E R O N E

CHAPT
LANGUAG
E LEARNI
NG
A N G U A G E U S E
AND L

Recently I was on a ferry and overheard the following conversation between a

grandmother and her eighteen-month-old granddaughter:
Child: Train!

Grandmother: Yes a train on the Harbour Bridge.The trains go on the bridge.We’re going
under the bridge. Under the bridge goes the ferry. On the bridge goes the train.

Child: Under bridge, under bridge. (As the ferry progressed under the bridge.)
Very young children learn their first language in the context of an authentic
‘here and now’ situation. I’m fairly sure this grandmother had not started the
journey intending to give her granddaughter a lesson on prepositions! Rather, as
she interacted with her granddaughter she engaged in a conversation and in so
doing was using the language function of position and the prepositions of under
and on.
Learning an additional language at school cannot of course replicate the one-
to-one ratio and ‘here and now’ context between a carer and very young child,
but in a classroom we should aim to provide teaching and learning experiences
which provide children with many opportunities to practise the target language
in situations which are authentic and purposeful. Language learning must
therefore occur in all subject areas. Language learning is not just the domain
of subject English and/or isolated and segregated skills-based instruction. For
example, learning the language of science while engaged in a science activity
makes more sense, and so by implication the science teacher is also an English
language teacher.
Subsequent chapters will provide strategies that enable students to use
language for an authentic purpose within all subject areas. For example, in
Chapter 5 there is an idea for teaching prepositions and this occurs within a
6 Teaching English Language Learners in Mainstream Classes

PE lesson. Language learners also need frequent reinforcement and good and
regular models of the target language (both verbal and written) to assist their
progression and again this will be addressed in subsequent chapters. For example
Chapter 5, on reading, explains why well crafted factual and fiction texts are
important for progress in reading. In addition to this book, teachers are also
referred to the Australian Curriculum’s English as an Additional Language or
Dialect: Teacher Resource (EAL/D) V1.1 (at www.acara.edu.au/curriculum/
eald_teacher_resource/eald_teacher_resource.html).These support materials have
been designed to assist mainstream teachers identify the areas where EL learners
may require additional assistance.
First however, a brief introduction to the theory of language learning that
underpins the method and practice of teaching. The strategies outlined in
subsequent chapters are based on the view that language is a social act and that we
use language according to the context of the culture. Well known sociolinguistic
theorists Halliday & Hasan (1985) argue that within the sociocultural context we
then make choices about how we use language dependent on the genre to be use
(purpose) and the circumstances. Figure 1.1 illustrates this.

Figure 1.1
Language choices are Context of culture
dependent on these
variables The purpose (genre)

The situation

WHAT WHO HOW

is the subject is involved? will the message
matter? (Tenor) be communicated?
(Field) (Mode)

REGISTER
(the combination of
what, who and how)

TEXT
(message)

• Sociocultural context: This means that choices about the language used
will vary and will depend on for example, gender, socioeconomic status, age,
education, ethnicity and whether the person lives in a rural or urban setting.
For instance, when and how colloquial language is used or the degree of
formality between younger and older people will vary according to perhaps
one’s cultural background.
Language learning and language use
7

• Situational context: Within this sociocultural context (and then the

purpose and hence the genre), the circumstances or situation in which the
language is being used will also influence the language choice and will
depend on field, tenor and mode.
• Field: Field refers to the topic matter. The topic matter will determine
the technical language needed. On a continuum, therefore, the language
might range from very common everyday language to very specific and
technical language particular to a certain subject.
• Tenor: Tenor refers to the status or relationship between the participants.
For example, writing a text message to a good friend informing them of
a party might be different from a text message to a grandparent inviting
them to dinner. Similarly the choice of language used when speaking to
a good friend might be very different to that used when speaking with
a supervisor. Knowing the appropriate tenor to use can be difficult for
many EL learners and can cause embarrassment.
• Mode: Mode refers to the way a message is transmitted. Communicating
the message ranges from face-to-face talk which often includes gestural
language, to a scholarly essay.
• Register: Collectively, the topic matter (field), the relationship of the people
communicating (tenor) and the way the message is communicated (mode)
is referred to as the register and the register selected is dependent on the
purpose. Knowing what the purpose is and then having the appropriate
language for this purpose presents difficulties for many EL learners. For
example, the two texts below relate to a car accident and the subsequent
reporting of events to a police officer. Both are spoken texts.

Text 1 (spoken): Well the light went green. Whoosh – right through (gestures
with arms) – didn’t see him and bang! (Claps hands together to make a banging
sound.)

Text 2: I was stopped at the traffic lights right here on Parramatta Road and
when they went green I proceeded to go, but that car (pointing to the car) came
from that road and went through the red light and we collided.

Both texts are from a face-to-face interaction but the language choices are
different. Text 1 relies more on paralinguistic language (non-verbal elements
such as body language, gesture and facial expressions) to explain the situation.
However, to convey the event more precisely (in this case, for the police officer
to write a report), it would be better to provide both more detail and use Lexically dense in this case
more complex language for accuracy. That is, the language needs to be more means that there needs to be
lexically dense. Since the situation is face to face, the police officer would more subject-specific vocabulary
be able to ask questions to elicit the required information, but Text 2 would (collision, traffic, intersection,
be more expedient and useful. That is, the register for the purpose (genre) is proceeded and so forth). Written
more appropriate. While Text 2 still relies on face-to-face interaction with its language is usually more lexically
absence of clear directions, it is further advanced in providing information and is dense but formal spoken language
progressing towards ‘talk written down’ which on an insurance claim form might usually needs to be as well.
be written thus:
 8 Teaching English Language Learners in Mainstream Classes

Text 3: The collision occurred at the intersection of Parramatta Rd and Norton

St. I was stopped at the traffic lights on Parramatta Rd. When these lights
changed to green I accelerated, but the car from Norton St went through the red
light and we collided.

