make clear ELA content materials like Of Mice and Men offer plenty of possibilities for language teaching, if one is willing to look. Effective teachers exploit a variety of tools –​direct instruction or lecturing, teacher questioning, teacher-​led discussions, guided practice, collaborative group work, individual work, etc. –​to engage students in deep learning. In designing instructional activities, you need to ask what students know and what they are capable of and use this information to determine how to present the information most effectively. Remember that the goal is student learning, not what or how much you do. In constructing the activities examined in Section 4, we have chosen to start with teacher questioning rather than direct instruction or lecturing.This is not because lecturing does not have a place in good instruction. Lecturing, that is, instruction in which the teacher directly provides information to students, is best used when information is new to students, when they do not have the ability to come up with the information on their own, or when doing so takes too much time. We start with teacher questioning followed by direct instruction because we believe that ELs with intermediate or advanced English proficiency have the capacity to deduce at least some of the language or content information under teacher questioning. This approach has the further advantages of encouraging verbal exchanges (providing speaking and listening opportunities), pushing students to read and re-​ read, and involving them in observing and arriving at the information themselves. One key point to emphasize is that not all instruction is language instruction even if these activities build in opportunities for listening, speaking, reading and writing. This is not to say

128

128  English Language Arts that they are not good activities. Language instruction must have language as the primary focus, attend to form and use as well as meaning and intentionally expand students’ linguistic capacities. The four language-​focused activities meet these criteria. LA1 helps students distinguish spoken registers of English from written and formal English and understand how they differ in form and meaning, where they are used and what they say about speakers of such registers. LA2 targets expressions of human actions, advancing ELs’ understanding of them and deepening reading comprehension. LA5 and LA6 target present participles and dialog tags, developing students’ understanding of their form features and their ability to use them to communicate. All four focus on language and expand students’ expressive capabilities, with the first two LAs focusing on meaning and form and the last two targeting use in addition to form and meaning. The second point worth stressing is that while it is appropriate to aim initially at understanding, most of what we teach ELs in high schools about the English language must aim higher at application. While some activities –​LA1 and LA2 –​target understanding or receptive abilities, others are designed to expand students’ productive abilities, the abilities to use the language in speaking and writing. It is not sufficient that ELs know what expressions such as reached up over the card table mean. They need to be able to use them in speaking and writing. Application or use must be the ultimate goal, even though initial exposure may aim at knowing and understanding. Of course, the six activities described here are not the only language or content activities that can be developed from Of Mice and Men. This is why we have presented a variety of ideas in Section 6 in an attempt to open your eyes to the possibilities for language instruction. Nor do we intend to communicate that this is the only way that the six activities can be implemented. They are provided, primarily, to exemplify what it means to teach language and what it means to teach content and how the two differ and how they can be related. They provide one way in which the proposed LAs can be implemented. As teachers of ELs, you need to know the students and curriculum and what is appropriate for them.You also need to understand what it is that you teach. This chapter is designed to help you understand what it means to teach the English language when the competing goal is ELA content. We hope that you will apply what you have learned to identify language-​teaching opportunities from ELA materials and develop language-​focused activities for your students.

8  Exercises 8.1  Multiple-​choice questions This section includes ten questions, which are based on Chapter 4. Some questions make reference to sections in Chapter 1. They are designed to encourage you to read closely, to reflect on what you read, and make connections, and provide a quick check of your understanding. You should read this chapter and, if necessary, review relevant sections before and while attempting these questions. These questions have four choices. There might be more than one correct choice for some multiple-​choice questions, but your task is to select the best choice. (1) In the speech entitled “I have a dream”, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. used dream to express a wish. Words that express a similar meaning to dream include wish, desire, longing, etc. Why did he choose dream, not other words? Which two standards most directly address this concern and develop this aspect of students’ language ability? a. b.

S1 in (2a) and S3 in (4a) S6 in (3b) and S1 in (5a)

c. S6 in (2d) and S6 in (5b) d. S4 in (2c) and S5 in (6c)

 129

English Language Arts  129 (2) We have seen that politicians, broadcasters, and reporters switch from one language to another or from formal to colloquial speech when speaking to different audiences. Which language standard in (6) is most concerned with developing this language ability? a.

S1 in (6a)

b.

S3 in (6b)

c.

S5 in (6c)

d. None of them

(3) LA1 and LA2 are concerned with colloquial speech and expressions of human actions, respectively. According to this chapter, why do these LAs select them as the targets of language instruction? a. b.

They are likely to be difficult and hinder students’ understanding of the novel. They are frequent features of the novel, providing many examples for language instruction. c. They are characteristics of this type of writing, something students are unlikely to see in other type of texts. d. All of the above (4) Which LA most directly addresses S9 in (4b), a writing standard? a.

LA1

b.

LA2

c.

LA3

d. LA6

(5) Four ELA reading standards are presented in (2). Which reading standard is LA4 most relevant to? a.

S1 in (2a)

b.

S3 in (2b)

c.

S4 in (2c)

d. S6 in (2d)

(6) According to this chapter, LA4 can be implemented in four steps. How would you characterize the four steps? In what order are they implemented? a. b. c. d.

Direct Instruction → Group Practice → Guided Practice → Individual Practice Preview → Group Practice → Guided Practice → Summary Review → Direct Instruction → Guided Practice → Group Practice Teacher questioning → Guided Practice → Group Practice → Individual Practice

(7) Different expressions or structures serve different functions. In LA5, we present a range of examples illustrating the use of present participles from Of Mice and Men. What language function does the present participle construction serve primarily according to these examples? a.

explain

b.

describe

c.

compare

d. define

(8) LA5 and LA6 teach present participles and dialog tags. What competence do these two LAs develop primarily? a. b.

Grammatical (vocabulary & sentence c. Pragmatic (language use) structures) Discourse (units of language larger d. Metalinguistic (language learning than sentences) strategies)

(9) The two pre-​reading activities –​LA1 and LA2 –​and the two post-​reading activities –​ LA5 and LA6 –​all target aspects of the English language for instruction. But they differ in which aspect of language they focus on. What distinguishes LA1 and LA2 from LA5 and LA6 with respect to their ultimate aim? a. LA1 and LA2 target understanding the meanings of linguistic expressions or structures while LA5 and LA6 target understanding their connotations.

130

130  English Language Arts b. LA1 and LA2 target understanding the form and meaning of linguistic expressions or structures while LA5 and LA6 target use in addition to form and meaning. c. LA1 and LA2 develop students’ ability to use the targeted language expressions or structures to communicate (via speaking or writing), something LA5 and LA6 do not do. d. None of the above. (10) One recommendation for vocabulary instruction made in Section 6 concerns colloquial speech forms with dropped sounds. We have sketched out a learning activity targeting such forms below. Read it carefully, analyze the objectives of this LA, and determine what type of activity it should be classified as. 1. Ask the students to look at these sentences and pay close attention to highlighted words. a. I would of had to drowned most of ‘em anyways. b.  Jus’ tell Lennie what to do an’ he’ll do it if it don’t take no figuring. c.  He damn near killed his partner buckin’ barley. d.  It ain’t so funny, him an’ me goin’ aroun’ together. 2. Go over each example and ask the students to guess the complete word. 3. Ask the class what the highlighted words have in common. Build on students’ answers and explain: a. ‘ and ’ are used to indicate that there are some sounds that are not pronounced. b. Omitted sounds are marked by ‘ if omitted sounds appear at the beginning of a word or by ’ if omitted sounds appear at the end. c. It is a device used by writers to indicate how things are actually spoken. d. When you see forms such as these in the novel, you need to figure out the actual words that are spoken. 4. Project additional examples and ask students to figure out what the target words are. a. Why he’d do any damn thing I tol’ him. b.  I was feelin’ pretty smart. c. They get wantin’ to fight all the time. d. No, ‘course you wouldn’. Hint: It might be helpful to review the goals of these three types of activities according to Grabe and Stoller (2001: 191–​192) discussed in Chapter 1. a. b.

Pre-​reading During-​reading

c. Post-​reading d. None of the three choices

8.2  Discussion/​reading response questions (11) LA1 targets colloquial speech featured in the dialogs of this novel and asks students to compare it with standard English. Examine this activity and determine what its key learning objective is. That is, what is this activity designed to teach? What is it that students are supposed to learn? Standard or colloquial English? Regardless of your answer, explain why colloquial English or standard English is targeted. Explain whether and how this LA addresses one or more of the language anchor standards in (6).

 131

English Language Arts  131 (12) Content teaching can be harder to distinguish from language teaching in an ELA class than in a math, science or Social Studies class. For this reason, this chapter presents two activities –​LA3 and LA4 –​designed to teach content. Analyze the two activities and explain why we consider them as targeting content rather than the English language. In addition, can you come up with at least two additional ELA content topics using Of Mice and Men? Identify what they are and explain why you think they are content topics rather than language topics. (13) In the PowerPoint presentation on pages 184–188, we present a learning activity, LA1, developed on the basis of the “I have a dream” speech Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered on August 28, 1963. Examine this LA and discuss these questions. First, what is this LA concerned with? Is it ELA content or the English language? Second, what units of language does this LA target? Is it individual words, phrasal expressions, clause or sentence structures or discourse? Third, does this LA teach only meaning? Or does it teach form, meaning and use? Finally, three language anchor standards are listed in (6) of this chapter. What standard does this LA most directly address? Discuss and explain how this activity addresses this standard. 8.3  Problems of application (14) Problem 1: Many novels are turned into plays or films. Create a learning activity, the final step of which is for students to convert Chapter 3 of Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck into part of a play or film script. There are at least two benefits for an activity of this type. It pushes students to read this chapter closely and understand it well, as they have to decide how to adapt it to a script. This activity can thus build upon LA3 and LA4 in this chapter. In addition, this activity can teach students playwriting and develop their understanding of ELA content. Detailed instructions for this activity are as follows. a. Suppose that your students do not know how to write a script, meaning that you need to teach what a film/​play script is and how it is related to the original novel. Thus, part of this activity is to articulate what you need to teach about playwriting and how. b. Besides direct instruction, incorporate a step in which you, as a teacher, guide students to create part of a script on the basis of Chapter 3. In other words, scaffold the script writing task as this is not an easy task. c. Include a final step in which students, either individually or in groups, construct a script based on Chapter 3. Spell out the directions for this writing activity.Thus, this activity should include at least three key steps: direct instruction, guided practice and independent practice (either individually or in groups). d. Try to identify some aspect of language as a learning target for this activity. In other words, though this activity is mostly about content, can you link it with language teaching as well? (15) Problem 2:The six learning activities in this chapter are based on Chapter 3 of Of Mice and Men. Select any other chapter of this novel and design a language-​focused activity. Present this activity in the form of a PowerPoint. a. Focus the instruction on units of language larger than individual words or phrasal expressions. In other word, target clause or sentence structures or discourse features. b. Identify the ELA standard(s) that guide the design of this activity at the start of the PowerPoint.

132

132  English Language Arts c. Spell out explicitly what it is that you intend to say with regard to the targeted aspect of language (that is, direct instruction). d. Create opportunities for students to practice using what you have taught in the form of guided practice or modelling, group and individual practice. In other words, this LA needs to include direct instruction, modelling, group practice and individual practice (which can be an individual assessment) (16) Problem 3: The speech “I have a dream” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered on August 28, 1963 is frequently included as part of the ELA curriculum for high school students. Read this speech and develop an activity designed to teach the English language. Follow these guidelines in constructing this learning activity. a. Target, preferably, units of language larger than individual words, and develop a primarily language-​focused activity. However, b. Try to relate language learning with content learning in this activity. This speech talks about racial relations in the 1960s US and provides a glimpse into the history of that period. As a result, language instruction based on this text can be related to Social Studies as well as ELA. c. Design an activity that targets language use, not just meaning. In other words, your activity should build in steps that involve students in using the targeted aspect of language in communication. d. Include explicit teaching of language, guided and independent practice as part of the steps in this activity. Note that this activity asks you to move beyond Of Mice and Men and develop language-​focused instruction on the basis of other literature genres. For an example of a LA based on the speech, consider reviewing the PowerPoint in conjunction with the third discussion/​reading response question in (13).

References Asher, J. (1996). Learning another language through actions:The complete teacher’s guidebook (5th ed.). Sky Oak Productions. Cowan, R. (2008). The teacher’s grammar of English. Cambridge University Press. Frodesen, J. (2014). Grammar in second language writing. In M. Celce-​Murcia, D. M. Brinton, & M. A. Snow (Eds.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (4th ed., pp. 238–​253). Heinle Cengage Learning. Grabe, W., & Stoller, F. L. (2001). Reading for academic purposes: Guidelines for the ESL/​EFL teacher. In M. Celce-​Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (3rd ed., pp. 187–​204). Heinle & Heinle. Holten, C. (1997). Literature: A quintessential content. In M. A. Snow & D. M. Brinton (Eds.), The content-​based classroom: Perspectives on integrating language and content (pp. 377–​387). Longman. King Jr., M. L. (1963). I have a dream. A speech delivered at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963. www.americanrhetoric.com/​speeches/​mlkihaveadream.htm. Larsen-​Freeman, D. (2014). Teaching grammar. In M. Celce-​Murcia, D. M. Brinton, & M. A. Snow (Eds.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (4th ed., pp. 256–​270). Heinle Cengage Learning. McKay, S. L. (2014). Literature as content for language teaching. In M. Celce-​Murcia, D. M. Brinton, & M. A. Snow (Eds.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (4th ed., pp. 488–​500). Heinle Cengage Learning. Steinbeck, J. (1937). Of mice and men. Covici Friede. University of the State of New York and the State Education Department. (2011). New York State P-​12 Common Core Learning Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. www.p12.nysed.gov/​ciai/​ common_​core_​standards/​pdfdocs/​p12_​common_​core_​learning_​stadards_​ela.pdf.

 133

5  Teaching English through Mathematics

1  Introduction This chapter is concerned with teaching language through mathematics. It is based on Chapter 3 (Pages 15–​21) of a book entitled The Joy of X: A Guided Tour of Math, from One to Infinity by Professor of Applied Mathematics Steven Strogatz at Cornell University (Strogatz, 2012), a world-​class mathematician, a frequent guest on National Public Radio’s Radiolab, and a contributor to a popular New York Times online column. This chapter entitled The Enemy of My Enemy discusses subtraction, negative numbers, and why a negative times a negative equals a positive. It does an excellent job in elucidating relations between mathematics and real-​life phenomena. We select this excerpt from a popular science book, rather than textbooks written for K-​12 students, for three reasons. First, more and more popular science books have been published which attempt to explain to the lay audience the insights, concepts and discoveries of different disciplines from anthropology, linguistics, and history to mathematics, physics and neuroscience. These works, authored frequently by experts in their fields, provide some of the best writings on content subjects K-​12 students are expected to learn. The Joy of X is one such book. Mathematics teachers and those playing a supporting role including ESL teachers should be aware of such resources and should read them to further their own professional development. Apart from the high quality of writing, these works, because they target the general public, are interesting and accessible to K-​12 students including ELs.They can serve as a bridge to more technical writings. For example, The Joy of X, consisting of 30 chapters and averaging 5 to 10 pages per chapter, addresses a range of mathematical topics, from concepts introduced in elementary schools to those in high schools. It does an outstanding job in discussing real-​world applications of mathematics and making it accessible. As these books are written by experts with a deep understanding of their disciplines, they can generate student interest and strengthen mathematics learning in a way not always accomplished by standard K-​12 textbooks. By building learning activities (LAs) intentionally on a chapter from The Joy of X, we highlight books like this as potential resources for K-​12 students. Finally, this popular math book, including this chapter, exhibits many features of the English language worth teaching, as we show in this chapter. What features of mathematic language are worth targeting? In a synthesis of research on the linguistic challenges posed by teaching and learning mathematics, Schleppegrell (2007: 139) identifies three areas: the multi-​semiotic formations of mathematics, the use of dense noun phrases, and conjunctions. By “multi-​semiotic formations of mathematics”, Schleppegrell refers to the use of written and oral language, mathematic symbols and expressions, and visual representations (i.e. graphs, diagrams) together to construct and present mathematic knowledge and information. Mathematic texts also feature long, densely packed noun phrases which often present processes (addition, multiplication, division, etc.) as things –​something that The DOI: 10.4324/9781003081005-5

134

134  Teaching English through Mathematics Enemy of My Enemy manages to avoid mostly and thus makes it more accessible. For example, a2 +​(a +​2)2 is expressed as the sum of the squares of two consecutive positive even integers. In addition, conjunctions such as if, when, and therefore are used much more precisely in mathematic texts than in ordinary language, thus posing a challenge for learning. As a text about math, The Enemy of My Enemy has a number of linguistic features worth teaching. It features terminology such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, times (as in a negative times a negative), arithmetic, etc. In addition, as this article addresses real-​world applications of math, it includes terms from other fields like debt, overdraft, mutual fund, nerve cell, firing (of cells), molecule, excitation, gene regulation, etc. These terms, though they may not be new to middle and high school students, are worth reviewing. Besides terms, that is, mostly nouns, there are a variety of verbs, adjectives and phrasal expressions worth focusing on: e.g. concoct, sidestep, inhibit, subterranean, conventional, geopolitical, make peace with, in the hole, is tantamount to, etc. These are just some of the potential targets for vocabulary instruction. With respect to clause-​ level structures, this chapter is characterized by the repeated use of relative clauses, if conditional clauses, and parenthetical expressions, expressions that are set off from the rest of the sentences by parentheses, dashes, and sometimes commas. There are discourse features worth targeting as well.This chapter was originally published as a New York Times column. It possesses features typical of news articles such as short paragraphs, lack of overt section marking (unlike textbooks and other technical writings), use of conjunctions to signal section boundaries, etc. All these can be targets of language instruction, as we demonstrate here. Like Chapters 2, 3 and 4, this chapter has two related goals. One is to show how such materials can be used to further content learning. The second, more important goal, given our focus on language, is to illustrate how such materials can be used to advance language proficiency. This chapter considers six learning activities: two each for the three phases of reading. The during-​reading activities focus more on mathematics. But all six LAs target language to varying degrees, with the pre-​reading and post-​reading activities centered on language. Of the six, three LAs are concerned with discourse, two target vocabulary and phrasal expressions, and one teaches a clause-​level structure. The emphasis on teaching discourse in this chapter reflects our belief that language instruction needs to shift to larger and more complex features of language such as discourse as students progress from elementary to middle school and from middle to high school. This does not mean that the focus on discourse is exclusive, but the development of discourse competence should be more of a target in upper grades.

2  Getting ready Before you proceed further, we recommend getting hold of The Joy of X and reading Chapter 3, the chapter entitled The Enemy of My Enemy. Although the LAs presented in the PowerPoint and discussed here are self-​contained, you will find it useful to read the chapter and consider how it may be used to teach content and language yourself. As you read, keep an eye out for the math and the language you can teach. To determine what math or language is worth teaching, consider reading New York State P-​12 Common Core Learning Standards for Mathematics and English Language Arts & Literacy developed by University of the State of New York and the State Education Department (2011). In (1) we provide the questions for you to consider as you look at The Enemy of My Enemy and the Common Core (CC) standards. (1) Questions to consider as you read a. What are the relevant math standards, standards that can guide math instruction using this chapter?

 135

Teaching English through Mathematics  135 b. What are the relevant ELA standards, standards that can guide language instruction using this chapter? c. What math can we use this chapter to reinforce? d. What language can we use this chapter to teach? Of the four questions, two are concerned with the standards, asking you to consider what they say about what you should teach. Two focus on the article, The Enemy of My Enemy, and what we can use it to teach with respect to math and English. Note that we do not think that this chapter or this book should be used as a primary text for teaching mathematics. That is the role of math textbooks written for K-​12 students. In stating the question in (1c), we intentionally use the word reinforce to underscore the supplementary role of such materials with respect to students’ content learning. However, materials like The Enemy of My Enemy can play an important role in advancing math understanding and language development. Mentioned earlier, The Joy of X does an excellent job in explaining fundamental math concepts and applications of math, something emphasized by the CC math standards, as we show next. Its language, though authored by a specialist, is accessible to a lay audience including, we believe, upper middle school or high school students or ELs with at least high intermediate English proficiency, because it is written as a newspaper column. For these reasons, this and other chapters of this book can benefit middle or high school students including ELs.The six LAs, showcased in Section 4, are designed with these students in mind.

