Cover not available

Article published In: Dutch Journal of Applied Linguistics
Vol. 6:2 (2017) ► pp.213–230

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

Academic language in elementary school mathematics

Academicness of teacher input during whole class instruction

 | Fontys University for Applied Sciences
 | Tilburg University
 | Tilburg University
 | Fontys University for Applied Sciences
 | Tilburg University
Published online: 30 December 2017
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/dujal.17007.dok
Abstract
Students who are proficient academic language (AL) users, achieve better in school. To develop students’ AL register teachers’ AL input is necessary. The goal of this study was to investigate the extent of AL features in the language input first and second grade teachers give their students in whole class mathematics instruction. Five key features could be distinguished: lexical diversity, lexical complexity, lexical specificity, syntactic complexity and textual complexity. Teachers used all features, but the amount in which they used them varied. While all teachers used lexical specific language when teaching mathematics, they did not use very complex language input. The academicness of teachers’ input was significantly higher in grade 2 than in grade 1 with respect to lexical diversity and lexical specificity. The input during explanation and discussion only differed with regard to textual complexity, which was higher during explanation.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical framework
    • 2.1Academic language
    • 2.2Differences in AL input
  • 3.Method
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2Instruments and procedure
    • 3.3Analysis
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1AL Input
    • 4.2AL key features
    • 4.3Key features and background characteristics
  • 5.Conclusions
  • References
References (35)
References
Aarts, R., Demir-Vegter, S., Kurvers, J., & Henrichs, L. (2016). Academic language in shared book reading: Parent and teacher input to mono- and bilingual pre-schoolers. Language learning, 66(2), 263–295. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Aarts, R., Demir, S., & Vallen, T. (2011). Characteristics of academic language register occurring in caretaker-child interaction: Development and validation of a coding scheme. Language Learning, 61(4), 173–1221. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Aukrust, V. (2007). Young children acquiring second language vocabulary in preschool group-time: Does amount, diversity, and discourse complexity of teacher talk matter? Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 22(1), 17–38. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Blank, M., Rose, S., & Berlin, L. (1978). The language of learning: The preschool years. New York, NY: Grune & Stratton.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Buijs, K. (2008). TULE – rekenen/wiskunde: Inhouden en activiteiten bij de kerndoelen van 2006. Enschede: SLO.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Clark, E., (2003). First language acquisition. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cummins, J. (2000). Language, power, and pedagogy: Bilingual children in the crossfire. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Demir-Vegter, S., Aarts, R., & Kurvers, J. (2014). Lexical richness in maternal input and vocabulary development of Turkish preschoolers in the Netherlands. Journal of psycholinguistic research, 43(2), 149–165. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dokter, N., Aarts, A., Kurvers, J., Ros, A., & Kroon, S. (2017). Stimulating students’ academic language. Opportunities in instructional methods in elementary school mathematics. L1-Educational Studies in Language and Literature, 171, 1–21. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Halliday, M. (1994). An introduction to functional grammar (Vol 21.). London: Edward Arnold.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Henrichs, L. (2010). Academic language in early childhood interactions. A longitudinal study of 3- to 6-year-old Dutch monolingual children. Amsterdam: Amsterdam Center For Language and Communication, University of Amsterdam.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hoff, E. & Naigles, L. (2002). How children use input to acquire a lexicon. Child Development, 73(2), 18–433. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Huttenlocher, J., Vasilyeva, M., Cymerman, E., & Levine, S. (2002). Language input and child syntax. Cognitive Psychology, 451, 337–374. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kieffer, M., & Lesaux, N. (2007). Breaking down words to build meaning: Morphology, vocabulary, and reading comprehension in the urban classroom. The Reading Teacher, 61(2). 134–144. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kleemans, T. (2013). Individual variation in early numerical development: Impact of linguistic diversity and home environment. Nijmegen; Behavioural Science Institute.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lagzhaoui, M. (2011). Emergent academic language at home and at school: A longitudinal study of 3-to 6-year-old Moroccan Berber children in the Netherlands. Oisterwijk: BOXPress.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Leseman, P., Mayo, A., Messer, M., Scheele, A., & Vander Heyden, K. (2009). De vroege ontwikkeling van schooltaal: Het DASH-project. Tijdschrift voor orthopedagogiek, (48)61, 271–287.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mercer, N., & Sams, C. (2006). Teaching children how to use language to solve maths problems. Language and Education, 20(6), 507–528. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Moore, J., & Schleppegrell, M. (2014). Using a functional linguistics metalanguage to support academic language development in the English language arts. Linguistics and Education, 261, 92–105. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
MacWhinney, B. (1995). The CHILDES project. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nagy, W., & Townsend, D. (2012). Words as tools, learning academic vocabulary as language acquisition. Reading Research Quarterly, 47(1), 91–108. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nap-Kolhoff, E., & Van Steensel, R. (2005). Second language acquisition in preschool playgroups and its relation to later school success. European Educational Research Journal, 41, 243–255. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Nystrand, M., Wu, L., Gamoran, A., Zeiser, S., & Long, D. (2003). Questions in time: Investigating the structure and dynamics of unfolding classroom discourse. Discourse Processes, 35(2), 135–198. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Scarcella, R. (2003). Academic English: A conceptual framework. The University of California Linguistic Minority Research Institute, Technical Report 2003-1.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Scheele, A., Leseman, P., Mayo, A., & Elbers, E. (2012). The relation of home language and literacty to three-year_old children’s academic language in narrative and instruction genres. The Elementary School Journal, 1121, 419–444. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schleppegrell, M. (2004). The language of schooling: A functional linguistics perspective. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2013). The role of metalanguage in supporting academic language development. Language Learning, 63(1), 153–170. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sfard, A. (2012). Introduction: Developing mathematical discourse – Some insights from communicational research. Journal of Educational Research, 51–52, 1–9.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Smit, J. (2013). Scaffolding language in multilingual mathematics classrooms. Utrecht: Utrecht University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Snow, C., Cancini, H., Gonzalez, P., & Shriberg, E. (1989). Giving formal definitions: An oral language correlate of school literacy. In D. Bloome (Ed.), Classrooms and literacy (pp. 233–49). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tellings, A., Hulsbosch, M., Vermeer, A., & Van den Bosch, A. (2014). BasiLex: An 11.5-million-words corpus of Dutch texts written for children. Computational Linguistics in the Netherlands, 41, 191–208.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tomasello, M. (2000). Do young children have adult syntactic competence? Cognition, 741, 209–253. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Uccelli, P., Barr, C., Dobbs, C., Phillips Galloway, E., Meneses, A., & Sánchez, E. (2015). Core academic language skills: An expanded operational construct and a novel instrument to chart school-relevant language proficiency in preadolescent and adolescent learners. Applied Psycholinguistics, 36(5), 1077–1109. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wong-Fillmore, L., & Snow, C. (2005). What teachers need to know about language. In C. Adger, C. Snow, & D. Christian, (Eds.), What teachers need to know about language (pp. 7–54). Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zwiers, J. (2008). Building academic language: essential practices for content classrooms. Grades 5-12. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass Teacher.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Heppt, Birgit & Petra Stanat
2020. Development of academic language comprehension of German monolinguals and dual language learners. Contemporary Educational Psychology 62 ► pp. 101868 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 8 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue