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One must know what linguistics is all about to understand the three scientific approaches to studying language.

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Linguistics: the scientific study of language

Facts:

Most linguists agree language is what makes us different from other living creatures

Studying language gives one insight into how the human mind works

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Three scientific approaches to studying language

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Three scientific approaches to studying language

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The three approaches are:

1. Grammar as structure

2. Grammar as mental faculty

3. Grammar as functional resource

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Let's start with grammar as structure!

This simply means to break down parts of a language to understand how they are organized and why.

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Now, how is this relevant to an educator's working knowledge of language study and language development?

Traditionally, teachers have taught English through grammar rules and vocabulary. However, one's first language is acquired, not learned through its grammar rules. This led many to believe that a second language can be acquired similarly to how one acquires their first language. This is one reason educators should know how language development works so they know how to best assist their English Learners!

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The next approach is grammar as a mental faculty.

This simply means humans are born with the ability to acquire a language. This line of research comes from a linguist named Noam Chomsky.

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Relevance to an educator's knowledge of language study and language development:

To make language understandable for students, especially English Learners, teachers must first learn how language works.

Example

Teacher's goal: Make English understandable for all students so they can access the academic content that is being studied

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The last approach is grammar as a functional resource.

This simply refers to "how do we use language to comprehend and express ideas?"

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Relevance to an educator's knowledge of language study and language development:

According to ongoing research in linguistics, one of the most effective ways to develop language is through social interactions.

Educators should use this knowledge to group students strategically based on their language needs.

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Theory of language acquisition and different perspectives

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Theory of language acquisition and different perspectives

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What is the theory of language acquisition?

Language acquisition theory is a set of theories explaining how people learn to communicate in a language.

Over the last 50 years, researchers from all fields have conducted research on how children acquire language; this includes the developmental psychology view, the socio-anthro-educator view, and the linguist view.

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The first view is the developmental psychology view!

This view focuses on the parallels between language and cognitive development in children. Additionally, how they both develop separately but are closely related.

Similar to the image above, developmental psycholinguistics highlights the linguistic milestones children reach at each age.

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The next view is the socio-anthro-educator view!

Insights from sociology

Emphasized the social interaction theory, which claimed, "the child who creates the environment needed for development by prompting the parent or other caregiver to produce the language the child needs" (p. 33 from Essential Linguistics).

Insights from anthropology

Children from diverse communities learn different speech patterns, and this impacts how they function in their communities.

Insights from an educator's view

Focus on how language acquisition is affected by schooling

Together, they consider the social contexts that influence children's language development.

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Lastly, let's take a look at the linguist view!

Linguists focus on the nature of language

They use their knowledge about language acquisition to make sense of how children develop one or more languages.

Additionally, how humans are born with a set of rules common to all natural languages.

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The learning view and the acquisition view of second language development

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The learning view and the acquisition view of second language development

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When it comes to second language development, there are two views on how people develop a second or foreign language.

The first one is the Learning View

Goal: Teach language directly so students can produce correct language forms.

Language must be taught.

Prioritizes explicit instruction.

Often takes a behaviorist approach to language development.

The second one is the Acquisition View

Goal: Teach both academic language and subject matter content.

In fact, two theorists, Chomsky and Halliday, have contributed to the Acquisition view. Chomsky believes language is a mental faculty unique to humans. Additionally, Halliday believes learning takes place through social interactions.

But how do these views impact teaching practices and one's teaching approach?

Both views influence the role teachers play in students' language development. Whether that is, students are producing and understanding the language or using language for a variety of academic purposes.

What is the biggest difference between the Learning View and the Acquisition view?

The Acquisition view argues that people acquire language naturally because the human brain is wired for language. In contrast, the Learning view believes language is taught and prioritizes explicit instruction.

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The history of society’s view towards and policy for the education of multilinguals 

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The history of society’s view towards and policy for the education of multilinguals 

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The history of multilingual education in the United States has changed drastically as it went from English-only schooling, where any other language spoken would be punished, such as in the early 1900s, to multilingual schooling, where all languages are appreciated and used in the classroom to further one’s education.

