What is Academic Language

Summary

This video script explores the complexities of academic language and how it is structured in relation to the five components of language: pragmatics, syntax, morphology, phonology, and vocabulary. It discusses how academic language differs from everyday speech, focusing on aspects like social norms, abstract academic concepts, complex sentence structures, nominalizations, and multisyllabic words. The script also emphasizes the importance of teaching students the intricacies of academic vocabulary, such as Latin and Greek roots, collocations, and low-frequency words, to help them navigate and understand dense academic texts effectively.

Takeaways

• 😀 Pragmatics and world knowledge refer to understanding social rules and the language used in academic settings, such as addressing teachers by their last names and recognizing phrases like 'once upon a time' in fairy tales.
• 😀 Academic language is dense and includes high ratios of content words, making it harder to understand because it requires comprehension of complex academic concepts and vocabulary.
• 😀 Academic vocabulary is filled with Latin and Greek roots, and understanding these roots helps students infer the meanings of unfamiliar words in texts.
• 😀 Collocations are word combinations that are commonly used in academic contexts, such as 'conduct an experiment' or 'be predisposed to,' helping students recognize language patterns.
• 😀 Academic language includes low-frequency words (Tier 2), such as 'analyze' and 'evolve,' that are critical across disciplines and essential for academic success.
• 😀 Syntax in academic language often involves complex sentence structures, including independent and dependent clauses, which can be challenging for non-proficient English learners to understand.
• 😀 Deconstructing complex sentences and understanding the subject and predicate is key to helping students tackle academic texts and improve their comprehension.
• 😀 Nominalizations (e.g., 'destruction' from 'destroy') are common in academic language, and understanding these transformations can aid in comprehending academic texts.
• 😀 Passive voice is frequently used in academic language, such as 'Rome was built,' which is important for students to recognize when analyzing texts.
• 😀 Morphology plays a key role in academic language, with words often containing prefixes and suffixes that help students deduce meanings of complex words.
• 😀 Phonological awareness is vital for reading fluency, as students need practice with multisyllabic words to pronounce them correctly and improve reading comprehension.

Q & A

What is the relationship between pragmatics, world knowledge, and academic language?

Pragmatics and world knowledge in academic language refer to the knowledge of social rules in school environments, as well as understanding the language of school and books. This includes recognizing conventions such as addressing teachers by last names and understanding phrases like 'once upon a time' as part of fairy tales, or 'according to the author' as signaling the author's opinion.

How does academic vocabulary differ from everyday vocabulary?

Academic vocabulary is more complex, with a higher density of content words. These words are often abstract, specific to academic subjects, and include many Latin and Greek roots. They are less frequent in everyday conversation but essential in academic contexts, cutting across various disciplines.

What are collocations, and why are they important in academic language?

Collocations are typical word combinations or lexical patterns commonly used in academic contexts, such as 'conduct an experiment' or 'be predisposed to something.' Learning these phrases as chunks helps students recognize and use them in both reading and speaking, improving their academic language proficiency.

What challenges do students face with complex academic sentences?

Complex sentences, which contain both independent and dependent clauses, can be difficult for students, especially those with low English proficiency. They may struggle to identify the subject, understand the sentence's structure, and grasp the sentence's meaning, particularly when the sentence contains multiple ideas or clauses.

What is nominalization in academic language?

Nominalization is the process of turning a verb into a noun, such as 'destroy' becoming 'destruction' or 'build' becoming 'building.' Academic language often uses nominalization, as it allows for more formal, concise expression of ideas, such as 'the destruction of Rome' or 'the building of Rome.'

Why is the passive voice commonly used in academic language?

The passive voice is frequently used in academic language to emphasize the action or the result rather than the subject performing the action. For instance, instead of saying 'the Romans built Rome,' academic language would say 'Rome was built,' focusing on the process or outcome rather than the agent.

How can teachers help students understand complex academic syntax?

Teachers can help students understand complex syntax by deconstructing sentences and focusing on identifying independent and dependent clauses, subjects, and predicates. Explicit instruction on sentence structure can help students break down and comprehend academic texts more easily.

What role does morphology play in understanding academic language?

Morphology, the study of word structure, is crucial in academic language because many academic words have prefixes, suffixes, and inflections. Understanding these word parts helps students infer the meanings of unfamiliar words. For example, knowing that 'pre-' means 'before' and '-tion' means 'the act of' helps students deduce the meaning of 'predisposition.'

Why is phonological practice important for students learning academic language?

Phonological practice is essential for students learning academic language because many academic words are multisyllabic and may be difficult to pronounce. If students are not comfortable pronouncing these words, it can hinder their ability to process them during reading, as fluent readers typically 'hear' the words in their minds as they read.

How can understanding academic vocabulary support students in reading comprehension?

Understanding academic vocabulary helps students process dense texts more effectively. By recognizing key content words, collocations, and familiar academic phrases, students can better grasp the overall meaning of complex passages, reducing confusion and increasing comprehension.