3  Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and ELA We examine the standards here, starting with NY State P-​12 Common Core Learning Standards for Mathematics. This document spells out the standards and expectations grade by grade from pre-​kindergarten to the 12th grade. The introduction of what is called the Number System starts from whole numbers in pre-​kindergarten to fractions in Grade 3 and then negative numbers in Grade 6. Mathematical operations are introduced gradually from addition and subtraction in pre-​kindergarten to multiplication and division in Grade 3. Students’ understanding of numbers and mathematical operations is developed and reinforced from pre-​kindergarten to at least Grade 7. For instance, knowledge of addition and subtraction is developed slowly, starting from numbers 1–​10, 1–​20, 1–​100 and then to fractional numbers. For this reason, a number of standards from pre-​kindergarten to Grade 5 are relevant. But the two that this reading addresses most directly come from The Number System: Standard 5 (S5) for Grade 6 on Page 37 and S2 for Grade 7 on Page 42. Both are shown in (2). (2) Two relevant mathematics standards a. S5. Understand that positive and negative numbers are used together to describe quantities having opposite directions or values (e.g., temperature above/​below zero, elevation above/​below sea level, credits/​debits, positive/​negative electric charge); use positive and negative numbers to represent quantities in real-​world contexts, explaining the meaning of 0 in each situation. (The Number System) b. S2. Apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication and division and of fractions to multiply and divide rational numbers. (The Number System) i. Understand that multiplication is extended from fractions to rational numbers by requiring that operations continue to satisfy the properties of operations, particularly the distributive property, leading to products such as (–​1)(–​1) =​1 and the rules for multiplying signed numbers. Interpret products of rational numbers by describing real-​world contexts.

136

136  Teaching English through Mathematics These standards each set two learning goals for students. They must understand the math concepts and their real-​world applications. For example, S5 in (2a) introduces positive and negative numbers together for the first time. According to S5, students need to grasp the use of positive and negative numbers to represent quantities with opposite directions or values. Moreover, Grade 6 students must be able to apply positive and negative numbers to express real-​world phenomena such as temperatures above or below zero. According to S2 in (2b), Grade 7 students must understand multiplication, division, and fractions, and extend this understanding to multiply and divide rational numbers. S2 has four components, of which (2bi) is the most relevant. According to (2bi), students need to understand that operations such as multiplication, when applied to rational numbers, continue to obey the distributive and other properties of operations. In other words, they remain consistent; equations such as (–​1)(–​1) =​1 (that is, a negative times a negative equals a positive) follow the same rule as multiplying positive numbers. In addition, it is important that students develop the ability to “interpret products of rational numbers by describing real-​world contexts”. Put simply, they must learn how these abstract mathematical operations relate to real life. As a reading, The Enemy of My Enemy is particularly good in clarifying basic math concepts and their real-​world implications, which is the key reason for its selection. Let’s turn now to ELA standards, that is, NewYork State P-​12 Common Core Learning Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. This document distinguishes standards for literature from those for informational texts. We focus on 6–​12 standards for informational texts as they are most relevant here.This document also includes more specific standards for literacy in history/​ social studies, science, and technical subjects. As math is the focus here, literacy standards in science and technical subjects are also pertinent. In (3a) through (3d), we present the relevant ELA reading standards for informational texts.These standards are spelt out for each grade.The standards in (3) are for Grade 6. There are similar standards for higher grades such as Grade 7 or 8, which do not differ significantly except that they place increasingly higher expectations. Grade 6 standards are selected, partially because the math concepts emphasized in the reading are addressed by Grade 6 and 7 math standards. The reading standards for literacy in science and technical subjects are presented in (4). These standards are written for a cluster of grades as follows: Grades 6–​8, 9–​10 and 11–​12. Those in (4) come from 6–​8. In addition to standards for informational text, we include in (3e) the anchor standard for reading, S11, on Page 45. S11, though addressing what students should be able to do only with literature, is relevant to informational text. After all, students respond to informational texts as well as literature. (3) Relevant Reading Standards for Informational Text 6–​12 (Page 50) a. S2. Determine a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments. (Key Ideas and Details) b. S5. Analyze how a particular sentence, paragraph, chapter, or section fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the ideas. (Craft and Structure) c. S6. Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed in the text. (Craft and Structure) d. S7. Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue. (Integration of Knowledge and Ideas) e. S11. Respond to literature by employing knowledge of literary language, textual features, and forms to read and comprehend, reflect upon, and interpret literary texts from a variety of genres and a wide spectrum of American and world cultures. (Responding to Literature)

 137

Teaching English through Mathematics  137 (4) Relevant Reading Standards for Literacy in Science and Technical Subjects 6–​ 12 (Page 75) a. S2. Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; provide an accurate summary of the text distinct from prior knowledge or opinions. (Key Ideas and Details) b. S5. Analyze the structure an author uses to organize a text, including how the major sections contribute to the whole and to an understanding of the topic. (Craft and Structure) c. S6. Analyze the author’s purpose in providing an explanation, describing a procedure, or discussing an experiment in a text. (Craft and Structure) d. S7. Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that information expressed visually (e.g., in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table). (Integration of Knowledge and Ideas) As you can see, literacy standards for science and technical subjects in (4) are similar to the reading standards for informational texts in (3). For instance, if you compare (3a) with (4a), they are quite alike except that reading standards for informational texts are stated more broadly while those for science and technical subjects are more specific, and geared more directly to science and technical texts. As the standards in (3) and (4) are comparable, we discuss them together, starting with S2 in (3a) and (4a). These standards fall under the domain of Key Ideas and Details. According to them, students must be able to identify the central ideas or conclusions of a text they read. As a summary highlights the main ideas of a text, S2 states that students must be able to summarize. One key attribute of a good summary is that it accurately and succinctly reports what the text says, not what readers know or think of the text and its subject matter. Hence this standard emphasizes separating personal opinions, judgments or prior knowledge from what a text says. S5’s in (3b) and (4b), under Craft and Structure, are concerned with knowing how information is structured. They specify that students are expected to analyze the organization of a text as they read. Text structure involves how sentences are combined to form a paragraph, how paragraphs are combined to form a section and how different sections are combined to form an article or essay. Larger texts such as a book comprise chapters. Analyzing a larger text thus involves determining its chapter structures and how they combine to convey the central messages of a book. One key reason for selecting writings like The Enemy of My Enemy is that unlike textbooks and other technical writings, they do not overtly indicate sections with section headings, providing an opportunity for students to analyze discourse structure and understand the clues to text organization. The target of S6 in (3c) and (4c) is different; it stresses identifying the author’s point of view or purpose and explaining how this view or purpose is achieved through the writing, which includes how information is packaged. S7’s in (3d) and (4d) fall under Integration of Knowledge and Ideas. According to these standards, students must have the ability to make sense of texts that use a variety of tools including visual and quantitative tools such as pictures, flowcharts, graphs, and tables. They need to understand the information communicated via visual or quantitative means and learn how it is integrated with written texts to convey a message, what Schleppegrell (2007: 139) means by the multi-​semiotic formations of mathematics.We base the learning activities on The Enemy of My Enemy, because this article uses math equations and visuals as well as the written word to communicate, allowing students to see how they are integrated with written text. S11 in (3e) is a Grade 6–​12 anchor standard for reading, though it is written narrowly to refer to only non-​informational text, that is, literature. The reason for limiting this standard to literature is unknown and incomprehensible to us, because students should be able to respond to informational texts as well as literature. According to S11, students need to be given opportunities to respond to literature. Responding to literature entails reading and comprehending

138

138  Teaching English through Mathematics it, reflecting on it, and interpreting it. To respond effectively, a reader needs to use knowledge of language, discourse features, and forms. Section 4.1 presents a pre-​reading activity that does just that, that is, develop knowledge of textual features and use it to deepen reading comprehension. We mentioned earlier that all six LAs address students’ language development to some degree. Thus, language standards are relevant here. Of the six language standards for Grade 6, three apply, which we list in (5). As the standards are broad statements of what students need to learn, we also include under each standard a specific learning objective listed in the standards document. (5) Relevant Language Standards 6–​12 (Pages 66–​67) a. S2. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. (Conventions of Standard English) i. Use punctuation (commas, parentheses, dashes) to set off nonrestrictive/​parenthetical elements. b. S3. Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening. (Knowledge of Language) i. Vary sentence patterns for meaning, reader/​listener interest, and style. c. S5. Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings. (Vocabulary Acquisition and Use) i. Interpret figures of speech (e.g., personification) in context. S2 in (5a), which comes under Conventions of Standard English, is concerned with writing conventions, specifically, mechanics of writings including capitalization, punctuation and spelling. According to (5ai), one aspect of writing mechanics students must grasp is the use of commas, parentheses and dashes to separate nonrestrictive or parenthetical elements such as nonrestrictive relative clauses or parenthetical expressions –​those enclosed in parentheses (). As we show in Section 4.3, LA5 addresses this standard, developing students’ ability to use parenthetical expressions and related punctuations such as commas, dashes or parentheses. LA5 also touches on S3 in (5b) under Knowledge of Language. One requirement of S3 is for students to develop the capacity to “vary sentence patterns for meaning, reader/​listener interest, and style”. In other words, students need to command and use a variety of sentence patterns to convey the same idea and to vary sentence patterns for different communicative purposes, whether the goals are to convey a particular meaning, to generate listener or reader interest, and/​or to follow a particular style of writing. S5 in (5c), which is related to Vocabulary Acquisition and Use, calls on teachers to develop students’ understanding of figurative or non-​ literal meanings of words and expressions. Chapter 3’s title The Enemy of My Enemy is one such expression, targeted by our LA1, which develops students’ understanding of this expression and its relation to (-​1 ×-​1 =​+​1). To summarize, we have just identified and discussed the most relevant Grade 6–​7 mathematics standards, ELA reading standards for informational texts, literacy standards for science and technical subjects, and language standards. We have not discussed standards for listening, speaking and writing, because the LAs to be discussed in Section 4 do not target these skills as directly, although we will discuss how some of the activities can be expanded to target listening, speaking and writing as well.

4  Learning activities This section examines the implementation of six learning activities constructed on The Enemy of My Enemy. As our objective is teaching language through content, all six LAs are

 139

Teaching English through Mathematics  139 designed to teach English to varying degrees. In addition, four of the LAs embed content –​ math –​as well. Now that you are familiar with the article and the relevant math and ELA standards, it might be appropriate to pause a moment and consider how you might use The Enemy of My Enemy to cultivate math understanding and language development. Questions worth pondering are: a) which aspects of math and English should instruction target; b) how might it be used to teach the targeted aspects of math and English; c) what does instruction look like, and d) how might student learning be assessed. This need not take long, but it may be useful for you to start imagining learning activities like what you see in previous chapters. After you have a chance to consider these questions, we suggest first reading the PowerPoint presentation of the LAs on pages 239–251. As in previous chapters, our discussion here will make reference to the PowerPoint, so familiarity with it is helpful. The goal here is not to repeat the slides. Our goals are to explain what these LAs are designed to teach and why, to describe how they might be enacted, and to consider variations to the implementation laid out in the presentation. 4.1  Pre-​reading activities There are two pre-​reading activities considered here. One targets the article title The Enemy of My Enemy and helps students understand what it means. In addition, this LA uses this title as a hook or reason to motivate students to read.The second LA focuses on conjunctions, which Professor Strogatz uses to signal the organization of this article. Pre-​teaching clues to discourse organization can sensitize students to the transition of ideas and the article structure. It has the potential to unlock how a writer packages information and deepen understanding. As most people know, The Enemy of My Enemy is part of a larger sentence, The enemy of my enemy is my friend.This saying, familiar to adult native English speakers, may be new to ELs and to some middle or high school students. They may not know the complete saying, and why people say it. As this article is centered around this sentence, it is important to make sure that students understand it. This is why our LA1, presented in Slides 2 and 3, starts with a series of teacher-​directed questions, designed to develop students’ understanding of the title. Apart from making sure that students know the whole saying, the core questions to ask are those in (6). (6) Step 1 of LA1: Teacher-​led questions a. What does the sentence The enemy of my enemy is my friend mean? b. Why do people think that the enemy of my enemy is my friend? Through student responses to these questions and building on them, the teacher can ensure that students know the saying (as part of it is omitted and not fully stated as a complete sentence in the article), understand what it means and why people assert that the enemy of someone’s enemy can be a friend, and not, say, a worse enemy. This step can be implemented in a number of ways. For example, rather than completing the saying yourself, you can start by asking if anyone can complete it, especially if you have a sense that some student might know. Moreover, if time permits, teachers can give students a couple of minutes to discuss with a partner the questions in (6) before asking the whole class, thus encouraging listening and speaking. The second, more important step of this LA is to make the link between the language expression and the math equation (-​1 ×-​1 =​+​1) and use it to provide a hook, that is, create a reason for students to read.The teacher can inform students that Professor Strogatz asserts that The enemy of my enemy is my friend is related to the math equation (-​1 ×-​1 =​+​1). Ask students to consider why by using the question in (7).

140

140  Teaching English through Mathematics (7) Step 2 of LA1: Providing a hook Why does Mr. Strogatz think (-​1 ×-​1 =​+​1) is similar to the sentence The enemy of my enemy is my friend? This question is intended to stimulate interest in reading The Enemy of My Enemy. It is important to not get sucked into a discussion of the connection right away. Students tend to shout out answers without thinking or reading. This should be avoided. Urge students to read the article first. Assign the article and the question as homework. Doing so provides students with an opportunity to read the chapter, consider the question and determine the connection on the basis of the article. The question asks why Mr. Strogatz thinks that there is a relation, not what students think. The answer, therefore, should be based on the reading. This activity should not take too long to implement, perhaps 10 to 15 minutes, because the reading and discussion of the question are to be done at home, not in class. At the start of next class, pose the question in (7) again. It is at this point that students are given a chance to respond. One strategy that is particularly effective in encouraging ELs to participate is to ask everyone to write the answer to the question first, then share it with a group before presenting it to the class. That is, conduct a think-​pair-​share activity. Writing it down gives ELs a chance to compose. Saying it to a small group gives them practice and the courage to present it to a larger audience. After students share their answers with the class, the teacher can explain why Mr. Strogatz thinks there is a connection. As Grabe and Stoller (2001: 191–​192) indicate, two of the functions of pre-​reading activities are to pre-​teach difficult language and to get students interested in reading.The two steps of this LA are designed to do just that. Step 1 pre-​teaches the saying, ensuring that they understand it. Step 2, that is, the question in (7), is designed to motivate students to read. For these reasons, we classify this LA as a pre-​reading activity. We turn now to LA2, an activity that highlights conjunctions such as however and still. The Enemy of My Enemy was written as a newspaper column. This news article, like many others, is not divided into sections and subsections with section headings. They differ from K-​12 textbooks students are used to. In this article, Professor Strogatz tends to rely on conjunctions to signal transition and the start of a new section. This LA directs students’ attention to these discourse markers and highlights their role in marking section boundaries. Learning the clues to discourse organization can unpack for the students how information is organized and enhance understanding. It is an important reading strategy for students to acquire. For this reason, we treat this LA as a pre-​reading activity. LA2, presented in Slide 4 through Slide 6, comprises three steps. We start Step 1 by projecting sentence pairs such as the following from The Enemy of My Enemy. These sentence pairs consist of the ending sentence of a paragraph and the first sentence of the immediately following paragraph. Crucially, the beginning sentence of the immediately following paragraph includes a conjunction such as however, as (8) shows. (8) Step 1 of LA2: Projecting these sentences for students to read and analyze. … If you can cope with calculating 23 +​9, you’ll be ready for 23–​9 soon enough. At a deeper level, however, subtraction raises a much more disturbing issue, one that never arises with addition… To guide the reading and check to what extent students understand the sentences like (8), ask them to determine how the two sentences are related in meaning. Is the relation cause and effect, contrast, comparison, or concession, etc.? This would require students to read the sentences closely and understand what they mean and how the two are connected. To draw attention to conjunctions, ask which word expresses the meaning relation between the two

 141

Teaching English through Mathematics  141 sentences. Reading and questioning by the teacher, together with student responses, make up Step 1. In Step 2, the teacher builds on student responses and shares with them the key points in (4) of Slides 5 and 6. Tell them that the sentences in (8), for example, express two contrasting ideas and the contrasting relation is signaled by however. More importantly, make it clear to students that conjunctions like however are not just used to express meaning relations between sentences (which have led some to call them sentence connectors (Frodesen, 2014: 246–​247)). Professor Strogatz sometimes uses them to connect larger discourse and signal the start of a new section. These conjunctions or discourse markers tend to appear at the start or close to the start of a new paragraph. The goal of this step is to highlight discourse clues like the conjunctions and deepen students’ appreciation of their significance in signaling discourse structure. We believe that without activities like this, students are unlikely to notice them when they read and understand their importance. LA2 has a third, final step, which is to have students skim through the article, identify other discourse markers (there are more, and they are often used to signal a new section), and start to develop a sense of the structure of the article before they engage in close reading. Once students finish skimming and identifying discourse markers, check what they come up with. This LA, we estimate, will take 20 to 25 minutes. Three standards inform the focus and design of these two pre-​reading LAs. Step 1 of LA1 develops students’ understanding of the sentence The enemy of my enemy is my friend, a saying that may be not familiar to ELs. Steps 1 & 2 of LA2 targets the understanding of sentence meanings and relations. They draw attention to conjunctions like however and still and their discourse function. Both activities are informed by S5 in (5), a language standard that emphasizes advancing students’ “understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings”. Step 2 of LA1 goes further and asks students to consider how The enemy of my enemy is my friend, a language expression, is related to the mathematical equation (-​1 ×-​1 =​+​1). As this LA pushes students to ponder the relation between math and real-​ world phenomena, it addresses, to a limited extent, S2, the math standard in (2b), which is concerned, among other things, with the multiplication of negative numbers and its relevance to real-​world contexts. LA2 is also guided by S11, a reading standard that states that students must have opportunities to respond to literature by using, among other things, textual features. A key textual feature of The Enemy of My Enemy is its use of conjunctions like however and still to signal the transition of ideas and a new section. LA2 focuses students’ attention on these discourse clues. 4.2  During-​reading activities This section considers two learning activities. Both highlight selected parts of The Enemy of My Enemy and provide students with opportunities to read or re-​read them in class and analyze the text. One chief objective of the activities is to strengthen students’ comprehension of the chapter, a chapter they may not fully understand on their own. Thus class time should be devoted to ensuring that students grasp what they read. A key goal of during-​reading activities, according to Grabe and Stoller (2001: 191–​192), is to deepen and extend student understanding.The instruction discussed here serves this purpose.The passages targeted by the LAs are carefully selected for their content and language. One passage is an explanation of why a negative times a negative results in a positive, that is, (-​1 ×-​1 =​+​1), a key content objective according to the math standard in (2bi). The other discusses where positive and negative numbers are used and how they relate to real life, a content goal according to S5 in (2a). Thus both LAs have a content focus. They have a language focus as well. One LA shows what it means to “explain” in the field of mathematics; the other teaches the paragraph structure.

