This article addresses the importance of supporting specific language practices of emergent bilingual students in classroom settings that are tied to the development of disciplinary knowledge. The author focuses on explanatory talk support in teaching by contingent responding and encouraging children to make meaning of mathematics concepts and procedures through student self-assessment of their language use. The author also makes a case that an emphasis on explicitness in explanatory talk is compatible with developing critical awareness of language features and uses in classrooms. The author concludes with ways both teachers and students can develop a "critical consciousness" toward academic language pedagogy that supports students, growing awareness and autonomy regarding the ambiguous nature of making meaning in content classrooms.