A few policies for the education of multilingual students include:

Bilingual Education Act (1968)

Lau v. Nichols (1974)

Castañeda v. Pickard (1978)

Plyler v. Doe (1982)

Every Student Succeeds Act (2015)

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What is Phonology?

Phonology is the study of sounds in a language

The language component of phonology

Theory that language is acquired- less attention is given to teaching pronunciation since the belief is that the phonology of a language will be acquired in the process of developing proficiency in the 2nd language

Resources to support the teaching/learning of phonology:

https://linguisticsforteachersofells.weebly.com/phonology-in-the-classroom.html

https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/phonological-and-phonemic-awareness

https://www.readingrockets.org/classroom/classroom-strategies/elkonin-boxes

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Tips for Applying Phonology: Check your pronunciation: When teaching English, our own and students' pronunciations and identification of sounds can be heavily influenced by the variety of English...

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What is Orthography?

Orthography: encompasses all elements of writing, including spelling conventions, punctuation, grammar, and other distinctive features.

History of English Written Language:

Old English (from 450 to 1100AD) "During this time, the Roman alphabet was introduced to the Anglo-Saxons by Irish missionaries...to write Old English." (p. 155)

*This alphabet is similar to modern English however Old English does not use the letters j, k, v, or w and only uses q and z rarely.

Middle English (from 1100 and 1500AD) French and Latin were added to the English language. Additionally, Norman scribes made significant changes in the spelling of English words.

Modern English (from about 1500 to the present time) Many Greek and Latin words entered English during this period. Some words derived from Latin had been charged to conform to French spelling patterns.

Implementing an investigative approach to spelling knowledge:

As a future educator, one must understand what spelling is truly about. Many believe spelling is simply about memorizing rules. However, an investigative approach to spelling allows both teachers and learners to recognize patterns and rules within the English writing system.

Additional Resources:

https://www.readingrockets.org/reading-101/reading-and-writing-basics/sight-words-and-orthographic-mapping

Words Their Way with English Learners: Word Study for Phonics, Vocabulary, and Spelling (Words Their Way Series) 2nd Edition by: Lori Helman, Donald Bear, Shane Templeton, and Marcia Invernizzi

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Basics: Sight Words and Orthographic Mapping

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Words that you can read instantly are called sight words. Orthographic mapping is the process of storing a word permanently in memory for instant retrieval - and key to effortless, accurate, and fluent reading.

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One approach teachers can try with students is "Analyzing Word Structures." Teachers can have students explore base words and affixes to understand how words are created.

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Another approach teachers can try with students is "etymology," which refers to word origins, to see where words come from and why it is spelled a certain way. This is especially useful for English Learners who are learning English.

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What is morphology?

Morphology is the study of the meaningful parts of words. The smallest units of meaning are called morphemes.

Additionally, there are two types of morphemes- free and bound morphemes.

Free morphemes = units that can not stand alone as words (ex: affixes)

Bound morphemes = units that are attached or bound to a free morpheme. (ex: infixes)

Additional resources for teaching morphology:

https://www.literacyimpact.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Morphology-Resource-kit-updated-20.02.23-MS.pdf

https://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/shanahan-on-literacy/what-should-morphology-instruction-look

https://files.realspellers.org/PetesFolder/Articles/Bowers_Kirby_Deacon_2010.pdf

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What is syntax?

Syntax refers to the ways words are joined for phrases, clauses, and sentences. In other words, syntax is all about word order.

Sentences are made of phrases and clauses.

A phrase is incomplete, therefore, they do not have both a subject and a verb.

A clause is complete, having both a subject and a verb.

There are two different types of clauses: dependent and independent clauses.

Additional resources on syntax:

https://linguisticsforteachersofells.weebly.com/syntax-in-the-classroom.html

Syntax Handbook Everything You Learned about Syntax -- but Forgot by Laura M. Justice

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What is syntax?