142

142  Teaching English through Mathematics LA3, presented in Slides 7–​9, is centered around a section of The Enemy of My Enemy with an explanation of (-​1 ×-​1 =​+​1) in (9). This passage is chosen for three key reasons. First, it is directly concerned with a core goal of mathematics as specified in S2 in (2b). Second, both the written language and the “mathematics symbolic language” (Fang & Schleppegrell, 2010), referring to the mathematical equations in the 3rd paragraph, are used to explain (-​1 ×-​1 =​+​1) in this passage. They illustrate what Schleppegrell (2007: 141–​142) calls “multi-​semiotic formations of mathematics”, that is, the use of the written language, the symbolic language of mathematics, and visual representations to construct and present mathematic knowledge. Third, this passage provides an excellent illustration of what it means to explain “why” in mathematics, something that K-​12 students are expected to do. This LA consists of four steps: a) read or re-​read; b) group discussion by students; c) explanation by the teacher; and d) teacher-​directed discussion of what it means to explain in math. It opens with the teacher asking students to read the section below. (9) Step 1 of LA3: Read or re-​read the following passage from Pages 16–​17 Perhaps the most unsettling thing is that a negative times a negative is a positive. So let me try to explain the thinking behind that. How should we define the value of an expression like -​1 ×3, where we are multiplying a negative number by a positive number? Well, just as 1 ×3 means 1 +​1 +​1, the natural definition for -​1 ×3 is (-​1) +​(-​1) +​(-​1), which equals -​3.This should be obvious in terms of money: if you owe me $1 a week, after three weeks you’re $3 in the hole. From there, it’s a short hop to see why a negative times a negative should be a positive. Take a look at the following string of equations: -​1 × 3 =​-​3 -​1 × 2 =​-​2 -​1 × 1 =​-​1 -​1 × 0 =​0 -​1 × -​1 =​? Now look at the numbers on the far right and notice their orderly progression: -​3, -​2, -​1, 0, …At each step, we’re adding 1 to the number before it. So wouldn’t you agree the next number should logically be 1? That’s one argument for why (-​1) ×(-​1) =​1. The appeal of this definition is that it preserves the rules of ordinary arithmetic; what works for positive numbers also works for negative numbers. Students should be given an opportunity to read this passage in class, either by looking at Slides 7 and 8 or a copy of the article. This step is crucial for several reasons. First, the teacher should not assume that all students have read the chapter, just because they are asked to do so. Reading this section in class ensures that students actually read it. Second, by taking a small section for re-​reading, the teacher can engage students in close reading. Most importantly, this step encourages students to come up, through reading, with the answer to why (-​1 ×-​1) is equal to (+​1). Let’s be clear: we do not mean “reading aloud” by reading. We mean silent reading, something people normally do when they read. Too often, we see that reading is equated with reading aloud, with individual students picked out by the teacher to do the read-​aloud. While there is nothing wrong with a read-​aloud if your intention is to have students practice speaking or pronouncing a text, it is not appropriate if the goal is to comprehend the text. For students chosen to read a passage aloud, most attention is concentrated on pronouncing, not understanding the text. This is particularly true of ELs. For other students, a read-​ aloud by classmates is often not clear or easy to understand, making comprehension difficult

 143

Teaching English through Mathematics  143 and triggering sometimes disruptive behaviors. For this reason, silent reading is crucial if understanding is the goal. Once students read the passage, the second step should be to engage them in a discussion of the key points of this section. The teacher can focus the discussion by posing the questions in (10) (10) Step 2 of LA3: Focus the discussion on the following questions a. What is this section about? What is Professor Strogatz trying to explain? b. How does he explain? The questions in (10a) focus on the main idea, asking students to determine what this passage is about. (10b) is concerned with the substance and purpose of this section. To answer this question, students need to understand what the string of equations communicates in the third paragraph in (9) and what the text before and after the equations says about the equations. For example, the text before the equations establishes why (-​1 ×3) is equal to (-​3) by relating it to (1 ×3). The text after the equations explains what the first four equations show together and, by deduction, what number (-​1 ×-​1) should correspond to. None of this information is expressed by the equations. Both the equations and the text are needed to explain why (-​1 ×-​1) yields (+​1). Schleppegrell (2007: 141–​142) refers to this as the “multi-​semiotic formations of mathematics,” a feature characteristic of math texts and challenging to K-​12 students. This step can take place in a couple of ways. If class time is limited, the teacher can pose the questions directly to the class, give students a couple of minutes to consider their responses and then ask for volunteers to share their answers with the entire class. If time permits, the teacher can do a think-​pair-​share activity in which students are first asked to write down their answers individually, discuss their answers with another student or a couple of students in a group setting, and then share their answers with the class by providing a group response to the questions in (10). A think-​pair-​share activity encourages broader participation as everyone has to construct an answer and share it with someone. The think-​pair-​share activity also provides time for ELs to compose their answers in writing and encourages them to write and talk. Once students have a chance to discuss the questions in (10), it is important for the teacher to move on to Step 3 and explain how Professor Strogatz explains why a negative times a negative equals a positive. The key points of this explanation are summarized in (6) on Slide 9, which are not repeated here. This explanation by you, the teacher, is crucial. After all, this is what the math standard requires. Student responses, even when they show an understanding, tend to be sketchy, incomplete or explained in a way that is not always fully understood by everyone in class. Clear explanations by teachers offer students yet another opportunity to process this math concept, ensuring that most, if not all, students understand Professor Strogatz’s explanation. This can also be the time for the teacher to return to the question in LA1: why Professor Strogatz thinks that The enemy of my enemy is my friend is the language equivalent of (-​1 ×-​1 =​+​1). You can say to students that a friend can be expressed as a positive number such as +​1 and an enemy can be expressed as a negative number such as -​1, to capture the oppositional relation between a friend and an enemy.The expression –​the enemy of my enemy –​ can be thought of as the enemy times my enemy or (-​1 ×-​1). Interpreted this way, The enemy of my enemy is my friend is similar to (-​1 ×-​1 =​+​1) because this sentence essentially states that multiplying two negative numbers (the enemy of my enemy) yields a positive outcome (a friend). The first three steps of this LA focus mainly on math. Step 4 returns the focus to language. This passage illustrates what it means to explain in mathematics: to provide a proof, in this case, a string of equations. In articulating what it means to explain in math, the teacher

144

144  Teaching English through Mathematics should highlight the equations and the text before and after them. Another feature of language worth highlighting for your students concerns the use of a specific example to make a general point. We refer here to (-​1 ×-​1 =​+​1) –​a specific ­example –​to make the broad point, that is, why any negative number multiplied by any negative number equals a positive number. This strategy is often used by good writers to make something broad and abstract more specific and concrete, hence, easier to understand. Inexperienced writers including native and non-​native English-​speaking students tend to rely on broad and vague statements. Drawing attention to “explaining” via proof in mathematics and using specific examples to illustrate a general point can enhance students’ ability to write, as they are often asked to explain and justify their answers in math. This step also develops their ability to understand terms such as “explain”, “describe”, “analyze”, which can mean different things in different disciplines and which are frequently used in assessments that K-​12 students take. Students need to know what they mean when called upon to explain, describe or analyze in math or other disciplines. We estimate that this activity can be done in 30 to 45 minutes, with 5 to 10 minutes devoted to reading, 10 to 15 minutes to student discussion, and 15 to 20 minutes to the last two steps of this activity. LA4 in Slides 10–​13 includes two steps. It focuses on this paragraph from The Enemy of My Enemy in (11). (11) Step 1 of LA4: Read this paragraph Still, many of us haven’t quite made peace with negative numbers. As my colleague Andy Ruina has pointed out, people have concocted all sorts of funny little mental strategies to sidestep the dreaded negative sign. On mutual fund statements, losses (negative numbers) are printed in red or nestled in parentheses with nary a negative sign to be found. The history books tell us that Julius Caesar was born in 100 B. C ., not -​ 100. The subterranean levels in a parking garage often have designations like B1 and B2. Temperatures are one of the few exceptions: folks do say, especially here in Ithaca, New York, that it’s -​5 degrees outside, though even then, many prefer to say 5 below zero. There’s something about that negative sign that just looks so unpleasant, so…negative. This paragraph is chosen for re-​reading and analysis for two reasons. First, it describes the various ways in which negative numbers relate to real life and explains how abstract mathematical numbers are linked to real world phenomena, a goal emphasized by math standards. Second, this paragraph provides a good illustration of a self-​contained, well-​organized paragraph, with a topic sentence at the beginning, four supporting sentences in the middle, and a restatement of the topic sentence at the end.Thus, this LA can extend students’ awareness of the real-​world connections of math and strengthen their understanding of paragraph organization. Once students have a chance to read the paragraph, the teacher can engage students in an analysis of this paragraph by asking the questions in (12). (12) Step 1 of LA4: Guide students in an analysis of this paragraph via these key questions a. What is this paragraph about? In other words, what is the topic sentence? b. How does the writer develop this topic sentence? The questions in (12a) ask students to determine the main idea or topic sentence of the paragraph.The question in (12b) pushes them to identify supporting details or sentences. One way to help students answer (12b) is to have them re-​read the supporting sentences beginning with

 145

Teaching English through Mathematics  145 On mutual fund statement in (11). As each sentence is read, question what it means and how it relates to the topic sentence.Where necessary, explain words or expressions such as mutual fund statements that may be new to most students, but emphasize understanding what the sentence as a whole means, not what individual words or expressions mean. As you guide students through the four supporting sentences, reiterate these two key points. First, the four supporting sentences each offer an example of how people avoid using negative numbers. Second, Professor Strogatz demonstrates why people find negative numbers unpleasant by showing how they avoid them. Even though this step is ostensibly concerned with idea development, the tasks involved –​pondering what each supporting sentence means and how they support the topic sentence –​should strengthen students’ understanding of how abstract mathematic numbers are used to express real world phenomena, whether they are gains or losses on mutual fund statements, births before or after B. C ., floors above or below ground, and temperatures above or below zero. Step 2 of LA4 shifts the focus back to the organization of the paragraph from understanding it and advances students’ discourse competence. To guide students in analyzing the paragraph structure, the teacher can use the questions in (13). (13) Step 2 of LA4: Analyzing paragraph organization via these questions a. How is the 1st sentence related to the last sentence? b. What is the role of the 2nd sentence? c. How do the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th sentences relate to each other? d. How do they relate to the 1st and the last sentence? The goal of these questions is to render visible the role of each sentence in this paragraph by creating an outline such as the one presented in (7) on Slide 13. Included in the outline are labels such as topic sentence, transitional sentence (whose function is to explain how the topic sentence is developed or supported, avoidance in this case), supporting sentence, and a restatement of the topic sentence (included sometimes to reiterate the main idea).These labels highlight the role of each sentence and underscore the point that a well-​organized paragraph does not just contain a string of sentences that happen to land in the same paragraph. A well-​ written paragraph is carefully built around a main idea expressed via a topic sentence, followed by a transitional sentence that indicates how the topic sentence is to be defended, expanded by four supporting sentences that develop and defend the topic sentence, and ended by a final sentence that reiterates the topic sentence. To make the paragraph structure even clearer, consider creating on board a visual like the one below.

146

146  Teaching English through Mathematics (14) A graphic organizer illustrating the organization of the paragraph in (11) Topic S(entence) Still, many of us haven’t quite made peace with negative numbers.

Transitional S As my colleague Andy Ruina has pointed out, people have concocted all sorts of funny little mental strategies to sidestep the dreaded negative sign.

Supporting S 1

Supporting S 2

Supporting S 3

Supporting S 4

On mutual fund statements, losses (negative numbers) are printed in red or nestled in parentheses with nary a negative sign to be found.

The history books tell us that Julius Caesar was born in 100 B.C., not 100.

The subterranean levels in a parking garage often have designations like B1 and B2.

Temperatures are one of the few exceptions: folks do say, especially here in Ithaca, New York, that it’s -5 degrees outside, though even then, many prefer to say 5 below zero.

Restating the Topic S There’s something about that negative sign that just looks so unpleasant, so…negative

This visual depiction of paragraph organization highlights a number of important points. First, it shows through lines that all sentences are connected and anchored by the topic sentence (stated twice, at the beginning and at the end). Second, it makes explicit the function of each sentence via labels such as topic, supporting, and transitional sentences.Third, by arranging the four supporting sentences on the same row, it shows that there are four equal details in support of the topic sentence. These four supporting details provide four examples or reasons for why the writer claims that people are uncomfortable with negative numbers and they express this discomfort by sidestepping or avoiding them. Lastly, the transitional sentence provides a crucial link between the claim (expressed by the topic sentence) and four reasons for the claim (four supporting sentences). It supplies the author’s strategy for defending the claim, that is, how the author intends to defend the topic sentence. We anticipate that this LA will take 25 to 30 minutes to implement, with 10 to 15 minutes for each of the two steps. Obviously, not all paragraphs have this organization. Sometimes a writer uses a string of paragraphs –​rather than sentences –​to advance one central idea.A good example is the passage in (9), targeted by LA3. This passage includes four paragraphs, which together explain (-​1 ×-​ 1 =​+​1). For more advanced students, especially those who know how a paragraph is organized, it is important to juxtapose the instruction of paragraph organization with a discussion of how

 147

Teaching English through Mathematics  147 paragraphs are organized around one central idea or topic sentence, thus extending students’ understanding of text structure larger than individual paragraphs. Instructional activities like LA4 are critical and should occupy an increasing part of language instruction as students progress from elementary to middle schools, and, in particular, from middle to high schools. This is because the ultimate goal of language learning is not developing students’ syntactic competence, that is, writing grammatical or well-​formed sentences. It is developing discourse competence so that they can construct larger spoken or written discourse to communicate effectively. In Section 4.3, we will discuss an activity –​LA6 –​that builds on LA4 and shows how the author uses a string of paragraphs to advance a key idea. LA3 and LA4 are informed by and address a number of standards in math and ELA. As during-​reading activities, they both have a content focus. LA3 zeroes in on a section of the chapter in which Professor Strogatz explains (-​1 ×-​1 =​+​1). This is an area covered by the math standard, S2 for Grade 7 in (2b). A specific objective of S2 in (2bi) is the need for students to understand how multiplication extends to negative numbers and why (-​1 ×-​1) equals (+​1). LA4 highlights a paragraph that discusses where positive and negative numbers are used in real life, linking them to gains and losses on mutual fund statements, naming of floors in a building, among other things. This LA is relevant to S5 for Grade 6 in (2a), according to which students need to understand the use of “positive and negative numbers to represent quantities in real-​world contexts”. Apart from math standards, the two LAs address to varying degrees the ELA reading standards in (3) and (4). LA3 addresses S6 and S7 in (3c&d) and (4c&d). Recall that LA3 engages students in reading a passage whose purpose is to explain. Contained in this passage is a mathematical proof in the form of equations. This activity asks students to determine what this passage is about and its purpose, something called for by S6. In addition, by drawing attention to the equations and the text before and after them, this activity highlights how Professor Strogatz integrates “quantitative or technical information” –​equations –​with the text explanation, something called for by S7. LA4, which engages students in analyzing paragraph structure, is concerned with S2 and S5 in (3a&b) and (4a&b). These standards for informational texts and for science and technical subjects stress the need to develop students’ discourse competence, that is, the ability to identify the central idea and analyze the structure of a text, meaning “how a particular sentence, paragraph, chapter, or section fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of ideas”. 4.3  Post-​reading activities This section discusses the implementation of two LAs designed to advance students’ language development. LA5 targets parenthetical expressions (PEs), a frequently used and highly useful language structure employed by writers to provide additional information on a specific part of discourse, information deemed secondary but necessary to comprehension. PEs are placed in the middle or at the end of a sentence, right after the expression for which additional information is needed. This LA furthers students’ syntactic competence, introducing an important linguistic tool which they can deploy and may have deployed (without knowing what it is called) in speaking and writing. LA6 builds on LA4 and advances students’ discourse competence. It shows how two or more paragraphs are used to develop a main idea or topic sentence, something which is significantly more common than the use of an individual paragraph like what you see in LA4. This LA reinforces the idea that effective discourse is connected discourse with an internal structure, whether it be sentences, paragraphs, sections or chapters that are connected. LA5, presented in Slides 14–​20, comprises five steps. It focuses on sentences like those in (15) from Page 15.

148

148  Teaching English through Mathematics (15) Step 1 of LA5: Project these two sentences for students to examine a. That makes sense –​the same facts about numbers get used in both, though in reverse. b. Negative numbers are a lot more abstract than positive numbers –​you can’t see negative 4 cookies and you certainly can’t eat them –​but you can think about them, and you have to, in all aspects of daily life, from debts and overdrafts to contending with freezing temperatures and parking garages. Ask students to read each sentence or read each aloud to them. To focus attention on the part in bold, tell students to consider the questions below. (16) Step 1of LA5: Consider these two questions a. What kind of information does the expression in bold provide for the rest of the sentence? b. Why does the author use “–​”? (16a) directs students to ascertain the type of information the emboldened part provides (an explanation, an exception, etc.), helping them understand what meaning PEs can be used to express. (16b) draws attention to the punctuation and gives them a chance to ponder the function of dashes. To implement this step, consider giving students time to read and examine each sentence and discuss these questions with a partner, if time permits, before they report the answers to the class. Once students have a chance to consider the questions, continue on to Step 2 and hear what students have come up with.Then build on these student responses and teach PEs exemplified by the sentences. Four main types of information need to be presented when you teach a structure like PEs: a) name or what this structure is called; b) form or what this structure looks like; c) meaning or what this structure is used to express; and d) use or where this structure is employed. These four types of information are presented as bullets in (3a) through (3e) on Slides 15 and 16. The key points are as follows. First, tell students what the emboldened expressions are called. Help them understand why they are called parenthetical expressions by showing that the expressions in bold can also be punctuated with parentheses, that is, by showing (17). (17) Part of Step 2 of LA5: Help students understand why this structure is called parenthetical expressions That makes sense (the same facts about numbers get used in both, though in reverse). In addition to naming, it is important to explain what meaning PEs can express and where they are used. The key meaning information to share with students is that PEs provide additional information for a specific part of discourse (whether it is a word, phrase or sentence), information the writer deems secondary but useful to readers. The supplied additional information can be anything from a detail like year or the name, position or status of an individual to a reason, an exception or example. Because PEs can express almost anything, they are extremely useful as a communicative tool and widely used. It is also important to note that the information supplied by PEs, while useful to comprehension, is secondary. In other words, they provide information that is subordinate to that provided by the sentence in which they appear. PEs are thus similar in function to relative or adverbal clauses, both of which are subordinate clauses and provide information that is secondary to that provided by the main clause. If students are to use PEs, they must have the form information, of which there are three. First, PEs can take almost any form from a letter, number, word, or phrase to a clause, sentence or paragraph.This flexibility is another reason for its wide use. Second, PEs are inserted

 149

Teaching English through Mathematics  149 right after the expression to which additional information is deemed necessary. For this reason, they are positioned only in two sentence locations: a) in the middle if the expression that needs clarification appears in the middle of a sentence or b) at the end if the expression that needs clarification is sentence-​final. Third, PEs can be punctuated with dashes, parentheses, or commas. These punctuations signal that PEs, though embedded in a sentence, are not part of that sentence, with these punctuations used to separate PEs from sentences they are inserted in. The key teaching points are presented as bullet points in (3) in the PowerPoint slides. When discussing the list with the students, the teacher should avoid reading them. Each point needs to be explained and exemplified with examples such as those in (15). Use examples to underscore the points and highlight the characteristics of PEs including the type of information it provides, the location of the inserted information and the punctuations used. Take the two sentences in (15) as examples. In both, the PEs take the form of a complete sentence (or an independent clause). But they do not have to be. A PE can be almost anything, a letter, a number, a word or a phrase, etc. For examples of phrasal PEs, see Slides 17–​18. In (15a), the PE is placed at the end of the sentence That makes sense, explaining why that makes sense and why it is separated from the sentence with a dash followed by a period. In (15b), the PE is inserted after the first independent clause Negative numbers are a lot more abstract than positive numbers in the middle of a compound sentence. This PE is enclosed by dashes on both sides as it is sentence-​middle. Using examples to highlight the points you make helps students understand in a concrete way what you mean. Following direct instruction in Step 2, it is important to reinforce students’ understanding of PEs by showing additional examples. Fortunately, The Enemy of My Enemy provides many examples. In (4) of Slides 17–​18, we provide five additional examples, two of which are re-​ printed here. (18) Step 3 of LA4: Analyze additional examples under teacher guidance a. If I try to take 6 cookies away from you but you have only 2, I can’t do it –​ except in my mind, where you now have negative 4 cookies, whatever that means. (Page 15) b. When three mutual enemies size up the situation, two of them –​often the two with the least animosity toward each other –​may be tempted to join forces and gang up on the third. (Page 18) Ask students to analyze each sentence, determine the type of information provided by the expressions in bold, the form of this expression (a word, a phrase or a sentence) and the punctuations used. This step of the activity can be done by students in pairs or a small group of three students. The teacher can create a table or a graphic organizer like (19) for students to fill in their answers. (19) A graphic organizer for the analysis of highlighted expressions Sentence Analyzed

Type of Information

Site of Insertion Middle

Sentence 1 Sentence 2 …

End

Form of Inserted Expression Word Phrase Sentence

Punctuation Used

150

150  Teaching English through Mathematics As students examine each sentence and complete the graphic organizer, walk around to each group and provide explanations and guidance where necessary. Once students complete the table, the teacher can have each pair or group report their answers to the class, which is an opportunity for the teacher to reinforce correct answers, correct mistakes and re-​teach if necessary. The objective of this step is to “flood” students with PEs (that is, use the technique called input flooding (Larsen-​Freeman, 2014: 263)) so that they cannot help but notice the characteristics of PEs and how they are used. Step 4 presents students with yet another practice.This time, they are presented with a paragraph taken from Page 18 of The Enemy of My Enemy. (20) Step 4 of LA4: Project this paragraph for students to read and examine The corners signify people, companies, or countries, and the sides connecting them signify their relationships, which can be positive (friendly, shown here as solid lines) or negative (hostile, shown as dashed lines).

