Social Practices in Higher Education - A Knowledge Framework Approach to Linguistic Research and Teaching - Tammy Slater
The Knowledge Framework for Building Teacher Awareness of Language in Content Instruction
Social Practices in Higher Education - A Knowledge Framework Approach to Linguistic Research and Teaching - Tammy Slater
Jesse Gleason [+]
Southern Connecticut State University
Elena Schmitt [+]
Southern Connecticut State University
Description
Learners’ understanding of content develops alongside their ability to use language. Graduate programs in TESOL prepare teachers to work with language and content so that they may effectively help their students. This study examines the role of a participant observation and functional discourse analysis project for teacher education in ESOL. In-service teachers (N=19) received training with Mohan’s Knowledge Framework, a linguistics-based tool for language-content integration, and completed four ethnographic observations in K-12 and adult classrooms, transcribing, analyzing, and reflecting on the discourse they had collected. Results revealed patterns of classroom discourse across content areas and grades, including patterns of knowledge structures for building knowledge of the classroom activity, of the content matter, as well as for developing interpersonal language. Major themes are discussed and implications are drawn for using the KF in conjunction with classroom observation for ESOL teacher training.