When you preview text with your students, do you point out different sentence structures or patterns, to help get them ready to read and access the material? Well, you are helping them with learning about syntax- the grammatical and structural basics of English.

Syntax helps us to make clear sentences that "sound right," where words, phrases, and clauses each serve their function and are correctly ordered to form and communicate a complete sentence with meaning.

The parts of speech are groups of words that make up the grammar of the English language, which include open-class words (changeable and accepts new words, such as nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs) and closed-class words (function words and rarely accepts new words, such as prepositions, conjunctions, pronouns, complementizers, determiners, and auxiliary verbs). In these categories, words can be described by their morphological forms and typical position in a sentence. The following website "Parts of Speech" by Heather MacFadyen offers a detailed explanation and review of the different parts of speech and how they are used in sentences:http://www.arts.uottawa.ca/writcent/hypergrammar/partsp.html.

Next, we must look at grammar at the phrase, clause, and sentence level. Constituents are groups of words that go together and fit into larger units, which are then built into sentences. Let's look at the following sentence:

The happy boy jumped swiftly overthe rock by the pond.

The smaller constituents (i.e. the happy boy, the pond, the rock- all noun phrases) fit into larger constituents (i.e. by the pond- prepositional phrase), and even larger constituents (the rock by the pond- bigger noun phrase). These constituents follow a hierarchical structure:

Word --> Phrase --> Clause --> Sentence

In English, the 5 types of phrases include: noun phrases, verb phrases, adjective phrases, adverb phrases, and prepositional phrases. Clauses are composed of noun phrases as the subject and verb phrases as the predicate. Some clauses can stand independently as a sentence, and others are dependent or subordinate. Compound sentences can be formed by joining two independent clauses, joined by a conjunction or punctuation (semicolon or colon). To learn more about phrases, clauses, and sentence structure rules, you can look at this section on MacFayden's website on parts of a sentence:http://www.arts.uottawa.ca/writcent/hypergrammar/partse.html

In the classroom

Tips for Applying Syntax:

Teach Grammar without hindering communication: Encourage students to listen to and engage in English as much as possible, carefully selecting grammar rules and corrections that will support social and academic language development and effective communication, without significantly hindering it. Activities involving more self-inquiry and problem-solving/word sorting are helpful to encourage ELLs to find patterns on their own and develop a sense of the grammar rules and structures. Teaching grammar in context of student's own writing and in read-alouds is a powerful way to make learning about syntax more meaningful, giving them more opportunities to learn what "sounds right."

Explicit teaching of grammar rules and structures may be necessary for students, especially for ELLs gaining academic language. Here is a great resource, from North Carolina Public Schools, of grammar tips for teaching and numerous lessons to tackle those common grammar challenges, including concept of a sentence, run-on sentences, verb tenses:

Standard usage of prepositions and pronouns are challenging concepts that younger students are actively learning, in learning sight words and across content areas. For prepositions, teachers can make these more concrete for students, teaching prepositional words as everywhere a squirrel can go with respect to a tree (i.e. A squirrel is by the tree. A squirrel is in the tree.) For older students, teaching of prepositional words should also include their meaning in respect to time, duration, manner, and other more abstract concepts (It will take about an hour. He did it in a hurry.) For pronouns, ELLs take much longer to develop correct pronoun usage, but modeling and appropriate correction as necessary can help to support correct usage, without hindering communication.

Explore the grammatical patterns of ethnic and community dialects - through literature, film, and audio-tapes, for example - and contrast these with the corresponding features of the Standard English. Students can make such comparisons by translating a well-known or well-liked text into a particular dialect or by writing original poems, stories, and plays in one or more ethnic and community dialects as well as in the Standard English. Such language study and writing can help students appreciate each others' dialects as well as consider which dialects are most appropriate for what kinds of writing and under what circumstances. (from Teaching Grammar & Minilessons - www.usi.edu)

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Tips for Applying Syntax: Teach Grammar without hindering communication: Encourage students to listen to and engage in English as much as possible, carefully selecting grammar rules and corrections...