Social scientists refer to triangles like the one on the left, with all sides positive, as balanced –​there’s no reason for anyone to change how he feels, since it’s reasonable to like your friends’ friends. Similarly, the triangle on the right, with two negatives and a positive, is considered balanced because it causes no dissonance; even though it allows for hostility, nothing cements a friendship like hating the same person. This paragraph is selected for two key reasons. First, up to this point, all PEs are those set off from the rest of the sentence by dashes, making them easy to identify. This paragraph includes all three types: PEs punctuated with parentheses (e.g. (friendly, shown here as solid lines)), PEs punctuated with commas (, with all sides positive,) and PEs punctuated with dashes. Second, this paragraph includes distractors or fake PEs, expressions that appear to be PEs but are not. An example is the word companies in the first sentence. This word, which is surrounded by commas on both sides, appears to be a PE, but it is not. It is part of a list of words coordinated by the conjunction or. One way to distinguish a true PE from a fake one is to ask whether it provides relevant information on the immediately preceding expression. A true PE supplies relevant information for the expression that immediately precedes it. A fake one does not.The word companies in the first sentence does not add any relevant information to the preceding word people. It is not related to it. People, companies, and countries are different things that the corners can signify. Because this paragraph showcases a broader range of PEs and because they include distractors (which makes PEs harder to identify), it is chosen for students to read and examine. Ask students to read the paragraph closely and identify the PEs in it. The goals here are to show students a broader range of PEs and their uses and to check to what extent students grasp what is taught in Steps 2 and 3.To implement this step, we suggest having students work individually. Once that is done, then read each sentence aloud or have a student read aloud each sentence. Following the read-​aloud of each sentence, ask whether it has any PE, and if so, what type of information it provides, and what form it takes (is it a word, phrase, etc.?). You will see from student responses that some PEs are left un-​identified and others are mis-​ analyzed, as we have seen when this task was given to our TESOL majors. This presents you with another opportunity to review or reteach if necessary.

 151

Teaching English through Mathematics  151 The final step of this LA engages students in using PEs, not just examining and identifying PEs in others’ writings. One way to practice using PEs is to provide pairs of sentences such as (21) and ask students to use PEs to combine them into one sentence. (21) Step 5 of LA5: Sentence Combining a. At a deeper level, however, subtraction raises a much more disturbing issue. b. Subtraction can generate negative numbers. This task may seem easy, but it is not.To form a grammatical sentence with a PE, students need to understand the meaning of each sentence and their relation to each other, determine which sentence is the main sentence and which provides additional information and on which part of the main sentence, and know how to punctuate, etc. For this reason, consider modelling sentence combining yourself first. For example, with respect to the sentences in (21), Sentence 2 in (21b) offers a reason for why “subtraction raises a much more disturbing issue”. In other words, it explains the entire first sentence in (21a). Thus we can combine them by placing Sentence 2 at the end of the first sentence, as in (22). (22) At a deeper level, however, subtraction raises a much more disturbing issue –​subtraction can generate negative numbers. You can have students do the sentence combining in class, if time permits. Or you can assign it as a homework assignment, which can be used as an assessment to determine how well students learn this grammatical construction. Either way, make sure that you go over what students have done. Discussing student work and offering feedback are critical. It allows the teacher to correct the mistakes made by students and strengthen their understanding of PEs one more time. We estimate that this LA will take 45 to 60 minutes to implement, with Steps 1, 2 and 4 each taking 10 minutes, Step 3 taking 15 minutes and Step 5 taking 15 minutes if it is done in class. LA5 introduces PEs as a communicative tool and develops students’ ability to understand and use PEs. The ultimate goal is to expand students’ expressive capacity, teaching them an important tool to package two or more ideas into one sentence. This LA addresses two language standards in (5). S3 in (5b) states that students should “use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening”. This standard further specifies that students should learn to “vary sentence patterns for meaning, reader/​listener interest, and style.” In order to change sentence patterns for different communicative purposes, students must first learn the different sentence types and where they are used. This LA does just that. LA5 is also guided by S2 in (5a), which focuses on the command of English writing conventions including punctuation. This standard specifically identifies the use of commas, parentheses and dashes to set off nonrestrictive/​parenthetical elements as one such convention. Professor Strogatz’s use of dashes to separate out PEs is what this standard means by “parenthetical elements”. By highlighting the PEs and creating opportunities for students to use PEs, LA5 directly addresses S2. Turning now to LA6, we consider an activity that advances students’ discourse competence by building on their understanding of paragraph organization via LA4. This LA zeroes in on larger discourse and shows how two or more paragraphs are organized around a topic sentence and how this topic sentence is developed by supporting sentences in different paragraphs, something far more common than a self-​contained paragraph seen in LA4.

152

152  Teaching English through Mathematics LA6, presented in Slides 21–​25, consists of four steps. Start by telling students that this LA continues LA4 by discussing the structure of two or more paragraphs. Project as an example the following two paragraphs from Page 15 of The Enemy of My Enemy. (23) Step 1 of LA6: Project these two paragraphs for students to read and analyze At a deeper level, however, subtraction raises a much more disturbing issue, one that never arises with addition. Subtraction can generate negative numbers. If I try to take 6 cookies away from you but you have only 2, I can’t do it –​except in my mind, where you now have negative 4 cookies, whatever that means. Subtraction forces us to expand our conception of what numbers are. Negative numbers are a lot more abstract than positive numbers –​you can’t see negative 4 cookies and you certainly can’t eat them –​but you can think about them, and you have to, in all aspects of daily life, from debts and overdrafts to contending with freezing temperatures and parking garages. Ask students to read this piece of discourse and analyze its organization by using the questions in (24) as a guide. (24) Step 1 of LA6: Introduce these questions to frame the discussion and analysis by students a. Which sentence states the central idea of these two paragraphs? b. Which sentences develop the topic sentence? c. What is the role of the remaining sentences? One way to implement this step is to divide students into groups of three or four students. Ask them to read the paragraphs silently first. Then discuss the questions in their respective group and try to come up with an answer to each question. Tell them that it is alright if they cannot arrive at a consensus. Just try to narrow their answer to the two most likely choices if they cannot. In Step 2, the teacher calls students back from the group discussion and leads a class discussion by first giving students a chance to share answers from their groups. For each question, consider asking at least two groups and make sure that every group is given a chance to respond to some of the questions. Following student responses to each question, discuss their responses, affirming their answers if they are correct and rejecting them if they are not. But regardless, tell them your responses and the reasonings for your responses. In (4) of Slide 23, we list the teacher’s responses to each question in (24), making clear the role of each sentence in this piece of discourse. To show the structure more clearly, consider creating on board a visual representation of discourse structure as the class discussion proceeds. One way to represent the discourse structure visually is shown in (25), similar to the visual depiction of paragraph organization in (14).

 153

Teaching English through Mathematics  153 (25) Step 2 of LA6: Use this visual to show the organization of the two paragraphs in (23) Topic S(entence) At a deeper level, however, subtraction raises a much more disturbing issue, one that never arises with addition.

Supporting S 1

Transitional S

Supporting S 2

Subtraction can generate negative numbers.

Subtraction forces us to expand our conception of what numbers are.

Negative numbers are a lot more abstract than positive numbers…

Supporting S to SS1

Supporting S to SS1

If I try to take 6 cookies away from you but you have only 2, I can’t do it – except in my mind, where you now have negative 4 cookies, whatever that means.

– you can’t see negative 4 cookies and you certainly can’t eat them – but you can think about them, and you have to, in all aspects of daily life, from debts and overdrafts to contending with freezing temperatures and parking garages.

Use this visual depiction to make the points in (5) of Slide 24. We summarize the key points here. First, this piece of discourse is organized around the claim or topic sentence subtraction raises a much more disturbing issue at the start. Professor Strogatz backs up this claim with two reasons or supporting sentences.The first one –​Subtraction can generate negative numbers –​appears right after the topic sentence in Paragraph 1. This supporting sentence is further developed by the third, last sentence of Paragraph 1, which explains why subtraction produces negative numbers. The topic sentence is supported by a second sentence –​Negative numbers are a lot more abstract than positive numbers –​in Paragraph 2. Supporting Sentence 2 is further developed by the immediately following PE, which explains why negative numbers are more abstract. Sentence 1 of Paragraph 2 acts as a transition from Paragraph 1, concerned with subtraction, to Paragraph 2, concerned with negative numbers. It is no easy task to analyze discourse structure. This task requires a good understanding of the discourse and the relations among the different pieces that make up the discourse. It is hard for native English-​speaking students to undertake discourse analyses of this kind. It is even harder for ELs. But it is important. Engaging students in discourse analyses can deepen reading comprehension, sharpen awareness of discourse organization, and lead, ultimately, to improvement in writing and speaking. For this reason, it is critical to follow Step 2 with additional practice in Step 3. We suggest having students analyze at least another string of paragraphs from The Enemy of My Enemy and determine the topic and supporting sentences. One possibility is the four paragraphs in (1) of Slides 7 and 8 targeted by LA3. For space reasons, they are not reprinted here.To guide the analysis by students, use the questions in (24) with a slight modification, that is, replacing the references to sentences with paragraphs. Help students

154

154  Teaching English through Mathematics understand the focus and function of each paragraph and the relation among them. Put simply, the first paragraph, in particular, its second sentence So let me try to explain the thinking behind that, identifies the topic sentence. The second paragraph provides a background and explains how the multiplication of positive numbers works in math. The third paragraph extends the multiplication of positive numbers to negative numbers by providing a proof and an explanation of the proof. Finally, the fourth paragraph summarizes the argument for (-​1 ×-​1 =​+​1) by stating that it follows the rules of ordinary arithmetic. LA6 has one final step, that is, to engage students in analyzing the structure of the entire article.This time, ask students to re-​read the whole article and determine its organization.The task is to divide this article into sections and create an outline for it. As Professor Strogatz does not mark section boundaries, this can be a useful exercise, as it pushes students to examine the structure of the entire article. This task is not going to be easy, but as some sections have already been determined through LA4 and LA6 and as LA2 has highlighted some of the clues to section boundaries, we believe this task is doable with teacher support. To show what students come up with, ask them to create an outline. This task can be done individually or in pairs. Either way, consider modelling what you expect students to do first in class before handing it over for them to do at home. One way to model what you expect them to do is to have them read the first two pages of The Enemy of My Enemy and determine where the first section ends. Then ask students what the first section is about and what its topic sentence might be. Then have them determine where the next section ends, what its central idea is and how it relates to the first section. That is, scaffold this task before sending students home to do the analysis and outline first. After you have a chance to read and evaluate student outlines, consider conducting a discussion of how this article is organized and share how you analyze this article. We anticipate that this 4-​step activity can take 50 to 60 minutes, with Steps 1 and 3 taking 15 to 20 minutes and Steps 2 and 4 10 to 15 minutes. LA6, like LA4, addresses S2 and S5 in (3a&b) and (4a&b), reading standards for informational texts and for science and technical subjects. These standards call on the teacher to develop students’ the ability to identify the central idea and analyze the structure of a discourse, meaning “how a particular sentence, paragraph, chapter, or section fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of ideas”. LA6 engages students in reading and re-​reading, and in repeatedly analyzing discourse of varying sizes and determining the central idea and how this idea is developed. It is exactly what S2 and S5 demand.

5  Ideas for differentiation This section takes up LA6 again to discuss how instruction can be differentiated to address the needs of students who might need additional support. Recall that LA6 starts by presenting students with two paragraphs and asks them to read and analyze how these paragraphs are organized. Then students are given another passage for analysis before being asked to determine the structure of the entire article entitled The Enemy of My Enemy. Out of all LAs considered in Section 4, this LA is likely to be the most challenging, because the analytic task it engages students in hinges on a solid understanding of the article and because students rarely carry out such analyses on their own when they read.Yet analytic skills like this are extremely important for students to develop, as S5 and S6 in (3) and (4) indicate. These standards urge teachers to develop students’ abilities to i) analyze how a sentence, a paragraph or section relates to the overall text and how ideas are developed and ii) identify the writer’s purpose or point of view and understand how it is developed. Even though S5 and S6 are reading standards, they are central to the advancement of students’ discourse competence and writing abilities.To write well, students need to see how others develop an idea and structure a text to

 155

Teaching English through Mathematics  155 advance a particular viewpoint. LA6 and activities like it are designed to bring to surface how accomplished writers like Professor Strogatz develop and organize their ideas. Out of the six LAs discussed in Section 4, two –​LA2 and LA4 –​can be used to scaffold LA6, even though they are presented as separate activities. Let’s consider these two first. Recall that LA2 draws attention to sentence connectors such as however and still, which Professor Strogatz uses to highlight sentence relations and signal the transition to a new section. Implementing this LA before LA6 can give students a crucial tool to identify where the discourse breaks are by looking for words and expressions that mark transitions. LA4 engages students in the analysis of paragraph organization by identifying the function of each sentence and classifying them as topic or supporting sentence, etc. This LA shows that sentences can play different roles in a paragraph and that a well-​organized paragraph is anchored by the topic sentence with remaining sentences developing and supporting the topic sentence. The analytic task students undertake in LA4 is similar to that of LA6, which extends the analysis to two or more paragraphs. LA4 can thus serve as the preparation and scaffold for LA6. Apart from LA2 and LA4, LA6 –​and LA4 –​builds into its design mechanisms to support student learning. LA6, as well as LA4, starts with a scaffolding step, either a group activity or a teacher-​led activity, before students undertake the analysis themselves. In addition, both LAs help students visualize how a writer develops an idea and how he/​she organizes one or more paragraphs by showing them in visual forms. The visual representation of paragraph organization in (14) shows how Professor Strogatz develops the central idea (people find negative numbers unpleasant) by supporting it with four sentences which state where they avoid negative numbers. This visual image reveals both how an idea is developed and how information in this paragraph is organized. (25) does the same thing except that it shows how two separate paragraphs advances one central idea and how they are structured around this idea. These mechanisms, together with LA2 and LA4 (if implemented before LA6), should enable more students to conduct the analysis demanded by LA6. You might wonder what else we can do to scaffold LA6. As we said earlier, the type of analyses demanded by S5 and S6 are difficult for students to undertake. So one teacher-​led analytic activity, as conceived in LA4, may not be sufficient for some students. Consider adding a step at the start of LA6 before the group activity starts. For example, you can select a passage from a text that is significantly easier for students to understand. This can be a passage from a text they are familiar with or a new text, as long as it is something students can understand without much effort. The strategy here is to remove the barrier to reading comprehension and focus on the analysis. Lead the students in analyzing how this passage is developed and organized before introducing Step 1 of LA6. Another possibility is to select some paragraphs from The Enemy of My Enemy and guide the analysis of these paragraphs yourself first before Step 1 of LA6.We believe that with this additional step, most, if not all, students should be able to participate in LA6. Step 4 of LA6 requires students to analyze the organization of the entire article. This task is likely to be the hardest for students. To scaffold this task, consider leading the analysis first. You can ask students to read the first page or the first two pages. Following the reading, you can pose this question. If you were to divide what you just read into sections, where would you say is the end of the first section? Allow a number of students to respond. Following each response, ask them to elaborate and explain their answer. If students are hesitant, tell them that it is all right if they get it wrong and that all you want to know is their opinion. Once you hear from students, build on their responses and tell them where you think the section break is and why. Then have students move on to another page or two. This time you can arrange students into groups and ask them to determine the section break and justify their decision in their respective groups. Alternatively, you can start the scaffold by arranging students in

156

156  Teaching English through Mathematics groups and give each group one or two different pages to read and analyze. Following the group discussion, ask each group to report their answers to class, starting with the group receiving the first page. As each group reports, ask them for clarification and explanation. These recommendations have two things in common. First, they divide a big task –​analyzing the organization of an entire article –​into a series of smaller tasks, that is, read and analyze one or two pages at a time. Second, both scaffolds attempt to reduce the complexity of the analytic task by relying on teacher guidance or group work first. These recommendations, if implemented, can allow more students to take on the analysis of the whole article. Regardless of whether students can identify the discourse breaks, these scaffolds have a number of benefits. They can strengthen reading comprehension and content learning. The decision as to where the section breaks are depends on the content of each section. To determine the section breaks, students have to read closely and understand the text and notice where shift to a new idea happens. Close reading and analyses, combined with your attempts to ask students for justifications, will deepen reading comprehension and content learning. More importantly, this type of activity teaches students how an idea is developed and organized, which advances students’ discourse awareness and ultimately their writing skill. To be clear, the skills required to analyze idea development and text structure take many years to develop. It is not something you can do once and forget about. Moreover, students’ ability to conduct such analyses hinges on a variety of factors such as the genre of the text, the complexity of language, or the difficulty of content concepts, etc. Some students may be able to analyze an informational text, but cannot transfer the skill to a descriptive piece such as Chapter 3 of Of Mice and Men. Some students may have an ability to analyze one part of a text, but not another, because the language or content concepts there are more complex. For these reasons, it is essential that students examine a wide variety of texts and engage in sustained text analyses over multiple classes and over many years. This is why reading standards such as S5 and S6 are repeated for many grades, with increasingly higher expectations as students progress to a higher grade. To summarize, you can support students to undertake the text analysis demanded by LA6 in various ways. The support can take the form of sequencing LAs like LA2 and LA4 before LA6, providing teacher guidance and group work, building in visual scaffolds, and dividing large tasks into smaller ones. These recommendations are unified by one objective: enabling students to engage in text analyses. Circumventing them, because of their perceived difficulties for some students, rarely, if ever, benefits students in the long term.

6 Additional language teaching ideas We just discussed six LAs, all of which teach language to varying degrees.Three are concerned with vocabulary, with LA1 on the article title and a saying, LA2 on conjunctions, and LA3 on what it means to “explain” in mathematics. One LA, LA5, focuses on grammatical structures, targeting parenthetical expressions used to elaborate on part of a sentence and add information the writer deems useful but secondary to readers. But the key goal of most of these LAs is to advance students’ discourse competence, with LA2 on markers of discourse boundaries, LA4 on paragraph organization and LA6 on the structure of discourse larger than one paragraph. Apart from LA5 concerned with a sentence-​level structure, most activities focus either on vocabulary or discourse. Given this focus, we dedicate this section to language teaching ideas less emphasized by the six LAs. Vocabulary instruction we have observed tends to concentrate on individual words, rather than phrasal expressions (Peng, 2019). As words must combine with other words to communicate, it is critical to teach phrasal expressions including collocations as part of vocabulary

 157

Teaching English through Mathematics  157 instruction. One type of collocations involves a verb, noun or adjective appearing together with a preposition. In these collocations, the choice of the preposition is often fixed and determined by convention. For example, take the noun and verb interest. If we want to express the target of interest, we must use the preposition in as in interest in the book or interested in the book, not interest at/​of the book or interested at/​of the book. It is hard to say why, except that this is the convention. These fixed word combinations or phrasal expressions involving, in particular, prepositions, are challenging for ELs, partly because of their limited exposure to English. For this reason, it is important for vocabulary instruction to draw attention to such phrases, when they appear. This article includes many such expressions, highlighted in bold in (26), which can and should be the targets of vocabulary instruction. (26) One idea for vocabulary instruction: Phrases or collocations involving prepositions a. At a deeper level, however, subtraction raises a much more disturbing issue, one that never arises with addition. (Page 15) b. …–​but you can think about them, and you have to, in all aspects of daily life, from debts and overdrafts to contending with freezing temperatures and parking garages. (Page 15) c. Likewise, double negatives don’t always amount to positives… (Page 17) d. Social scientists refer to triangles like the one on the left, with all sides positive, as balanced… (Page 18) e. The indirect action of the third cell on the first is tantamount to excitation; a chain of two negatives makes a positive. (Page 17) f. When three enemies size up the situation, two of them –​often the two with the least animosity towards each other –​may be tempted to join forces and gang up on the third. (Page 18) In (26), we show three different prepositions with verbs and adjectives. In (26a) and (26b), we see two verbs –​arise and contend –​with the preposition with. (26c) and (26d) show the use of the verbs amount and refer with to, while (26e) has an adjective tantamount collocating with to. In (26f), the verbs size and gang appear with the preposition up. In addition, gang up pairs with on to indicate the entity you gang up against in (26f). When we teach vocabulary, it is imperative to highlight collocations like these. Do not just teach arise, contend, refer, tantamount, size or gang as individual words. Teach the whole combination and highlight the prepositions they tend to go with and what they mean. If students are to use these words, they need to know what word they combine with and what these phrasal expressions as a whole express. Moving on to grammar instruction, we consider two ideas or structures, both of which appear repeatedly in The Enemy of My Enemy. One structure is conditional clauses introduced by if. Conditional clauses tend to appear in mathematical, science and other technical texts, maybe because writers in these fields often need to state the conditions or assumptions they operate under or because rules or generalizations are subject to conditions, that is, they require conditional statements. Regardless of the reasons, conditional clauses are clearly a feature of texts like The Enemy of My Enemy and worth paying attention to (Schleppegrell, 2007). As a structure, conditional clauses are not simple. According to Cowan (2008: 449–​458), there are two main types of conditionals: real and unreal conditionals. Real conditionals include four sub-​types: generic, habitual, inference and future conditionals. Unreal conditionals have two sub-​types: hypothetical and counterfactual conditionals.There are six sub-​types of conditionals in all. They often take on different forms, express different meanings, and are used differently. This text makes use of three of the six types, shown by the conditional clauses highlighted in bold below.

