1. Teaching the Context of Language Denise Recarte ESL Instructional Coach

2. OBJECTIVES DEFINE the variety of contexts students interact IN and WITH and their characteristics ANALYZE the linguistic demands of those contexts and ways to prepare students to be successful in those environments

3. Get to know your neighbor

4. THINKSHARE What does “teaching language in context mean”?

5. How important is it to understand your context?

6. “…growth of mind is always growth assisted from the outside.” (Bruner, 1965)

7. Understanding your context…

11. What are the contexts students must navigate? School?

12. THINKSHARE What is an example of a context students must navigate?

13. SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTS Cafeteria Cafeteria Hallway Hallway Content classes Content classes Study hall Study hall Locker rooms Locker rooms Athletic fields Athletic fields Library Library Computer lab Computer lab Home Home Friends’ homes Friends’ homes Supermarket Supermarket Government offices Government offices Restaurants Restaurants Sporting events Sporting events Employment Employment Social events Social events

14. ACADEMIC ENVIRONMENTS Academic subjects Academic subjects Internet Internet Literary genres Literary genres Textbooks Textbooks Classroom lectures Classroom lectures Reference books Reference books Tests/quizzes Tests/quizzes

15. COGNITIVE TASKS Bloom’s Taxonomy

16. TYPES OF CONTEXTS COGNITIVECOGNITIVE PHYSICAL ACADEMIC

17. “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” -Ludwig Wittgenstein

18. DEFINE your objective

19. Teachers define lesson objectives based on what students are able to do in a certain content…performance objectives

20. Jerome Bruner (1915-) “…suppose we consider the possibility that performance skills are something more than the requisite attention and memory limits, that they involve a certain conceptual knowledge of the world and a certain capacity to appreciate the way language can be used.” “…suppose we consider the possibility that performance skills are something more than the requisite attention and memory limits, that they involve a certain conceptual knowledge of the world and a certain capacity to appreciate the way language can be used.” (1981)

21. Students need to define objectives based on their understanding of the context

22. Jerome Bruner (1915-) “…suppose we consider the possibility that performance skills are something more than the requisite attention and memory limits, that they involve a certain conceptual knowledge of the world and a certain capacity to appreciate the way language can be used.” “…suppose we consider the possibility that performance skills are something more than the requisite attention and memory limits, that they involve a certain conceptual knowledge of the world and a certain capacity to appreciate the way language can be used.” (1981)

23. Jerome Bruner (1915-) “A knowledge of the world, organized in terms of a system of concepts, might give one hints as to where distinctions could be expected to occur in the language, might even alert one to the distinctions.” “A knowledge of the world, organized in terms of a system of concepts, might give one hints as to where distinctions could be expected to occur in the language, might even alert one to the distinctions.” (1981)

24. THINKSHARE What is a task that that students engage in that requires specific (distinct) language?

25. WHAT DO STUDENTS KNOW? “…it is good practice [for students] to use their head to solve a problem by reflecting on what they already know or have learned.” -Jerome Bruner (1971)

26. STUDENTS KNOW THEIR WORLD my country new country HANDOUT: Context Construction

27. MAKE CONNECTIONS STUDENTS’ KNOWLEDGE Xiomara helps out her in her parents’ restaurant Didier solved math problems “backwards” Raheela bargained with vendors in a market in Pakistan Sohail attends Arabic school in the evening and can explain the Qu’ran Nicolas takes pride in El Salvador and know the history and geography POSSIBLE CONNECTION Economics, mental math, leadership Seeing multiple perspectives in math problem solving Mental math, negotiating, leadership Summarizing, verbalizing complex issues Memory, knowledge of social issues, geography, maps and culture HANDOUT: Cognitive Context Construction(Fay, 2004)

28. THINKSHARE What is an example of background knowledge that your students bring with them?

29. “Entering the culture is perhaps most readily done by entering a dialogue with a more experienced member of it.” -Jerome Bruner (1973)

31. THINKSHARE What word can you use to summarize Bruner’s ideas?

32. REFERENCES Bruner, J. (1981). The social context of language acquisition. Language & Communication, 1(2), 155-178. Bruner, J. (1971). The relevance of education. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 74. Kinsella, Kate. The language functions toolkit. Fay, K., & Whaley, S. (2004). Becoming one community: Reading & writing with English language learners. Stenhouse Publishers.