Figure 1.2 illustrates the different spoken and written modes along a
continuum from most informal and contextualised to most formal and
decontextualised. If we plot these three texts on the continuum, Text 1 is the
most informal and relies on the immediate ‘here and now’ context to convey
much of the information, whereas Text 3 must rely on written language (with
perhaps a diagram) to explain precisely because the communication is occurring
devoid of a ‘here and now’ context – it is a decontextualised situation.

Figure 1.2
written
Mode continuum from
spoken to written
formal decontextualised
(© Cruickshank 2008)
essay writing writing a factual report

story writing
letter writing

writing in a diary
giving directions orally
giving a formal talk
SMS messaging
reporting on group work
cooking from a recipe
class discussion
talking on the telephone
doing an experiment

talking to a friend about the weekend

pair/group work

playing a game of cards understanding a video

informal contextualised

spoken

Many English language learners in our classes would be able to relay

Nominalisation is when a verb
or adverb is made into a noun (eg
collide becomes collision). It makes
the sentence or paragraph more
compact and sophisticated, but can
be more difficult for ELLs to both
read and write.
the event in a similar way to Text 1, but Text 2 might present difficulties and
certainly the written text with its use of, for example, nominalisation
(collision) could be problematic.
Cummins (1979, 1981, 2008) explains the learning of a language as progressing
from BICS (basic interpersonal communication skills) to CALP (cognitive
academic language proficiency). Since about 2007, Cummins has been using the
term ‘conversational English’ to replace BICS and ‘academic language proficiency’
to replace CALP. These later terms will be used throughout this book.
Language learning and language use
9
Cummins argues that it takes about one to two years to attain
conversational English (which is sometimes called playground English)
and about five to eight years to develop ‘academic language proficiency’.
It therefore takes anywhere from about six to ten years to acquire academic
language proficiency, which Thomas and Collier (2002) suggest is often
dependent on the amount of formal schooling in the home language, an
important point that will be returned to. Research by Hakuta, Butler & Witt
(2000) found that for students with disrupted schooling (such as those from a
refugee background), it could take from seven to ten years to acquire academic
proficiency with specialist support.

Academic language proficiency

Being competent in basic social interactions is not enough for academic
achievement. Academic language proficiency refers to the language choices (both
grammar and vocabulary) needed within a particular field (subject area) and it
is this academic language proficiency that must be addressed in our teaching. In
Text 3 on page 8, not only is the detail clear, but using the word intersection to
define position, nominalising the verb collide and using the term accelerate makes
the message more condensed. At the same time it can be understood away from
the immediate context.
Using this everyday example, we can apply the same concept to all subject-
specific areas across the curriculum. Requiring students to report back to the class
or group on an activity is common and useful. EL learners may be proficient in
doing this informally and especially with the aid of gestural language and/or a
picture or model to aid them. The difficulty comes when required to rely only on
the academic language (meaning the technical language and supporting structures
of the content or subject area) as the example below illustrates.

Text 4 (nine-year-old girl giving her sport report at assembly): Yesterday

the girls in the Under 10’s Netball won against Bluevale Primary School. Nada
won the ‘player of the match’ because she was the best one at getting a ball
into the goal when the other team missed at getting the ball into the goal. But
all the girls played really well and Ms Fisher said they are getting much better at
keeping one foot still as they turn around to get the ball.

Text 5 (nine-year-old girl giving her sport report at assembly): Yesterday

the Under 10’s Netball Team beat the opposing team, Bluevale Primary School.
Nada won the ‘player of the match’ award because she got the most rebounds.
However, Ms Fisher said that all the girls should be congratulated because their
pivoting had improved.

Without the specific teaching of both the subject-specific vocabulary and

syntactical structures, many students are at risk of ‘fossilisation’.
10 Teaching English Language Learners in Mainstream Classes

Fossilisation
Fossilisation is another term common in ELL literature. The strict definition is:
… a process which sometimes occurs in which incorrect linguistic features become
a permanent part of the way a person speaks or writes a language. (Richards et al,
1992: 142)
The metaphor of a fossil is often also extended to describe those students
who remain stuck at the level of informal or casual language and/or who do
not use the technical language pertaining to subject-specific content. That is,
with the absence of teaching and learning experiences that explicitly focus on
the academic or technical content language, EL learners are at risk of remaining
entrenched at the level of conversational English. Teaching the technical
vocabulary begins early, as evidenced in my visit to a kindergarten class (five- to
six-year-olds) in their third week of formal schooling. Many of the children were
EL learners. They had been reading the book Grandpa and Thomas (Allen, 2003).
When asked why they liked the book so much, one child replied that he liked
the onomatopoeia in the repetitive refrain ‘Swish, swash, swoosh sings the sea’. The
teacher had taught this term to provide students with the technical (academic)
vocabulary associated with literary techniques. In a student essay in later years,
a statement that ‘the author’s use of onomatopoeia provides a clear image of the
sound of waves’ is going to be superior to ‘the author uses groups of words to
make the sound of the waves’.
But it is not only the teaching of subject topic vocabulary that is important.
Understanding how to use complex grammatical structures is also important,
as well as opportunities to use high order thinking skills such as comparing,
synthesising, evaluating and inferring. Subsequent chapters will provide specific
strategies, but in order to know what to teach and how to teach we need to
know our students and the next chapter addresses this.