158

158  Teaching English through Mathematics (27) One idea for grammar instruction: Conditional clauses introduced by if a. If you can cope with calculating 23 +​9, you will be ready for 23–​9 soon enough. Future Conditional (Page 15) b. If I try to take 6 cookies away from you but you have only 2, I can’t do it… Generic Conditional (Page 15) c. …if you owe me $1 a week, after three weeks you’re $3 in the hole. Generic Conditional (Page 16) d. But if you’re a hard-​ boiled pragmatist, you may be wondering if these abstractions have any parallels in the real world. Inference Conditional (Page 17) e. If that second nerve cell is then inhibited by a third, the first cell can fire again. Generic Conditional (Page 17). As these examples illustrate, this text features three examples of generic conditionals (used to express a fact or a scientific truth), and one example each of future and inference conditionals. As this text has multiple examples and types of if conditional clauses and as this is a significant linguistic feature of the text, it might be helpful to devote a LA to a comprehensive review or instruction of conditional clauses. This review or instruction can target narrowly the four types of real conditionals since all examples in (27) are of that type. Or you can target, more broadly, all six types, if students have seen and used the other types of conditionals (which is likely). Another idea for grammar instruction is relative clauses or what is sometimes referred to as adjectival clauses (because they are similar to adjectives in function). In Chapter 4, we stated that Of Mice and Men, as a text, does not include many relative clauses. Relative clauses, if they appear in that text, tend to be of the simple kind, with the relative pronoun functioning as the subject.Texts like Of Mice and Men are therefore not a good place to introduce relative clauses. Texts dealing with more technical subjects like The Enemy of My Enemy, though written as a newspaper column for the lay audience, tend to include more types and examples of relative clauses. In (28), we showcase some of the relative clauses from The Enemy of My Enemy, which are in bold. (28) Another idea for grammar instruction: Relative or adjectival clauses a. At a deeper level, however, subtraction raises a much more disturbing issue, one that never arises with addition. Restricted Relative Clause (Page 15) b. If I try to take 6 cookies away from you but you have only 2, I can’t do it –​except in my mind, where you now have negative 4 cookies, whatever that means. Unrestricted Relative Clause (Page 15) c. Well, just as 1 × 3 means 1 +​1 +​1, the natural definition for -​1 ×3 is (-​1) +​(-​1) +​ (-​1), which equals -​3. Unrestricted Relative Clause (Page 16) d. The eminent linguistic philosopher J. L. Austin of Oxford once gave a lecture in which he asserted that there are many languages in which a double negative makes a positive but none in which a double positive makes a negative –​ to which the Columbia philosopher Sidney Morgenbesser, sitting in the audience, sarcastically replied, “Yeah, yeah.” Restricted and Unrestricted Relative Clauses. (Page 17) e. Still, there are plenty of cases where the real world does mirror the rules of negative numbers. Restricted Relative Clause (Page 17) f. The corners signify people, companies, or countries, and the sides connecting them signify their relationships, which can be positive (friendly, shown here as solid lines) or negative (hostile, shown as dashed lines). Unrestricted Relative Clause (Page 18)

 159

Teaching English through Mathematics  159 As a structure, relative clauses are highly complex.They are divided into two broad types with different uses: restricted and unrestricted relative clauses (unrestricted relative clauses are signaled by a comma placed in front of the relative pronoun). The Enemy of My Enemy has both types, with restricted relative clauses in (28a), (28d) and (28e) and unrestricted clauses in (28b), (28c), (28d) and (28f). But each of these two types has many sub-​types, depending on which relative pronoun is used and what function they serve in the sentence. In addition, relative clauses exhibit a number of structural features such as the fronting of the relative pronoun, extraction or pied-​piping of the preposition (seen in (28d), where in and to are fronted), and the use of commas to separate an unrestricted relative clause from the main clause. Take (28) for example. We see three different relative pronouns in (28): that, which, and where. They serve different functions. The relative pronouns that and which are subjects of their respective clauses in (28a), (28c) and (28f). In (28b) and (28e), where is adverbial in function, replacing expressions of location in relative clauses. The relative pronoun which in (28d) serves as the object of a preposition in or to. It is worth noting that the sentence in (28d) includes as many as four relative clauses: three restricted and one unrestricted. The first, restricted relative clause begins with in which, which contains in it two more restricted relative clauses also introduced by in which, highlighted by single-​and double-​underlining. The 4th relative clause is a parenthetical expression, which takes the form of an unrestricted relative clause starting with to which. Note that the dash marking the start of the parenthetical expression can be replaced with a comma, signaling an unrestricted relative clause. In all four relative clauses, the prepositions in and to are pied-​piped or fronted with which. The complexity and the widespread use of relative clauses make it an important grammatical structure to teach. We have discussed three LAs with a focus on discourse in Section 4. You are probably wondering what else about discourse is worth teaching.We consider one other idea. Instruction on discourse, apart from sharpening awareness of discourse organization, can help students understand the argument structure, that is, how a writer supports or advances a claim. A major focus of this article, as its title suggests, is to show that (-​1 ×-​1 =​+​1) in math –​that is, a negative times a negative equals a positive –​has real-​life parallels, such as in the language expression The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Professor Strogatz starts to support this claim in the second full paragraph on Page 17, which begins with the sentence: But if you’re a hard-​boiled pragmatist, you may be wondering if these abstractions have any parallels in the real world. To develop this claim, Professor Strogatz uses real-​world examples. He starts first by dismissing two examples, one from conventional morality and one from language. Then he presents three real-​world parallels to (-​1 ×-​1 =​+​1) in math: one from the interactions of nerve cells, one from gene regulation, and one from the social and political fields, that is, the interactions among people, companies or countries. Engaging students in re-​reading this section (starting with the above sentence to the second paragraph from the end) and analyzing its argument structure can have at least two key benefits. First, it can deepen math understanding because this section of the article helps students make connections between math and other fields. Second, examining how Professor Strogatz supports a claim with examples and how he advances a claim by first dismissing apparent examples and then discussing real examples can help students see how a claim is developed and supported and strengthen their ability to develop and support a claim. These are precisely what the math and ELA standards call for. These four ideas, from collocations to conditional and relative clauses and argument structure, are not the only language teaching topics. They, together with the six learning activities in Section 4, underscore an important point, namely, that a math text like The Enemy of My Enemy can and should be used not just to teach math but also to advance students’ linguistic competence.We hope that these ideas broaden your instructional horizon and open your eyes to the rich language teaching possibilities that content texts offer.

160

160  Teaching English through Mathematics

7  Conclusion This chapter examines six instructional activities based on a chapter of a popular science book –​ The Joy of X –​by Professor Steven Strogatz, a well-​known mathematician and a frequent contributor to New York Times. Instead of using materials designed for K-​12 students, this chapter highlights popular science books as a resource for both content and language learning. As we pointed out in the introduction, popular science books are often written by experts in their fields and provide alternative and potentially more engaging materials for K-​ 12 teachers, especially those who teach English as a Second Language, to use. We highlight such books because of the deep understanding they reveal of the disciplines, the connections they make to everyday life, and the quality and beauty of the language in which they present and discuss their disciplines. This chapter showcases six LAs, two each for three phases of reading. Of the pre-​reading activities, one focuses on the article title The Enemy of My Enemy and teaches what it means. Then using questions as a hook, this LA asks students to figure out through reading why Professor Strogatz thinks that there is a connection between this language expression and the math equation (-​1 ×-​1 =​+​1). The other LA draws attention to conjunctions used to signal section boundaries.The two during-​reading activities each offer an opportunity for students to re-​read and analyze a passage from the chapter under teacher guidance. One passage explains the logic behind (-​1 ×-​1 =​+​1) as well as exemplifies what it means to explain in mathematics; the other describes where negative numbers are used in real life as well as provides an example of a well-​organized paragraph. With regard to the two post-​reading activities, one targets parenthetical expressions and the other the organization of larger discourse.We stressed at the start of this chapter that language instruction should place more emphases on discourse as students move up in grades. For this reason, we have devoted three LAs –​LA2, LA4 and LA6 –​to advance students’ discourse competence. The proposed activities have both a content and language focus. Three LAs target content to varying degrees. LA1 asks students to consider how a saying in English (The enemy of my enemy is my friend) is related to a math expression (-​1 ×-​1 =​+​1). Of the two during-​ reading activities, one, LA3, is concerned with the reasoning for (-​1 ×-​1 =​+​1), while the other, LA4, discusses the real-​world applications of positive and negative numbers. All six activities are concerned with the English language as well. LA1 and LA2 develop students’ understanding of a saying and conjunctions. LA3 and LA4 teach students what it means to explain in math and how an effective paragraph is organized. Of the two post-​reading activities, one, LA5, targets parenthetical expressions, teaching students not just form and meaning but also engaging them in using the structure. The other LA, LA6, builds on LA4 and shows how a larger piece of discourse (two or more paragraphs) is structured around a topic sentence and supporting sentences. The designs of the six LAs follow the principles of content-​based language instruction articulated throughout this book. These activities start by selecting materials that target content and ground the instruction on the selected sentences and passages from these materials. Students are given opportunities to read and re-​read the selected sentences and passages, to analyze them for their content and language, and to consider and discuss their responses to high-​level questions, most of which push them to consider relations and connections. In designing most of the LAs, we start with teacher questioning to assess what students know and to give them a chance to figure out.Then building on student responses, the teacher offers direct and explicit instruction, which is then followed by repeated practice, often starting with group followed by individual practice. Content and language instruction do not have to be separated from each other, as these activities show. They can be targeted in one instructional

 161

Teaching English through Mathematics  161 activity, as is the case with LA3 and LA4. In addition, the six activities engage students not only in reading, but also in listening, speaking and writing to some extent. As we emphasize explicitly and implicitly, it is not sufficient to target only the skills. Language instruction, whether through content or not, has to attend to form or language.The six activities all attend to some aspect of the English language, whether it is a saying, conjunctions, the term explain in math, a sentence pattern or discourse organization. In designing LAs around content materials, try not to lose sight of language.

8  Exercises 8.1  Multiple-​choice questions This section includes ten questions, which are based on Chapter 5. Some questions make reference to sections in Chapter 1. They are designed to encourage you to read carefully, reflect on what you read, and make connections, and to provide a quick check of your understanding. You should read this chapter and, if necessary, review relevant sections before and while attempting these questions. These questions have four or more choices. There might be more than one correct choice for some multiple-​choice questions, but your task is to select the best choice. (1) S5 in (2a) states that students need to learn how positive and negative numbers are used to represent quantities in real-​world contexts and understand the meaning of zero in each situation. Take temperatures above or below zero as an example. What does zero mean in this context? a. Zero means no temperature. b. Zero represents a reference point, usually a point that people can relate to easily. For instance, zero in Celsius refers to the freezing point of water. c. Zero represents the starting point of temperature. d. None of the three choices. (2) According to S6 in (3c) and (4c), students must develop the ability to analyze the author’s purpose in a text. When scientists describe a procedure or share how an experiment is conducted, what is the primary purpose? a.

to entertain

b.

to persuade

c.

to inform

d. to argue

(3) Read LA1 in the PowerPoint and the discussion of it in this chapter. What does it target? a. b.

language primarily & content secondarily content primarily & language secondarily

c. language & content equally d. content only (=​mathematics)

(4) LA2 targets conjunctions, which Professor Strogatz uses to highlight section relations and transitions and to combine sentences, paragraphs or sections into a larger piece of discourse. In addition to conjunctions, which Frodesen (2014: 247) call sentence connectors, there are two other types of cohesive devices writers use to glue together sentences, paragraphs and sections. One is what Frodesen calls lexical cohesion, that is, the use of identical or synonymous words, phrases or expressions. The other is what she calls reference words, that is, pronouns and articles like the whose meaning is dependent on what they refer to. Now read the following passage from Page 18 of The Enemy of My Enemy. Determine what device is used to connect these two paragraphs and how they

162

162  Teaching English through Mathematics are related in meaning. Note that only part of Paragraph 2 is included to save space. See Page 18 if you want to see the full paragraph. Of course, triangles can also be unbalanced. When three mutual enemies size up the situation, two of them –​often the two with the least animosity towards each other –​ may be tempted to join forces and gang up on the third. Even more unbalanced is a triangle with a single negative relationship. For instance… a. c.

Sentence connectors: concession Lexical cohesion: comparison

e.

Reference words: cause and effect

b. Sentence connectors: contrast d. Lexical cohesion: additional exemplification f. Reference words: claim and support

(5) LA3 starts with students re-​reading a passage in Step 1, which is followed by a group discussion of this passage in Step 2. Step 3 builds on the student discussion and offers direct instruction. This LA ends with a focus on what it means to “explain” in math. Which consideration discussed in Chapter 1 most directly guides the design of the first three steps? a. b.

Text and reading Form-​focused instruction

c. Provision of information on linguistic forms d. Repetition and iteration

(6) In Step 1 of LA3, students are directed to read a section of The Enemy of My Enemy. Which part of the two math standards in (2) does this step address? In other words, you are asked why this passage is selected. a. Understand that positive and negative numbers are used together to describe quantities having opposite directions or values. b. Use positive and negative numbers to represent quantities in real world contexts. c. Explain the meaning of 0 in different situations. d. Apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication and division and of fractions to multiply and divide rational numbers. (7) Consider LA4 and LA6 as laid out in the PowerPoint and discussed in Section 4. Review the reading standards in (3) and (4). Which two reading standards in (3) and (4) do these two LAs address most directly? a.

S2 and S5

b.

S5 and S6

c.

S6 and S7

d. S2 and S7

(8) LA5, which targets parenthetical expressions, comprises five steps. Examine Step 2 of this LA closely. Which consideration most directly informs the inclusion of this step? a. b.

Text and reading Form-​focused instruction

c. Provision of information on linguistic forms d. Repetition and iteration

(9) Steps 3 to 5 of LA5 provide three types of practice. Of the four considerations discussed in Chapter 1, which one most directly informs this aspect of the design of LA5? a. b.

Text and reading Form-​focused instruction

c. Provision of information on linguistic forms d. Repetition and iteration

(10) Two math standards are presented in (2). Read these standards and the discussion of these standards. Which two learning activities most directly address these two standards? a. e.

LA1 & LA2 LA2 & LA4

b. f.

LA3 & LA4 LA3 & LA5

c. f.

LA5 & LA6 LA3 & LA6

d. LA1 & LA3 g. LA4 & LA6

 163

Teaching English through Mathematics  163 8.2  Discussion/​reading response questions (11) S7 in (3d) and S7 in (4d) are concerned with the ability to “integrate” different kinds of information. Examine these two standards and consider these questions. First, what are different kinds of information you have seen in a math text, such as in a math textbook? Identify at least three different kinds. Second, how many different kinds of information are there in The Enemy of My Enemy? What are they? Third, what does it mean to “integrate” different kinds of information? And why is it important for students or teachers like you to have this ability? Fourth, which LA most directly develops this ability? Discuss how it advances this ability. (12) LA3 and LA4, the two during-​reading activities, both have a content focus. Examine these activities and identify two similarities in how they approach content instruction. Note that the question is on how they teach content, not what content they teach. Explain what they are with details from the two activities. Finally, explore how one of the similarities can be varied to teach ELs more effectively. To put it in another way, can you come up with another way to introduce the same content? (13) Step 5 of LA5 engages students in using parenthetical expressions to combine sentences. This step offers limited practice in using this structure. According to Larsen-​Freeman (2014: 260–​261), it is important for ELs to learn where a grammatical structure is or is not used when you teach use. In other words, this structure needs to be compared with other means of communication. And ELs need to learn which one to choose, given competing options, that is, which one is most appropriate in a given discourse context. Now consider how you can offer students practice in choosing the appropriate structure, with one structure being parenthetical expressions. Be specific. Try to come up with a concrete example of an assessment question so that students can evaluate parenthetical expressions together with other ways of expressing roughly the same idea. 8.3  Problems of application (14) Problem 1: LA1, a pre-​reading activity, assigns Chapter 3 of The Joy of X as homework and asks students to read it and consider how a language expression –​The enemy of my enemy is my friend –​is related to a math equation (-​1 ×-​1 =​+​1). Develop a follow-​up activity, one that checks whether students read and understand the chapter and how they respond to the question posed. Follow these guidelines in creating the activity. a. Build this activity as a follow up to LA1 and a transition to LA3. In other words, relate your activity to LA1 and LA3. Hint: Some suggestions are made regarding what to do after students read the assigned chapter. You can use these suggestions as a starting point. b. Include in this activity an opportunity for students to answer the question posed. Note that the answer to the question is eventually answered in LA3. Your job is to elicit students’ responses and link it to LA3, where this question is eventually answered. c. Design an activity which engages students in practicing at least three of the four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.

164

164  Teaching English through Mathematics (15) Problem 2: The six LAs discussed in this chapter are based on Chapter 3 –​ The Enemy of My Enemy –​of The Joy of X. Select any other chapter of this book and develop an activity with a focus on content and language. Present this activity in the form of a PowerPoint. One possibility is Chapter 5 of The Joy of X, which is entitled Division and Its Discontents on Pages 29–​34. a. Tie your content focus with the mathematics standards. List at the start of the PowerPoint the relevant math standards and the specific learning objective/​outcome targeted by your activity. b. Relate your language focus to the ELA standards. List at the start of the PowerPoint the relevant ELA standards and the specific learning objective/​outcome targeted by your activity c. Focus the instruction on units of language larger than words or phrases. In other word, target clause-​or sentence-​level structures or discourse. d. Spell out your direct instruction points, what it is that you intend to say on the targeted aspect of language. (16) Problem 3: Choose any mathematics textbook, select a chapter or unit of this textbook and use it to develop a learning activity designed to teach the English language. This math text can be selected by the professor or the student. If the text is selected by students, attach a copy of the text together with the PowerPoint. Follow these guidelines in creating this activity. a. Target units of language larger than individual words or phrases and develop a primarily language-​focused activity. b. Relate language learning with content learning in this activity if possible. For an example, see LA4. c. Design an activity that targets language use, not just meaning or form. In other words, your activity should involve students in using the targeted aspect of language in communication. d. Include explicit teaching of language, guided and independent practice as part of the steps in this activity.

