ERIC Number: EJ1230981
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1937-0814
EISSN: N/A
An Analysis of Discipline-Specific Academic Language Learning in Middle-School Students
Sweeney, Meghan A.; Townsend, Dianna
Middle Grades Research Journal, v12 n1 p9-21 2018
The present study explores the development of academic language and social studies discourse norms among a diverse sample of middle school students, as well as how language development aids rhetorical choices in students' writing. Over the course of 1 semester, students (n = 37) made statistically and practically significant gains in academic language, and those gains were related to rhetorically stronger writing samples. This in-depth view of middle school students' academic language in social studies is instructive for both professional development and pedagogical decision-making. Furthermore, the patterns of performance and description of "how" students use linguistic features characteristic of academic language, in general and in social studies discourse specifically, advance understanding of the connections between rhetoric and disciplinary literacy. Finally, the findings provide clarity as to how students use specific features of academic language to compose an extended definition of a discipline-specific word.
Descriptors: Intellectual Disciplines, Academic Language, Middle School Students, Social Studies, Pretests Posttests, Language Acquisition
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A