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Additionally, there are different types of sentences, such as simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences.

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Noam Chomsky has a theory about how sentences are structured, known as generative grammar. This theory looks at the order of words, the types of words, and how sentences are formed. Chomsky suggests that there are a few basic rules that apply to all sentences in any language, which can help us understand how to arrange words. He also notes that all languages share a similar number of phrases and clauses, which is important to remember when working with English Learners and leveraging their L1's in the classroom.

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What is semantics?

Semantics includes the meaning of a word based on its use and/or placement.

Additional resources for teachers:

https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/vocabulary/articles/word-analysis-expand-vocabulary-development

https://www.readingrockets.org/classroom/classroom-strategies/semantic-gradients

https://topteachingtasks.com/teaching-semantics-to-increase-vocabulary/?srsltid=AfmBOopxF5aQxooV8ErEtx9ma5SC6lNA2v_VW4RzFRjKA9a8QBUIJkW1

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Literal vs Figurative Meaning

Connotation vs Denotation

Truth-Conditional Semantics

Lexical Semantics

Conceptual Semantics

Formal Semantics

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If I were to explain what sociolinguistics is to a colleague I would say, "sociolinguistics is the social element of language and usually focuses on the connection between language development and identity formation." (Crash Course video) One reason this is relevant to educators when teaching English Learners is because educators need to understand how sociolinguistics works and what it looks like. As it turns out, sociolinguistics refers to how we speak is directly related to how we heard language being spoken. This helps educators understand the different accents of English that will be present in the classroom and how there is no right or wrong way of speaking English.

One thing I found interesting from the video is the conversation on dialectology, specifically how a group of people can speak the same language but can be linguistically varied. This specifically makes me think of Spanish, how our ELs can all speak Spanish but speak it differently based on their country.

Additional resources for sociolinguistics:

https://www.pbs.org/speak/speech/sociolinguistics/sociolinguistics/

An Introduction to Sociolinguistics (Learning about Language) 5th Edition by Janet Holmes

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Sociolinguistics: Crash Course Linguistics #7

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Sociolinguistics through Culturally Responsive Teaching Lens

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Sociolinguistics through Culturally Responsive Teaching Lens

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What is Pragmatics?

The part of language that puts meaning into context

How Does Pragmatics Relate To English Learners' Language Development?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L5ZY0s3e18

Crash Course video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPwpk-YgvjQ&t=178s

I would explain pragmatics as "the area of linguistics that puts meaning into context."(Crash Course video) In other words, one must understand the purpose behind language, whether it is to inform, persuade, or express sarcasm. The reason pragmatics relates to teaching English Learners is because pragmatics revolves around how language is used and it what context. This is one reason idioms are particularly difficult for English Learners to understand; idioms are a part of figurative language. Additionally, according "How does pragmatics relate to ELs" pragmatics also refers to "using language appropriately in various social situations." Another way pragmatics relates to teaching English Learners is through discussion of various speech acts so learners can understand cultural norms. (How does pragmatics relate to ELs)

Additional resources:

Teaching and Learning Pragmatics: Where Language and Culture Meet by Noriko Ishihara and Andrew D. Cohen

Cultural Competence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv3_eZYUCIk

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When teachers, support staff, administrators, and social services work together, it really helps us support multilingual learners and their families. By sharing ideas and resources, we can better meet the academic and emotional needs of students in a more connected way. Teamwork allows us to include language support in every subject, identify challenges early, and ensure families feel welcomed and understood. It also gives educators a chance to learn from one another and grow as a team, creating a school environment where each multilingual student has a real chance to succeed.

Inclusive strategies for engaging multilingual students and their families:

Use culturally responsive teaching

Encourage family participation in students' learning

Seek professional Development on EL best practices