References Cowan, R. (2008). The teacher’s grammar of English. Cambridge University Press. Fang, Z., & Schleppegrell, M. J. (2010). Disciplinary literacies across content areas: Supporting secondary reading through functional language analysis. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(7), 587–​597. Frodesen, J. (2014). Grammar in second language writing. In M. Celce-​Murcia, D. M. Brinton, & M. A. Snow (Eds.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (4th ed., pp. 238–​253). Heinle Cengage Learning. Grabe, W., & Stoller, F. L. (2001) Reading for academic purposes: Guidelines for the ESL/​EFL teacher. In M. Celce-​Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (3rd ed., pp. 187–​204). Heinle & Heinle. Larsen-​Freeman, D. (2014). Teaching grammar. In M. Celce-​Murcia, D. M. Brinton, & M. A. Snow (Eds.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (4th ed., pp. 256–​270). Heinle Cengage Learning. Peng, L. (2019, March 12–​15). Shifting the paradigm of vocabulary instruction from “telling” to “discovering” [Conference presentation]. TESOL 2019, Atlanta, GA, USA. Schleppgrell, M. J. (2007). The linguistic challenges of mathematics teaching and learning: A research review. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 23, 139–​159. Strogatz, S. (2012). The joy of x: A guided tour of math, from one to infinity. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

 165

Teaching English through Mathematics  165 University of the State of New York and the State Education Department. (2011a). New York State P-​12 Common Core Learning Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. www.p12.nysed.gov/​ciai/​ common_​core_​standards/​pdfdocs/​p12_​common_​core_​learning_​stadards_​ela.pdf. University of the State of New York and the State Education Department. (2011b). New York State P-​12 Common Core Learning Standards for Mathematics. www.p12.nysed.gov/​ciai/​common_​core_​standards/​ pdfdocs/​nysp12cclsmath.pdf.

166

6  Challenges and limitations of content-​based instruction

1  Introduction This textbook is concerned, first and foremost, with language instruction in content settings. It addresses two central questions: what it means to teach English as an additional language through content and how English can be taught in relation to content. In Chapter 1, we introduced CBLT, an approach that situates language instruction in the teaching of content. We examined how CBLT is defined, what has contributed to its development and what empirical support it has. Then, focusing on four school subjects –​Social Studies, Science, ELA, and Mathematics –​in Chapter 2 through Chapter 5, we demonstrated what language instruction integrated with these four subjects looks like.This demonstration takes the form of learning activities presented via PowerPoint. These activities start with content materials and show how they can be exploited for language as well as content instruction, providing detailed information on what language and content to target, how they can be taught, and what form integrated instruction takes. We explain in detail how the proposed activities can be enacted, supplying the rationales, relating them to learning standards and effective practices, organizing each activity in steps, describing how each step can be implemented, and suggesting alternatives. By combining activities with explanations of rationales and implementation, this textbook offers a practical and hands-​on guide not just of what language instruction in content settings looks like but also how it can be carried out to maximize language as well as content learning for ELs. This final chapter is concerned with the challenges for implementing CBLT. Like all instructional approaches to language teaching, CBLT has limitations. We examine four of them in this chapter, which are: a) difficulty of content-​based instruction; b) language limited by content and context; c) challenges posed by a content-​centric curriculum; and d) restricted coverage of language in content materials. We discuss what they are and suggest ways to overcome the limitations. A key point of this chapter is that CBLT is not a panacea. It is not this be-​all and end-​all approach to language instruction. Neither language nor content learning follows automatically from adopting the content-​based model. They depend on what you do. Teachers and administrators need to be aware of these limitations and take steps to address them if the dual goals of language and content learning are to be realized. When adopted as a model to deliver English language instruction for ELs, CBLT cannot and should not replace ESL instruction. It is best used as a piece of an overall ESL program, complementing and strengthening the English language instruction offered by a stand-​alone ESL course (Saunders et al., 2013). Before considering the limitations, we first review the key ideas, insights, and research findings concerning CBLT. This review serves as a refresher, which, we hope, will strengthen your understanding of what it means to teach English through content and advance your capability to construct and implement content-​based, language-​focused instruction for ELs and other students. DOI: 10.4324/9781003081005-6

 167

Content-based instruction  167

2  Review CBLT is defined by scholars and practitioners as integrated language and content instruction. It is not instruction in which content teaching happens sometimes and language teaching other times. It is certainly not instruction in which content teaching replaces language instruction. CBLT is integrated instruction, carefully planned to link language development with content learning. We stated in Chapter 1 that effective content-​based instruction is not just coordinated at the administrative and instructor levels. It needs to be integrated in instruction. This integration begins with selecting materials rich in language and content and stating clear language and content objectives as advocated by the SIOP model (Echevarría et al., 2008). But it does not end there. Rich materials and clear goals are an important starting point, but they do not guarantee effective integrated instruction. Integrated instruction requires developing and implementing instructional activities that take advantage of subject-​matter materials and target language and content goals. This is where teaching language through content poses the most challenge. It is the area that this textbook focuses on in Chapters 2 to 5. We showed through learning activities that even when an activity is aimed overtly at language, content does not have to be ignored. Integrating language teaching with content means: targeting language features prevalent in content materials and central to content understanding, focusing on sentences, paragraphs or passages that highlight language and content, exemplifying language use with examples that also reinforce content concepts, creating practice opportunities that strengthen language and content learning, and assessing language and content learning to gauge the impact of instruction. Put simply, integration can happen at every step of instruction. Content-​based language instructors must keep both language and content learning constantly in mind, even though language or content may be the main focus at a given moment. As an approach, CBLT takes many forms from total and partial immersion to sheltered instruction and theme-​based models according to Snow (2001; 2014). It has been tried in teaching a variety of languages as a second or foreign language. It has been a target of extensive experimentation and research in the past 50 years. According to this research, CBLT draws its insights from research and practice that include Anderson’s learning theory, recent research on brain imaging, Krashen’s theory of second language acquisition, the communicative language teaching approach, and approaches to English language instruction like English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and English for Academic Purposes (EAP). These theories and instructional approaches provide the formal underpinnings for teaching language through content. Integrating language development with subject-​matter learning has the potential to foster deeper learning by creating richer associations between content and language use. Subject-​ matter materials provide not just engaging and challenging content. They are an indispensable and rich source of language input to learners, introducing a more formal and academic register of language long recognized by ESP or EAP and illustrating how language is used to construct and convey knowledge in different occupations and fields of study. The findings in these areas are clear. If students are to further their language growth and acquire the disciplinary ways of language use, they must be exposed to lots of language input, as emphasized by Krashen. They must also have extensive opportunities to use it to communicate as advocated by the Communicative Approach. One main way to do this is to situate language learning in the study of content (see Section 3 of Chapter 1 for references). Experimentation and research over the past five decades have compared different content-​ based models and content-​based models with other methods of language instruction. These studies have generally concluded that content learning and first language development (reading and writing in the mother tongue) are not adversely affected by studying content through a second or foreign language. Student performances in content and in first language reading and

168

168  Content-based instruction writing are comparable, whether content is learned through a second language or the mother tongue. However, second language competence –​in particular, communicative competence –​ of those who study content via the second language is significantly better than that of those who study content through the first language and whose exposure to the second language is limited to the stand-​alone language course. This is due to the increased exposure and opportunities to use the second language made possible by learning content via the second language. This research has also uncovered the issues with CBLT. Those who learn content through a second language reveal limited vocabulary range. Their performance in most grammatical and sociolinguistic measures of the second language is worse than that of comparable native speakers, prompting the call for more explicit and direct instruction of the second language.These issues, we learned from research on teacher practices in content-​based classrooms (Swain, 1988; Creese, 2005; Bigelow et al., 2006; Tedick & Cammarata, 2012; and Nikula, 2015), arise from the fact that language is not always taught. Language instruction can easily be watered down to vocabulary or discipline-​specific terminology or lost entirely in the pressure to cover content. Language instruction can focus on comprehensible input and ignore the need for students to use the language to speak and write, that is, to communicate or produce output. Teachers can rely too much on content teaching to achieve language learning goals in the hope that students can pick up the language incidentally through studying content. These and other considerations have pointed to the need for intensifying language instruction and led us to stress the four principles in Chapter 1, which are: a) text and reading; b) form-​focused instruction; c) provision of information on linguistic forms; and d) repetition and iteration. Through text and reading, we wish to underscore the critical importance of written text as a vehicle for delivering content information and reading as a tool to access this information. Form-​focused instruction emphasizes the necessity for instructors to pay attention to language and teach it explicitly and directly. Let’s be clear: we do not mean by form just vocabulary, disciplinary terms, or sentence starters or stems. Form, as used in form-​focused instruction, refers broadly to language, which includes pronunciations, phrasal expressions, morphology, clause and sentence structures, discourse patterns, genre-​specific features, and rules and conventions of language use. Explicit and direct teaching is not equal to the lecture-​style expository type of teaching. Explicit teaching of language can be deductive or inductive, depending on the targeted language features, student background and other factors. The ultimate goal of such instruction is to share information on language use, expand ELs’ linguistic resources and enable them to communicate effectively. A crucial component of explicit teaching is to provide information on targeted language features, especially on function and use, such as where they might be used and how they differ from other ways of expressing the same ideas (Larsen-​Freeman, 2014). As experts of language, language teachers not only have the responsibility to know what they teach, but also the ethical obligation to share it with students, which is why we stress providing information on linguistic forms. Research on effective teaching practices has shown that learning takes place through repeated and iterative exposures to what is to be learned. These exposures can take many forms: preview, questioning, direct instruction, summarizing, modelling, guided and independent practice, assessments, review. These instructional activities, though varying in form, target the same learning goals repeatedly. It is important to understand the significance of repetition and iteration and to purposefully design learning activities that provide multiple opportunities for students to learn, either through multiple steps within one activity, through multiple activities, or through multiple lessons. Teaching is fundamentally about re-​teaching. This statement reflects not just the reactive nature of teaching in the sense of re-​visiting that which is taught but which students do not fully grasp. It emphasizes the need for repetition and iteration. Effective teachers anticipate what is likely to be difficult for students on the

 169

Content-based instruction  169 basis of past experiences and plan instruction accordingly to minimize difficulties and maximize student learning. A key component of this planning is to build into the design repeated opportunities for students to learn and re-​learn by engaging them in a variety of activities with the same learning goals. We hope that you will keep the four principles in mind when you develop content-​based language learning activities for your ELs and other students.

3  Challenges and limitations CBLT, if executed well, has the potential to advance students’ language development, develop content-​area literacy, and deepen disciplinary learning. The operative phrase is “if executed well”. The studies on CBLT, in particular, those focusing on how it is implemented, have identified many issues that can limit and impact the success of content-​based models. They include: missing or limited administrative support or coordination, lack of cooperation between content and language teachers, teacher identity and socialization (teachers identify themselves or are socialized to see themselves as either content or language teachers, not both), the primacy of content over language, restricted language or content teaching expertise, student attitudes and dispositions, the medium of instruction (which language is used) in content-​based classrooms, time and scheduling conflict, etc. (see, i.e. Creese, 2005; Tan, 2011; Tedick & Cammarata, 2012; Nikula, 2015; Martel, 2018; Lin 2019; Smetana et al., 2020). It is critical that teachers and administrators know and understand the full range of factors that can either improve or diminish the effectiveness of CBLT if its full potential is to be realized. In this section, we address the issues that arise with the implementation of CBLT, focusing in particular on those that pose a challenge for instruction. We discuss four of them and explore ways to address these challenges.They are: a) the difficulty of content-​based instruction; b) the language limited by content and context; c) the challenges posed by a curriculum organized around content; and d) the restricted coverage of language in content materials. To appreciate the challenges, we need to understand the larger context in which CBLT operates, in particular, the context of ESL and content instruction in the US K-​12 setting, which includes teacher preparation, roles of ESL and content teachers, curriculum and materials, standards and tests, etc. These challenges, unless understood and addressed, can impact the success of content-​based instruction. 3.1  Difficulty of content-​based instruction It is safe to assume that teaching language through content is at least as hard as teaching language without having to worry about content. We contend, however, that it is significantly more difficult.To teach any language such as ESL requires knowledge of language and linguistics, the target language, and language teaching methods, something Troyan et al. (2017: 461–​ 463) call Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Language (PCK-​L). To teach language through content demands, in addition, subject-​matter expertise and the means to pass on this expertise to students, that is, Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Content (PCK-​C).To do so in elementary and secondary schools in the US means knowing language and content standards. Consequently, more, actually much more, is demanded of those who teach language through content.The difficulty that teachers face in implementing CBLT, we believe, is underestimated and underappreciated. It is not something that can be turned on with a switch. To appreciate the challenge, let’s consider an analogy here, that of juggling balls with one hand. Most of us, if not all, can toss one ball into the air and catch it as it comes down. As soon as a second ball is introduced, the task of juggling becomes much more challenging. Without training and/​or a lot of practice, most of us cannot juggle two balls continuously. If

170

170  Content-based instruction we compare language to one ball and content to the other, then teaching language through content requires teachers to juggle two balls. In reality, language is a complex and difficult subject to teach in itself. If we add content to it, the task becomes significantly more challenging. This difficulty is reflected in the learning activities and lesson plans developed by our TESOL candidates. When asked to develop content-​based language learning activities or lessons, they tended to leave either content or language out, more often with content being the first ball to drop. We also observed this in content-​based language lessons delivered by pre-​service and in-​service teachers. Swain (1988) and others have observed similar phenomena, reporting, for instance, the scarcity of language teaching in content classes. Lyster and Ballinger (2011) state that attempts to infuse form-​focused instruction in content teaching depend mostly on interventions from university researchers, who often design the language-​focused instruction and provide the necessary professional development. Teacher-​initiated efforts to teach language in content-​based classrooms are rare. These phenomena, we believe, point to the inherent difficulty that comes with having to juggle both language and content teaching. The challenge is rooted partially in the limited preparation and experience teachers have in teaching both language and content. For ESL or content teachers, their preparation and experience are limited to either ESL or a specific school subject.Those who major in TESOL receive little to no training in teaching any content subject.Their student teaching experience is often restricted to teaching ESL as a stand-​alone subject. Once they enter the teaching profession, their experience is similarly restricted. ESL teachers typically enter the content-​based setting in one of two scenarios. They push into content courses and are expected to provide language teaching and support, with content teachers shouldering most of the responsibility for content teaching. Or they are expected to teach both language and content themselves. Even in the first scenario, ESL teachers need to have some understanding of content and what Troyan et al. (2017: 461–​463) call PCK-​C. The challenge is greater for those ESL teachers in the second scenario. The same is true of content teachers. Their expertise is often restricted to a particular subject. Their professional identity is that of a content specialist, not a language or literacy teacher. Even though there is renewed focus on developing the literacy expertise of content teachers in teacher preparation programs, they often have limited preparation in working with ELs and teaching English for this group of learners. This lack of expertise to teach either language or content, combined with the pressures from standards and high-​stake tests and restricted language coverage in content materials (which we will discuss shortly), renders the meaningful and effective implementation of content-​based instruction very difficult. Schools and districts have responded to this challenge by offering professional development workshops. Some have adopted content-​based models such as SDAIE and SIOP and offered training in using these programs. These efforts are a good start, but they are not sufficient. For teachers to develop knowledge of the target language or content and the expertise to teach it takes time. For them to develop another professional identity either as a language or content specialist takes even more time. It is not something that can be accomplished in a short time. For professional development to work, it needs to be ongoing and sustained well beyond such workshops. Teachers need to form learning communities. These learning communities need to cross discipline boundaries. ESL teachers cannot just talk with other ESL teachers. Content teachers cannot interact with content teachers only. They need to learn from each other, as either side has knowledge and expertise the other side does not. These communities do not need to be large or school-​wide. They can consist of as few as two teachers: one language and one content teacher. Administrators need to recognize the need for professional development and teacher learning communities and enable and encourage such inter-​disciplinary exchanges and collaboration to happen on a regular basis.

 171

Content-based instruction  171 But regardless of whether such workshops or communities exist, it is important to realize that the best way to learn to teach anything is through experience. Teacher preparation programs and professional development can only do so much. Much of what effective teachers know and learn is through experience, that is, through experimentation and monitoring of how things go and how students respond to instruction. Student responses can be questions they ask, answers they provide, presentations they make, essays they produce, exercise and test items they miss, and errors they make. Analyses of and reflections on student reactions and work can go a long way towards teaching you what and how to teach.They can reveal what is or is not challenging and what method or strategy works or does not work for ELs and other students. If you open your eyes to what your students do, you can learn a lot about teaching language or content or language through content. 3.2  Language limited by content and context Many scholars and practitioners have drawn attention to the unique features of academic language and the need to teach them. Cummins (1979; 2008) distinguishes Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP). He suggests that conversational language, used for interpersonal communication, is distinct from academic language. He further suggests that it takes significantly longer for ELs to develop proficiency in the academic language. One prominent feature of academic language is content-​specific terminology and the distinct use of vocabulary to convey concepts and ideas in different subjects. This is something that learning standards such as the CCSS have seized upon and an area that content-​based models like the SIOP model have focused on (see Short et al., 2011a & 2011b). In her book entitled “The Language of Schooling: A Functional Linguistics Perspective”, Schleppegrell (2004) discusses the linguistic features of academic language and how they differ from the more informal conversational language. She contends that English, which is used to construct and convey knowledge in content subjects, is distinct not just in word choices but in many other things. For example, history discourse, according to Schleppegrell et al. (2004: 74–​75), is characterized by, among other things, nominalizations (expressing events as nouns such as Reconstruction or Missouri Compromise), reasoning within the clause (using verbs such as establish and result in rather than because or so), and ambiguous use of conjunctions. Mathematics texts are marked by features such as “the multi-​semiotic formations of mathematics” (the simultaneous use of natural language, mathematic symbolic language, and visual representations like graphs to construct and convey knowledge in mathematics), long and densely packed noun phrases (i.e. the volume of a rectangular prism with sides 8, 10, and 12 cm), and conjunction use such as if (which is more precise and different from its conversational meaning) (Schleppegrell, 2007: 139). Clearly, content materials, which are rich with these language features and structures, are the way to introduce and expose students to discipline-​ specific uses of language. Just as content materials are rich with some language features, they lack in others, constrained by their content focus. We discussed in Chapter 1 the limitations of a content class on language learning identified by Swain (1988). According to Swain, the linguistic input students receive in a typical content class is functionally limited; some uses of language either do not occur naturally or appear only to a limited extent. Moreover, the context of schooling imposes additional constraints, favoring some language uses and limiting others. Swain (1988) offered an example from French immersion programs. She reported that French immersion teachers tended to overuse the present and imperative forms of verbs in French and under-​use the imperfect, which she attributed to be a key reason explaining

172

172  Content-based instruction why students struggled with the imperfect form. Cummins et al. (1990) found much less use of conditional verb forms to express politeness in the French produced by native English-​ speaking students who studied it in a content-​based environment. If ELs’ exposure to English is through content alone, then this input is incomplete and restricted by both the content subjects they study and the school context. Put simply, the content subjects and the school context do not provide the full range of language input that ELs need. In particular, the full range of language used for social and interpersonal communication is likely to be limited. As literacy is the main focus of schooling, reading and writing instruction may be emphasized at the expense of listening and speaking. Teachers and administrators should be aware of this limitation with CBLT and understand that ELs need BICS just as much as CALP. The lack of BICS limits ELs’ interactions with native English-​speaking peers and adults around them and reduces their exposure to the target language. BICS is critical for another reason. It is what students rely on, say, to understand teacher explanations, to ask questions, to interact with teachers and peers, and to show their understanding. It is an important tool ELs need to access content and language. For native English-​speaking students, their ability to listen and speak is developed to a large extent before they enter the school. This ability is continuously strengthened by interactions with family members, relatives, peers, and neighbors outside the school. This is rarely the case with ELs. They tend to come from an environment where English is used to a limited extent or not spoken at all. ELs cannot rely on the home environment to acquire the social and interpersonal language. As teaching language through content focuses more on the formal academic language, it cannot fully address their needs for BICS. In light of this and other limitations (to be discussed shortly), we cannot be solely dependent on CBLT to deliver English language instruction for ELs. Effective language programs for ELs should include a separate, dedicated block of time for ELs to study English, coupled with learning it through content subjects. Such a two-​pronged approach –​dedicated time for language learning supported by language teaching and literacy development in content subjects –​is beneficial to all ELs. But it is indispensable for ELs with beginning or intermediate language proficiency. This is what Saunders et al. (2013: 23) recommend following their synthesis of decades of research on effective instructional practices for ELs. Of the fourteen recommendations they make for English language development (ELD) instruction, five are relevant here: (1) Five relevant recommendations (R =​Recommendation) a. R1: Providing ELD instruction is better than not providing it; b. R2: ELD instruction should continue at least until ELs attain advanced English language ability; c. R4: A separate, daily block of time should be devoted to ELD instruction; d. R7: ELD instruction should emphasize academic language as well as conversational language; e. R8: ELD instruction should incorporate reading and writing, but should emphasize listening and speaking. By ELD instruction, they mean instruction that is dedicated to advancing the overall English proficiency of ELs. It refers to instruction typically offered by ESL classes. According to Saunders et al. (2013), there is clear evidence that offering English language instruction benefits ELs more than not offering it.There should be dedicated time to language instruction on a daily basis. This instruction should be sustained until ELs attain advanced proficiency. It should focus on academic language and reading and writing. But it should also target conversational language and listening and speaking, areas that do not receive as much attention from

