Academic Language Instruction for Students in Grades 4 Through 8: A Literature Synthesis

Abstract

Academic language, which is characterized by the words and structure of the language of schooling, is an important teachable component of academic achievement. When compared to other strong predictors of academic achievement (e.g., decoding, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension), academic language is not as well understood or explicitly taught in schools. The purpose of this literature synthesis is to identify the instructional practices that currently have the best evidence to improve academic language and broader academic achievement outcomes. The most prolific study of academic language instruction occurs with English learner samples. In the current study, we sought high-quality empirical intervention studies conducted with English learners. We describe the components of instruction that explicitly address academic language skills, and we describe the impact on outcomes for English learner students as well as their English-only peers.

Keywords:

• academic language instruction
• language comprehension
• adolescent literacy

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge Drs. Barbara Foorman and Don Compton for their guidance on definitions and search terms, Dr. Jennifer Dombek for her assistance in reviewing articles, and Dr. Alison Mitchell for her comments on the article.

Notes

1 Because no single case design studies met eligibility criteria, we do not describe the quality criteria specific to single case designs.