Get Avid Academic Language Scripts

Academic language is the language needed by students to do the work in schools. It includes, for example, discipline-specific vocabulary, grammar and punctuation, and applications of rhetorical conventions and devices that are typical for a content area (e.g., essays, lab reports, discussions of a controversial issue.)

Academic language scripts are sentence starters that help students synthesize their thoughts for multiple purposes: asking for clarification, expressing an opinion, building on what others say, etc. Interactive word walls can take on different forms that focus on Tier II or Tier III vocabulary.

There are three levels of academic language: word level (vocabulary), sentence level (grammar and syntax), and discourse level (organization). If you are a WIDA state, these directly correlate with the speaking and writing WIDA rubrics. They are scored on these three levels in their productive language.

Academic language skills include three skills: (1) use of inferential language (communicating about ideas across contexts); (2) use of narrative language (clearly describing a series of events); and (3) understanding a range of academic vocabulary and grammatical structures.

The four main types of academic writing are descriptive, analytical, persuasive and critical.

Core Academic Language Skills (CALS) refer to a constellation of skills that correspond to linguistic features prevalent in academic texts, yet rare in colloquial conversations (e.g., knowledge of logical markers that connect ideas, such as nevertheless, consequently; knowledge of structures that pack dense information ...

Academic language is the language needed by students to do the work in schools. It includes, for example, discipline-specific vocabulary, grammar and punctuation, and applications of rhetorical conventions and devices that are typical for a content area (e.g., essays, lab reports, discussions of a controversial issue.)

Academic Language can be defined as 1) the language used in the classroom and workplace, 2) the language of text, 3) the language of assessments, 4) the language of academic success and 5) the language of power. Academic Language consists of academic vocabulary and is used in academic discourse.