 173

Content-based instruction  173 a content-​based approach. In short, CBLT is not sufficient by itself. It needs to be coupled with ELD instruction to address the needs of ELs. 3.3  Challenges posed by a content-​centric curriculum In content-​based models, content materials often form the core curriculum used to teach content and language.This curriculum is informed, of course, by content standards and organized around content considerations. Content concerns can include, for example, what topics must be covered, what concepts and skills students are expected to acquire, how different content topics, concepts, and skills relate to one another and how they should be organized or sequenced in a curriculum, what is easy or difficult for students, etc.To put it simply, a content curriculum is driven by content goals and structured around subject-​matter concerns. It is not organized around the objectives and considerations of the target language. A content-​centered curriculum presents a number of challenges for language instruction. In discussing the restrictions imposed on language use by content and context in Section 3.2, we stated that some language features tend to be prevalent in content texts while other language features are missing or rare. For example, science texts in English tend to use the timeless present tense in reporting science findings and discussing science concepts. Other verb tenses such as past, present and past perfect, and progressive do not appear as often in such texts. As these tenses are equally important for ELs to acquire, the challenge is how to make sure that they are introduced to these other tenses. To put it more broadly, the challenge for using a content-​centric curriculum for language instruction is how to insure that ELs receive as input the full range of language structures they need. In a curriculum dictated by content, topics are sequenced around content considerations, concerns such as how different concepts are related and how they can be introduced in a way to highlight this relation, or what topics are easy or difficult and how the curriculum should be organized in such a way as to ease students gradually into more challenging topics. In other words, what to teach first or second depends on content considerations. It is not ordered around language concerns. This can be difficult for language teaching. Take for example the present perfect tense in English (e.g. John has written books), which is used to communicate an action or event that started in the past but has been completed at the present time. For students to understand this tense and how it is used, they first need to have some understanding of present and past tenses and where they are used (e.g. John writes books and John wrote books). As ELs are likely to be less familiar with the present perfect due to their first language and as it is generally a more difficult tense to acquire, the present perfect tense is often taught after students have been exposed to the present and the past tense in a curriculum organized around the English language. The same applies to the passive voice (e.g. Tom was hit by a car or Tom was hit). Instruction of the passive voice typically happens after students learned the active voice (e.g. A car hit Tom) and have some understanding of the fact that the agent of an action is emphasized in active voice (that is, a car, not a bus, hit Tom). It is easier for students to understand that the agent is demoted by the use of passive voice and that the focus shifts to the action and the recipient of the action in passive sentences (that is, Tom and hit in Tom was hit by a car or Tom was hit), when juxtaposed with the use of active voice. To teach the passive structure, teachers need to understand how the passive and active voices are related, how they are distinct, and what difficulty the passive construction poses for students. They need to be aware of what students know or do not know about the active voice and intentionally build in this background when they introduce the passive construction. The point we wish to make with these examples is that language structures which are more complex and whose understanding is dependent on knowing other structures may appear first in content materials and pose a challenge for language instruction.

174

174  Content-based instruction Perhaps the most serious challenge posed by a content-​centric curriculum is how to ensure that language knowledge and skills are systematically developed and reinforced. Such a curriculum organizes the instruction according to the logic of content.To use such a curriculum for language instruction runs several risks.The target language can be presented in bits and pieces. The language instruction is likely to be scattered and unfocused. Large and important chunks of the target language may remain untaught. One way to solve some of these problems is for individual language or content teachers to keep track of what language is covered and what is not and to systematically target those language features and structures that are central to a content subject. But to solve these problems at the program level, teachers and administrators need to be aware of the limitations of CBLT and understand that it is best used in conjunction with –​not in place of –​a coherent and well-​thought-​out ESL program.We advocated in Section 3.2, following Saunders et al. (2013), that a separate and daily block of time be devoted to the study of the English language. The curriculum and materials used during this dedicated block of time can and should relate to the content subjects as much as possible. But they should prioritize language learning and be structured around language considerations. The curriculum should be designed in such a way as to develop ELs’ English language systematically and thoroughly. It needs to emphasize conversational language and target listening and speaking in addition to academic language and reading and writing. A stand-​alone ESL course, when combined with language instruction through content, can address the issues posed by an approach that relies solely on teaching language through content. 3.4  Restricted coverage of language in content materials In preparing our TESOL candidates to teach English through content, we examined textbooks and materials used to teach ELA, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies. This examination, even though by no means thorough, reveals that the coverage of the English language is highly restricted. Where the language is targeted for instruction, it is frequently constrained to vocabulary. Even this vocabulary focus is narrow (see (Short, 1997: 219) and the references cited there). It targets mostly individual words and very few phrasal expressions, leans towards terminology rather than the general-​use academic vocabulary identified by Coxhead (2000), and zeroes in only on meaning and ignores form and use. Content terms are presented as though they are an unanalyzable whole. For instance, the expressions such as the French Revolution or the Cultural Revolution are introduced without pointing out that the word revolution can mean something different and appear independently of French or cultural. Almost non-​ existent is attention to word relations, morphology, grammatical structures, discourse patterns, and genre features. In addition, the language focus, if present, is rarely backed up by additional examples, exercises or assessments. This is not just the case with materials in Mathematics and Science, but also with Social Studies and ELA. This lack of attention to English as a language is troubling, especially with respect to ELA, as native English speakers need to learn English as well. If English is not targeted for instruction in ELA, where is it supposed to be learned? The upshot of all of this is that content materials are designed to teach content, not language. The highly restricted coverage of language in content materials is a significant barrier to language instruction and literacy development if CBLT is to rely on content materials. Teachers depend on the curriculum and materials for instruction and guidance. They rely at least partially on the curriculum and materials to identify what to teach, to provide a guide on how to teach, and to supply examples, practices and assessments for instructional use. If language teaching opportunities are not identified in the curriculum and supported by materials, the message it sends to content as well as language teachers is that only content is worth

 175

Content-based instruction  175 teaching. It is not hard to imagine how this does not limit language instruction, especially with the pressure to teach content. One cannot help but wonder how much language instruction is likely to occur and how effective it can be in such circumstances.We have seen this reflected in content-​based classes. In the observations we have made, language instruction is scarce, even in classes taught by ESL and ELA teachers, those with the training and responsibility to teach the English language. According to the research we reviewed in Chapter 1 and this chapter, language instruction in content-​based settings tends to be incidental, not planned. Most attempts to infuse form-​focused instruction in content-​based instruction involve interventions and professional development support from university researchers. Some of the more common difficulties teachers experience in implementing CBLT are determining what language to teach and lacking language-​teaching expertise, both of which stem partially from content materials with missing language coverage. For these reasons, it is critical that teachers and those in charge of the curriculum and material selection understand this limitation of content materials and appreciate the challenge it poses for meaningful language instruction. Language teaching matters not just to language and literacy development. It is crucial to subject-​matter learning. Thus solutions must be found to mitigate this limitation and supply what is missing from content materials. This can start with identifying and adopting content materials that address language as well, if they exist. If they do not exist, then consider supplementing content materials with language-​ focused resources. These solutions can address the problem partially. But even to do this, you need to know what language is, what it means to teach language, and what it means to teach language through content. Thus language and content teachers need to develop the ability to see and appreciate language teaching opportunities in content materials and to take advantage of them for content-​based language-​focused instruction. This way, language teaching can be put back into the curriculum, even when it is missing or not emphasized in the selected curriculum and materials. This is the main reason why we wrote this textbook. Through the learning activities laid out in the PowerPoints and explained in Chapter 2 through 5, we try to develop your understanding of what it means to teach the English language and teach it through the four content areas. These activities don’t just identify what language feature or structure can be targeted for instruction. They illustrate how. In addition, to heighten your awareness of language in content materials and the rich potential for language teaching, we highlight additional language teaching ideas from the same content materials. We believe that once you understand what language is and what it means to teach language through content, you will see that language-​teaching opportunities abound even in resources designed exclusively for content.

4  Conclusion We started this chapter with a review, through which we underscored what CBLT is and is not. Content-​based instruction is integrated instruction in which language instruction is linked with and embedded in content teaching. This integration can happen at every step of instruction from selecting sentences and passages that highlight language as well as content to using examples that exemplify content concepts and language use, from listening and reading to speaking and writing, and from guided and individual practices to assessments with both a language and a content focus. This approach to language instruction has theoretical and empirical support from research, which shows that learning content through a second language not only does not reduce content or first language learning. It enhances second language learning. This research also uncovers problems with content-​based instruction that led to the push for more form-​focused instruction, instruction in which language is explicitly

176

176  Content-based instruction targeted and opportunities are provided for students to use it for authentic communicative purposes. Like all approaches to language instruction, content-​based instruction has its limitations. It can be harder to implement, because it requires both language and content teaching expertise. The language input provided by content-​based models, though potentially more relevant, meaningful, and engaging to learners, can be restricted by the academic content and the schooling context. Language instruction that is dependent on materials organized around content can be fragmented, incomplete and sequenced in such a way to limit its effectiveness. Content materials rarely provide the language focus and coverage, limiting their usefulness for language teaching.We discuss these challenges not to dismiss its potential or discourage its use, but to make it clear that it is not a silver bullet. For effective language instruction to take place in content settings, steps must be taken, steps such as providing sustained professional development, forming learning communities, coupling content-​based language instruction with stand-​alone ESL instruction, and, most importantly, developing teachers’ own capabilities to identify and teach language through content. Unless these actions are taken, its impact on language learning by ELs and other students is likely to be limited. It is our sincere wish that by understanding the limitations, you will proactively address the challenges presented by CBLT, avoid the pitfalls, and harness its full potential. Let’s make one final point clear. There is a perception out there that taking time to teach language can result in loss in content learning, because time not spent on content is time lost for content learning. This perception and its reasoning are wrong. Students need language to access content. Without it, they cannot access content or their access to content is limited. Ask yourself this question! How can content understanding not be affected by not knowing the language that constructs and conveys that content? We contend that effective language instruction, even if it takes time away from content, can lead to gain in content learning because such instruction develops and strengthens the very tool students need to acquire content knowledge. More importantly, when you offer language instruction, you are not just giving them the tool to access a particular piece of content knowledge. You are giving them the tool to access all content information. As the saying goes, if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.When you teach language, you are teaching your students to “fish”, so to speak.

5  Exercises 5.1  Multiple-​choice questions This section includes ten questions.These ten questions are based on Chapter 6, but they make references to previous chapters. They are designed to encourage you to read carefully, reflect on what you read, make connections, and to provide a quick check of your understanding.You should read this chapter and, if necessary, review relevant sections before and while attempting these questions. The multiple-​choice questions have four or more choices. There might be more than one correct choice for some multiple-​choice questions, but your task is to select the best one. (1) According to Section 2, which statement is not true if effective content-​based language instruction is to take place? a. Effective CBLT takes place as long as administrators and teachers work together. b. CBLT can be effective if language instruction is integrated with content teaching. c. Effective CBLT requires, among other things, an intentional focus on language.

 177

Content-based instruction  177 d. Effective CBLT depends, among other things, on carefully planned instruction which provides students with multiple opportunities to learn and practice the targeted language feature or structure. (2) Research on content-​based instruction has looked into the second language that is learned through content. These studies reveal that it is worse than that of comparable native speakers in vocabulary range, grammatical accuracy, and appropriacy of language use. Look back at the learning activities discussed in Chapter 2 through Chapter 5 and determine which type of activity most directly addresses this problem. a. b.

pre-​reading activities during-​reading activities

c. post-​reading activities d. pre-​reading and during-​reading activities

(3) In discussing the difficulty of implementing content-​based instruction in Section 3.1, what does this chapter advocate as the most effective way to address this challenge? a. b.

forming learning communities c. participating in professional development collaborating with content teachers d. learning from experiences

(4) Section 3.2 points out that the input, that is, the language which is used to convey content subjects and communicate with others in the school context, can be limited in a number of ways. In what way is this input limited? a. b. c.

limited focus on BICS limited focus on CALP limited teacher expertise

d. limited in some language features and uses e. (a) and (b) f. (a) and (d)

(5) In light of the limitations imposed on input by content and context, this section advocates that a. ELs receive English language instruction only in self-​contained ESL classes. b. ELs receive English language instruction only in content-​based settings. c. ELs receive English language instruction in self-​contained ESL classes and in content settings. d. English language instruction for ELs should be strengthened by targeting exclusively conversational language and listening and speaking first. (6) According to Section 3.3, a curriculum centered around content presents a number of problems for language teaching. Which one is not one of these problems? a.

Some language features are prevalent while others are absent or nearly so, which can lead to the over-​teaching of some features and under-​teaching of others. b. Information is organized around content, not language concerns, which can lead to problems such as introducing more complex language structures before simpler ones. c. Language instruction can be unfocused, unsystematic, and incomplete, if CBLT is to rely on a content-​centric curriculum. d. Content teachers lack language teaching expertise. Language teachers lack content-​teaching expertise. (7) Content materials tend to provide no or restricted language coverage according to Section 3.4. How does this restriction manifest itself in materials focused on content? a. b.

Limited to vocabulary Limited to terminology

e. f.

(a), (b) and (c) (a), (b) and (d)

178

178  Content-based instruction c. Limited to meaning d. Limited language practice

g. (b), (c) and (d) h. (a), (b), (c) and (d)

(8) K-​12 teachers are often urged to relate their instruction to current events, when appropriate and relevant. There are good reasons for doing so. One reason is that teachers have a responsibility to help students make sense of current events, especially those that directly or indirectly affect them and their families. In addition, such instruction can be more relevant, meaningful, and engaging to students, because they or their families are impacted. A third benefit, according to Kane (1996), is that news stories can be used to teach grammar and other language features as well. What is the relation, if any, between teaching language through content and teaching grammar through news stories? a. There is no relation between the two. b. There is a similarity between the two; both encourage language teaching by linking it with communication and actual language use. c. Teaching grammar through news stories is different from teaching language through content; the former targets the form of language, while the latter is concerned with content and meaning. d. None of the above (9) Kane (1996: 90) states: “If we don’t stretch our students’ minds by giving them rich text to grapple with during our language lessons, we as teachers will be condemned by the adjective “GUILTY” when we stand before the court of meaning.” One example of rich language use she cited on Page 89 is as follows: Orenthal James Simpson, who earned fame for running, will now go down in history for walking. A jury… after deliberations shorter than most of Simpson’s football games, acquitted him of murder” What does Kane mean by “rich” of “rich text”? Rich in what? In addition, which expression or expressions are examples of rich language use in this sentence? a. b.

rich in wealth; c. ­example =​O. J. Simpson rich in meaning; d. ­examples =​ running, and walking

rich in the number of words used; ­examples =​ earned fame; acquitted him of murder. rich in form (as opposed to meaning or use); ­example =​ go down in history for walking

(10) Examine the three language standards for ELA in (5) of Chapter 5. Which one is concerned with this aspect of language, that is, rich language use? a.

S2 in (5a)

b.

S3 in (5b)

c.

S5 in (5c)

d. None of them

5.2  Discussion/​reading response questions (11) Review Chapter 2 to Chapter 5 and examine the different ways in which language instruction is integrated with content teaching. Discuss what they are, with a focus on integration in instruction. In addition, come up with one other way in which language development can be linked with content learning in instruction. Spell it out in as much detail as possible. (12) Section 3 considers four challenges for implementing content-​based instruction, two of which are: a) language limited by content and context; and b) restricted coverage of

 179

Content-based instruction  179 language in content materials. Read these sections and determine how they are similar and different. Discuss the similarities and differences. Be specific and support your claims with details and examples. (13) Select a video of content or content-​based instruction for your students to watch and observe. On the basis of the video, determine whether English is taught along with content. If language is taught, discuss what it is and how. In addition, determine which aspect of language –​form, meaning and use –​is targeted. In other words, ask yourself whether you see some of the same issues with language teaching in content settings we discussed in this chapter. Finally, explore one way in which the teacher can hone in on language in the observed content instruction. 5.3  Problems of application (14) Problem 1: Select a textbook on a content subject and use it to examine language teaching. This can be a textbook your students use, if they are in a student teaching or field placement. Analyze this book to see whether English as a language is targeted for instruction and, if so, what is targeted. Write a book review, evaluating its view on language teaching and literacy development. Consider these questions. a. As a book on content, its text is obviously concerned with content. In evaluating the textbook, focus on questions, exercises and other things students are expected to do. Do they focus on language at all? b. If language is part of the target, which aspect of language does the book hone in on? Vocabulary, terminology, phrasal expressions, clause or sentence patterns, discourse structure and organization, genre features, language use, etc.? c. If vocabulary is targeted for instruction, does it concentrate mostly on discipline-​ specific terms? Or is it broader, with attention to general-​ use or academic vocabulary? d. If language is targeted, does it target only meaning? Does it teach form and use? e. Consider two ways in which language teaching can be strengthened. Discuss what language can be taught using this textbook and provide some details on how language teaching can take place. (15) Problem 2: Observe a series of lessons on a content subject (minimally two and preferably three to five lessons over the course a week). Analyze these lessons to determine if language is taught and discuss ways in which language teaching can be strengthened. Follow these guidelines. a. Review the subject-​matter materials upon which these lessons are based. Do these materials target language? If so, what do they focus on? b. Observe the lessons based on these content materials. Compare what you see with what is covered in content materials. Do these lessons target language? If so, what is it? Has the focus on language become narrower or broader when implemented? c. Explore how language teaching can be strengthened in these content classes. Even if these content lessons include a focus on language, consider how this focus can be broadened and deepened. To broaden language instruction, consider whether there are missed opportunities for language teaching. In other words, are there additional aspects of language that are central to content understanding and worth teaching? To deepen language learning, consider, for example, whether there are opportunities to push for teaching more than meaning and understanding and aim at use.

180

180  Content-based instruction (16) Problem 3: Observe a series of at least three ESL lessons or examine your own ESL classes. Analyze these lessons to determine whether content is emphasized and discuss ways in which content learning can be strengthened. Follow these guidelines. a. Review the language materials upon which these lessons are based. Do these language materials link with ELA, Mathematics, Science or Social Studies? If so, what content concepts or skills do they target? b. Observe and examine the instruction based on these language materials. Compare the observed instruction with the language materials. Does the instruction have a content focus? If so, what is it? Has the focus on content become narrower or broader when implemented? c. Explore how content teaching can be strengthened in these language classes. Even if these language lessons contain some content instruction, consider how the link with content can be broadened and deepened. Ask whether there are missed opportunities for content teaching. Are there links to content that can be made but have not been? Are there opportunities to push for more than meaning and understanding, such as opportunities for application and synthesis?

References Bigelow, M., Ranney, S., & Dahlman, A. (2006). Keeping the language focus in content-​based ESL instruction through proactive curriculum-​planning. TESL Canada Journal, 24(1), 40–​58. Coxhead, A. (2000). A new academic word list. TESOL Quarterly, 34(2), 213–​238. Creese, A. (2005). Is this content-​based language teaching? Linguistics and Education, 16, 188–​204. Cummins, J. (1979). Cognitive/​academic language proficiency, linguistic interdependence, and the optimum age question and some other matters. Working Papers on Bilingualism, 19, 121–​129. Cummins, J. (2008). BICS and CALP: Empirical and theoretical status of the distinction. Encyclopedia of Language and Education, 2(2), 71–​83 Cummins, J., Long, M. H., & Richards, J. C. (1990). The development of second language proficiency. Cambridge University Press. Echevarria, J.,Vogt, M., & Short, D. J. (2008). Making content comprehensible for English learners: The SIOP model (3rd ed.). Pearson Education, Inc. Kane, S. (1996). What part of speech is O. J. Simpson?: Teaching grammar and style through the news. English Journal, November, 88–​90 Larsen-​Freeman, D. (2014). Teaching grammar. In M. Celce-​Murcia, D. M. Brinton, & M. A. Snow (Eds.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (4th ed., pp. 256–​270). Heinle Cengage Learning. Lin, A. M.Y. (2019). Theories of trans/​languaging and trans-​semiotizing: Implications for content-​based education classrooms. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 22(1), 5–​16. Lyster, R., & Ballinger, S. (2011). Content-​based language teaching: Convergent concerns across divergent contexts. Language Teaching Research, 15(3), 279–​288. Martel, J. (2018). Three foreign language student teachers’ experiences with content-​based instruction: Exploring the identity/​innovation interface. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 12(4), 303–​315. Nikula, T. (2015). Hands-​on tasks in CLIL science classrooms as sites for subject-​specific language use and learning. System, 54, 14–​27. Saunders, W., Goldenberg, C., & Marcelletti, D. (2013). English language development: Guidelines for instruction. American Educator, 37(2), 13–​25 & 38–​39. Schleppegrell, M. J. (2004). The Language of Schooling: A Functional Linguistics Perspective. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Schleppegrell, M. J. (2007). The linguistic challenges of mathematics teaching and learning: A research review. Reading & Writing Quarterly, 23, 139–​159. Schleppegrell, M. J., Achugar, M., & Oteiza, T. (2004). The grammar of history: Enhancing content-​ based instruction through a functional focus on language. TESOL Quarterly, 38(1), 67–​93.

