What is Academic Language?

Academic language is more than just the unfamiliar vocabulary that students encounter in their content area classes or the texts that they are required to read. While academic vocabulary is a component of academic language, there are other aspects of the language of school that are crucial predictors for academic success ­– some of which are not easily defined. Academic language condenses large ideas into fewer words and links those ideas with unfamiliar connectives. Academic language also includes discourse patterns – an expectation that students are familiar with the structure of persuasive, argumentative, and informative texts. Additionally, students are expected to be able to speak and write in a more formal yet undefined way; this language may not be the language that is spoken in their homes, and students are require to know when and how to code-switch in different settings.

Which students struggle with Academic Language?

Any student in your classroom may struggle with reading, writing, speaking, and listening tasks that require academic language knowledge. Academic language is different from everyday language. Many students who are highly successful in communicating in informal contexts may struggle to communicate at school in instances where academic language is required (Halliday, 2004). Learning language forms valued in school is a challenge for all students, but it is especially challenging for those with minimal exposure to such language outside of school, such as English Language Learners (Schleppegrell, 2004). Research suggests that for these children under-developed academic language skills undermine reading comprehension (Lesaux, Crosson, Kieffer & Pierce, 2010).

What is Academic Language proficiency?

"Academic language proficiency is knowing and being able to use general and content-specific vocabulary, specialized or complex grammatical structures – all for the purpose of acquiring new knowledge and skills, interacting about a topic, or imparting information to others" (Bailey, 2007). In sum, students who are proficient academic language users are well-equipped to learn new knowledge through reading or listening and to express their knowledge and ideas through oral discussions and writing.

The CCDD work includes, as part of its hypothesis, that curricula that pay attention to these components of academic language will contribute, in part, to improved reading comprehension. High quality discussion and debate in the classroom around intellectually engaging topics will encourage students to practice academic language.

Video: Academic Language and its Connection to CCDD

In this video, Paola Uccelli introduces:

the difference between academic language and everyday or conversational language  •  many students can code and decode academic language but are not understanding what they read  •  most of the work in education-related academic language has focused on academic vocabulary; however, students receiving strong instruction in academic vocabulary can still struggle with academic texts

Also, Paola Uccelli and Jayne Ogata discuss that:

CCDD addresses six domains of academic language in addition to academic vocabulary: information packing, linking ideas, discourse structure, academic register, academic stance, and lexical preciseness.

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This site was originally prepared for districts and teachers who partnered with us throughout the project. While we have updated the text, many of the videos included on this site were prepared during the launch of the study. Although the project has come to a close, we are keeping the site and related videos available for those who are interested to learn more about the project.

The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305F100026 to the Strategic Education Research Partnership as part of the Reading for Understanding Research Initiative. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education.

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What is Academic Language?

Academic language is more than just the unfamiliar vocabulary that students encounter in their content area classes or the texts that they are required to read. While academic vocabulary is a component of academic language, there are other aspects of the language of school that are crucial predictors for academic success ­– some of which are not easily defined. Academic language condenses large ideas into fewer words and links those ideas with unfamiliar connectives. Academic language also includes discourse patterns – an expectation that students are familiar with the structure of persuasive, argumentative, and informative texts. Additionally, students are expected to be able to speak and write in a more formal yet undefined way; this language may not be the language that is spoken in their homes, and students are require to know when and how to code-switch in different settings.

Which students struggle with Academic Language?

Any student in your classroom may struggle with reading, writing, speaking, and listening tasks that require academic language knowledge. Academic language is different from everyday language. Many students who are highly successful in communicating in informal contexts may struggle to communicate at school in instances where academic language is required (Halliday, 2004). Learning language forms valued in school is a challenge for all students, but it is especially challenging for those with minimal exposure to such language outside of school, such as English Language Learners (Schleppegrell, 2004). Research suggests that for these children under-developed academic language skills undermine reading comprehension (Lesaux, Crosson, Kieffer & Pierce, 2010).

What is Academic Language proficiency?

"Academic language proficiency is knowing and being able to use general and content-specific vocabulary, specialized or complex grammatical structures – all for the purpose of acquiring new knowledge and skills, interacting about a topic, or imparting information to others" (Bailey, 2007). In sum, students who are proficient academic language users are well-equipped to learn new knowledge through reading or listening and to express their knowledge and ideas through oral discussions and writing.

The CCDD work includes, as part of its hypothesis, that curricula that pay attention to these components of academic language will contribute, in part, to improved reading comprehension. High quality discussion and debate in the classroom around intellectually engaging topics will encourage students to practice academic language.

Video: Academic Language and its Connection to CCDD

In this video, Paola Uccelli introduces:

the difference between academic language and everyday or conversational language  •  many students can code and decode academic language but are not understanding what they read  •  most of the work in education-related academic language has focused on academic vocabulary; however, students receiving strong instruction in academic vocabulary can still struggle with academic texts

Also, Paola Uccelli and Jayne Ogata discuss that:

CCDD addresses six domains of academic language in addition to academic vocabulary: information packing, linking ideas, discourse structure, academic register, academic stance, and lexical preciseness.

​

Catalyzing Comprehension through Discussion and Debate (CCDD)