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A full summary of WIDA's guiding principles, including supporting research, is available at: https://wida.wisc.edu/sites/default/files/resource/Guiding-Principles-of-Language-Development.pdf or by clicking on the PDF embedded here for your convenience:
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It is also helpful to remember that language acquisition is an individual process that occurs over time, in different "stages." This four-minute video provides a quick review of the stages of language acquisition and their average timelines, as researched by behavioral linguists. It can help both learners and teachers to know how quickly an average student learning a new language might progress. Language acquisition is a complex process, and that there can be many variations due to individual factors and influences, including prior educational history and motivation.
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Students also need to be taught and need to demonstrate use of forms of language. Forms are new words, (including content-specific vocabulary). When you think of form, think about words used to convey the message, words used to build or convey the concept, multiple meaning words, or words that will be important to understand the overall meaning of the text. You will need to identify these for (or with) students at the beginning, and throughout the lesson. Also, provide opportunities for students to use this vocabulary during the lesson to demonstrate their understanding of the vocabulary. Though content area vocabulary lists are often long, identifying academic language forms informs instructional goals by narrowing down to 1-3 words, selected because of their great impact on communication and learning.
A commonly used metaphor for the academic language term "form" would be that of the bricks used to build a building or architectural structure, as discussed in the video "Bricks, Mortar, and Buildings". We can further extend the metaphor by imagining that these "bricks" are created by all the things that make up words. How do you make bricks? Well, you must combine clay and water within a frame or brick form before baking it. In a similar fashion, the building blocks of the term "form" in academic language include the sounds of words (phonology), the meaning of words (semantics), and the parts of words (morphology).
Working alone or with a partner, take a moment to reflect on an example for each that would connect to your instructional goals. You can use this equation as a frame to help you focus on the reasons why these particular forms are terms that some students need explicitly taught in order to be successful in your content area:
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