What is Meant by School Language?
School Language
Students who attend a new school often wonder, What is meant by school language? Among the most important aspects of a language program is the use of social language. For example, a fifth-grade teacher must engage in daily routines with her students, such as giving a daily homophone sprint, or doing a two-minute “Daily Homophone Sprint.” Even a math teacher must try to extend the lesson content and make connections to the students’ lives.
Children begin their education by learning their mother tongue. Learning their home language is ongoing. However, they face a significant change in mode of education when they enter school. Students start school speaking their new language, which reinforces passiveness in the classroom. By contrast, students who speak their instruction language develop reading and writing skills faster. Children who do not speak English at home will face a steep learning curve. They will be pushed to learn new content and learn a new language and school culture in an unfamiliar language.
While all students benefit from learning academic and social language, English learners need to develop a variety of registers to fully benefit from their schooling. In fact, language used during a ballgame is different from the language used by a job interviewer. There are different written registers as well. As a teacher, you must help students develop their academic language. By doing this, you can bridge gaps in literacy and language.
What is Meant by School Language?
Developing an awareness of academic language helps students participate in classroom conversations and achieve academic success. Academic language is a subset of social language, while social language is the language of everyday social interaction. In the classroom, academic language is used in textbooks, essays, class presentations, and assessments. This language type is used in schools across all grades and increases in frequency and complexity as students grow older. It’s an important skill for students who want to pursue a career in a foreign language.
English learners and students from poor backgrounds often lack the language necessary for academic success. They may struggle to express their thoughts and ideas through language in the classroom because they lack the vocabulary. It’s their teachers’ job to help them develop academic language that enables them to be successful in the classroom. If a student struggles in a language class because of poor grammar or lack of vocabulary, they will likely struggle in school. This is why it’s so important to develop academic language as early as possible.
Academic language requires students to learn more than just vocabulary. They must learn about mathematical terms and contextual language. These topics are often decontextualized from students’ lives and backgrounds. In other words, the activities students engage in with academic language may have little or no meaning to them. A student who has only spoken one language in their life will not know many words and sentences in this language. In school, the language is important for their future, and it must be taught as such.