 181

Content-based instruction  181 Short, D. J. (1997). Reading and ’riting and … social studies: Research on integrated language and content in secondary classrooms. In M. A. Snow & D. M. Brinton (Eds.), The content-​based classroom: Perspectives on integrating language and content (pp. 213–​232). Longman. Short, D. J., Vogt, M., & Echevarria, J. (2011a). The SIOP model for teaching science to English learners. Pearson Education, Inc. Short, D. J.,Vogt, M., & Echevarria, J. (2011b). The SIOP model for teaching history-​social studies to English learners. Pearson Education, Inc. Smetana, L. K., Sanel, J. C., & Heineke, A. J. (2020). Pedagogical language knowledge: An investigation of a science teacher candidate’s student teaching strengths and struggles. Action in Teacher Education, 42(2), 149–​166. Snow, M. A. (2001). Content-​based and immersion models for second and foreign language teaching. In M. Celce-​Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (3rd ed., pp. 303–​318). Heinle & Heinle. Snow, M. A. (2014). Content-​based and immersion models for second/​foreign language teaching. In M. Celce-​Murcia, D. M. Brinton, & M. A. Snow (Eds.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (4th ed., pp. 438–​454). Heinle Cengage Learning. Swain, M. (1988). Manipulating and complementing content teaching to maximize second language teaching. TESL Canada Journal, 6(1), 68–​83. Tan, M. (2011). Mathematics and science teachers’ beliefs and practices regarding the teaching of language in content learning. Language Teaching Research, 15(3), 325–​342. Tedick, D. J., & Cammarata, L. (2012). Content and language integration in K-​12 contexts: Student outcomes, teacher practices, and stakeholder perspectives. Foreign Language Annals, 45(S1), S28-​S53. Troyan, F. J., Cammarata, L., & Martel, J. (2017). Integration PCK: Modeling the knowledge(s) underlying a world language teacher’s implementation of CBI. Foreign Language Annals, 50(2), 458–​476.

182

Appendices

Assessment 1: Constructing Metaphors (Related to LA1 in the PowerPoint for Chapter 1) Name_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_            ​Score_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​ Directions: In what follows, you are presented with five abstract nouns. Your tasks are to use each of the five nouns to construct a metaphor of the kind used by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and to make a sentence using your metaphor. Recall that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s metaphors take this form: the/​a (concrete noun) of (abstract noun). Construct metaphors of a similar kind. The five abstract nouns come from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s speech. We present his metaphors next to the abstract nouns so that you can see what he compared the abstract nouns to. This assignment asks you to consider what else these abstract nouns can be compared to. In what follows, I present a worked example that illustrates what you need to do. Worked Example: discrimination:  MLK’s metaphor =​the chains of discrimination Your metaphor:   the cancer of discrimination Your sentence:    F  or years since the Emancipation Declaration, the United States of America was sickened by the cancer of discrimination. Note that I compare discrimination to cancer in this example, rather than to chains used by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As this example shows, you are asked to create a metaphor and place it right after “Your metaphor” and then use the metaphor in a sentence. This assessment is worth10 points, with 1 point for the metaphor and 1 point for the sentence. This assessment is due on …. 1. segregation: MLK’s metaphor =​the manacles of segregation or the dark and desolate valley of segregation Your metaphor: _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​__​​ Your sentence: _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​__​ _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​__​ _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​__​

 183

Appendices  183 2. poverty: MLK’s metaphor =​a lonely island of poverty Your metaphor: _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​__​​ Your sentence: _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​__​ _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​__​ _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​__​ 3. prosperity: MLK’s metaphor =​a vast ocean of material prosperity Your metaphor: _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​__​​ Your sentence: _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​__​ _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​__​ _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​__​ 4. justice: MLK’s metaphor =​the sunlit path of racial justice Your metaphor: _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​__​​ Your sentence: _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​__​ _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​__​ _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​__​ 5. discontent: MLK’s metaphor =​this sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent Your metaphor: _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​__​​ Your sentence: _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​__​ _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​__​ _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​__​

184

184 Appendices

Appendix A PowerPoint Slides for Chapter 1: Relevant to Questions 7–10 in Section 7.1

 185

Appendices  185

186

186 Appendices

 187

Appendices  187

188

188 Appendices

 189

Appendices  189

190

190 Appendices

 191

Appendices  191

192

192 Appendices

Appendix B PowerPoint Slides for Chapter 2: Teach English through Social Studies

 193

Appendices  193

194

194 Appendices

 195

Appendices  195

196

196 Appendices

 197

Appendices  197

198

198 Appendices

 199

Appendices  199

200

200 Appendices

 201

Appendices  201

202

202 Appendices

 203

Appendices  203

204

204 Appendices

 205

Appendices  205

206

206 Appendices

 207

Appendices  207

208

208 Appendices

Appendix C PowerPoint Slides for Chapter 3: Teach English through Science

 209

Appendices  209

210

210 Appendices

 211

Appendices  211

212

212 Appendices

 213

Appendices  213

214

214 Appendices

 215

Appendices  215

216

216 Appendices

 217

Appendices  217

218

218 Appendices

 219

Appendices  219

220

220 Appendices

 221

Appendices  221

222

222 Appendices

Appendix D PowerPoint Slides for Chapter 4: Teach English through English Language Arts

 223

Appendices  223

224

224 Appendices

 225

Appendices  225

226

226 Appendices

 227

Appendices  227

228

228 Appendices

 229

Appendices  229

230

230 Appendices

 231

Appendices  231

232

232 Appendices

 233

Appendices  233

234

234 Appendices

 235

Appendices  235

236

236 Appendices

 237

Appendices  237

238

238 Appendices

 239

Appendices  239

Appendix E PowerPoint Slides for Chapter 5: Teach English through Mathematics

240

240 Appendices

 241

Appendices  241

242

242 Appendices

 243

Appendices  243

244

244 Appendices

 245

Appendices  245

246

246 Appendices

 247

Appendices  247

248

248 Appendices

 249

Appendices  249

250

250 Appendices

 251

Appendices  251

252

Author index

Anderson, J. R. 5, 23, 167 Asher, J. 109 Ballinger, S. 2, 8, 170 Bigelow, M. 1, 168 Blass, L. 27 Blythe, H. 22 Brinton, D. M. 2, 8 Cammarata, L. 2, 3, 8, 11, 168, 169 Celce-​Murcia, M. 8 Clark, R. E. 20–​21, 65 Clarke, D. 78 Cowan, R. 115, 116, 157 Coxhead, A. 33, 75, 174 Crandell, J. 2 Creese, A. 3, 4, 12, 168, 169 Cummins, J. 171, 172 Davis, R. 32. Davison, C. 2 DeCarrico, J. S. 60, 61, 79, 87, 93 Doughty, C. 12, 17 Dove, M. G. 87 Duff, P. A. 7 Duguay, A. 4, 35 Echevarria, J. 4, 7, 167 Fang, Z. 14, 62, 71, 142 Fillmore, C. J. 15, 18–​19 Ford-​Connors, E. 20, 21, 60 Frodesen, J. 20, 64, 71, 126, 141, 161 Gladwell, M. 22 Genesee, F. 8, 9 Goldenberg, C. 19 Grabe, W. 5, 8, 16–​17, 40, 44, 77, 110, 115, 140, 141 Grim, F. 13 Hardwick, S. W. 32 Harley, B. 11 Hartmann, P. 27 Herrell, A. 59, 94 Hill, J. D. 93

Holt, Rinehart and Winston Staff 71, 99 Holten, C. 2, 101 Honigsfeld, A. 87 Johns, A. M. 6 Jordan, M. 59, 94 Kane, S. 178 Kennedy, T. J. 5, 22 King Jr, M. L. 26, 28, 131, 132, 182 Krashen, S. D. 6–​7, 23, 167 Lambert, W. 9 Lapkin, S. 9, 10, 25, 26 Larsen-​Freeman, D. 20, 117, 118, 150, 163, 168 Lee, S. 20, 84 Leow, R. P. 20, 84 Lightbown, P. M. 1, 8, 13 Lin, A. M.Y. 169 Lyster, R. 2, 3, 7, 8, 11, 12, 18, 170 Martel, J. 169 McKay, S. L. 110 Miller, K. B. 93 Mohan, B. A. 2, 32 Nation, I. S. P. 78 Neuman, S. B. 19, 22 Nikula, T. 12, 18, 168, 169 O’Hara, S. 15 Palincsar, A. S. 18, 71 Paratore, J. R. 20, 21, 60 Pearson Education 32 Peng, L. 60, 156 Pritchard, R. 15 Ranta, L. 18 Rayner, K. 19 Rosenshine, B. 22, 86 Saunders, W. 8, 19, 20, 166, 172, 174 Schleppegrell, M. J. 14, 15, 18, 62, 71, 133, 137, 142, 143, 157, 171 Shanahan, T. 15–​17, 35

 253

Author index  253 Sharwood Smith, M. 30 Short, D. J. 32, 171, 174 Smetana, L. K. 169 Snow, M. A. 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 18, 19, 167 Sohn, E. 19 Song, B. 9–​10, 11 Spada, N. 1, 8, 13 Steinbeck, J. 101, 111 Stoller, F. L. 5, 8, 16–​17, 40, 44, 77, 110, 115, 140, 141 Strogatz, S. 133, 139–​141, 147, 151, 153–​155, 159 Swain, M. 7, 9, 10, 11–​12, 18, 168, 170, 171 Sweet, C. 22

Tan, M. 169 Tedick, D. J. 2, 3, 8, 11, 168, 169 Troyan, F. J. 18, 169, 170 Tucker, G. R. 2, 9 Turnbull, M. 9, 10, 25 Valeo, A. 12, 32 Varela, E. 12, 17 Williams, A. 2 Wong Fillmore, L. 15, 18–​19 Wright, T. S. 19, 22

254

Subject index

academic language 15, 62, 171 academic register see register academic text 15, 62–​63, 93 academic vocabulary 32, 75, 174, 208–​212 accuracy 7, 11–​13; see also fluency adjectival clauses see relative clauses adverb 62, 119–​120, 124; see also conjunctive adverb adverbial clause 62, 116 antonym 61, 93 assessment 112, 168 Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) 171–​172 challenging text see academic text chapter organization 89–​91 character development/​characterization 110–​114, 226–​227 cloze questions/​activities 120–​121, 123 Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) 171 cohesion 33, 50, 52, 64, 94–​95; lexical 161–​162 cohesive device 126 collaborative discussion/​activity 85, 89, 108 collocation 60–​61, 156–​157 colloquial English or speech 101–​102, 105–​108, 123–​124, 130, 222–​224; see also register/​spoken Common Core State Standards (CCSS) 4, 15; see also New York State P-​12 Common Core Learning Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy; New York State P-​12 Common Core Learning Standards for Mathematics; New York State P-​12 Learning Standards for Social Studies: Resource Guide with Core Curriculum communication-​oriented instruction see meaning-​focused instruction Communicative Approach 7, 23, 167 comparison paragraph 95–​96 complement clause 62–​63 complex sentence see sentence structure complex text 15–​16; see also simplified text compound sentence see sentence structure comprehensible input see Input Hypothesis conditional/​hypothetical clause 95, 157–​159, 171

conjunction 101, 171; coordinating 38, 125–​126, 133–​134, 139–​141; subordinating 38–​39, 50, 52–​53, 61–​62, 64 conjunctive adverb 64, 126 connotation 75; see also denotation content/​content-​based/​content subject 2–​3 Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) 1 Content-​Based Language Teaching (CBLT) 1–​3, 23–​24 C.R.I.S.P. (Contextualize, Review, Iteration, Summary and Preview) 22–​23 dangling modifier 115 declarative sentence 48 deductive method 20 definitional paragraph 95–​96 denotation 75; see also connotation dependent clause 38–​39, 50–​52, 62–​63, 68, 117, 125; see also independent clause dialog 101 dialog tag 101, 118–​121, 123–​124, 235–​238 differentiated instruction see Section 5 of Chapters 2 to 5 direct instruction see explicit instruction discourse 53; see also cohesion discourse awareness and competence 53–​54, 63–​64, 95–​96, 126, 151–​154 discourse break 155–​156 discourse markers 141 discourse organization 33, 50, 127, 139–​140, 153, 159, 240–​241, 249–​251 discovery learning 20–​21 double negatives 106–​107 during-​reading activity: goals of 16–​17, 19, 21; English Language Arts 226–​229; mathematics 242–​245; science 213–​216; Social Studies 197–​201 effective instruction 19, 21; principles of 22 embedded clause 92–​93; see also dependent clause explicit instruction 19–​21, 168; see also fully guided instruction English for Academic Purposes (EAP) 6, 23, 167 English for Specific Purposes (ESP) 5–​6, 167

 255

Subject index  255 English Language Development (ELD) instruction 19, 172–​174 expressions of comparison, differences, figures, human actions or reasons see language of figures see language of figures first language acquisition 9–​10 fluency 7, 11, 13, 23; see also accuracy form (as opposed to meaning and use)148–​149, 174 form-​focused instruction 12–​13, 17–​19, 168, 170, 175; see also meaning-​focused instruction fully guided instruction 20–​21; see also explicit instruction gerunds 62–​63 grammar instruction 18, 157–​158 graphic organizers 4, 7, 87, 89, 93, 112, 146, 149–​150 guided practice 21–​22, 52–​53, 59, 151 hedge see language of high-​level question 86, 160 human action, expressions of see language of human action idea development 37, 49–​50, 73, 145, 156, 243–​245 independent clause 38–​39, 50–​52, 62, 117, 125, 149 immersion programs 2, 7, 8, 10–​11, 171–​172 implicit/​incidental focus on language 3, 7, 12–​13, 21; see also explicit instruction and form-​ focused instruction inductive method 20, 168 inference 36, 47, 103, 106, 110–​113, 122–​123 infinitive 63, 93 infinitive clause 33, 62; see also dependent and subordinate clauses input enhancement 20, 84 input flooding 20, 150 Input Hypothesis 6–​7, 23–​24 interrogative sentence 47–​49; yes/​no question 33, 47–​48; wh-​question 33, 48 iteration 21–​23, 168; see also repetition language-​oriented instruction see form-​focused instruction language of: comparison/​similarity and identity 86–​88, 94–​96; differences 94–​95; figures 80–​84; human actions and emotion 108–​109, 225; likelihood 71; reasons 45–​46; standards: English Language Arts (ELA) 105–​106; mathematics 138; science 74–​75; Social Studies 38 lexical cohesion see cohesion lexical device 64, 126, 161; see also cohesive device Living Environment Core Curriculum 72–​73

main clause 116–​117, 148, 159; see also independent clause manipulative 59 meaning-​focused instruction 17; see also form-​focused instruction metalinguistic competence/​skill 75, 78, 129 metaphor 182–​191 modelling 45–​46, 65, 94, 117, 168 modify 51 multimodality 71, 133, 137, 142–​143, 171 multiple-​choice question 56, 112, 118, 120 multiple meanings, words with 32, 38–​39, 43–​44, 74, 78, 110 multi-​semiotic formation see multimodality New York State P-​12 Common Core Learning Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy 35, 72, 73, 76, 102, 103, 134 New York State P-​12 Common Core Learning Standards for Mathematics 135–​138 New York State P-​12 Learning Standards for Social Studies: Resource Guide with Core Curriculum 33–​35 Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) 4 nominalization 62, 171 non-​literal meanings 83–​84, 104, 106 object clause 93; see also dependent clause output 7; see also Input Hypothesis paragraph organization 33, 49–​50, 54–​56, 63–​65, 145–​147, 204–​207, 243–​245; see also discourse organization parenthetical expression 62–​63, 71, 92–​93, 95, 138, 147–​151, 159–​160, 245–​249 passive voice/​construction 71, 81, 95, 173 past participle 101, 125; see also present participles past tense see tense Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Content (PCK-​ C) 169–​170 Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Language (PCK-​ L) 169 personal pronoun see pronoun phrasal expression 17, 60–​61, 94–​95, 124–​125, 156–​157; see also collocation post-​position 61; see also preposition post-​reading activity: goals of 16–​17, 19; English Language Arts 230–​238; mathematics 245–​251; science 217–​221; Social Studies 202–​207 pragmatics 18 preposition 60–​62, 88, 108, 124–​125, 157, 159; see also post-​position prepositional phrase 59, 62, 93–​94, 125; see also phrasal expression and collocation pre-​reading activity: goals of 16; English language arts (ELA) 222–​225; mathematics 239–​241; science 208–​212; Social Studies192–​196 present participle 115–​118, 125, 230–​234; see also past participle

256

256  Subject index present tense see tense present perfect tense see tense principles of instruction see effective instruction progressive tense see tense pronoun: personal 64, 117, 126; relative 50–​53, 61–​62, 107, 158–​159 pun 75, 82–​83, 213–​214 punctuation 80–​82, 118, 120, 138, 149 purposeful and strategic reading 16–​17, 110–​111 quality of writing 37, 49, 104 read aloud 3, 43, 54, 142; see also silent reading reading standards: English Language Arts (ELA) 103–​104; mathematics 136–​138; science 73–​74; Social Studies 35–​36 reference word 126; see also pronoun register 101, 107; academic 64, 167; spoken 128 relative clause 39, 50–​53, 57–​59, 61–​62, 95, 125, 148, 158–​159; restricted 53, 158–​159; unrestricted/​nonrestrictive 53, 138, 159 relative pronoun see pronoun repetition 5, 21–​23, 168; see also iteration restricted relative clause see relative clause scaffold/​scaffolding 22, 57, 94, 122–​123, 155–​156 sentence combining 52–​53, 59, 117, 151 sentence connector 126, 141, 155; see also conjunction sentence structure 95, 125–​126; simple 15–​16, 38, 57–​59, 92, 101, 125; compound 38–​39, 92, 122, 125, 149; complex 61–​62, 125 setting of a story 110, 112–​114, 121–​123, 228–​229 Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) 4, 7, 167, 170–​171 silent reading 54, 94, 142–​143; see also read aloud similarity and identity: expressions of see language of comparison simple sentence see sentence structure simplified texts 15–​16 speaking and listening standards: English Language Arts (ELA) 105; science 76; Social Studies 37–​38

Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English (SDAIE) 4, 170 standards, learning: Common Core State Standards (CCSS) 4, 15; English Language Arts (ELA) 103–​106; Science 72–​76; Social Studies 34–​39 subject matter see content subordinate clause see dependent clause summary writing 85–​86, 94 supporting sentence 54–​55, 144–​146, 151, 153, 155; see also topic and transitional sentences symbolic language in mathematics 142; see also multimodality Systemic Functional Grammar 18 tense 18, 84–​85, 93, 173; see also timeless present tense tense shift 85 text organization/​structure 137, 219–​221; see also paragraph organization think-​pair-​share activity 90–​91, 140, 143; see also collaborative discussion/​activity timeless present tense 71, 84–​85, 214–​216; see also tense topic sentence 54–​55, 95, 144–​147, 152–​155; see also supporting and transitional sentences Total Physical Response (TPR) 109 transitional sentence 145–​146, 153; see also topic and supporting sentences unrestricted/​nonrestrictive relative clause see relative clause use/​teaching use (as opposed to form and meaning) 117–​118, 148, 168, 174 visuals and visual literacy 40–​42, 76, 78–​79, 192–​194 wh-​question see interrogative sentence word formation 79–​80; 92–93 writing standards: English Language Arts (ELA) 103–​105; science 75–​76; Social Studies 36–​37 yes/​no question see interrogative sentence