The Linguistic Dimension Of Academic Language

In the field of Modern Languages and Linguistics, words are of great importance. A language’s phonology (study of how sounds are organized and used), morphology (study of the form and structure of words), syntax (study of the rules that govern sentence structure), semantics (study of meaning of words, sentences, and expressions), pragmatics (study of aspects of meaning and language use and context), and phonetics (study of human speech sounds) all play an important part in everyday life. These have a major impact in understanding the intent of what is spoken or heard. Due to the importance of communication, literary elements such as metaphors (which are defined as a figure of speech in which a word or phrase

Many popular theories of second language acquisition have been analyzed throughout history. The socialization of L2 learners, their present emotional state that is present at time of acquisition, as well as the comprehensible input and output with the use of scaffolding play a major role in second language acquisition. Let us also not forget the importance of written expression as well as reading comprehension with these L2 learners. Each play a role in language development. However, I believe that in acquiring a language, one must use a variety of techniques that work together to create a balance within the learning environment. Furthermore, all L2 learners learn differently and so a variety of resources will need to be used based on the ability of each student. There are many theories that have been developed by highly qualified experts in the field on linguistics. However, I will address those areas that I agree with as I present my personal theories on second language acquisition.

The student is also within the range of having typical language development for the student speaks clearly and is fluent, along with having a long and strong sentence when discussing information. Therefore, the student within their stage of language development is capable of learning receptive and expressive strategies to gear towards of being a non-atypical child. For there many different strategies to help build a student’s ability to transfer from an atypical language student to a typical language

The learning provisions for development in literacy are extremely important and can be reached by using their language skills. They learn to communicate with others through three main ways: they are Speaking, Reading and Writing. These three areas interact with each other and develop the Childs self-expression and imagination. They must be given the opportunity within all different subject areas to use and extend their language so that their thinking skills progress to a higher level.

The rhetorical situation is defined as the context of a rhetorical event that consists of an issue, an audience, and a set of restraints. While this may be true, there are many interpretations and versions of these situations. In David Bartholomae’s text, “Inventing the University,” he explains the situation of college students learning to fit the requirements of their college professors. Another author named Kevin Davis formulated an essay titled, “Does Coming to College Mean Becoming Someone New,” explores a similar situation of university students in terms of their commitments and changes they make to succeed in college. Bartholomae’s rhetorical situation is persuading college professors to understand that students have a problem with

The piece titled ‘getting our future back on the rails – slowly’ is written by a member of The Grow Slow organisation who believes that the most convenient occupant for the land of the abandoned railway yards is a community garden. The author begins the article in a confined toned aiming to convince the reader that a community garden is the right choice and later transfers on to a more critical tone when talking about convenient foods. The author’s main arguments include firstly that community gardens are a global trend and that their community should be one to follow such a trend, secondly a community garden will be beneficial to everyone and is the most efficient option and lastly community gardening will bring the whole community

Lorber creates academic diction through formal language to appeal to a target audience. "As a social institution, gender is a process of creating distinguishable social statues for the assignment of rights and responsibilities. As a part of a stratification system that ranks these statuses unequally, gender is a major building block in the social structure built on these unequal statuses" (p. 66). Lorber is careful not to use informal or slang terms in her writing. Academic diction is an effective tool when addressing a certain audience.

He can understand a range of complex structures in extended discourse and comprehend many distinctions in language tailored for different audiences.The student often shows strategic and organizational abilities and expectations in discourse. Mr. Chanberland can adap his vocabulary according to his audience. He can use the language to speculate at length about abstract topics such as how some change in history or the course of human events

Working hard amounts to nothing when students cannot understand the subject due to language barriers. Therefore, teachers need to be flexible in their teaching methods to help students understand Standard English. Educators can be flexible by accepting the use of social language by the students in order to help them transition to Standard English. As Hill indicates it is vital “to recognize that everyone speaks a deviation from Standard English” and thus teachers need to “acknowledge [students] voices in their writings” (121). By accepting the student’s use of social language students will better understand context and be encouraged to express their ideas and feelings without limitations. Students will also be able to learn the basic skills of code-switching because they are using their social language to start with. White and Ali-Khan indicate that accepting the students social language “[encourages] students to see the adoption of academic discourses as a component of code-switching rather than as a rejection of other forms of communication” (35). Students will hesitate to learn if they perceive

We learn primarily through language, and use language to express our understanding. In order for English learners to have access to core content, they need academic language and literacy skills (Echevarria, Vogt and Short). Academic language is used to succeed in reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Often English learner students enter school with limited to no exposure to academic language. These students are from homes in which English is rarely spoken. They are bright students who would excel in classrooms whose academic language was the same as their native language. The task No Child Left Behind has given to researchers and teachers is to educate the increased number of immigrants in English speaking classes. It is important to realize that there are approximately 180 native languages among the student body population. Spanish by far surpasses other language groups.

On completing the EDRD 600 course, the following are the critical elements that I will apply from the National Reading Panel’s Five Domains of reading and from Dr. Flynn’s 1st Edition of “I teach reading. Why do I need to know linguistics?”. They are phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension with an added element, writing. This course also covers the topic of Linguistics. Linguistics is defined as the study of human language and its structure, including phonology, orthography, morphology/semantics, and syntax. Each of these areas of linguistics will be discussed as well. Finally, researched-based strategies that could be integrated in the classroom will also be shared.

The register of language helps children in their early years to develop the language from a limited use of words, to a casual language (characterized by a 400-800 words vocabulary), and finally to talk with a formal language (standard sentence syntax and word choice of work and school). These aspects of language affect the students that live in poverty because they do not have access to formal register at home. The lack of formal register combined with a lack of vocabulary, the knowledge of sentence structure or adequate syntax affects the student to develop a good score and do well in school. Second, the pattern of discourse helps the student to organize the information. In the formal register, the patterns of discourse help the student to get straight to the point. However, the students that have not access to formal register, educators become frustrated with the tendency of these

1. Language serves as a two-way communication between educators and students; however, if the student’s lacks the understanding, then, learning would not be taking place. According to the authors, “language frames provide students with a way to structure their academic discourse using complex rhetorical structures and content vocabulary” (Frey, Fisher & Nelson, 2010. p.25). Students should use these language frames in order to improve their way of communication.

In bilingual/multilingual communities there are more than one language is used, which means people who live in this communities speak two ore more languages. There are several factors influence the choose of language used when interacting with others, such as : the participants, topic and location. According to Borrish (2004), the language chosen by bilingual/multilingual speaker is influenced by several factors, specifically : who he/she is talking to (participant), what he/she talking about (topic), where he/she is talking (place), and what he/she is talking for (purpose). It is important to know the appropriate time, participants, location, and topic in choosing a language to avoid misunderstanding/miscommunication and to achieve the purpose.

Key features of language include its words and their sub structures such as morphemes, graphemes and syllables at the writing level as well as reading or speaking, words, their meanings and contexts in which the words get spoken or read. Language has to be interpreted as a whole, and not just as the specific word. There must be an explicit pattern or structure. In order for language to be understood correctly, the meaning of words must be arranged in a given context. This is what constructs language; even though words are arbitrary themselves, in order to integrate as a language, they must be used in the appropriate context. This pre-established cultural context is what will enable effective communication. (Daniel Willingham, 2007, p. 1).