Oral and Written Language

Academic discourse is integral to the writing process in all content areas. Student dialogue when analyzing text, organizing thoughts, and drafting, revising, and editing written work helps the author to see through the “reader’s eyes.” Some content examples of written work include: mathematics story problems, science log observations, and analyses and interpretations in history-social science. Group and partner activities provide an opportunity for this important dialogue, supporting students to write a clear and accurate piece.

An interesting aspect of writing is that much of the information we receive in oral language is absent in written language. There is no vocal tone, facial movement, or body stance to indicate, say, irony or sarcasm. Within oral language, explanation occurs in conversations where both the speaker and the listener negotiate the clarification of meaning. Within written language, there is a negotiation between what the writer means and what the reader understands based on what the reader brings to the task (prior knowledge of the subject, for example) and how clear the writer has stated his case. Therefore, the writer must be very clear about what he is trying to communicate. He or she must use precise vocabulary, as well as many strategies, organizational structures, and conventions to make sure he is conveying his meaning clearly. The skill to communicate this knowledge through informative, descriptive language is critical.

Practices:

	30-Second Summary The 30-Second Summary encourages academic vocabulary, attention to sentence structure, summarizing of information, and confident oral reporting.
	Questioning for Language Acquisition Levels This is a tool consisting of sentence starters for the various language acquisition levels used to engage students in oral language and effective discourse.
	Sentence Stems for Academic Discourse Structured dialogue in the form of “sentence stems” provides a scaffold for students to use and internalize academic language in useful context.
	Socratically Speaking: Using Academic Language in Structure Classroom Discourse The Socratic seminar strategy helps students understand information by creating collaborative dialogue relating to a specific text. Utilizing this strategy with students around a chosen piece of text will engage, motivate, and refine students' ability to listen, think critically, and become more skilled in using academic language as they refer to the text to articulate their ideas, beliefs, and points of view.